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Single..twin..triple?? Single..twin..triple??
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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  #1  
Old 27 Mar 2009
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Single..twin..triple??
My story is I am looking for a bike to some commuting in the city, some highway trips and ultimately a trip to Alaska next summer as a 40th birthday, mid-life crisis kind of adventure. I have been reading about bikes like crazy (I almost feel obsessive) and have narrowed things down a bit. Here is a list of bikes I am considering:

1) BMW F650 single

2) Suzuki V-strom 650 or 1000

3) Triumph Tiger

The bikes I am looking towards would be late 90's to early 2000's models, hopefully spending less the $5000. My motorcycling experince is limited over the last 20+ years, I grew up riding dirtbikes and such but really nothing much since then. As such I want something pleasant to ride and not too unwielding. A quirk of mine is I like different stuff (not the run-of-the-mill) hence the reason for looking at the Tiger.

So, I guess what I am asking is for some input into these models. There seems to be a lot of experience on this forum, might as well take advantage of it.
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Old 27 Mar 2009
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Have you thought about an Elefant, some very good mid-90s examples about. In europe they were Cagiva but I believe they were sold in the USA as Ducati E750 or E900. Great bikes, great engines and much better handling (IMHO) than the tiger and a lot more character and better sound than the F650 (is that a sewing machine coming up the road?)
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Old 27 Mar 2009
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I have never heard of it. Isn't Google great though? It is a nice looking bike, not sure how many of them are around these parts, but I will do some searching.
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Old 27 Mar 2009
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Bearing in mind the availability and pricing of bikes in Canada -
Probably your best bet is the VStrom , 650 for economy ,1000 for power .
Much cheaper than a Tiger [ the Tiger is a good bike but you'll have to buy an older bike for the same money ] .
Avoid early F650GS they have front forks that are dodgy and are expensive bikes for what you get .
KLR 650 or DR650 would be a good choice if you want to do mild off road or lots of gravel .

Buy as new a bike as you can ,there should be some good trade-ins coming on the market about now [ or maybe not - recession blues !!!!!] .
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Old 27 Mar 2009
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First of all, get out and test ride all of these if you can: you might decide that you like one model so much that you can live with the downsides it may have...

Secondly, if you can test ride others too, even better.

Still, purely at face value, I would say a twin of some sort. They develop respectable power for their engine size, good torque (fewer gear changes) and are generally economical (more so than a 4 cylinder equivalent, as a rule of thumb). For your uses, I would say that no less than 600 for a twin: makes higways a lot easier...

If you want unusual, then have a look at brands like Aprilia, and Moto Guzzi, although I am not so familiar with their range at the moment.

Having said that, if you want something easy to live with then I would say you can't go far wrong with any in your short list, even if they are not rare and exotic...
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Old 27 Mar 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodger View Post
Bearing in mind the availability and pricing of bikes in Canada -
Probably your best bet is the VStrom , 650 for economy ,1000 for power .
Much cheaper than a Tiger [ the Tiger is a good bike but you'll have to buy an older bike for the same money ] .
Avoid early F650GS they have front forks that are dodgy and are expensive bikes for what you get .
KLR 650 or DR650 would be a good choice if you want to do mild off road or lots of gravel .

Buy as new a bike as you can ,there should be some good trade-ins coming on the market about now [ or maybe not - recession blues !!!!!] .
Good comment here IMO. It's the on/off road compromise which is always difficult.
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Old 27 Mar 2009
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I have thought about the KLR and DR but have since decided against those. I suppose the F650 is in the same category, but from reading, they seem to be a little better on the highway, less buzzy.

I like the V-strom, it just seems that because of their popularity and the limited selection in Canada, they seem to hold their prices. It is tough to find a decent low-mileage one for less that $6-7000. I like that there is good support for them as far as accessories though.

From reading about the Tiger, people who own them seem to like them (a bias I suppose). I read a trip diary from a guy who made the trip to Alaska on his and he never made any negative comments about his bike throughout the trip. I don't know much about the triple, so I should do some more reading.
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