Ideas for reasonable distance commuter bike

If you want something a little different, ZZR600s can be picked up quite cheap now and are supposed to be competent distance munchers.

I was going to suggest an older sportsbike. I could ride all day on my '98 ZX6R and I can get very good mileage out of a tank.

How about this: http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=135854

Originally Posted by joshmac

He's 17 I think, which probably means he'll get raped by insurance companies on any litre + bike

An old pan TPFT valued at £2000 I was quoted at £268 not yo bad I thought. Fazers and bandits are around the same and the insurance on a B12 was around £360. So insurance isn't that bad as long as its not a sports bike ;] Thought about a shafty because I'm lazy and the chain would probably be neglected after 8 weeks or so of checking the tension etc. Bike size I'm fairly comfortable with most things, had a blast on a 1250 bandit and I felt absoloutly fine with it both feet flat on the floor etc. One thing I do hate though is a parallel twin, always have hated them.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by teriyakimonkey

I was going to suggest an older sportsbike. I could ride all day on my '98 ZX6R and I can get very good mileage out of a tank.

+1

Originally Posted by simesb

If you want something a little different, ZZR600s can be picked up quite cheap now and are supposed to be competent distance munchers.

If the Zx6R G1 is expensive in insurance this might be an idea. Think I got about 45mpg from my Bandit 6, get 55mpg (to 60mpg) easily from the G1 so you should have a 240 mile useable tank range i.e. only fill it up every other day which will be a big plus over doing it every day.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by simesb

If you want something a little different, ZZR600s can be picked up quite cheap now and are supposed to be competent distance munchers.

They are awesome, a local mechanic here did a 200 mile round trip on one for a few years. Serviced it according to the book and it ran sweet as a nut even with 150k up.
But also not cheap to insure.

I'd do some quotes on an XJ900 or diversion 900.
Shaft drive, fairing, cheap...

That Fazer in the for sale section?

From reading the thread title my immediate thought was CB500. A Dullsville would probably be even better tho'.

I'd vote against older sports bikes and against bandits etc as whilst I have nothing against them as bikes and am sure they would do the distance etc I think you mentioned wanting to keep costs down and with the distances you're talking about I think the cost of tyres & chains is a consideration and they will go through them more quickly than a lower powered bike and they will cost more than the equivalent for say a CB500.

You might think the differences in cost tiny but if they add up to 1p per mile (I think it could easily be more) then you're still talking £1.20 a day and over a year that's perhaps £250. So I guess it depends whther that matters to you.

Oh and I also subscribe to the school of thought that says if you're on something that can go faster and harder you will. So having something a bit slower and more efficient you can't help but end up being more efficient. My SV 'can' do 170 miles to a tank however seeing the light go on with less than 120 miles covered is not unusual and I am not a particularly fast or aggressive rider.

[Bibio]

BMW.. run forever and a day, comfy, reliable and cheep (the police use them for a reason)

you should pick up something with all the toys for about £2000. dont bother looking at the reg date concentrate more on the condition.

Originally Posted by Bibio

BMW ... (the police use them for a reason)

Nothing against BMWs (I quite fancy one when I can afford one) but the Police use them in no small part because of the publicised high speed stability problem of the Pan.