Best Touring Bike
 

Hi,
I am looking for advice on the type of touring - general usage bike to purchase. I have been struck by the number of tour blogs that cite BMW as their ride. I am kinda guessing that in Europe, BMW might be a very logical choice, but what about North and South America? I have had fairly extensive experience with BMW cars, and have found them to be engineering works of art, and beautiful to drive, BUT requiring a LOT of maintenance, and having parts that are outrageously expensive and mostly proprietary. So the owner is locked into a relatively small service network. Thus definitely NOT the kind of car to drive into rural areas, and not the kind of car to buy if you are anything other than financially very flush.
So, my question is this. Are the BMW bikes subject to the same sort of elegant but fragile engineering, or are they truly uber-reliable workhorses that will economically take their riders around the globe. Is their time-to-failure; time-to-repair performance on a par with a Japanese bike?
Since I am still researching potential bikes, any information will be appreciated.
Regards,
Frank Sheehan

Depends on what kinda touring your doing.
BMW R1200GS are grate bikes. That said there expensive and need maintenance more than most. KTM 900 are tuffer I think but there network is not as big still you need the cash to get to them and maintenance can be just as expensive. Thats the big "best of the best" bikes I dont thin there that grate but more the "go to" bike If you got cash. I think they are over rated and top heavy pigs. but thats me Im cheap If im spending the money I demand better the old R80GS is the bike I want in the BMW line.

The Suzuki DL line up are vary good need less maintenance and far cheaper. I have a DL650 and is grate for the 90% on road 10% off road riding that I do.
The Honda Transalp is dam near bullet proof but seems bike of choice for cheap Europeans that want something different and dont by in to BMW thing.

The Kawasaki KLR650 old but dam reliable once modified proven world rider bike cheap and easy to fix. The reason I dont use one is its on road ride in the USA the speeds on the roads I need to take can be ruff on this little bike.
Suzuki DR and DRZ are much like the KLR bit more off road with out losing to much on road. There lighter but have smaller tanks. Both the DR and KLR need to modified to make them rideable on the long runs. There subframe can stand a bit of strengthening if you plan on long rides off road load up.

You need to find out what your going to do and find a bike that you like then modifie it to work for you, no bike rides will once loaded up new suspension is need and thats gust the start.
Travling by bike is not as cheap as you may think economically is subjective. It is cheaper than using a 4X4 but much more than backpacking and using a bus.


BMW like HD are a "lifestyle" bike for many, the cost of ownership is gust something that come with it. There grate bikes but I dont buy in to whole There the best or silly lifestyle ideas they feed the people.

How long are your legs? When you're touring with a fully laden bike it's so easy to loose your balance if you can't get both feet down. A lot of modern dual sports are too tall for me. Triumph Tiger and XT660 are about my limit. You can tour on anything though and a triumph Bonneville with panniers will take you anywhere you want to go. Get something you're comfortable on.

Totally agree. My Bonneville with knobblies, or a dare say a Harley Sportster or Kawasaki ER-5 or a dozen other bikes will do anything and go anywhere with the right tyres. My issues with the current BMW's are weight, cost, seat height and the attitude of some dealers. I really don't see what an R1200GS at £10,000 will do that a Bonneville at £5000 won't except exceed the speed limit to a greated extent. My last F650 was destroyed by a waterpump failure, I had two R1100R's with horrible corrosion issues, so if you want a BM that matches the brand image long term, you want an R80.

If you have cash rather than a trade in, I'd be visiting dealers or looking on e-bay to see who'll give you the best deal and best support rather than looking for a particular brand. Once you've spotted something you need to find the Yahoo group of owners clubs and see what breaks and when. I wouldn't rule out BMW, but I wouldn't rush to hand them your cash either.

Andy

It rather depends on what you mean by touring. If you mean fat bloke, Mrs and the entire contents of their 4 bed executive home bamming down some autobahn then you would probably need to look at the top end Hondas BMWs and or HDs but for me it would be the humble bullet followed closely be the old XT Tenere. Cheap to maintain - parts are still v reasonable and it is not fussy about oils etc. Not quite the mechano set that MZs were but definately not beyond the capabilities of the average bloke. Will make friends instantly, will go anywhere the fancy stuff will and then some. I did (according to my mates on board computer) in excess of 1000 miles in Ireland last year without a problem or a sore arse, and she was more than capable of carrying all the luggage required.

Sometime you need to think out of the box a bit. The bullet may not be right for you but then only you can know what you require of a touring bike.

Stephen

PS I owned a GS (oil head) for a number of years and covered more miles than I care to remember. It was expensive for parts, needed very regular servicing (both mine (oils) and dealer) and I found BMW service very poor despite the reputation. Once they have you by the cheque book they don't need to worry. It was a BMW appoved machine and yet the brake pads were gone inside the first service interval as were the tyres and I ride like a blouse. Then there was the small matter of the headstock bearings that had been heated till the grease boiled out of them - not by me - sorry sir outside warranty. Finally any bike that requires the whole front end stripping to replace an indicator is too over engineered for me. Aparently the old Airheads are not the same and may prove a sensible choice but I have no first hand experience of these.