Is the all-round bike dying?

[daifuco]

I am still on L plates, soon I will pass my mod 2. And I am beginning to consider a big bike. I have been training on a Hornet, a ER-6N and a Bandit.
Since I am still not sure of the usage I am going to give to the bike (apart of commuting) the most reasonable choice is get a bike that does everything reasonably well...
...But it looks like these kind of bike is in danger of extincion. Why is that?
Last week Yamaha removed the XJ6 and the Fazer from the UK market, the bandit 650 is history.
The MT and the Ducati scrambler are the super sellers of the middle sized bikes. Both are clearly not all round bikes, they are more like fun commuters with limited touring or pillion usage.
Honda NC are also specialized bikes but in a different way: boring but effective commuting. Probably a bit better for long distances but really not that good for anything exciting.
Most of middle size all rounded don't seem to be doing very well. Bikes like the CB650 or BMW F800R are not popular at all. The only popular everyday bike I can think of is the ER-6N, which is still in shape but is beginning to show its age.
It seems to me that the industry is too focused to sell summer treats or grandpa bikes.

[deadwolf]

The type of bike that most matches the 'all-round-bike' you're talking about would probably be a modern 'adventure' bike like the Versys or V-Strom and midsized BMWs. The only issue with them is that they usually have a higher than average seat height.

Thanks to the suspension and possible lean angle on those things they can often outride sportbikes on normal roads. Plus have space to plonk luggage on and should offer decent comfort for touring, for both rider and pillion.
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Motorsapien Art

[Albigularis]

Because it's better have a bike that's only mediocre at everything and excels at what you mainly want to use it for. An R1200GS for example. It's not bad for commuting, but it's amazing for going 500+ miles in a day. If you mainly do that kinda riding, then it's a great bike for you. I guess there are just less riders nowadays who do all different types of riding.

Yamaha got rid of the XJ6 because the MT07 is better in every way, and is cheaper. Why would you buy an XJ6 over an MT07? They sure aren't getting rid of it because they're flying out the door.

I don't quite get your point though, are you implying that the Bandit 650 was good for pillions, and the MT isn't? Or is it just that you can't find a cheap bike with a decent fairing?

I think that in line with refinement, added features and so on, it's simply a case that the all round bikes have become more expensive. Probably because those who get more use from a bike are more willing to pay more for them and their respective features.

The best all-round motorcycle already exists, it's the Multistrada 1200S. 160bhp, upright seating, comfy seat, heated grips, great wind protection, brembo brakes, traction control, decent onboard computer, electronically adjustable ohlins suspension, factory fitted panniers and top box, great pillion comfort, looks good, handles extremely well, only weighs 25kg more than a liter sports bike, bluetooth remote built into the onboard switch gear, low as 805mm seat height (lower than a Street Triple), 200 mile tank range, endless list...

After the creation of the Multistrada 1200, everyone else stopped trying (except BMW who essentially copied it). Being unable to have the perfect all round bike is simply your punishment for not taking out a Tri-Options (Ducati branded re-mortgage) finance package to afford one. Compulsory sale of soul and sacrifice of your first-born required as deposit.
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Biking history so far-
Aprilia RS125 - Kawasaki ZXR400 - Triumph Street Triple R - Suzuki GSXR1000 L3 - BMW R1200GS - Kawasaki Z1000 - Kawasaki ZX10R C1H - Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring - Suzuki Hayabusa

[Chuffin Nora]

[deadwolf]

Maybe the OP is a-hankerin' for a UJM and other standard bikes? The sort of bikes which plied the roads before all the specialization into different categories of sport/adventure/offroad/commuters and were pressed into whatever function the owners needed. If that's the case, they've gone into more of a niche nowadays but classic looks will always endure. I mean, look at the new Yammy XJR1300, pure horn:

https://images.motorcycle-usa.com/PhotoGallerys/2015_YAM_XJR1300_EU_BMC_ACT_001.jpg
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Motorsapien Art

[chickenstrip]

I'm starting to think that the Yamaha Tracer will be one of the best all-round bikes for the next few years, if this is anything to go by, anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEMdsPqL0Ss&feature=player_embedded

Which would explain Yamaha dropping the Fazers - seems they're going all out with the triple engine now.

If Triumph do as I've seen elsewhere here on BCF, and up the Striple engine to 800, and put a bit of a fairing on, I guess that might be direct competition for it.

In the litre class, you've got the BMW S1000R, which seems to do everything fairly well, but obviously no fairing - the new adventure-styled version (XR) might do it better, at a price.

As to smaller capacity machines, can't think of owt right now. Must be something?

I think we're just going through a period where the look of the bikes is changing, as previously mentioned by others, often to this 'adventure' style - these bikes seem to be advancing in handling, performance and ability (as long as you don't actually want to cross the Sahara on them...).
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THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[G]

Not at all. They're getting better with more of a range of them from pretty boring to pretty sporty.

[Slacker24seve...]

Of course they're not dying. If anything, there are more nakeds, tall rounders (Versys, Multistrada, Vstrom, Crossdresser, Tracer, the list goes on ad infinitum) and sporty tourers like the Kawasaki and Suzuki 1000 things, the CBR600F that was about for a few years.

There's loads of them, and it's at the expense of sports bike sales.
Big off roaders are still going well (specifically Nazi tractors) but there are other softer options now.
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Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
Selling a hack/winter bike for less than a grand? PM me.
Banger rallies are ace

[MCN.]

Gah, why perpetuate the notion of a bike as a two wheeled car? Dull dull dull....

[Wonko The Sane]

[MarJay]

Yamaha MT range, Street Triple, Honda CB range, Kawasaki Z range, Suzuki GSX range... There are a f*ckton.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Rogerborg]

[rubyhorse2]

there is definitely more variation these days but also some great all rounders.

just from what i see, it seems there is a huge range of styles for all sorts of purposes and especially the new naked styles seem to cover the 'do anything' category relatively well.

[Matt B]

[ScaredyCat]

[Albigularis]

[Matt B]

[TheSmiler]

Your nice looking mid range bike seems to have gone I agree. Replaced by ugly transformer bikes like the Mt-07, the XJR1300 is more like how a bike should look. Though that isn't mid range now is it.
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CB125>CG125>GN125>ER5>K100RS>R1100RS>K100RS
A2 completed 23/07/15 Ready for the Golden Crisp Packet

[Albigularis]

[TheSmiler]

[Rogerborg]

[Northern Monkey]

Smiler's idea of an all round bike is something transported from the 1980s.

Every manufacturer has a slightly dull all rounder, but because they are dull, and nearly everyone has a car now, what is the point of them. No one will build something that wont sell.

The people who want cheap all rounders aren't going to buy new, and the manufacturers don't give a shit about what second hand bike buyers buy, because they don't make second hand bikes
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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

[Northern Monkey]

[Albigularis]

[Rogerborg]