I will be moving jobs in a month or two and will need dust off my old Joe Rockets and get myself a motorcycle.
Journey will be around 30 miles each way on a mix of "A" roads and motorway - if you know the area it's roughly Cirencester to Bristol and back.
As I have just crept over the half century mark, my sports bike days are over (I think!). The last bike I rode was my old, long gone Yamaha Thundercat; I have been out of the loop for over 12 years and things will have moved on a bit.
I am thinking along the lines of F800 belt drive BMW although a quick search had me drooling over the Yamaha Super Tenere.
What are your recommendations? And no, I don't want a car and it's too far to walk!
That'd be a good bike given your requirement. Make sure you go for a faired bike not naked though.Originally Posted by electorn
And buy (or purloin) good kit irrespective of seasons.
I have a BMW 1200GS which is great all rounder just as I think many on here have too. I actually might be selling it if you'd be interested. PM me if you'd like details. Very briefly it's an 09 with 5600 miles. New hips 3 years ago haven't settled very well so I might be hanging up my helmet and gloves.
Honda NC750 looks pretty good. Very economical. I had a horrendous experience with BMW which means I will never buy another again. I had lots of different Hondas however and never a problem.
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Assuming you might want a bike that's fun to ride
Triumph Street Triple
One of the Yamaha MT range
Ducati Monster
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
I'd say for mostly commuting you don't want something too big, I've got a 2015 BMW R1200GS Adventure but I only use it for trips abroad, it would be a bit much for a daily commute.
I would suggest something around the 800cc mark, like the F800GS you mention, or, a colleague
Of mine has a Triumph Tiger 800XC and loves it.
Try to take service intervals and cost of servicing into account, some bikes are only 4000 miles between services, which if you're commuting 500 miles per week would feel like you're visiting the dealers all to often
I am a BMW man so would say get an 800, however I had a hire bike in the alpes maritimes a while ago, it was a Honda nc750....... Bugger me that thing just did not use any fuel!!!!!!!!
mike
Suzuki Bandit. Comfortable, reliable and well proven over the years.
For that job I'd be thinking a NC750 DCT...
Thanks gents, will have a read up on the Honda and Triumph. I had completely forgotten about those. Anyone had any joy with the KTM adventure?
A bit left field if I may:
For the use you describe I believe you would be better off with a TMAX, a Burgman 650, a Silverwing or if you want a BMW, a C 600/650
My 50 mile a day country, motorway and city bike commute has involved a Honda SH300 scooter since 2007 (80mpg/80mph still going strong) and a 2009 Honda Hornet 600 when I fancy the scenic route, I even did it for a bit on a Honda SH125 and a Yamaha TTR 250 trail bike. Pretty much anything works if you're bonkers enough. You'll need decent protective kit and waterproofs. If I was buying a new bike a fairing, topbox and heated grips, 100hp, 200kg, ABS and 800mm seat height would be in the mix (shame they don't make the CBR 600 still). Oh and I found the Honda NC750 really agricultural
Last edited by docd; 1st March 2017 at 20:23.
If you can find one may I suggest a BMW K750RT, a superb real world bike. I commuted 90 miles a day in all weathers, sold it with 40000 more miles on it for a profit of £300. Total cost in repairs other than services was a couple of quid for a fork seal. Not glamorous but good weather protection and v comfortable. I now have an ST1100 which is good and does the job but not the same build quality as the BM.
I can recommend an F800GT. Mrs Berin has commuted on one, 30 miles each way, all year round for the last 4 years. The bike cost £8k, and at 4 years old and 30 odd thousand miles is still worth around £4K or so. It does not get pampered but it does get serviced properly and I ACF 50 it every winter. It does 185 miles on a £15 fill up. It's powerful enough to get past anything but not so powerful as to cause concern in bad weather, narrow enough to filter, has good weather protection and has only broken down when BMW jet washed the switch gear! Mrs Berin has access to other bikes including an S1000R but always takes the F800 on the commute.
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Ps unless it's a country road commute the GS's are too wide to filter, and the Super Ten weighs 260kg!
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Having 43 years riding bikes almost daily I'd concur with the above. A Super scoot is perfect for the type of riding you describe.
Why not pop into Fowlers at Bristol and take a look around?
