Cheap reliable tourers - if you only had £1500 for a big tourer, what would you buy?

[Paul the 6th]

Criteria:


Good fuel range 150-200 miles
long distance comfort for rider and pillion
Grunty - must be able to accelerate comfortably & not by revving the tats off it
Plentiful spares/parts
Looks aren't that important but it'll spoil the holiday pics of the stelvio pass if it's a complete munter

Budget: £1500 -/+ £250

Was pondering the bikes on eBay on sunday morning before work..

Found an ex-police honda st1100 pan (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-HONDA-PAN-EUROPEAN-ST1100-Ex-Police-FSH-/300434245806?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item45f346c8ae) - everything except blue lights and sirens, still had switch to flash front and rear fog lights alternately = would make filtering a joy lol. Only thing was it needed new bars and possibly clutch plates as it was having trouble disengaging from gears...

Saw a guy on the m62 this morning on an oldish looking kawasaki similar to the st1100 with panniers. The pan's seem to hold their value ridiculously well (some are getting near 20 years old with 40-60 thousand miles but still fetching upwards of £2500!)..

So if you fancied bobbing off to europe with your missus but wanted to buy an old comfortable & reliable dog to do the miles, what would you go for? Unless there were plans to do something similar again soon, I'd prolly sell the bike once I was back :)

[maviczap]

Cx500 silver wing or a gold wing.







How about a VFR, great engine fast enough, but good for long distance stuff.

[Paul the 6th]

Cx500 silver wing or a gold wing.

How about a VFR, great engine fast enough, but good for long distance stuff.

cx500 looks retro as hell! Bit of wind protection might be nice. Goldwing? I'd feel daft enough on a pan or deauville but a wing?! Leave the thread please :razz:

I'd LOVE a vfr for touring stuff, but again, their prices stick like glue unless they've been dropped or poorly serviced

[maviczap]

I'd LOVE a vfr for touring stuff, but again, their prices stick like glue unless they've been dropped or poorly serviced

The early engines are pretty bullet proof.

Trouble is most tourers will be owned by eldery old gentlemen who look after their bikes, so 2nd hand values remain high.

Pan's & VFR's have good engines so also hold their value

Maybe a big lazy FJ yamaha or a 1200 bandit

[Paul the 6th]

ah, forgot about the bandit! cheers zapimark

[Owenski]

bandit 12 would be my guess. emphasis on guess.

[BBadger]

vfr750.....in no way am i bias though:---)

[BBadger]

vfr750.....in no way am i bias though:---)

But vfr or a older pan would have thought

[Paul the 6th]

just contemplating a blue white & red tesco's extra value touring paint job on a nackered old vfr :)

[BBadger]

just contemplating a blue white & red tesco's extra value touring paint job on a nackered old vfr :)

:Dexactly what mine will look like soon.

[gettin2dizzy]

k100 ?

[Davies]

Yamaha YZF1000 Thunderace

[Jackie_Black]

Suzuki DL1000 (V-strom) if you're tall you'll love this. Big lazy thumpy fun thing. Suprisingly capable in bends too. Much more fun than you think it will be.

[Paul the 6th]

Suzuki DL1000 (V-strom) if you're tall you'll love this. Big lazy thumpy fun thing. Suprisingly capable in bends too. Much more fun than you think it will be.

Again, would love one but the cheapest strom on bike trader is £2300... might keep my eye out on ebay though :)

Yamaha YZF1000 Thunderace

seen them around but never really put much effort into finding out about them - looks a bit sporty but quite nice

edit: just had a quick look at motorcyclenews reviews & biketrader = feck me there's tonnes of them about for cheapness! They're not ugly either and more power than my gsxr750. Definitely one to bare in mind mebbeh!

[Dicky Ticker]

Older Sprint ST is in your budget,fully faired and keeps you resonably dry in the rain 250+miles to the tank,cheap to insure,motorway munch at 80-90mph all day,plenty of top end 145-150 should you want a bit faster,cumfy and some come with the hard luggage and surprisingly capable in the twisties My one is 9 years old now and just completed a 2K+ tour trouble free with over 40,000 on the clock,no oil consumption with many doing 80,000 before a major overhaul. Not everybodys choice but worth considering

[martianskippy]

Older Sprint ST is in your budget,fully faired and keeps you resonably dry in the rain 250+miles to the tank,cheap to insure,motorway munch at 80-90mph all day,plenty of top end 145-150 should you want a bit faster,cumfy and some come with the hard luggage and surprisingly capable in the twisties My one is 9 years old now and just completed a 2K+ tour trouble free with over 40,000 on the clock,no oil consumption with many doing 80,000 before a major overhaul. Not everybodys choice but worth considering

