looking at getting back into bikes, just need something for the winter commute,. enduro (transalp, xt etc style) min 250 max 600cc. Can anyone recommend a good (cheap) reliable bike that would see me through the winter?
I would not use an enduro style bike. a road bike will be better and depending on the commute a scooter may be better still.
CB500 is the usual answer
any right bike at the right price
fairing/handguards suggested
Kawasaki 500ish twins used to be cheap, esp trailies
Best time to buy a cheap winter trail bike? Not at the end of summer!
Cheap trail bikes are normally a nightmare as they tend to be abused by spooty yoofs in fields. I would look for a twin cylinder road bike like a GS500, CB500 or eR5 as used by your local training school. An ex school bike will be well looked after but cosmetically tatty. Ideal for winter riding.
If its into a city centre like London then a DRZ400SM will see you right.
Or just see what the couriers are using CB500 etc
I'd go with a 600 - the Kawa ER6N or F would be a good starting point, I've got a Yamaha FZ6 which is ideal...
Either that or a scooter, probably better as a commuter bike TBH.
Where is your commute? I used my Tenere through the last few winters with knobblies on and it was just the job when all the other cars were stuck in the snow.
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If you've not got too far to go on A-roads/ M-ways I would suggest something that is easy to pick up if you drop it, that you can fit handguards/muffs on, and that can do at least 65mph.
Honda Bros/NTV
Yamaha XJ600
Suzuki GS500
Honda NC21
Also, how tall are you?
Can't beat one of these:
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Uber reliable, any weather bike, not the thieves obvious choice and cheap to run. They're more fun than most people realise
Shedbrewed - Do you commute all year round? I do about an hour in the car starting off in the surrey hills, up A3 and into Chiswick. Tempted to get a motorbike again but concerned what it will be like in deep winter when the country roads start getting icy. Leave the house around half six so relatively early. Last time i had bikes it was a motard as i lived in london.
just need something for the winter commute,. enduro (transalp, xt etc style) min 250 max 600cc. Can anyone recommend a good (cheap) reliable bike that would see me
Winter. Unless it's a short commute, you don't want a trail bike, you want a fairing!
Personally, I'd go for a scooter. I've had several and for commuting they blow motorbikes away. They're warmer, more practical, cheaper to run and a MASSIVE amount faster in traffic.
We've got a Vespa GT200. It does a TRUE 72mpg, a pair of tyres is under £90, it's comfy, quiet, well made, pokey off the lights and does 80mph. It's even good 2-up!
I service it myself with basic tools. We paid £900 for it 1.5 years ago and I'd get at least that selling it on now.
I'd be quite happy doing a 60-70 mile round trip on it every day, maybe more. If there was more motorway I'd be looking for a 250 or 300, or maybe a bigger scoot like a Piaggio X9 or Gilera Nexxus
But the main thing is that you don't need to get dressed up to ride it. Normal clothes, lacket and lid on the top and go. Unless it's raining hard you don't even need waterproofs.
I guess the blinkered 'bikers' will poo-poo this idea, but it's the most sensible by far
Oh, and 'all weather' ?? 🙂
[url= http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6172/6171308395_498fcde285_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/6171308395/ ]Snowy Vespa[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr
500 twins would be a good choice but for that reason they're pretty poor value for money and in my experience mostly well used when they do come up for sale. You'd get a much better 600 Fazer/Bandit/ZZR for your money. Grey import 400s can be cheap now but mostly 15 to 20 years old. The under 600cc-over 125 market has been largely ignored by the manufacturers for an awfully long time now so there just aren't that many bikes up for sale in that band.
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Dad had one, cam's were loose in the head and it still did several tours of scotland! And it annoys people on shiny bikes as everyone crowds round it to wonder wtf is it! And unlike other 'touring' bikes it could turn arround on a single track road.
My father is on his second Suzuki V Strom.
He had a 1000 first, and he's now got the vastly improved 650 which is a more flexible engine and gives better fuel economy.
The older models in the vstrom range make decent second hand buy according to the old man.
1200GS here 🙂
I like trailies for commuting; good visibility, turning circle and easy to ride in traffic.
Hard to find a good, cheap one though.
A topbox is useful for carting locks and stuff about, plus storage of kit if nothing else available.