They have some great bikes there and a cafe upstairs.
http://www.fowlers.co.uk/index.php
scooter
Please don't worry about mpg, it's only 30 miles. Just get the bike you want, if that's an R1 do it, if it's a triumph scrambler do it.... You'll have so much more fun on a bike if it's one you actually love.
Other half has commuted daily on a BMW R1200gs come rain or shine for 50000 miles. Has dabbled with a Speed Triple and Yamaha FZ1 at the same time but neither have replaced the BMW, hes just bought another as his current ride is an old lady that has notched up 85k and is showing her age. He particularly likes the upright ride position, the presence on the road and no chain to oil every week! Briefly toyed with getting a F800 but thought better of it.
For the mature gentleman, the more upright-seated, shaft-drive Yamaha VMax, with enough "passing power" to extricate yourself from most any tight situations.
For that sort of journey I would go weather protection over fun as you will need to ride all weathers and is give and take roads rather than tight traffic. Do fit heated grips and consider extra lights and heated jacket.
I commute on a Hypermotard so any modern bike will =do the job but not necessarily provide the weather protection you need. I would also look for somethimg with ABS if possible (which my bike also lacks).
I bought mine as a fun bike and an occasional commuter but now use it as much as possible.
Last edited by MB2; 28th February 2017 at 23:55.
Or style, looks, economy; get a Vespa GTS 300. Fit heated grips and a Tucano Urbano leg cover. I do about 140 mile a week and costs me a tenner pound in fuel.
With everyone else with the smaller BMWs but howsabout the bullet-proof Honda VFR800?
Cheers everyone, there are plenty of great suggestions in here. I will have to do a fair bit of reading up, and take a look around the dealers to see what I could get along with.
I had dismissed the super scooters, on looks to be honest, but I think these do need a bit more serious consideration.
Honda VFR is another one I had forgotten. The NC is looking popular so far. At the moment I want to steer clear of sports bikes - I don't think my neck/wrists could take it.
I will take a walk to the shops at lunch time and pick up a copy of MCN for a bit of catch up.
Please keep the comments coming, I would rather have real world experiences to go by than magazine articles.
That's ok for you but we have corners here in the U.K.!For the mature gentleman, the more upright-seated, shaft-drive Yamaha VMax, with enough "passing power" to extricate yourself from most any tight situations.
We also got a power restricted version over here but I'm sure they've all been "corrected" by now.
Just about anything of 500cc or over will be suitable, it all depends on what you want. In my day (and I'm the same age as you practically), 600s were middleweight and people commuted on cb500s and gpz500s. 750s were considered large bikes (and modern ones are certainly not less powerful than those from the eighties and nineties.
It all depends on whether you just want to commute or have done fun too. If it's the former, a super scooter or something like a Kawasaki ER6f would be ideal. If you want to have a fun blast on it too then you'll need to make compromises.
If you have never ridden a superscooter before, you MUST do it before making a decision: They are not just perfectly suited to your requirements, being very comfortable, very nimble due to a low centre of gravity, a decent storage capacity (no helmet to carry around), and a pretty good wind and rain protection; they are also genuinely fun if you want to have a blast on a small mountain road. And will out-start most so-called 'proper' bikes at a red light.
I'd second the Bandit - I bought one new for a 40 mile (round trip commute) they were at the time very well priced
I traded it in after a year for an XJR 1300 wich I used every day cover 30k miles- for me the XJR was perfect - Im too big for a sports bike (never really got on with them) always had off road style bikes and the upright position of the retro style is very comfy
Choose the bike that makes you smile every time you look at it.
I have had these one 750 and three 800s. Brilliant I love them. As you say absolutely bullet proof.
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can't go wrong with a vfr800, comfortable, reliable, fast and can be picked up cheap if you look around.. still looking good for it's age an'all imo
Going down that route the earlier VFR 750 ( last 2 generations before the 800) were even better. It's the one bike I truly miss, realistically.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Yes yes yes.... This is what you need to do. It will save you money in the long run and it will make you happy on day one. Win win!
But you wouldn't want to commute on a panigale!
For 30 miles I would! Got to be the best way to start any day.
I would echo what the others have said, get something you like the look of and enjoy riding.
For commuting a shaft or belt drive is best but options are limited. Also having integrated luggage helps.
Most of the decent options are already covered above.
A good 'tool' bike is the Honda Deauville, built in luggage and I am pretty sure shaft driven.