+1 although to get one in a good nick you're looking to spend over £2.5K. The RS version is cheaper and a bit sportier yet is a great tourer. I got mine for £2.1K with 18K on the clock, 2 owners and FSH - in great nick overall

[Paul the 6th]

big fan of the sprint st 1050's - the 955's just aren't there in terms of the looks but for the brief it could be a front runner :)

the thunderace just seems to be winning on the price side of things - they're veery cheap, even the ones with low'ish miles and tidy bodywork are a good wedge under £2k

[dizzyblonde]

DTs seat is very comfy too :-)

For an old mans bike!

[fizzwheel]

Dullsville ! Cheap, faired, probably also come with luggage, shaft drive so no faffing with chain lube. Decent seat and iirc good tank range to. Horrible to look at and not partcularly quick though.

[Paul the 6th]

Dullsville ! Cheap, faired, probably also come with luggage, shaft drive so no faffing with chain lube. Decent seat and iirc good tank range to. Horrible to look at and not partcularly quick though.

They're plenty cheap with tonnes of accessories and there's more green than red there, but the power thing just makes me go all floppy :( reckon a k&n and a can will encourage it to pick its feet up?

*sniggering at the ideal of a deauville with a race can*

[andrewsmith]

a dullville, bandit 12 or thunderace would be my choice

The thunderace's are usually tough as old boots and bang on ur budget
or
rediculous mileage busa

[philbut]

I have one - yours for £500 so long as you can live with the egg shell leather effect paint job ;-) i got a new camper van and I want shot of it.

[philbut]

Its all in the name. Dullville. They are very dull. A Pan would be my choice if I was in the market for a bigger tourer. I personally love my little ZZR600. Toured all round Europe and Balcans, still fun to chuck about (when you take the luggage off!) and will return 45-50mpg.

[ThEGr33k]

Vfr750

[cb1000rsteve]

three letters for ya. V F R. Best bike for everything. as k anyone who deals in bikes or have been around the biking world and they will probably recommend a vfr themselves.
As everyone on here seems to think too!!
Only 2 probs with VFR. down pipes and rectifier. Change them or buy a bike with them changed and the world is your oyster

[Paul the 6th]

Vfr750

could just borrow lee's sprint :razz: yeah the vfr750 or the thunderace seems the cheapest options to be honest..

[gettin2dizzy]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-K100-LT-Blue-Touring-Motorcycle-Well-Maintained-/110543462383?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item19bce75fef

[Davies]

the thunderace just seems to be winning on the price side of things - they're veery cheap, even the ones with low'ish miles and tidy bodywork are a good wedge under £2k

To be honest it was a brilliant bike Paul and if it wasn't for the dosy twonk that knocked me off in traffic writing the bike off I'd probably still be on it. Kind of did everything well: filtering, twisties, trackdays and touring, and was very well behaved two-up. Watch out for higher mileage ones as they are known for having a dodgy 2nd gear (jumps out, replacing it is a big job as it's not a cassette gear box) and make sure any you look at have an after-market shock because the original one would be knackered and on a relatively heavy bike a good one makes a hell of a difference.

When you first sit on one you'll think "feck me this is wide!", but it's not at all top-heavy and you'll soon be appreciating the big fairing.

Lozzo had one too I seem to recall and loved it.

This was mine, I paid £1500 for it 2 years ago:

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/2532/n6855676237592376606.jpg

Cheers,

Paul

[dyzio]

Same thing happened to my mate, he's on a look out for one of them. Unfortunately he won't have any other than the black/silver colour scheme and fiding one up here is proving to be difficult :/

[Lozzo]

Thunderace, VFR750 (not the god awful 800i) or my own personal favourite, the ZZR1100.

I've owned all three and if its a grunty tourer you want then a ZZR11 will do nicely. If you want to go play on the twisties as well then buy a T/ace, and if a ZZR1100 or Ace seem like overkill then a good 1996/97 VFR750FT or FV will do everything a ZZR will except it's missing the never used 35mph at the top end.

[Juju]

ZZR 600 ? They're cheap. Is the engine a bot small? Depends on the miles I guess......

Or and elderly GPZ900 or something of that ilk? Is a RF900 too sporty? All cheap bikes....

[gettin2dizzy]

Good call on the ZZR1100. That's what I'd have, or stretch to a 12R.

