Reading the various threads here abouts, I was thinking about how I chose my bike. Maybe others would care to comment and we'll end up with a bit of a database?

So, it's 2004, I'm riding an XT600E. Within 12 months I've got a girlfriend (now wife), a dog and a job where I can no longer ring the boss from the wrong side of the North Sea and ask for a week off (Goodness knows what I'd have done if he'd ever said no, Norway or Germany to Leeds in fifteen minutes isn't easy and even I can't develop convincing man flu in thirty seconds ). The pillion seat on the XT was ueless, so it wasn't getting used as much as it should.

I therefore needed a two-up, fun at weekends but able to go anywhere type bike. I only do aircooled singles and twins after the F650 in Morocco incident. Spec was a 650-1000cc 50-80 hp road bike with a full frame and nothing I didn't understand mechanically.

Initially I wanted an R80GS, but prices were insane and condition poor, plus selling an 18 month old XT to buy a fifteen year old BM is more hassle than walking into a dealer. Oddly three new bikes met the spec, Kawasaki W650, Harley Sportster and the Bonneville. The Kawa was out of production and a little short on power. The Sportster was a great ride but tyre choice was limited and the sales guy only wanted me to get one so I could trade it for the adult version (1200) later. The Triumph salesman was drunk at some Rocket3 event so made me a stupid offer.

Fast forward to 2007 and I fell off a few times on the Elefant basically due to laziness in not putting the knobblies on. However, with the dog and amount of gear Karen likes to carry the sidecar made sense so I fitted the Ural chair.

Am I happy with it? Once I sorted the range with an auxilliary tank; Oh yes

Conclusions I'd draw:

Look at bike specs, not particular models.

Don't believe anything the bike manufacturers or journalists say unless it has hard facts in it. "Could do with stronger brakes" is Journo speak for "I'm used to my R6 and would rather be out testing a Ducati".

Tyres maketh the bike, look at rim sizes and clearances.

Simple is good.

Do your research here and on other sites, comments like "my clutch is fine at 107000 miles" and "I've never opened the engine" give warmer feelings than pages of discussions about water pumps.

Look for models with a long production run. I pick up spares at crazy prices as most Bonneville owners fit chromed bits and e-bay the OE items.

Andy

After months of prevaricating, it was actually quite easy.

I narrowed my choice down to three 600s with a good reputation:

BMW F650
Honda Transalp
Yamaha XT 600E

Then bought the first good example that came up at a reputable dealer. As it turned out , it was an XT600E and it's a great bike!

I think you can spend far too much time worrying about the choice of bike. Thre are plenty of good ones out there!

Matt

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

+1

It's so personal, like asking how to choose shoes. But happy to contribute


I wanted to upgrade the 88 Tenere for something modern. At the time duel sport was relatively newish.

Wanted a single, and could only really choose between 640, 650 Dakar and the DR. The last fell of immediately because it was the same as the Tenere but built new. Fell towards the 640 due to the dirt riding marketing etc. But ended up with the 650 Dakar and love it for it's available info, modern design, comfort, large capacity alternator, extra's, ABS, robust revvy motor, FI, low COG, awesome looks, heaps of plastic and alli parts (I live 50m from the beach).

Don't like the BMW bit though.

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My search was similar and still different.
for my RTW 2 up
*reliable
*confortable
*able to carry 2 up on and off road
*easy to work on
* well known bike having done similar trip
*easy to find after market part (big tank.......)
*good look
*price
These were pretty much my requirement in order of preference

PS I heard one or two things about some final drive issue but ......

My first overland choice had been the BMW R1150GS, courtesy of its cargo capabilities, comfort and relaibility for our two-up journeying! I'm glad to say it performed famously, only to let itself down in the "being slammed by a car headlong into a crash barrier" category where it, regrettably, failed to pass...