Other left field choices albeit chain driven are the Triumph Street Twin but not much fairing and the Yamaha Fazer (the older model is relatively cheap and has half a fairing). Another left field choice, albeit belt driven is a Harley Davidson sportster
For a commuting bike with a chain I would go fit some sort of oiling device like a scotoiler or loobman.
I used to commute almost the same journey on a mixture of GSA, VFR and Blackbird. The M4 is tedious.....and you need a bike that can filter on the M32. If you wish to use the bike for fun as well as commuting, any of the ones I used would be great (wouldn't recommend the Rocket 3 I used for over a year though...). If it's just for commuting, faired bandit would be fine.
Don't forget heated grips or heated clothes though.....and make sure your kit is waterproof!!
I know noting about bikes but I spotted one of these https://royalenfield.com/uk/motorcyc...-specification outside Lidl recently and it looked lovely. I chatted to the (mature, american) owner and he couldn't praise it highly enough. Now whether it would be up to 12k of commuting a year is another thing.
If the retro look is your thing there is the Kawasaki 800 (which was only sold till last year so you may pick up old stock cheaply) or a triumph bonneville
Guy I worked with used his Triumph Sprint ST as his commuter and also used it for his trips abroad each year. He clocked up 70000 miles in the three years he worked with us. I think the only problem he has with it was corrosion on the rear exhaust cover.
One of the guys I work with now uses his Super Tenere as a commuter, that's up to 44000 miles , though he is having to spend a bit on it at the moment.
I wouldn't use any of my bikes for commuting, too many idiots out there at those sorts of times.
Last edited by baz1; 1st March 2017 at 20:20.
See -for the duty imagined - the V4 engine is superfluous (and expensive to service).
I'd stay clear of BMWs unless it is an 800 with belt drive - that you get serviced by an independant (or the OP)
Otherwise - I recommend the Triumph Tiger 800. To my mind - better built than the BMW GS800, plenty power, torque, and load carrying. Good upright seating too.
I'd stay clear of the Bandit and its ilk
Al
I've one myself VFR800 V-Tech, easy to ride with CBS and ABS for those "iffy" moments and it works very very well. I'm a bit old for sports bikes as well, coupled with a dicky knee (ACL reconstruction) and a few other injuries, yet it's a nice easy bike to ride without the associated pain.
Fast enough to get you into trouble and it has a lovely noise when given a bit of gas, the V-Tech works really well
Cheap to buy and run, it's not a bad choice
Graham
Tiger has a fairly high centre of gravity compared to the GS.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Yamaha mt07 or mt09 tracer - everything you need, great fun, wind protection and excellent vfm
I've owned my Triumph Street Triple for 9 years now (gulp, can that really be true!?).
I don't commute regularly on it but when I do I have a pretty similar journey to you (35 miles, mix of roads) and I think it's perfect for it as long as you accept it hasn't got a great big fairing to hide behind.
I'm also a similar age to you and find the riding position great, quite liberating to haver a fast fun bike without needing to be a contortionist to ride it.
The big win on commuting is it's so light and agile so it makes all the filtering etc. easy.
And when you want to take it out just for for fun boy does it deliver.
Plus the three pot engine makes a fantastic noise...
You need some protection from the elements if you want to do it year round.
An F800GS or GT would be ideal, epically as it has heated grips and ABS to keep you warm and a bit safer in dodgy conditions.
I had an F800r when they first came out. Lovely bike.
I have a new Africa Twin and love it but had a demonstrator NC750 DCT for a few days and what a commuter that would be, it uses almost no fuel and has a hole big enough to get a full face helmet into where the fuel tank should be.
In my opinion this has to be a serious contender for its practical nature, fuel economy and Honda reliability.
Thanks for your input everyone, there are plenty of options to explore. I need to get to some dealers over the weekend and take a look for myself how physically large or small some of these bikes are.
The only brand I don't really want to go near is Suzuki, can't get past the fact you looked at one and it used to rot away in front of your eyes.
I commuted year round for about 6 years on GSXR 750's. OK the finish isn't the best, but as long as I took a bit of care through the winter months when the roads were salted, they held up pretty well.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
I was a bit unfair to Suzuki I suppose, the problem is I can be a bit lazy with the cleaning chores, especially when it's wet and cold!
Wide they may be but I have a GSA and filtering is fine. The wideness is more than offset by the movement in the bars. Same handlebar movement as a bicycle! Different story with the panniers on though. I ride mine with all three luggage boxes into central London to commute...
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