Touring bike??

Love the SV and want to hold on to it, but looking at a bigger bike for touring two up in Europe next summer as the SV is great round town etc but not really ideal for carrying 30 stone of people and luggage long distances. Have done several thousand mile trips in cars with no problems. I don't have a lot of bike experience though, only had the SV a few weeks and few months on a 125 although I am getting more confident.
I like the big BMW's but they are a bit too expensive. Had a look at a couple of used Triumphs as well, which look better value. Interested what others think would be suitable for a "newbie" liter bike if any.

what about bmw650's you can pick em up fairly cheap

[fizzwheel]

Use your SV, you dont need a dedicated "touring bike" to do that kind of trip on IMHO.

We did a weeks worth of riding around ireland, I took my GSXR with all our luggage on and my other half used her SV...

Its all in the mindset.

I considered a FS650GS instead of the SV but not sure this would be a lot better than the SV for touring, less power and they dont look any more comfortable. They are not very good value either - seem to be around 4k for a half decent one on autotrader.

Try a VFR , I go out with my 14 stone son on the back and it's very comfortable with plenty of power .
Just under 4k for a '51 with 7k mls.

Mrs. M and I did 3,000 miles around Europe 2 up last summer on the SV not too much of a problem as long as the daily milage doesn't go much over 300 miles.

Option 2 - I had a sit on a 1400GTR on Sunday, very nice, if I had the cash that would be my tourer of choice.

What about one of these:

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk...r=&max_mileage=

Prob not my cup of tea, but they seem really cheap - still a v twin too.

Sat on one in the bike shop the other day, couldnt believe how big it was, and how comfy it seemed...

Links not working but I think it a v-strom dl from the link. Saw one the other day, looks perfect for the job, but it just doesnt interest me - just too ugly. Testing a new sprint at the dealers tomorrow, not likely to ever buy one new but might as well try one out. Will try not to drop it with all that shiny new paint.

I honestly dont think you need a seperate bike, you just need to choose your luggage options wisely. Maybe get a rack which should make it easier to carry stuff, top box etc.

Thinking about the rack, does anyone use anythign but soft luggage on the sv?

BMW F650 is a bit buzzy for long distances being a single.

Transalp and V-Strom would be my choice if I had to do seriously long days in the saddle and didn't want anything too powerful.

VFR a good option too but over 100bhp so perhaps more than you want.

The Deauville if you'd be seen dead on one.

The faired model Bandit's actually quite comfortable, but not sure if theres a hard luggage option, in which case just use the SV.

If your only riding 300 miles a day though the SV is fine, you just have to use soft panniers and a tankbag 'cos there's no hard luggage.