If you want to use it through winter and snow, then something light with nobbly's. A 250-400 trailie. I have a KLR250 which I bought to replace a sports bike for commuting about 3 years ago. Cost me £900, is very cheap to run, reliable (although I did screw the valves+cams when using it for greenlaning), gets me through snow to a certain degree, and is great fun to ride. You wouldnt want to sit on the motorway for too long though. My commute is only 7miles each way and only a short stint on m/w.
I would love a 400 xr or drz, but havent got the cash.
But as already said, very hard to get hold of atm.
How often do you get snow? A road bike on road tyres will have more grip on a wet road and will be more comfortable and easy to ride
I found the 1200 GS very uncomfortable as well - too upright and too wide bars
1200 multistrada: 25mile commute each way on A roads. Big grin factor and capable.
But its staying at home in the snow!
Personally, I'd try to find something like a used Kawasaki Versys - reliable parallel twin 650 engine (same as the ER6), good comfortable riding position, quite tall so excellent visibility and road presence.
A lot of the other suggestions are for bikes that are pretty old designs and haven't been in production for a few years so examples on the market are likely to be high mileage and tired (and likely to have been despatch bikes).
I'm selling my 600 fazer, heated grips, new ss exhaust and loads of other stuff. full service history and below average miles.
+1 Road bike.
Done over 12k so far this year, and every one on my commute from deepest Buckinghamshire into Brentford.
And if there is ice on the pavement outside my house, I take the car - only 10 times in Jan/Feb/Mar.
You need a fairing, strong lights, heated grips and good gear.
You need a fairing, strong lights, heated grips and good gear.
Now, I've had heated grips on 2 bikes. I'm not convinced by them.
If you're going a long way, you get hot palms and cold fingers. If you're not, well, they don't get hot in time. If it's cold you need handguards of some sort (My scoot has them built into that screen you can see in the pic) or handlebar muffs.
1200 multistrada: 25mile commute each way on A roads. Big grin factor and capable.
Not a practical commute bike though, is it? What's that going to cost to run for 12,000+ miles a year and how much will it be worth with 40,000 miles on the clock in a few short years, when it's cosmetically buggered???
I've got a Ducati ST3s, and a commuter it is NOT! 🙂
it's ok actually. service is 7.5k, but its a B service next (in about 5k) and that's LOTS 😯
There's one chap going from Southampton to London on one every day.
Mine's done 9.5k at the moment, and is looking mint. ACF50 drowning session as soon as the frosts start 😀
Good for you! I like to see 'em being used! 🙂
Gotama - MemberShedbrewed - Do you commute all year round?
Yes, the Tenere gets covered in waxoyl/acf50 around November. Prior to me having that I used a DR600/CBR1000F/GPZ500.
Good warm gear, handguards/muffs and a bike you feel confident on are my method. I did a 650 mile trip a couple of winters ago on the Tenere from South Wales up to the Lakes and then across to Durham and back to see family. It was in the week between Christmas and New Year and I can tell you this; when you are riding along the M6, there are warnings of ice and it's -6'C before you factor in the windchill from traveling at 80mph you are really glad of good clothing.
The only success I have had with keeping my hands warm is with heated gloves. Tried expensive goretex gloves, and they failed, heated grips failed as outside of the hand still gets cold, and tried silk inners. Heated gloves are delightful, although I'm not sure about their lifespan as the last few times I wore them they didnt work - could have been the connection
I use mine year round, except when it snows - just too dangerous IMO.
Winter riding is all about proper quality clothing, heated grips and when it gets really grim, muffs. The best bit is when spring comes and you can laugh at all the fair-weather bikers wobbling all over the place 🙂
ive commuted year around on sports bikes (only just bought a car at the age of nearly 40). Dont miss it, you spend longer cleaning it than any benefit from using it, and even with glove liners and heated grips tingly fingers left me worrying about nerve damage.
You want weather protection for you, and possibly for the bike if you want it to last. Something cheap and basic like a CB500 with a cheap full aftermarket fairing, or a bigger scooter (i think 125's are a liability but PP's 200 should keep up with traffic).
I think maxi scooters are really practical (can usually stash lid under seat, comfortable and loads of protection, good performance/economy balance). But I wont be trading the R1 for one anytime soon.
how much are those old ex army bikes?
