[Closed] bestest commuter motorbike circa 2k?

Aren't the big scooters the sensible choice of choice? Silverwings, Bergmans etc. Though you can say goodbye to the kerb appeal...

they cost a bomb though

As you suspected, forget small engines

F650 beemer, suzuki vee strom, kawa versys etc would be my choice.

Enfield Bullet with a fruity can .....
80 MPG, Looks cool. Bit flat, mind. They handle quite well, apparently. Plus, you get to wear an open face helmet and goggles. Belstaff Trialsmaster optional.

ER-6F. I used one for 45k. 55-60mpg in town 60-70mpg on a run. Flat out you'll still see north of 50mpg. Tyres last a long time, resonable power, looks ok and lots of choice of low mile bikes for £2k.

ER6 (or similar) is a good choice...

I'm commuting on a K1200R which is less good but makes me smile. 🙂

Has to be a CB500 - dispatched on one in the mid 90's, ultra reliable with religious oil changes, cheap to run and maintain and will sit nicely at 80 on the M4 as well as be great fun in the twisties if the shocks and bushes aint shagged

Surely the SV 650 is the obvious choice? Should give high 50's.

Deauville is the commuter of commuters, especially in all weathers- nice tractable engine, excellent fairing... Pretty much as boring as it's possible for a motorbike to be but that also translates into being incredibly easy to ride. (because a 50 mile commute is going to be largely as boring as all hell even if you do it on an R1. A burning R1)

They do cost a little more though, for that reason.

I was gonna suggest an sv650 til I read you ride an sv1000 nice bike but it'll make you miss your thou. What about keeping yours and running a smaller bike 😉 tax insurance and petrol will be much cheaper and you have yours still for playing out on

Original Fazer or Hornet would be my choice, do what you want and when the inner demon comes out they are loads of fun.

Ah, somehow I missed that it's to replace the SV, I thought it was a second bike. Forget the Dullsville then, they're superb bikes but they're as exciting as an Ikea bookshelf.

Mmmmmmm. Old CBR600F? Won't give you massive fuel savings, but will be cheaper to run in other ways, and you ought to be able to trade down and save a lot of cash without giving away an awful lot in terms of performance/speed/handling.

Well, an SV1000 won't be [i]that[/i] bad on fuel, I'd expect mid 40s fairly easily, so to save money on rule you have to put your serious thinking cap on, and look at seriously economical bikes..... And it's 50 miles, so my measured 74mpg on a Vespa GT200 isn't much good as you don't want to be doing 100 miles a day on one, I wouldn't, as much as I love it. You also need to look at tyres and servicing, which are bigger costs.

So, with that in mind, it's a very small list
Right at the top, for me, is a Kawasaki Versys I don't think you'll get a new BMW f650/800 for £2k, but it should stretch to a slightly 'well used' Versys. They are reputed to do high 60s mpg, the BMW mid 70s.

I'd seriously consider a small 620/695 Ducati Monster too. Cambelts aside, servicing is cheap and simple, the engines are solid and they are simple bikes to work on, and they will do 60mpg+. I used to thrash the arse off my 696 and simply couldn't get it below 53mpg! Mrs PP regualrly got 60+ out of her 695

Then there's the perennial CB500. Ridden carefully I had a MEASURED (Not imagined) 68mpg out of mine once and, again, thrashing the spuds off it on a trackday it wouldn't go below 50mpg. Ridden carefully on a long commute would get 60-ish I'd think, and they are solid as you like, and lots of fun to throw about.

After that, it's back to scooters. I'm doing a 40 mile (20 each way) commute on my Vespa GT200 in this shitty weather and I'd happily add 50% to that, but it's not a bike to use regularly on the motorway, to be honest.
Very comfy, VERY practical, it's warm behind the fairing and there's lots of accessories to keep you even warmer.
Last tank full was 76.3 mpg (I'm a fuel geek)
A newer 250 or 300 will do mid-80s mpg too.
I have a Bridgestone Hoop tyre on the back that's done 6900 miles so far and still has 3mm of tread on it. I reckon it'll do 10,000miles at that rate. They are £46......

You won't get cheaper than a scooter to run, but it depends on the route, really, if it's all motorway and the like, you need a bike, if it's A-roads and towns, get a scooter! 🙂

The funny thing is I wrote my response whilst at a job interview and now much 15 mile each way commute is going to shrink to a couple of miles. Maybe we should just swap bikes!

Thanks a bunch for the responses guys. And in particular PP, I love the nerdy fuel quotes, its very useful to see your real world experiences.
I'd consider a scooter at the right price, but the majority of the journey is motorway so for reasons above im not convinced its the wisest choice.
Im going to have to take a closer look at the ER-6, I was just never taken by its looks before, but economy is #1 consideration now I suppose.

I rode a CBR600F for a while and really liked it, would consider one again but would prefer to see a half decent rise in fuel economy.

I think the CB500 is top of the list currently, although being a big chap im worried about looking like a right biffer riding one.

Will also see if stretching to a beemer is realistic.. funds are super tight

The increase in economy will be removed by the pure hatred of the riding/commuting on a shitter within a month of British winter.