Since then I have moved to Estonia where winter riding should involve studs, so a solo was not a good choice, we have a dog, so a solo was not a good choice and I am still crap at off-roading, so a solo was not a good choice.
Result? A Ural 2WD Sportman that I am bastardising heavily on a weekendly basis, so that it can carry us both with the dog too and our luggage over all sorts of terrain. Plans to use it include Europe and Murmansk in the near term and Siberia and Cape Town in the long term.... For one man jaunts I have an XR400, with large tank and VERY thick sheepskin on the seat...

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

heh, could get slapped for this one.

Truth is I spent weeks and weeks like everyone else eying up different bikes, looking at stats and opinions. Then I went into a shop, saw a bike, forgot the stats and fell in love. 2005 Honda Transalp. We are 10 months into our sordid love affair and still going strong.

Like everyone says, it is a personal choice. If there was one bike perfect for the job then this part of the forum wouldn't exist. it'd just be "Which bike should I take?" and everyone would post back "DUUUUHHHH, Transalp!" (of course)

safe riding,
Ol

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It's certainly odd how the whole 'perfect bike' thing works out - I spent ages reading articles on the net, looking at all the options and taking test rides etc before deciding what was the best bike for me back in July 07, now less than two years later it is probably the least favourite bike that I have ever owned. Uncomfortable on long journeys and an absolute pain to do even simple work on it's being traded in next week.

The bike, an 07 Honda Trans Alp probably just like the one that Hornet600 has - still, it would be a boring world if we all had the same tastes

I ended up getting a copy of bike trader, looked through it and got the lowest mileage bike that looked up to the job for under 2 grand with fairly low mileage. Ended up with an Elefant 750, great bike

I was actually looking for a used XT600 but in the end I bought a new BMW R80 GS Basic and I still use it after more then 200kkm

Its interesting that most members so far, me included when considering the XR, just plumbed for what looked capable and available at the time but do not seem at all disappointed by their choices!

I find that quite encouraging: a small reminder that its the rider and what you experience that makes a trip, rather than purely the bike

It just goes to show, in my opinion, that spec sheets are a bit of a waste of time, other than the simple pre-purchase therapy of window shopping and licking one's lips at the prospect.

Perhaps the next time a newbie poster gets embroiled in a storm of opinions we should direct them here and point out: "See? If you get what you like for the money you've got, you'll figure the rest out for yourself..."

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Curiously enough I'm going through this very process at the moment, I'm trading in my stalwart Kawasaki GT550 and upgrading to something more versatile.

After reading the forums and drooling over one, I'm probably going for a XT660Z which appears to be a happy medium of good quality and a bike that I like the look of.


Heh, and no need for the redirect Warthog.

When travelling to "east" part of the world, i chose a bike which is "hard to break, easy to fix" ... KLR650 ... for solo, so-so mechanic, light traveller i think its a great pic ...also web-purchasing almost every part is possible....

But when travelling to "west", i chose a bike "hard to break, impossible to fix" ... BMW 1150GS ... i thought finding parts or dealer is not a big deal at that part of the world ...

Thats how i chose ...

I'm glad you've got a model in mind, Lagan , rather than being in that " I don't which way to turn" state that is so easy to fall in to.

I must say that this topic has got me thinking about how we choose bikes. The first thing to remmeber and often the easiest to forget is that one's bike is very personal. As with all personal things, we often think ours is best and can also get very defensive if that choice is questioned or criticised. Then all hell breaks loose and we are on 142 posts of slagging off!!!

I must say that I think anyone who wants advice on which bike they should buy should follow TWB's lead and not ask "which bike should I buy?", but rather "which bike did you buy and why?".

Then they can start looking through the responses for people who had similar needs to their own: route, luggage, price, performance etc...

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

I've just realised its a while since we had a BMW versus Jap bike ding-dong. People must have finally vented all their arguments!

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Perhaps it is also something to do with pre-internet era, when older members bought their bikes? I imagine back then things were a bit simpler. The less information (or choice) you have, perhaps more happy you are. If you don't read endless reviews and opinions on forums and just go to a shop, buy a bike that *you* like (not someone else recommends) and be satisfied... Nowadays if you start reading forums about diffrent opinions you just can easily go nuts.