Trouble with the GS is mostly how very very ugly it is. Plus the BM i owned and all the ones i have ridden - that flat twin feels boring
Has sir considered a Goldwing - you can get a tow bar fitted for the caravan I've never really liked the look of 'adventure' bikes and am happy with my ST but if weather protection is the goal a full tourer would be hard to beat - and you can blast out some hot tunes on Radio 4 and use the ashtray for the cigars to boot
I tested the BMW, numb fingers, the KTM, a bit agricultural, the Triumph was terrible, so the Ducati 1200s won the day. It is my third Ducati so I may be biased, but the other bikes had bits about them that I didn't like. Once I had mastered the screen, all lovely.
'97 Blade. Looks great (IMHO), Cheap (relatively...), fast, comfy, room for for two and getting rarer by the day. Wish I still had it... :-(
I understand that, great bikes to have. By the sounds of it what you’re heading towards as an addition is a sports tourer? As opposed to an adventure bike. I’d go the same way if I could find one I liked.
It'll be an additional bike mate. I'm thinking the Superduke GT the more I look. Don't think I'm ready for the full blown adventure bike just yet.
Full tourer does work, it just makes everything easier. There’s a wide selection of adventure bikes available that people use for touring. Let’s face it, hardly any will be going off road. I certainly wouldn’t want to take a bloody heavy fully loaded £10-£20,000 bike off road. Especially as you couldn’t pick it up. Imagine the parts bill if you could. Personally I’ve got a little 250 for off road and that’s as heavy as I’d want. Back to the touring. There is of course the super heavy weight bracket of touring bikes, Harley’s, Gold Wings etc. Each to their own but too heavy for me. Sedate but not fun. Cumbersome if you like. Which makes it sound like you’d be up for a Sports tourer too. We need a list of candidates, starting with the; Kawasaki Z1000sx KTM 1250GT BMW K1200/1300 Any others?
I’ve got to admit I wasn’t ready for an adventure bike either. Still not in fact but it did work as a tourer. The Superduke looks like a really strong contender. Gear4/Moto4 just north of Peterborough often do really good deals on them. Honda 1200 has to be worth a look but personally I found it boring. Too smooth, too bland.
But if Ducati did one you’d have that on the list yeah? How difficult is it to lower the suspension on a Multistrada and put a better fairing on it. Or turn the Monster 1200 or Diavel into a tourer? Are you listening Ducati? Apparently not.
Of course I'd consider a Ducati, but only if it was the better bike. I'm past buying Ducati for the brand name now, hence the reason I bought the new S1000RR
I'd go older and cheaper if it was me for the few longer trips lie this and have it as a second bike. Older VFR800 or Sprint ST 1050. VFR800, even the latest version can be got for way less than 10K and probably ticks all the boxes you want.
Carson I'm in a similiar situation to you looking for a more everyday bike to go beside my 1100 Tuono which for me is the perfect quick road bike. Spent a fair amount of time looking at Youtube stuff but am not a fan of Adventure style bikes. Have a short list of a 1200RT(ride better than you would think), a 1200 Trophy(A lot of bike for the money) or another BMW the R1200RS. Only looking at shaft drive bikes just to make keeping it clean easier as I want to ride it regardless of the weather where with the Tuono I'm more choosey, somehow still racked up 8000 miles on it in the space of a year though.
I went from a Multistrada to this. Ok it’s more on the sports side of sports tourer, but I find it comfortable, very capable 2 up. Smooth low down , and handles unbelievably well. Can go like a rocket when you need it to. I have no issue with the well publicised buzzy bars. I love it to bits.
just bought the ventura sport rack so I can now carry a neat bag, wife has a grab rail and it handles like a true sports bike.Hopefully fitting it this week end.
That's kind of missing the point I feel... if the GS was an overwhelmingly immersive experience then "riding the GS" would define any adventure it was on. The beauty of the GS is that it gets out of the way, and becomes the conduit to adventure... it's like a rather rugged and surprisingly athletically proficient Jeeves, quietly delivering you up hill and down dale with the minimum of fuss and great expediency. The BMW more than flatters your riding capabilities and is easy to manage in most situations, and able to hustle when it needs to - because ferries need to be caught and countries need to be crossed, whether by autostrada, lane or field. No gentleman ever hired a butler because he was handsome...
My buddy has one of these and I've had a shot on it, it's a highly impressive beastie and certainly feels very confidence inspiring.
