It's the Which? Bike thread!!

[Officialslacker]

I've just started learning (and planning my trip!) and wondering about what bike to get once I've passed my test - I'm looking at traveling to the following;

Start - Scotland

England
Wales
England
France
Switzerland
Liechtenstein
Austria
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Turkey
Syria
Lebanon
Israel
Egypt
Libya
Tunisia
Sicily
Italy
Vatican City
Italy
France
England
End - Scotland


As far as I've been able to find out, most of the roads are good, so am looking for a bike that is happy on the road and offroad so I'll be able to keep using it as I gain experiance riding, but is easy enough for a newbie to start with - Any suggestions??

I had looked at;

buell ulysses adventurer
Yamaha XT660R
Suzuki Vstorm 650A

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Matt

[Dessertstrom]

Hi Matt,
It really depends on the kind of off roading you want to do.
The V-Strom is a good allrounder but is limited off road to firm green lanes or forest tracks, it doesn't like sand or mud with it's Trail Wing tyres.
Comfortable bike to ride on road and will do 44 mpg with a 22 ltr tank,plenty of power and easy to ride.
I think the Buell would be too much for your experience with it's 1250 motor that likes to pull a wheeeelie.
Don't know about the Yamaha so can't comment but there are plenty of folks on here that like them.
Cheers
Ian

[sanderd]

Hi Matt,

I would leave the Buell for what it is: a Poser bike ;-)
(also, HD/Buell has no decent dealernetwork in some of the countries you want to go...)

Based on the assumption you don't do serious off-road, i would go for the Vstrom, if budget allowes. Otherwise XT660R. Both are good and solid bikes.

cheers,
Sander

[Matt Cartney]

Buying new? I'd take a close look at the new Yamaha Tenere.

Matt

[DougieB]

saltire suzuki (Dundee Terrace) have the v-strom (not the A though). but they have some second hand 650's, you could Adventure-ise one of those. I had a 650 over a weekend, and it was pretty good. 650 will cruise at 80 mph easier than an XT will. for a solo ride better than the 1000 I have now.

I would personally go for an XT though, as I'd give up motorway comfort for some off-road ability. I think the XT would be cheaper to drop as well, if it's your first bike.

Doesn't the 650 v-strom have ABS that can't be switched off?

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by DougieB

I would personally go for an XT though, as I'd give up motorway comfort for some off-road ability. I think the XT would be cheaper to drop as well, if it's your first bike.

Doesn't the 650 v-strom have ABS that can't be switched off?

There's a lot of plastic on the wee strom compared with the XT and some other bikes; I have wondered about taking off the fairing plastic and replace it with some damaged second hand ones from a breaker for "serious travelling", if I was to own this, or similar bike.
The "poly" plastic (or whatever it is correctly called) type of stuff on more offroad oriented bikes is much more robust of course.

I would like a definitive answer about if the DL650 ABS is switchable; the dealer could not tell me, after which I walked out.

officialslacker,
Best do some reading into the multitude of threads in here as well; there are lots to go for.

[Dessertstrom]

The ABS is not switchable http://11109.rapidforum.com/ but I think you can put a switch in the line or pull the fuse.
Cheers
Ian

[mollydog]

So don't under estimate the Ulysess...a super good bike...just not for everyone and not for begginers. (too tall)