Middle-Sized Commuter Bike Suggestions

[Falco]

While I love my CG125, I am starting to feel the urge for a bit more "oomph". My commute will also be tripling (to 30 miles each way) as of the start of next year so a bigger bike seems like a good idea.

I've had a look at some of the other threads on commuter bikes but having looked at the suggestions, none of them are what I am looking for (I have different criteria).

In descending order of importance, the criteria are:

Reliability: It's going to be used day in and day out, so a bike that can run without needing continual servicing (not that I am against maintaining the bike, I just don't want it to be a second job)

Ease of Repair/Simplicity: Chances are I am not going to be able to afford to put it into the shop except for major work, so something I can work on without needing to be a professional mechanic (being able to get hold of spares without having to sell my own organs is a bonus)

Fuel Consumption: No less than 60. Even 60 is pushing it. I know that bigger bikes can't match 125s, but 45mpg? That is car-level consumption, and thus not for me.

Speed: A fair amount of the journey will be on dual carriageway, so something that can cruise at 70 without struggling and with a bit extra left for overtaking. It would also be nice if it could do that with a passenger (though that will not be a regular thing).

Fairing: I don't have much experience of riding above 55mph but if possible, less fairing appeals to me because a) if I drop the bike there is less to scratch and b) It would be nice not to have to spend 30 minutes removing fairing, before I can even access the engine (or whatever is being worked on)

The fuel consumption requirement suggests to me that the engine size is not going to be much above 600cc (though I am happy to be corrected).

So far the list consists of CB500, CB500X and CB500f (see a pattern emerging).

All suggestions gratefully received. Reviews of bikes never seem to cover the sort of things I am looking for and I am hoping for some testimonials to give me some starting points for further research.

[Commuter_Tim]

I loved my CG, but my CB500 seating position is a bit more 'forewardy' especially for the lanky.
It's a shame the footpegs on older models can't be adjusted, everything else about it I love.
____________________
The above post is most likely nonsensical.

I ride a Bandit 600... badly.

[mauzo]

[Rogerborg]

Budget?

500s are a great capacity. I never saw less than mid 60 mpg out of my old carby GPZ (I have no idea how you could only get 50mpg out of a new CB500), it would do short trips, it would do motorways, it was docile when nannied and and fun when spanked. I'd have another.

On paper the new CB500s are a bit less powerful, but I'd expect they deliver their 35kW well. Honda have sold enough that parts should be fine, they've sorted any early issues. I can't see any rational reason not to get one.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[mauzo]

CBF500, not CB500F. It's the same as the old (well, middle) CB500 but with bigger tyres, ABS and a monoshock. And a PAIR valve (and no doubt a leaner carb) for emissions. (And no bloody room under the seat.)
____________________
'04 CG125, '07 CBF500

[ZX-7R]

ER-5 must be worth considering.Mate at work has one and he is happy with it.
____________________
Current Bike - 2000 ZX-7R

[The Tot]

I'm looking at getting the CB500F/X/RR as well. The F's are on average 500-1000 quid cheaper than the X and RRs.

They do the job they do. You can keep up with traffic on the motorways at 80-95, accelerate reasonably and have a 200+ mile tank range for good measure. I had the CB500F as a hire bike on numerous occasions and preferred it to the NC700/750, because of the way it likes to rev.

Looking at the engine and chassis, the CB/R500's are pretty easy to service. The oil and filter is readily accessible, as are the spark plugs. 8000 mile service intervals don't sound too bad. Valves at 16k.

Performance-wise, it was quite similar to my '94 ZXR250C which had about 42 bhp, weighed 170kg wet and could hold it out on the motorways with cars (don't confuse yourself with the ninja250/300 here, the ZXR was the lil brother to the ZXR400L, but with a IL4 that would scream to 20k).

Honda, can't go far wrong for less than 4k.
____________________
The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[bamt]

For minimal servicing effort look for a shaft driven machine like a Deauville or Divvy 900. The Divvy is easier to get to for servicing as you can access lots of it (oil filter, air filter, plugs) without removing the bikini fairing.

Alternatively, don't get hung up on the mpg, but look at total cost of ownership. E.g. rather than spending (say - as you don't give a budget indication) £3k on a nice new-ish cb500, spend £1200 on an older Bandit 600. It won't do the same mpg, but the money saved pays for a lot of fuel and servicing, the naked Bandits are trivially easy to work on and parts availability is cheap/good.

It may sound obvious, but make sure that whatever you buy (especially if older) has the ability to mount a top box. I've found that racks for what were quite popular older bikes may be tricky to get hold of (Givi or whoever having discontinued them).

[talkToTheHat]

SW Motec might help with the racks, the quicklock evo side pannier range fits on all kinds of things, particularly slightly sportier things that givi might only consider a topbox for. They have adapter kits so you can fit a number of leading brands' panniers.

I think part of the void in the luggage market is the death of the givi wingrack.
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[Robby]

You've described a set of requirements that just about every middleweight bike ever made can meet, with the exception of fuel economy - and in reality, the cost difference between 45mpg and 60mpg is too small to bother counting. Something in the region of £2/week.

