So are you recommending an ex? My mechanic, who only works on Japanese bikes, over the phone and through a relay quickly just recommended I bring in the Yamaha, and not mess with the Suzuki; seemed to have a bias against them, honestly, didn't really give it much thought or care to hear the model much. Then he just said to go with the Yamaha or find a Honda. Lastly, he recommended a Kawasaki EX, same bike I guess.

But is that really optimal for touring?

I went and looked at the Suzuki today. I was a little worried beforehand, but meeting the guy I feel a lot better--he opened up his garage and had 5 other bikes in there. He's an amateur motorcycle mechanic, has been self-teaching for 2 years, and has obviously taken care of the bike while he's had it. Said I could get his buddy (who he's selling the bike for, and who he works on bikes with) down to $1100--the price he bought it for a couple months ago before realizing it was too big for him, and he just put $200 getting bonded title and plates for it.

It sounded like the engine is in good shape, it's only got 31,000 mi on it, and the transmission seems smooth. It's a shaft drive, which seems like the way to go, and looking up old reviews, it seems like the shaft drive on these is excellent--engineered so that there's no delay.

The carbs were vatted recently, but never tuned, so I couldn't really test drive it--even when he drove it, it died on him a couple times. He had the box off, then tried it back with it on again, but if the 4 carbs weren't tuned, that makes sense--the engine sounded good.

A weekend tuning those ought to fix that. I think I'll bring it over to my mechanic anyways and get him to give it a once-over before I commit, but any feedback guys? Does this sound like a good touring bike, low maintenance with a little work?