Advice please regarding Touring motorbikes

[Comus1964]

Hi fellow Bikers

Im wanting to get back into biking after a 10 year break however previous to that i had bikes all my life getting my first bike at 16.

Previously i had full no claims bonus on my insurance but i havnt had any kind of motor vehicle for the last 6 years so my no claims bonus has expired so even though im 60 years of age according to the Insurance comanies im now a newbie again so a ZX10 or CB100R are completely out of the question unless i want to spend £1000 a year or more on insurance.

Im looking to bike on a budget so bearing in mind the current cost of Petrol in the Uk being what around £7.50 a gallon or more and i really dont want a small capacity motorbike as i do plan to do a bit of touring around, so i need something that is pretty cheap to insure of a decent size capacity and is quite economical.

I have been looking at some of the big BMW touring motorbikes as currently  they seem to be available with quite low mileage for £2000 to £2500 for an older model air or oil head, they are also quite cheap for me to insure at around £200 a year and they are also quite economical as i want at least 50 miles to the gallon...the big but is im aware they will be very heavy so what are they like to live with everyday..? to say do a daily commute on, handle around town and through the twisties ?

I really dont want to waste my money on a bike that is just to heavy and combersome to just jump on and go for a ride when ever I want to and i suspect this may be the case as why else would there be so may large capacity touring bikes of every variety for sale on all the usual sites for such cheap prices.

I wouold appreciate anyones input especially from owners of these type of bike who have experience of using them for everyday riding..thanks in advance

 

[keith1200rs]

I was in a similar position 6 years ago - 60 years old and returning after a 10 year gap. Bought a BMW R1200R, then RT and now on the RS. The RT is the best touring bike but the R and RS more fun. While the RT has the biggest luggage capacity, the R and RS with panniers and top box aren't far behind.

[keith1200rs]

Just to add, 60-65mpg on any of them if you aren't silly.

[Stu]

I have the R1200RT although it's a bit newer than what you are looking at. Mine is a 2016 model 

 

They are heavy to move around but the weight is low down once they are moving they are very well balanced and any weight just dissappears. 

 

I have had an fjr1300 before this and although it's lighter that the RT it's top end heavy and a pig at slow speeds 

[Capt Sisko]

Staying with BMW, have a look at the F800gt. Sounds like it might tick quite a few of your boxes.

[Gerontious]

I had an 1100 oil head for 21 years. I also had an F800. I would wholeheartedly recommend the F. The 1100 - not so much. It was a money pit. Servicing was cheap but when it went wrong it wasn’t even remotely cheap. I hate to think just how much money it cost me over those years. I now have a Honda.

 

im sure there’s a moral to this story.

[bonio]

I had a 2013 R1200GS - the first of the waterheads. I'm only 5'7" and 9st 4 and it was definitely a heavy bike to move around. But light as a feather from 2mph up. 

I used it to commute on for 5 years, mainly riding in town. It's not a bad commuter, as it's got a load of torque available at low revs - all these bikes mentioned above do - and it's got great road presence: people don't mess with you. But it's not a great commuter as it's got wide bars, and filtering through narrow gaps just isn't going to happen. For everything else - days rides, touring, munching miles on motorways, fun twisties, mountain roads - it was an astonishingly brilliant bike. I did 50k miles on it.

Servicing wasn't too bad for costs, but if anything went wrong the collateral damage to the wallet was painful. It was this in part that made me decide to get rid. Mpg was always around 50, with a not-always-completely-sensible riding style.

Sorry to hear about the hit for insurance. I'd have thought that the premiums would come down steeply for your second year. Might be worth running a few quotes as if you had a year behind you already, just in case it expands your choice of bike. 

Edited April 1 by bonio

[bonio]

By the way, have you thought about the Versys 650? A good tourer and insurance group 9. Won't do 2-up, though; if you wanted that you'd need the 1000, which perhaps blows the budget.

[Shepherd]

2 hours ago, bonio said:

By the way, have you thought about the Versys 650? A good tourer and insurance group 9. Won't do 2-up, though; if you wanted that you'd need the 1000, which perhaps blows the budget.

+1

[Gerontious]

9 hours ago, bonio said:

By the way, have you thought about the Versys 650? A good tourer and insurance group 9. Won't do 2-up, though; if you wanted that you'd need the 1000, which perhaps blows the budget.

You need to tell one of my friends this. He regularly tours with wifey on the back with luggage. I guess when you are so used to litre plus touring bikes it’s easy to forget that much smaller capacity bikes are entirely appropriate. Not everyone can afford one of the larger bikes. And not everyone wants to spend huge amounts of time at motorway speeds. I would not write off a modern injected 650 out of hand.