[i]What's that going to cost to run for 12,000+ miles a year [/i]
Based on my Triumph:
6k service - 2 tyres and pads = £600
12k service - 2 tyres and pads = £900
So the 18k will probably be another £600 and then I'll sell it on just below 20k.
And 53mpg.
Best to buy well and swap yearly; for me depreciation equals the VAT reclaim and corp tax saving.
Plus no parking charges and an extra hour of billable time per day 🙂
Handlebar muffs are awesome for keeping your hands warm. I was able to commute through the winter wearing just my summer gloves and some tocano urbano muffs.
+1 for handlebar muffs. Back in the eighties I spent three years commuting 25 miles each way on a Honda CB250RS and they made a huge difference in the winter.
Ten years or so back I hd a VFR750 and the aerodynamics of the fairing pulled plenty of warm air from the engine past my hands at motorway speeds. It was round town that my hands got cold on that one.
I almost bought a Bandit for commuting, until I rode one - what a dull, lifeless thing that was.
cheers folks,
ok, i'm 5 ft 7 and live in the highlands, we get quite abit of full on snowy weather here for long periods of time hence the keenness on a trailie type bike. Last bike i had was a zzr600 which was fine but i work in a forest so will need something that can handle short sections of forest tracks
What about the new tiger 800?
If you want to use it through winter and snow, then something light with nobbly's. A 250-400 trailie. I have a KLR250 which I bought to replace a sports bike for commuting about 3 years ago. Cost me £900, is very cheap to run, reliable (although I did screw the valves+cams when using it for greenlaning), gets me through snow to a certain degree, and is great fun to ride. You wouldnt want to sit on the motorway for too long though. My commute is only 7miles each way and only a short stint on m/w.
I would love a 400 xr or drz, but havent got the cash.
But as already said, very hard to get hold of atm.
Even more so then.
Kawasaki KLE500, Honda Transalp, Honda Africa Twin, BMW GS series.
All the above would do the job in ascending order of cost.
Faired CB500, cheap, reliable and efficient...
Some of the above ideas are a little insane.
Honda 90 😮
Those little buggers are bullet proof!
Transalp is a great bike for touring and light off road and the engine is solid enough to go round the clock. But its not the most fun you can have on two wheels! I used to have one of these which has the same engine in a road chassis but is shaft driven [url= http://www.gbmotorcycles.co.uk/BIKE%2024%20ADDITIONAL%20PHOTOS.htm ]GB Bikes Revere[/url]
This looks good value as it has a fairing and panniers with BMW reliability and shaft drive cheapness [url= http://www.gbmotorcycles.co.uk/BIKE%2016%20ADDITIONAL%20PHOTOS.htm ]GB Bikes K75[/url]
Or an old Tiger [url= http://www.gbmotorcycles.co.uk/BIKE%2014%20ADDITIONAL%20PHOTOS.htm ]GB Bikes Tiger[/url]
I would still be looking at a road bike. Most of the "trail bikes" listed such as the transalp do not come with properly knobbly tyres - they are really tourers in a trailbike shape
Yamaha XT 500 / 600 perhaps?
Sorry to thread highjack - but how often does one need to change motorbike tires ? The manual is a bit useless on the subject, and I have conducted a visual inspection and check the pressure regularly but don't really know what the tread depth should be.
Have done a whole 6000 miles from new so thinking it will be a while yet ?
Firstly I commute 150km a day on a R1150GS & it's great.
Comfortable, stable, ABS, heated grips etc.
I've now done over 75K km on it without any problem in all weather conditions (even snow)
It's quite big & heavy but so am I so we get on well 🙂
secondly tire changes on the motorbike.
tread depth requirement is the same as cars but it's even harder to quantify / measure...
Like cars it's not about distance covered but wear rate. I get lots lots lots more distance out of my BMW than my Kawazaki ZX9R.
If the tire still has a profile that resembles the original shape (ie not squared off in the middle) and still has clearly visible tread pattern then you will be just fine...
Hels, first off what is the bike, and what type of riding do you do?
The legal limit for tyre tread on motorcycles is 1mm over 75% of the tyre's breadth.
You also need to be aware of any perishing or cracks and damage to the tyre.
What you will find though is that the rear tyre will square off if you are doing long periods of riding on motorways or dual carriageways for example where the bike isn't leaning through corners.
