Budget touring bikes (read tight fisted bastard)

[STONEY!]

Looking into doing some more touring , not got a massive budget so it's got to go as far as possible (in every way). things I am looking for are:

Cheap enough I wont mind throwing it away if it all goes tits up (I will have recovery cover but they wont repatriate low value bikes and their idea of low is under £3000 or so!)
Reliable
easy to maintain
good mpg
Comfy seat
70mph cruising (just to get through the boring bits)

so far I have thought of:

GT550
xj600
cb450dx
bandit
gsx600f
ntv600/650

any other suggestions?

[Matt B]

Why are all your choices non tourers with such low capacity engines?

If you want to tour you should look at bikes with a full fairing, including luggage, and a decent size engine. It really does make it easier and more enjoyable if you don't have to put up with wind blast and don't need to wring the bikes neck all the time.

ST1100 will do the job properly.
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Northern Monkey]

Maybe this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-HONDA-CB-500-S-BLUE-/271911643235?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f4f326863
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Fisty: after polishing the tank with the glistenng beads of sweat from my full hot scrotum, I filled the headrace bearings with 10cc of my manmilk

[STONEY!]

I disagree completely

I have had various big "touring" bikes including the st1100 and whilst they are good bikes (especially the st1100) they are just not my cup of tea.

Full fairings detach you from the ride
Hard Luggage is bulky and hinders filtering
big engine is thirsty and heavy
Big heavy bike is hard to take off the road (not really off road but unpaved roads etc)
if you have a big tourer with all the gear people also look at you differently and interacting with the locals can be harder.

[STONEY!]

yes the CB500 is one I would consider, the only thing that puts me off is it's liquid cooled.

[c-m]

The GPZ500 is better than the CB500.

I did 5,500 miles on one to the black sea. Worked well.

Boring as hell when trying to make time on the autobahn though.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Pigeon]

https://www.realclassic.co.uk/bikepix/electra14033101.jpg

[Moo.]

Diversion 900?

Can be bought for under £1000 (Mine was £600)
Shaft drive - no chain maintanence
Bulletproof engine - know for going round the clocks
MPG i tend to get 45-50mpg
Mine has done a fair few tours with no complaints or hicups. Drove to the alps and back no problem, often put a few hundred miles per week on it and all has been hassle free so far!
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A2 Passed 18/6/10

[GaryJM]

Second hand Sprint ST or 955.
Again a second hand VFR 800.
There's loads of options just depends on budget.
Personally had a Bandit 600 previously did some weekends away etc but so far only gone any great distance in one go so far on my Sprint GT SE and the difference is like night and day.
What about a Bandit 1200. There was a version that came with hard luggage as standard, that should be as cheap as chips now
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So long and Thanks for all the fish !
Triumph Sprint GT SE.

[delsol]

[delsol]

What is the budget for the bike.

Buying a cheaper bike (assuming engine and gearbox are not obviously problematic) and spending money on prepping it for reliability would be my preference, a check and overhaul of brakes, bearings, chain and sprockets, valve clearances, plugs, battery, tyres, fuel system and electrics etc.

Knowing all of the above were in good nick prior to setting off would be a prerequisite for me, fixing broken bikes on tour does not do much for the wallet or the soul.

[noobRider]

[Northern Monkey]

[STONEY!]

Budget is up to a grand I recon ideally more like £500!

As for the discrimination I've not experienced it myself just heard lots of stories of people on flash/big bikes getting into trouble or just getting avoided/blanked in poorer countries. I've never had an issue but I only ride old junkers.

[c-m]

[mentalboy]

[STONEY!]

Hard luggage does kill filtering ability unless its oem built in stuff like dullville or pan euro. Maybe you dont filter like I do? It simply wouldn't be possible with most commercially available hard luggage.

Soft panniers not extended is as wide as I want to go, basically no wider than the bars of the bike.

Im not on about anything major off road definitely no need for knobblies, I have managed everything so far on my missus's fazer lol but probably couldn't have done it on anything bigger and definitely not a pan euro lol

[FlightRisk]

[STONEY!]

Nothing wrong with a liquid cooled bike but it is more to go wrong and if you drop it and but a hose/radiator your fucked.

[Monkeypony]

Do you own a bike at the moment?

If so, what's wrong with just using that?
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[STONEY!]

I have a fairly large selection of bikes lol, just got back from croatia on my fazer 600. This is the reason I'm thinking of other options.

The Fazer was good, more performance than I needed, great MPG, 500 mile a day was easy and comfortable, even did a few little jaunts off the beaten track.

The only issue I had was the O-rings on the float valve seats failed possibly due to the higher ethanol content of the fuel over there. Bodged it with some cut up fuel hose which lasted as far as Munich then failed completely.

Called my breakdown cover and got recovered from the motorway, they couldn't fix it so was taken to a yamaha dealership who luckily had the O-rings in stock and let me use their workshop for free.

Thing is If I hadn't been able to fix it the recovery company (AXA Assistance) said they would fly me home but not the bike as in their eyes it wasn't valuable enough. I value that fazer at £1500 and just taking that as a loss to me isn't an option.

That leaves me with 2 options for the next trip, take a higher value bike which they will recover home (about £3000 seems to be their cut off) or take something that if it fucks up I can throw away and not worry about.

I haven't got £3000+ to spend on a bike so option 2 is the winner!

[pepperami]

Ahhh! I see your problem now, and have a solution
Stop taking your bikes aboard .
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[smegballs]