[RideWithStyles]

problem 

Edited May 14 by RideWithStyles

[Shepherd]

Im 6'1" and regularly have a pillion on my Versys 650, if only for a couple of hours at a time. Doing a trip to Spa Francorchamps soon, and it's a coin flip between the V or the Deauville.  Both quite capable I think, just very different. 

 

[Phil1]

And even cheaper than the versys, how about a v-strom?

 

Another superb option, and often overlooked is a sprint st. Bit more of a sports tourer than a tourer, but they're still supposed to be excellent. 

Edited April 3 by Phil1

[bonio]

The vstrom is a good call. The sprint is a cracking bike, but a completely different beast. It hasn't the same lightness of touch of the adventure bikes. It's a proper sports tourer - it rides like a sports bike would if it had a longer body and more weight.

[rob m]

22 hours ago, bonio said:

The vstrom is a good call. The sprint is a cracking bike, but a completely different beast. It hasn't the same lightness of touch of the adventure bikes. It's a proper sports tourer - it rides like a sports bike would if it had a longer body and more weight.

 

I loved my Sprint 1050 and it had so much going for it, handling, exhaust sound (especially with the TOR exhaust), mpg/tank range and luggage capacity. Looked gorgeous. I just missed having a big K BMW so only kept the Sprint for a year before giving in.

[Comus1964]

On 01/04/2024 at 19:39, Capt Sisko said:

Staying with BMW, have a look at the F800gt. Sounds like it might tick quite a few of your boxes.

hi thanks for the suggestion.. Yes i am considered the 800 and the 650 Beemers as they will be more economical and cheaper to insure

[Comus1964]

On 01/04/2024 at 17:02, keith1200rs said:

Just to add, 60-65mpg on any of them if you aren't silly.

really apprecite your feedback on the BMs... with current price of petrol 60 to 65mpg is very good mileage

[Comus1964]

On 01/04/2024 at 21:21, bonio said:

By the way, have you thought about the Versys 650? A good tourer and insurance group 9. Won't do 2-up, though; if you wanted that you'd need the 1000, which perhaps blows the budget.

Thanks for the suggestion... to be honest no bike is out of the question dpending on mileage, fuel economy and how much it is to insure..i have to take all of these factors into consideration,. had i known i would off lost my full quota of No claims bonus and have to start from scratch, I might have just bought the absolutely cheapest bike available to insure just to keep my no claims bonus intact..but no use crying over that now as its gone 

[keith1200rs]

When I bought a BMW R1200R after a 10 year gap, so no no-claims bonus, insurance was less than £200. Depends on where you live, garage etc.

[RideWithStyles]

right

Edited May 14 by RideWithStyles

[smallfrowne]

I haven't read anything in this thread. Buy a z900 or something similar.

[Comus1964]

15 hours ago, RideWithStyles said:

right just to be clear with you last few comments if their the priority? if youve looked at jap stuff and thought meh, british is too priced, german is htf they got away with it for so long then why not look at other manufacturers?

how i will recommend it on a few reservations i will make clear later on and how they maybe a decent stop gap if your prepared for it? upto you if its your bag.

 

Benelli leoncino/trk 500.

positives:

super cheap to buy new, so second hand their soooo tempting.

its a small 13ltr tank but 170-200miles to low warning and it still had 5ltrs or more left (250mls to a tank easy) left so while in my tendorship i never got it lower than 74mpg on any yorkshire back road scratcher i chose but 90mpg was average to upto 110mpg. no onboard mpg to lie to you (germans) its just simple maths. i shite you not and i dropped from a 150hp beast.

torque from low down and quite linear so on normal roads is really quite engaging and quick.

gearbox quite good and the ratios are far better than any honda ive ridden.

service is simple and cheap also not to short like Royal enfields.

lovely engine notewith std exhaust and not overly loud.

brakes are over spec'd like a italian stallion should be, so stopping it was far better than so called machines far more expensive and speced ive had before like a zx6, triumph d955i just to name a few.

its truly Italian styled!! the red metallic paint is very nice but thin so regular clean and polishing to keep it and the black chassis parts looking nicer for longer.

they give tou the ecu/diagnostic connector loom with the bike! if it doesn't come with it ask for it! weather the garage or someone else has the keys to get access to the very deeps of the program is another matter but why other manufacturers don't supply it to the owners is a mystery to me.

chassis design is very good and neutral with gentle wear and not fussy for tyre characteristics.

std chain is good for life but quality wax chain lube is a must if you want it to survive winters.

insurance is low.

abs was switchable at the handle bars that got triggered once on a really hot day on a wearing Pirelli for a bit of a emergency, and the other on a damp road. not intrusive nor fancy but it works only when really needed.

