@hsinclai - I hear you buddy. As I mentioned, my own bike got stolen, hence the hunt for a new one. It was in the garage, secured and everything, but unfortunately in London it's often a matter of time. You make a good point tho - BMWs are arguably more of a target than the RE.

@stuxtttr - love the FUEL motorcycle conversion, quite fun! It's interesting to hear that acceleration and pace isn't going to differ too much in the end, and I seem to have done the right research. As you say, similar bikes for what they serve, may as well go for the newer one (and she's good looking!)

Thank you both - really appreciate your input, and shall update you when I've purchased the bike!

All the best
Alex

The Royal Enfield is cheap junk. It's slow and heavy. But it IS cheap and it does seem to be reliable.

The Sertao is not a bad bike at all. It's a proven design and been around for a long time.

The Sertao is an Asian built replica of the BMW F650 Dakar.

I'd look for one of those. Better build quality as they were made in Europe , not Asia.

You should find a very nice Dakar for around £2500.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I'm the owner of a 2013 g650gs. Bought a year ago, 14000km, now at 21000. I weigh 125kg, and have no issues bringing up to 140 with power to spare. I can get it up to 160 with no issues. And that's loaded.

So in my humble opinion, power is not an issue. It's no 1200,no race bike, but it puts a smile on my face on tarmac, on gravel,on sand, in twisties, and at the pump (I also own a 5.7 v8 pickup....)

It's a great bike. The re Himalayan is great too, I almost got one as well instead of the bmw. However RE does not have a stellar long term reputation on other models, and this one is a new model. So the jury is still out as far as long term durability goes. If you plan on changing your bike in a few years and don't really care about resale value, the RE seems like a good choice.

If you plan on keeping the bike long, or want a predictable resale value, I'd go beamer.

As far as people giving the old... Made in China crap, seriously, I have read nowhere of people owning the newer Chinese made engines having any issues.

It's only the rotax engine that was made in China, and it's holding up well, and I believe they were strict with quality control. Show me evidence that this particular engine suffers issues.

The only weak point of the beamer, is the front shocks. I'll get them changed eventually for touratech, but will wait until they die naturally, which might be a while. Ah yeah, I hate the stock seat as well.

But the beamer has tons of luggage and aftermarket configurations, not do much with the RE.

My 0.02$