OMO Recomend me my next bike

[Nutsinatin]

Hi all,
I've had quite the rough week. The other half’s Corsa blew the head gasket on Sunday and now I've totalled my 2nd SV!

Without going into the nitty gritty, about 50m from home a Nissan Micra pulled into a gap behind 3 cars, then decided they could make it past them before I reached them (I was about 3 car lengths away), pulled into the oncoming lane and made it past 2 cars before I ran into them at about 25mph. About 3.5 meters before I hit the car (measured by the damage I did to the road) I pulled the brake even harder, locked the front and slid into them, which is probably what wrecked the bike but saved me from a full head on.

I wrecked my Shoei helmet, Dane textiles and Gerbing gloves, but walked away with just bruising, so really a good result. The only thing I didn’t damage were my A* boots as the toe slider took it all - they were my oldest bit of kit that I was thinking of replacing so sods laws they were fine!

I need to fight it out with insurance about money as I'm third party, and I'm looking like I'm stuck with the insurance appointed solicitor as White Dalton won't take on the case as it's below £10,000 and there was no personal injury (which means I would have to pay solicitors fees which are non-recoverable so it is fair advice that they won't take the case).

Now I should have ridden more defensively and I could have avoided the accident but I misread the situation and hindsight is 20/20, so lesson learned for the future and move on.

Bike is going away for assessment so I'm stripping it for everything of value, engine still runs like a dream but I've smashed the front cowling and fairing lowers, exhaust is now banana shaped and the tank is concave, mirror is missing and I put my head through the screen, forks feel bent too, as well as all the little bits like levers etc. For a 50,000-mile bike that sounds like a write off. Blasted Micra only cracked their front number plate and bumper!

Now while I might be able to repair the bike on the cheap as a Cat C I've been thinking of replacing the SV for the last year. Now I was intending on doing it next March (14 months) but it seems like I might as well do it now.

So back to the title, what should I get?

Now both of my SVs have served me well and have been a blast. However, I'm racking up 20,000 miles each year. I'm at uni part time in Manchester, have two friends up in Aberdeen and one friend on the Essex coast (note to self: make more local friends) so I'm no stranger to longer journeys so do long for a bit of comfort. I also work in Reading so it’s a 50 miles round trip each day, fine on the SV with a mix of 40% motorway and 60% fast A and B roads. The other half also has family down in Alton so that adds several 100 mile round days.

When the better weather comes round I'll be out in the evenings and weekend for a blast, and a 200 mile day won't be abnormal, although I'm only a moderately fast road rider. I've got access to track only bikes so I will never take this bike on track.

I need some pillion provision, better than the SV, and the ability to fit hard panniers and top box as I will do some UK trips and days out with the other half. But mostly this bike will be for me.

Now I found the ~70bhp SV fine for anything on my own, but if I'm taking the other half and her worldly possessions about I really want over 90bhp.
I've never found an IL4 that I've liked have never tried a triple and love the SV twin.

I really want all day comfort for me, and enough comfort for the other half that she doesn't complain too much, the ability for full luggage, cruise control for all those pesky average speed zones as well as my bad habit of getting faster and faster on long motorway journeys. I would like more than 90bhp, and a bike that can filter down the motorway and the outskirts of town, but still scratch at the weekend. I would like ABS as I'm not perfect, if I made a mistake it would be nice if the bike saved me, plus I've already had three front end lock up crashes (1 my fault, 2 someone pulled out in front of me and trying to find 10% more brake when I'm already at 100% before I plough into the front of them) so I would like to keep it that way and traction control would be nice for this time of year but it's not a deal breaker.

Right now I've got £5k saved in my next bike fund, and I'm hopeful to get £2.5k for the SV so I've got a good budget. I've got a rainy day fund that I can dip into too so I've pretty much got a limit of 9k, although I don't want to spend all of it unless I have to! I know it is a lot of money for a bike but as it is my number 1 hobby and I intend to do 100k miles on it in the next 5 years I figure that's not too silly.

