Well lots of brilliant info-input do far.....cheers....
I am 5.10.....not a lot of off road although I had a kl500 pure dirt bike for a while...after that it was xt 500, 550 600..then a Spanish 4-stroke single....then a full-power tuned V-MAX ....now nearing the 50 mark so I have two BMW r850r....
I have never really gone for bm boxers because the opposed heads sticking out always put me off....however then I RODE ONE!! Very very comfy...and the maintenance appealed...oil in gearbox seperate, ordinary oil in the engine...no chain.....gearbox out in a couple of hours if you need to..NO RAD,no coolant, no hoses, no leaks
I have put aside singles trailies because of the vibration...the GS bmws seem too tall....forget any road bike with 4 cylinders because of fuel consumption, 4 carbs to clean etc....
Will probably be going alone ...this is a VERY hot potato at the moment with my mrs....! but would like to carry a passenger if the need arises..I want to take camping stuff and have two home-made 50 litre panniers from aircraft meal boxes......
Unless anyone comes up with something that is ideal, I have got the concept down to the r850r with trail tyres in case an off-road track looks interesting...the other r850 would be stripped for spares to send out if needed...
Judging by comments so far I think not too big,,,not too small, not too light, not too heavy is the way to go....I also figure there is NO ideal bike because there are always lots of folk on here going over this question eternally...still interested in those of you that have changed bikes and the reasons...