Touring bike suggestion?

[BigCroc]

Hi there!

Newbie here - new to the forum, also pretty new to riding. I had a 125 for a couple of years, put about 1500 miles on it, but even that was a few years ago. Did my DAS course a few months ago and now I'm wondering what bike to get.

I really want a Ducati 996, but there are two problems with that, firstly, it wouldn't be much good for 2-up touring, and secondly (perhaps more seriously) I'd probably kill myself inside a week.

What I'm actually looking for is a bike that's reliable, cheap to run, and comfortable for trips for a long weekend (possibly up to a week) with 1 or 2, at home and maybe down to the south of France. I think a Deauville might suit me - does that seem like a sensible choice? What would be good alternatives? Could I get away with anything much smaller for 2-up touring?

Thanks for reading!

[noobRider]

I think "sensible" is just about the best one-word description for a Deauville
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[BigCroc]

I've looked at a few Paneuropeans as well, but I think they're much bigger than I want, at least for now. Not so convenient for popping to the shops and more fuel hungry!

[instigator.]

I have a 2001 Deauville. I absolutely love it for commuting, it just soaks up all the bumps on the roads, has built in luggage (although top box is a must) and with a large touring screen, removes about 80% of buffeting. For touring on a warm summers day, I'm not convinced. I guess I'd be wanting "more" from it on such an occasion but being that you'll be two up, I imagine it would be absolutely fine.

Fancy buying mine? It's only got 17k on the clocks

[Wonko The Sane]

i get the impression that the Deauville is a good competent all rounder but a little dull

I'm very fond of my ZZR600E but if you're tall then touring on it can be a bit cramped
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[Itchy]

Early fireblade 900 or 918.

Enough power for 2 up. Enough speed handling for your own fun.

While still sort of big ish but not too big.

With all the pennies left over you can put some hard luggage on it. Nobody makes the rails for it though so you'll probably have to get a workshop to make you some.
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[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Testride some or at the very least sit on them with your pillion. Some pillions prefer holding onto handles either side and some like the handle on the back which they can brace themselves more effectively.

If you think you're likely to kill yourself because of engine size then either learn to operate the throttle or die.
Even my little 28bhp 250 had enough power to spin up the rear if I was cack handed on wet roads.
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[Polarbear]

Deauville for sensibleness.

Divvy 900 with full luggage.

Adventure bikes if thats you cup of tea, plenty of choice with luggage to match. 650's, 800's. 1000cc+. All pretty good for touring.

Sports tourers, VFR's, Sprints, 1250 bandits.

Or full on tourers, Goldwings, Pans, GTR's, Trophys.

There is so much choice you have to narrow down what you want.
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[winz]

Blackbird.

But I am biased...
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[talkToTheHat]

You're saying ducati 996 but wanting tourer, there is a dichotomy here.

You *can* go 2 up touring on an xv535 midded with a pair of givi hard panniers. 40Ish horses is enough to sit at motorway speeds witoit being a roadblock.

If you want a fast bike you can tour on, consider the multistrada if you are still oulled towards ducatis.

VFR is a very sporty mile muncher. Smooth and sophisticated rather than raucous. Good headlights. Crossrunner//crosstourer for more upright seating on a similar bike.

Fazer can carry just as much and not to be discounted, plentiful and cheap.
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[Rogerborg]

What's your budget, inside leg and the combined weight of you and Mrs You?

Or we could just keep rattling off the names of bikes that we like, that's fun too.
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[..]

Ducati Multistrada gets highly rated for soaking up road bumps' although the cheapest way to do it is a single cylinder trail/Adventure bike with long travel suspension & enough weight to it e.g Kawasaki KLR 650/Honda XR650/Yamaha XT600/660 with windshield & 17 inch motard wheels.

[Matt B]

[..]

[BigCroc]

I'm 5'10'', pillion's 5'5''. Together about 140 kg. A full dress tourer's probably overkill for what we want, at the moment anyway, and I'd be worried about the weight for a novice rider (though I should try to test ride one I guess). Plus they're pretty thirsty I guess? At the moment I want something that's good for touring, maybe getting some use round town as a wet-weather commuter too (cycling's my alternative commute). The sports bike can come later

As for speed and power, as long as it's reasonably comfortable cruising around 65-70 mph that's fine - would an Xv535 manage that, for example? Would I notice the low power if I'm riding it conservatively anyway? Shaft drive sounds good from the maintenance aspect, as I'll probably be doing a lot of the work on it myself.

Something like the Sprint is probably more power and fuel than I'm looking for - which also makes me ask, why don't manufacturers publish fuel consumption for bikes? Or do they and I just haven't found it?

[noobRider]

[BigCroc]

[instigator.]

[chris-red]

I would do for something more abit powerful that a 650 Dullsville.

Remember you have just started and probably think a CB500 is a rocket ship. That fades fast.

Along the 996 route what about a multistrada?

https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/a-MAAOSwPcVVoPGW/$_57.JPG

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-Multistrada-1000-S-/201386552693?hash=item2ee392ed75:g:a-MAAOSwPcVVoPGW

To me that is a lot of low mileage bike for not a lot of money.

It isn't crazy fast than those 4 valve air cooled ducati motors are very reliable. Look into it is more sensible than it looks.

Plus how could would it be to have a bike with full ohlins and bembo as your first big bike
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[Matt B]

[BigCroc]

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Following on from chris-red and worth considering if you want something 996'esque is the ST2. 83bhp and 61lb-ft of torque. 2 valve per cylinder. The '97-'99 years are to be avoided.

Cheap to run and easy to service. Chassis is derived from the 916 and has the same excellent suspension and brakes. Difficult to make it twist it's knickers and although a little heavy it's handling is predictable with or without pillions and luggage.

Riding position is more sports than tour. It doesn't like 30mph or should I say it is lumpy below 3500rpm and requires use of clutch to keep things smooth. The clutch is heavy unless you remove 2 of the springs and the dry clutch is rattly unless you add an extra friction plate behind the pack.

The wires from the reg/rec are too thin but simply snipping them off and using a heavier gauge sorts out the only electrical gremlin on what is otherwise a super bit of kit.

The headlight is rubbish and in my experience fitting HID didn't help so I used an 'extreme' something or other bulb and slightly improved it.
Lower OS fairing is prone to cracking near the exhaust. Use heatproof tape on the inside and job jobbed.

24lt tank which takes you 160-200miles. It pulls like a train and then kinda stops when it gets to 130 which is plenty fast enough for most.

Be patient and you can pick one up with low mileage and full luggage for £1500-£1750.

Use bike specific forums when narrowing down your choices and I bet you still haven't been out testriding have you.
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[stevo as b4]

We need direction from the OP!

But the fun thing of rattling off names of bikes we like, see's me thinking that the Multistrada (even with Ohlins) is not really doing it for me.

Id much prefer a re-built FJ1200, with Ohlins, Dymags, Mikuni TMR40's etc. But I read a lot of fantasy nonsense in magazines and l like shiny old things with lots of bling and carbon stuck to them!

[Undinist]

I'd get a K1100LT, which is what I ride now. It'll only cost £1500, so who cares about the mpg? You'll have lots of money left over for nice hotels and decent wine and treats for the other half.
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[chris-red]