 

ok here the bads in my experience.

you really need a long term stand worthy dealer.

garages willing to service or fix it are fewer and far between outside of rhe dealer if you cant find one, if you px newer machine it will lose more in relation to other bigger brands but is didnt cost quite as much in the first place.

pcx rust blocker will be your friend but they didn't do a good hob at the factory  (i look at you yamaha!) so expect under paint rust and electrical ground point compromised on the chassis and other non critical parts like the pillion pegs and handles etc.

loom wiring from the factory are tight so if you get random disco lights or rough /odd running its because of this.

early versions can suffer from fogging of clock and headlight, is a design fault/lack of coating-2020 versions were upgraded.

parts outside the sundries of oil filters and so forth (clocks/exhaust system/handles) can be really problematic to source and very timely as they have to come from china of unknown source if available after a few years?

lack or aftermarket parts to bridge the gap of oem parts.

the twin is a peach when new but really overly tight, after 10-14thou mls they loosen up a lot and if your medically susceptible can either give white fingers/legs or agrivate titinntus (for me), its a design problem of the engine so it either affects you or not at this point.

they didnt come with a immobiliser as std so if scum are wise to it they might try to hotwire it if you live down south...if you get a aftermarket one (or tracker) make sure its a really good one or prepare to replace it every few years as most are junk but also the ground points suffer so they need regular maintenance.

rear rebound adjustment is an arse to change if you dont have baby hands and require regular lubing.

 

the value/worth/buyers will be greatly less so either wait for some expected buyer or sell for parts/scrap it- but if you bought it used and it was cheap its a stop gap for you?

 

now it may sound terrible and i still have fond memories ,not massively worse than expected ive had over the years of japs and british bikes but just to say thats what my 4yr ownership was. it may require you to give it more attention than some other brands for some reason but it's better than public transport.

 

 

Wow thank you for giving your indepth impression of the Benelli..I have to be honest where i live in the south of England i have not seen one come up for sale within 50 miles of where i live, after your advice i would give one careful consideration for sure as those are some pretty impressive fuel consumption figures.

I would hope that after a couple of years of accident free biking i would be able to afford the insurance on  ahigher BHP bike as i really refuse to pay rip off insurance comanies more than £200 a year for fully comp insurance and currently any think of more than say 75bhp is out of the question,,I recently got offered a reasonably low mileage Suzuki RF900 which is 125bhp bu the insurance costs even 3rd party where ridiculous at around £400 and for someone who has had a full bike licence since 1980 and owned probably 20 different various capacity Bikes over the years..i refuse to pay that much for insurance, so i need to wait until the insurance costs go down before getting a larger capacity machine.

Thanks again for advising on the pros and cons of the TRK500

[Comus1964]

11 hours ago, smallfrowne said:

I haven't read anything in this thread. Buy a z900 or something similar.

I would if i was willing to be ripped of by Insurance compnies i might need to wait for a few years before buying anything above 75bhp

[S-Westerly]

Despite the name Benelli bikes are made in China. The brand is 100% owned by Chinese. 

[Gerontious]

Insurance is, at the moment artificially high. I guess the multi-millionaires who underwrite the policies are feeling the cost of living pinch. Have you seen the price of a 1947 Petrus? Shocking.

 

jokes aside. Many people have seen their policies double over the past year or two. Obviously because every policy is unique to an individual some will not have seen these increases. But many have. £400 is not an extortionate amount for someone with zero ncb. Because as far as the insurers are concerned you are an unknown risk and will remain so until you prove yourself.

 

seems a false economy to me to pay however much for a bike and focus totally on the cost of insurance. As if that’s the most important factor of all. It isn’t.

 

A bike (above 250cc and less than 5 years old) is now a luxury item. There are scales of luxury and a tourer is fairly high on that scale. Insurance reflects that. If my insurance were to double again, would I pay it. Yes I would. With much cursing and a bit of dramatic foaming at the mouth. But what choice is there?

 

my thoughts. Forget about insurance for the first year. Get the bike you want and worry about insurance after you have made your choice. Use comparison sites to find the cheapest possible premium then phone them up and try to get it further reduced. And then. Don’t ride like a twit. And don’t ever leave the bike on display as it’s just a matter of time until the wrong person sees it. And if it’s nicked. Well you might think insurance is bad now…. It’s nothing compared to what comes after a theft.

Edited April 5 by Gerontious