However, I am only 22 and have had 2 non fault accidents in the last two years so insurance limits me a bit. I'm fed up of dealing with the longwinded 3rd party claim process so this one will be fully comp. A 2015 Triumph Tiger will cost £1400 a year to give some idea whereas a Versys 1000 is £2000.

So I've ruled out the V-Strom 650 as it's so wide and just a bit underpowered for my liking, similarly for the Versys 650 and Tracer 700.

No Bandits! I've ridden the carbed and FI ones, and whilst they may get you from A to B uneventfully I ride a bike to enjoy traveling, not be bored to death! Same goes for the ER6 and CB650F.

I'm not convinced by the comfort of the VFR 800, and it's a bit porky and pricey.

BWM, Ducati and KTM are nice but too expensive.

The Versys 1000 is too expensive to insure.

The V-Strom 1000 looks very sensible but just doesn't excite me.

So that really leaves me with either the Tiger 800 or a Tracer 900, I'm 5, 10" so just about tall enough

The Tracer has a 17 litre tank and a 150 mile range - so fill ups every three days, I can live with that. It also has 17 inch wheels, the style is exciting and up to date, but there is no factory cruise control, only aftermarket, which has good reviews on their forum and Google, but it’s about £1000 extra after fitting. It comes with ABS and traction control too; however, it is very new so there are not that many cheap ones out there.

Now the Tiger is popular but I'm not sure about it. It runs a 19" front which spooks me, as I'm still grappling with the idea of a sit up bike unlike the pseudo sports SV (bike designed for what I do, not trying to make a bike do things it was never meant for). Cruise control is an option, but that triple sounds mechanically whiney and a bit thirsty.

I've got an insurance Bandit for a few days whilst I get the CBF 125 up and running and MOTed/insured etc. so I've got a bit of time, but I don't want to be relegated to the 125 for too long!

So for anyone who has stuck around all the way to the end of my ramble, thank you very much, and for anyone who has just skipped to the end, what do you think, Tiger 800, Tracer 900 or something else altogether? Obviously I will be test riding these bikes in the near future, but help deciding what to try is appreciated, as it's time to move on from the SV, although I really will miss it.

[Mr Speirs]

I found the front suspension on the Tracer 900 to be massively vague and unsettling, especially when riding at pace. Was all ready to put a deposit down until I actually rode it and completely ruled it out.
Apparently the 700 is supposed to be a lot better but I wasn't keen on the lack of power.

Ended up going for a 2014 Honda VFR and it is easily the best bike if had. Comfortable, fast enough, rides so well and got luggage. Picked it up for just over £7k with 2500mile on it.
Only downside so far is the VTEC kick is severe when the engine is cold, like a misfire...once it's warmed up though is not noticeable at all.

Good luck with your choice, you have enough cash to pretty much take your pick.

Oh and as a wild card out of your budget choice have a look at the BMW S1000XR. Totally amazing thing!

[Bibio]

go try a bmw k1200r. if you can see past their looks its a great bike. cheep for what they are as the looks seem to bring their value down.

I'd reconsider the VFR800 VTEC bikes if I were you. Think you've maybe prematurely written off the winner!

[Craig380]

Sorry to hear about the incident, hope you get the insurance settlement quickly, by the sound of it there's no way the Micra driver can be less than 100% fault for that.

[Crawling Finn]

R1200GS would do well for you if you can put up with the image. And they are well plenty within your budget.

[Talking Heads]

Make sure the next one has ABS
Have you considered a Triumph Sprint GT...?
Would the budget stretch to a Z1000SX...?

[Heorot]

Have you considered the Triumph Sprint ST. Seems perfect for your requirements to me. MCN consider it the best sports-touring motorcycle of its generation by some margin and better than the VFR's. If you are lucky you may find a used one with factory hard panniers. I'm going to look at an old 955i tomorrow.

[littleoldman2]

Sprint, BMW K1200GT, BMW1300GT, Honda VFT1200F, Crossrunner, Crosstourer. Not necessarily in that order

[DomP]

Sv650?