[wyrdness]

You're not going to get much decent for £1500. You might manage to get a half decent Dullville, but they're cr@p for anything other than plodding along on.

What about a Triumph Trophy? You might be able to pick up a well looked after one. The 1200 has a huge amount of grunt. There's usually a few on ebay. These ones look good, but I'd have no idea what the reserve price might be:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Triumph-Trophy-1200-T312-Sports-Tourer-/220617262487?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item335dd04597

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Triumph-1200-Trophy-Sports-Tourer-very-low-mileage-/250648173731?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3a5bcb9ca3

They were seriously over-engineered bikes, as Triumph were trying to build a reputation for reliability. The engines will go on for practically ever if they have regular oil changes.

[seedy100]

Reliable tourer = BMW
Cheap reliable tourer = Old BMW

Because I love mine, as old as it is, K1200 RS 40 - 50K miles.

[Lozzo]

ZZR 600 ? They're cheap. Is the engine a bot small? Depends on the miles I guess......

Or and elderly GPZ900 or something of that ilk? Is a RF900 too sporty? All cheap bikes....

I had regular use of an RF900 for a couple of years when I shared a house with a guy who owned one. It wasn't that comfy really, the footrests are in completely the wrong place for the bars and having ridden a few now they all handle a bit weird, like they will run wide on every corner at speed. They do go surprisingly well though and are damn quick. I can jump on and ride most bikes comfortably, but the RF was usually the last choice of the available bikes I'd jump on to cover any distance. They are also very limited for places to clip bungee strap hooks onto, as I found out a couple of times, so rule out carrying lots of gear on the pillion seat.

GPZ900s are getting way past their best unless you can find a later A8 or A9 model with the 17" front wheel that's been cared for.

[embee]

You're not going to get much decent for £1500. You might manage to get a half decent Dullville, but they're cr@p for anything other than plodding along on.



You won't get a half decent Deau for £1500, at that they'll be tatty. I've got one and they're fine, far better than all the bull$hit reviews usually by people who haven't owned one or don't rate anything which won't do 160+.

You wouldn't want one though, if you did you wouldn't be asking on here. They do exactly what they are meant to ("on the tin"), very easy to ride, comfy, good weather protection, reasonably economical, 200 mile tank range, pretty much bomb-proof and will go on forever but cosmetically challenged unless pampered. They probably wouldn't have the grunt you're after though, more for "reasonable progress" rather than "spirited scratching".

[madness]

900 Diversion?

[wyrdness]

You won't get a half decent Deau for £1500, at that they'll be tatty. I've got one and they're fine, far better than all the bull$hit reviews usually by people who haven't owned one or don't rate anything which won't do 160+.

There were some reasonable looking ones for around that money on Ebay a couple of months back when I was selling mine. They'll get you from A to B in comfort but, with hindsight, I'd have been better off with an old Sprint ST as a winter hack, rather than the dullville.

[Richie]

Tdm... Zzr... ?

[Tim in Belgium]

TDM 850 sounds good.

[carternd]

k100 ?

I would, christ knows why, but the idea of a 2-wheeled Panzer that is made of about 300kg of pig-iron appeals to me! http://www.classicmotorcycles.org.uk/bikemuseum/images/bmw/bmw_1984_k100_8valve_987cc.jpg

[yorkie_chris]

They're plenty cheap with tonnes of accessories and there's more green than red there, but the power thing just makes me go all floppy :( reckon a k&n and a can will encourage it to pick its feet up?

*sniggering at the ideal of a deauville with a race can*

Nah, the tuning potential is "limited" to say the least.


I'd be looking for a 900 divvy or a ZZR11, thunderace is nice but will stick your missus' head up in the breeze a bit compared to the more touring oriented bikes.

What's wrong with the SRAD?

[BBadger]

TDM 850 sounds good.

Arnt they ment to be abit of an oil drinker though??

[Lozzo]

Arnt they ment to be abit of an oil drinker though??

TDMs aren't especially known for oil consumption, but they give CCT problems and the gearbox has about the worst shift of any bike ever built. I'd avoid the 850 like the plague, but the TDM900 is a pretty decent bike.

[Paul the 6th]

Nah, the tuning potential is "limited" to say the least.


I'd be looking for a 900 divvy or a ZZR11, thunderace is nice but will stick your missus' head up in the breeze a bit compared to the more touring oriented bikes.

What's wrong with the SRAD?

Nowt wrong with it, just not much fun to ride slowly, low tank range, not mega comfortable over a long day's riding.... Not getting rid of it, just pondering cheap big touring orientated bikes.