The front tyre may also start to do some funny things such as develop shoulders and low spots.
Start with the legal depth and then see how the tyre feels when riding.
Its a girly wee Yamaha YBR 125 - I use it to commute 36 miles round trip to work spring-autumn, on windy A roads and city roads.
With a top speed of 60 mph I doubt I will notice any shoulders or low spots but thanks !
I do check the tires regularly I have been the recipient of a few lectures on safety and keep eye on tires so there are no cracks or anything.
So it's the matchstick head ruler then ??
(and yes I know, I need a bigger bike, it's on the list...)
Suzuki SV650S. Mine does around 60mpg, the power delivery gives plenty of low end torque for riding in traffic, the tyres are cheap and good, year-old, low mileage examples can be had for under £5k.
Ok, well 125s won't wear the tyres so hard as larger bikes; less weight, less power, less wear. Keep an eye on the tyres for the cracks and punctures etc, but truth be told you will probably get another 6000 miles out of them just fine. 🙂
Bigger bikes are more fun, but that said I REALLY want a VanVan, and I've 6 bikes in the shed and used to have a Hayabusa!
hels - MemberSorry to thread highjack - but how often does one need to change motorbike tires ? The manual is a bit useless on the subject, and I have conducted a visual inspection and check the pressure regularly but don't really know what the tread depth should be.
Have done a whole 6000 miles from new so thinking it will be a while yet ?
For me? Any scalloping of the front, squared off rear or less than 1.5 mm at any point the tyre gets binned. By the time it reaches the legal limit you are riding on a very compromised tyre.
As for mileage - depends a lot on riding style - My BSA with a 110/90 cross-ply rear lasted around 7 000 miles, my BMW r 1100 about 3-4 000 miles. I tend to be heavy on tyres. The BMW cost me nearly as much in tyres per mile as petrol
I REALLY want a VanVan
They are becoming a very cool bike actually, they have a big following, people take them everywhere, touring, off road, the lot! 🙂
It's probably the best suggestion so far for the OP I reckon, seriously. 🙂
As for mileage - depends a lot on riding style - My BSA with a 110/90 cross-ply rear lasted around 7 000 miles, my BMW r 1100 about 3-4 000 miles. I tend to be heavy on tyres. The BMW cost me nearly as much in tyres per mile as petrol
I get as much 30k km on a rear on my BMW but that says a lot about the route my commute takes me.
I get them free too so it's not like I am being tight...
Thanks chaps !
Would I look like a normal size person standing next to one of those Van Van things ??
30 000 km on a bmw on a tyre? Do you open the throttle at all? I would ahve used at least 6 tyres by then. even the 100 cc bike I had only did around 15 000 miles per rear tyre
Van van is a good call.
Do you open the throttle at all?
I ride on the highway except 2km either end of the trip...
I just find that astonishing. 30 000 km on a tyre on a motorcycle. I would not get to 10 000 km
hels - MemberWould I look like a normal size person standing next to one of those Van Van things ??
I dunno? I'm 6'2" and make an Enfield Trials look small;
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but I don't care, the VanVan is so awesome I must own one at some point. I particularly like the purple colour scheme, though it would have to have a brown seat. They made a 200cc version for the domestic market, same as the Yamaha TW...
Depends on distance and type of road. I use a Kawasaki ER-6F with a few mods for winter, (heated grips, diy hand guards, tall screen, scottoiler). I have a 90 mile commute and have racked up 41k on it. Does 55-65mpg depending on how it's ridden and gets good tyre life using dual compound Michelin tyres, 10/18k rear/front despite being ridden hard in the summer months. If you're going to ride all year expect decent wear/tear. It helps alot to be handy at diy repairs and any bike will have it's issues if ridden high mileage/winter roads. Personally I favour a bike which is common so spares from breakers are easy to come by. I can do things like pickup a near new shock for £40 as it's so common and low budget.
I also ride an Aprilia RSV1000 and even still a cheap bike like the ER can be alot of fun plus alot easier to ride when things get icy/dirty roads.
Did you get sorted with a commuter?
A friend has let me know she has a 2009 BMW F650GS for sale with only 300 miles on the clock. Yes it really is only 300 miles so not even run in yet.
Would make a perfect commuter/touring bike on a budget.