I now have to travel every now and again to other parts of the country for work. I've been using the train until now but I'm now thinking some kind of sports tourer may be better and get me there quicker and let me see some nice parts of the world too. Journeys of 400 mile round trip are fairly typical. It'll have to have hard panniers as will need to travel with stuff, and it'll need to be around £4k. From what I've seen out there, vfr's look to be on the money but what about others? Any first hand experience gratefully received. Cheers
Not the most exciting thing in the world but 4k would get you a reasonable spec Triumph Sprint 1050 with hard panniers. A lad at work has one, bit of a change from the 748 Ducati he had before, but he commutes tours and weekend scratches on it. Only fault has been the alarm system, sorted by disconnecting it!
Always liked the look of a Fazer 1000 tbh pretty sure you can get panniers etc for them too, not owned or ridden one but did a fair bit of tinternet browsing about them 2007 onwards seem to get very good reviews
Mate of mine has a Fazzer Thou for Touring and swears by it. He also has a a 2013 R1 and a 2013 Daytona 675R for Track Days so knows both ends of the spectrum.
Ever considered a BMW 1150GS with panniers? I've had one as my daily ride (either 62 or 240 mile commute each way, depending on London or Yorkshire) since 2005 and am now on my third. Not quickest in a straight line and the engine is decidedly agricultural, however, they handle well enough on the twisties to keep up with bikes that should be far, far quicker. In total, I've clocked up about 160k on the three I've owned. And there's no sodding about with a chain in the winter. Hope this helps. G
Liking the look of the fazer, basically a detuned r1. Looks like 4k will get an 07/08. I'll try and find one local to test out. I had an f800 gs for a while so the 1150 could be tempting too. Seems like it'll be a 50k mile oldie for my budget though.