So this means you could consider:
Hornet/Fazer/Bandit 600
R6/CBR/GSXR/Ninja 600
CB/ER/GPz/GS 500
ER6/CBF500
NC700/Versys

And that's just from the big 4 Japanese manufacturers. Pick one you like the look of that's local and good condition, and buy it.

[gorillaonabik...]

Blade with loud pipe and bike tracker. I commuted every day for more than 10 years including during winter on sports bikes, a couple of which were blades and:

- You'll have a great chance of winning the traffic light GP
- Quick, so you'll never be late
- With a loud pipe, no-one will throw a U-turn in front of you
- Loud pipe and sports bike looks means everyone else gets out of your way.
- Skinny so you can get your ass through those gaps.
- Will wheelie on the power so you can get that one wheel up any time you like. It'll come in useful at some point. Probably.
- If chased by police, can get away. This is genuinely useful. Allegedly.
- Really, really fun
- Certain kinds of women dig it. And those are the women you want to spend short amounts of time with.

Honda reliability, great to ride and you'll never look back... partly because you'll be going so fast you'll really have to keep looking forward.
____________________
FZR400 (blown engine), ZXR750 (blown engine), ZX6R (accident), CBR600 which had engine issues after which I learned to change gear..., CBR900, CBR924 (stolen), CB600, CB1300 (everything blew up), BMW K1300GT (written off, hit from rear while stationary), Bandit 1250 for a couple of months, Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (nicked) and somewhere in there, I wrote off a Ducati 748 at Cadwell.

[Rncv]

[talkToTheHat]

As I4 bikes go, bandit is piss cheap to run, great parts availability. Is likely that your local indepemdent keeps things like brake pads and gasket sets in stock so a problem can be turned around really quick, unlike my XV which involved getting most of the spares from japan. Hornet and Fazer likely to have similar levels of support. Time off the road is a critical consideration. BMW might have less parts availability as less indepemdents are likely to have bmw specific bits.

Consider also the cost of tyres, the most competetion is in the 17 inch sizes for common bikes, and there's really good choice.

Watch out for servicing costs, bandit 600s need valve clearences every 8000 miles. One cam operares both intake (or both exhaust) valves via a little fork arm with a locknut adjuster for each valve. Simpler and easier to adjust than shim and bucket but shim and bucket engines usually need this less often. If you're packing in the miles this might need doing more than once a year, but if you're doimg 16 thousand miles a year or more, servicing is piss cheap compared to petrol.

Appleyards did my clearances for £98, less than my local independent, who thought it would be between 120 and 180. They tend to come in under quote there and i think he was trying to sell me the fixed cost service package, which i usually go for as it's not oil, filter, air filter, sparkplugs, a bottle of brake fluid and an MOT more than the time it takes for valve clearences and i like to have someone else check my work once in a while. It mostly comes down to what you can do yourself.

What's your annual mileage? At 10000 miles a year the difference is about 260 quid between 45 and 60 mpg.
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[talkToTheHat]

Quick maths suggests you're looking at the other side of 16000 miles a year. Thats likely valves on shim and bucket bikes once a year and twice on older bikes, and 500 or more difference in fuel. Buying specifically for that commute id be after long service intervals and reasonable economy, and factoring in the lifespan of the bike.

A screen and faired in headlight (like bandit s, fazer etc) is brilliant in the winter. You stay a lot warmer as most of the wind goes around you, and stay a lot dryer too, particularly at higher speeds. Often better headlights are available when one lens is dip and the other is main. Fairing lowers are a waste of time,
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[stevo as b4]

Out of interest I wonder how much it saves the commuter only rider a year if a bike has;
Hydraulic tappets,
Shaft drive.
Grease nipples on all suspension linkages.
Good choice of tyres in sizes that are cheap to change.

Bodywork is a strange one I guess, it adds time and hassle to service the bike, but probably protects other parts if you drop it, and will add mpg due to aerodynamics, so I suppose a fairing is good for high mileage riders.

[linuxyeti]

Hi there

If it's costs you're looking at, why not a smasler displacement 250-400cc? Lower VED bracket, and should do up to 70 quite easily. Also, unfortunately, for the mog you're looking for, you might have to wait for a bike with a euro4 compliant engine. However, that'll be a new bike, and probably harder to work on due to the anti tamper measures.

I wouldn't entirely rule out chinese bikes, as you can see over time I've owned a few, with no issues for what was an 80 mile, now 50 round trip to work daily. Also if you are entirely dependent on the bike you may want to make sure you have a spare, just in case, you're 125 would probably do. I remember ending up relying on my Bullet, when both my VTX1300 and GS500 were off the road at the same time !!!
____________________
Beware what photos you upload, or link to on here, especially if you have family members on them

[Falco]

[Falco]

[linuxyeti]

Hi
Snap!! I'm not really a mechanic, however, standard servicing is pretty universal, and there are lots of howtos online for many bikes
____________________
Beware what photos you upload, or link to on here, especially if you have family members on them

[.....]

Deauville.

[Commuter_Tim]

[The Tot]

[Falco]

[Commuter_Tim]

[Falco]