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28-06-05, 04:47 PM

I have just applied for (and in all likelihood, will get) a job that involves a fair bit of travel, all over the UK. Now, having gotten used to bikes, there is no way I'm going to sit in a slow, gridlocked cage for a couple of hours a day when I can be flying past laughing my head off.

So, it looks like even if I keep my car for when I need to move kit round, I need a bike that is a great long distance machine and cheap to run. My car (PUG 106) is cheap to run/insure, so even if I sold it, I don't think I could afford to keep 2 bikes (especially as I may be parking on-road in a city overnight).

I'm reluctant to get rid of my beloved SV, but I imagine after a few weeks long journeys, I'll be prepared to sacrifice some fun for comfort.
I know Carsick and The Mass have both used K4s as big mileage bikes, what're you finding the servicing costs likes (I know you do your own Carsick)? Bear in mind that whilst simple things like oil changes, etc. I'm comfortable with, I'm no master mechanic. Also, how hard is it to learn to do the majority of servicing tasks yourself?

Once you factor in servicing costs, longr service intervals (important if I'm self-servicing), the conveniance of integrated hard luggage (gah, topboxes!) and comfort, do you reckon I'd be better off selling the SV and buying a workhorse like one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW?

or should I keep the SV? Before you snigger at the beemers, a guy in work has a 750 version of the second one and having done all self servicing (bugger all bar consumables like oil, pads and sparkplugs, by the sounds of it) since 12K miles and it's now 100K+.

I also fancy a proper fairing and even heated grips. Does the full fairing on an SV make a lot of difference to weather protection? I know I could fit heated grips to my SV too.

Any suggestions of other bikes to consider, bearing in mind they need to be comparatively cheap to buy, service, reliable and comfortable? As I'm 23 with 1 years NCB, insurance cost is also a factor.

VFRs look tempting as a nice real 'sports tourer', but they seem pretty pricey to buy and I read that some servicing tasks can be really costly, particularly on the VTEC bikes, they're also fairly pricey to insure.

28-06-05, 04:47 PM	#1
Ceri JC Guest Posts: n/a	Question for the high milers I have just applied for (and in all likelihood, will get) a job that involves a fair bit of travel, all over the UK. Now, having gotten used to bikes, there is no way I'm going to sit in a slow, gridlocked cage for a couple of hours a day when I can be flying past laughing my head off. So, it looks like even if I keep my car for when I need to move kit round, I need a bike that is a great long distance machine and cheap to run. My car (PUG 106) is cheap to run/insure, so even if I sold it, I don't think I could afford to keep 2 bikes (especially as I may be parking on-road in a city overnight). I'm reluctant to get rid of my beloved SV, but I imagine after a few weeks long journeys, I'll be prepared to sacrifice some fun for comfort. I know Carsick and The Mass have both used K4s as big mileage bikes, what're you finding the servicing costs likes (I know you do your own Carsick)? Bear in mind that whilst simple things like oil changes, etc. I'm comfortable with, I'm no master mechanic. Also, how hard is it to learn to do the majority of servicing tasks yourself? Once you factor in servicing costs, longr service intervals (important if I'm self-servicing), the conveniance of integrated hard luggage (gah, topboxes!) and comfort, do you reckon I'd be better off selling the SV and buying a workhorse like one of these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW or http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW? or should I keep the SV? Before you snigger at the beemers, a guy in work has a 750 version of the second one and having done all self servicing (bugger all bar consumables like oil, pads and sparkplugs, by the sounds of it) since 12K miles and it's now 100K+. I also fancy a proper fairing and even heated grips. Does the full fairing on an SV make a lot of difference to weather protection? I know I could fit heated grips to my SV too. Any suggestions of other bikes to consider, bearing in mind they need to be comparatively cheap to buy, service, reliable and comfortable? As I'm 23 with 1 years NCB, insurance cost is also a factor. VFRs look tempting as a nice real 'sports tourer', but they seem pretty pricey to buy and I read that some servicing tasks can be really costly, particularly on the VTEC bikes, they're also fairly pricey to insure.