[Lozzo]

I would, christ knows why, but the idea of a 2-wheeled Panzer that is made of about 300kg of pig-iron appeals to me!

Your sig line says it all... cobblers.

They're bloody awful dog slow, top heavy, overweight, foul handling, badly braked, over-rated pieces of unreliable crap that are usually over-hyped by their owners because they are too ashamed to admit they blew a huge wad of cash on a complete mess of a motorcycle. BMW have sold these things with their famed car reliability as a major feature - I think it's hilarious that BMW bikes are top of the RAC and AA's most recovered list, when they have such a small percentage of the bikes on UK roads

They pass off all their main design faults as BMW quirkiness (three indicator switches when every other bike can make do with just one?) and you really ought to hear some of the laughable claims of fuel consumption I've heard from BMW K owners - which bearing in mind these things weigh about the same as a small battleship, are frankly ludicrous. If BMW K engines were really that fuel efficient I think the world's governments would make them a mandatory fitment for all vehicles.

Avoid avoid avoid

[Lozzo]

900 Diversion?

Dull but worthy. A mate has one he's just turned 100,000 miles on with no major problems. He also has another high mileage early model XJ900, he really rates them

[JamesMio]

Exactly the same question I asked myself just over a year ago, and I bought a K reg ST1100 Pan European.

My Dad's claimed it now, but it's still going just fine (55,000+ miles on the clock).

It's a great bike to ride over long distance, if it ever packed in I'd get another one put it that way.

[Lozzo]

Exactly the same question I asked myself just over a year ago, and I bought a K reg ST1100 Pan European.

My Dad's claimed it now, but it's still going just fine (55,000+ miles on the clock).

It's a great bike to ride over long distance, if it ever packed in I'd get another one put it that way.

The 1100 Pan is a great bike, but older ones can often suffer with corrosion in the swing arm around the shaft housing and the exhausts have a habit of flying apart. Other than that they are brilliant bikes. I'd avoid any ex-police ones though, cos they look cheap to start but then you've got the not inconsiderable cost of putting it back to civilian spec, and for that money you can buy a decent civvie one with lower miles.

[yorkie_chris]

not inconsiderable cost of putting it back to civilian spec,

Out of curiosity, what's that?

[gettin2dizzy]

Out of curiosity, what's that?
Remove standard issue police goatee?

[Bibio]

Honda Blackbird.

[454697819]

st2

[hardhat_harry]

Honda Blackbird if you can get one in your price range
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-Blackbird-21-000-new-Beautifull-condition-/140415373969?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item20b1689291

Or Triumph Sprint bang in your price range looks good too

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-Triumph-Sprint-ST-955-/140413397757?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item20b14a6afd

Both look better than ZZRs, Thunderaces etc and designed for sports touring.

I have had a go at the VFR800i on a Honda ride day and the gearbox was shockingly bad.

[BBadger]

st2

tried the clutch on one of them....heavy is an understatement

[rowdy]

Dull but worthy. A mate has one he's just turned 100,000 miles on with no major problems. He also has another high mileage early model XJ900, he really rates them
900 divvey is what sprang to my mind, a mate is a bike courier and has had a couple, his first went round the clock twice before a lorry reversed over it. Bike couriers weapon of choice.

[gruntygiggles]

Paul...from a pillion point of view, the Blackbird is AMAZINGLY comfortable and as you'll see in Squirrel_Hunters Castle Coombe thread, not boring either! You say what speed you want, it'll get you there faster than you ever thought possible.

It's a lovely bike. They are expensive, but I reckong if you looked long enough, you'd find one in your budget range and with a Honda engine....you won't need to worry too much about higher mileage. :-)

[yorkie_chris]

Friend of mine has cheap dullvill for sale

[Lozzo]

Out of curiosity, what's that?

Fitting a twin seat and tail piece/rack, removal of complete rear mudguard and fitting stock one, removing the NATO spec wiring loom because the removal of Police additions is never done correctly and you'll have loads of electrics problems so it's far easier to fit a new loom. Repainting, because only Police/MOD/other emergency services spec came in white, replacing various trim and body panels that have been chopped about or drilled to take Police equipment.

Like I said, what looks like a cheap bike turns expensive when you can buy a lower mileage and better cared for machine for less once you've got the ex-police one to the same civvie spec. On top of that, the famed Police servicing schedules are never as thorough as they'd have you believe. That came directly from one of the guys who serviced our local force's bikes for many years.