I'd save the money and buy a small Ka diesel (or similar like a 106, punto etc) instead.

You'll struggle to get a good bike that'll be happy doing a 50 mile trip in under an hour and give much better mpg than the SV for £2k.

My last commuter was a 1050 Triumph; would cover the 48 miles in under an hour (Buckinghamshire to Brentford, so fast A road, M-Way and urban) and average 56mpg.

I ride a Honda varadero 125 cc ..... while it is a 125 , its a big big and i regularly get 85-90 to a gallon on my commute 🙂 .... a £20 fill up gives me around 245-265 miles ... which is brill
Just noticed you dont want under 500 cc !!

Not sure about MPG, but my FZ6 (naked Fazer) is great for commuting, comfortable, nice bit of power when you need/want it, and I like the looks.

zzr600 sir will suit you- 60-65mpg, fully faired, well protected from the elements, load about and loads of spares, reliable when looked after, fun when you want it to be. Comfy too.

CBR6oof was teh nearest competitor when i was looking to buy, but it was only geting the owner about 35-40mpg max. Mine on the other hand when doing a flat 90mph on the motorway will average around 60mpg (tucking in for that!) around 200-210 miles to the tank depending on how tasty you are with the acceleration.

And can be had for peanuts.......

http://www.visordown.com/road-tests-used/unchanged-melodies/6236.html

Thundercat over the fazer too. Had the latter- nice bike but can suffer in the winter.

My big scooter, Yamaha tmax, great commuter but rubbish economy, no better than mid 40s but great weather protection.

HONDA EX5 V62, the 97CC workhorse that no one can do without in Asia ... but then you would probably get run down by angry drivers in the UK.

[img] [/img]

🙂

Yamaha Fazer 600. Or better still, a Honda Dream.

zzr600 sir will suit you- 60-65mpg

MY CBR600F got me around 40mpg, apparently Fazer 600's are thirstier otherwise i'd definately go for one.

Have owned a couple of Thundercats and really liked them too, i'd go for another if I could find one in really good shape - but there are so many more CBR600F's to choose from.

Will look into ZZR if they really are that good on fuel.

yeah, on longer runs if you are smooth you are talking a good 200 out the tank- i think its a 17.5 litre one from memory. Shorter runs in the mid 40's up to 180 miles to the tank when on the ride into town commute (10 mile each way commute through 30-40mph limits including slow filtering at points). Depends how you ride your bikes too- I often pop it into 4-5-6th when tootling along at 30mph, but if you want to be 'on it' you'll use more fuel.

You can pick up a zzr for far cheaper than the cbr, and they will get higher mpg for sure. Not quite as nice, but depends what you want!

and a zzr I'll be a minimum of, what, 17 years old? 🙄

ZZR's were made up until something like 2005..

Looks like I may be picking up a Thundercat this weekend, will be my third!

good choice 😉

Do they ahve a centrestand though? The zzr does 😉

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This is a handy motorcycle MPG table and any BMW650 does very well, but so 'can' an SV650 if tickled along.
[url= http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/MotorcycleFuelEconomyGuide/best-motorcycle-MPG-over500cc.htm ]mc mpg[/url]

But F650s is unlikely to have kerb appeal! If you can stretch £500 more you start to get into BMWF800 teritory and they are a bit more attractive (in an efficient Germanic way) [url= http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201231480293623/sort/recpriceascdefault/usedbikes/cc-to/900cc/cc-from/700cc/make/bmw/quicksearch/true/radius/1500/page/2/postcode/la15dr?logcode=p ]biketrader[/url]

Leftfield choice would be one of these old XBR500s that can sip fuel into the 65mpg+ region and still deliver some fun. [url= http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201242488966372/sort/recpriceascdefault/usedbikes/model/xbr/make/honda/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/la15dr?logcode=p ]biketrader XBR[/url]

i love my VTR storm but no good in winter, the best winter bike i have ever had and ive had for 5 years now, 38000 miles, 100 plus mpg is my Honda c90 cub, ok it can only manage 55 flat out,but its been drowned in floods, crashed in the snow and ice in the lake district, ran with no oil in it, ridden home on the rim after a flat, this thing will never die, voted the best bike in the world, and bet anyone who has actually owned one will love them

Ahh crap. I've got it. Ideal bike.
Style? Tick
Economy? BIG tick
Cheap? Tick

🙂

Royal Enfield Bullet 500. Job done.
They are dirt cheap to run, (85mpg) there's bugger all to go wrong, and you do your own servicing for pennies.

But F650s is unlikely to have kerb appeal! If you can stretch £500 more you start to get into BMWF800 teritory and they are a bit more attractive (in an efficient Germanic way) biketrader

[s]You ain't gonna get an F800 for £2k[/s]
EDIT
Sorry I was thinking of the F800GS. Thats a good choice actually. Although Mrs PP test ride one and boroughs it back in 5 minutes because she really didn't like it. Then bought a Monster. 🙂

PP, right on the money, but failedengineer beat you to it by a week!

Big fan of the C90 here, never owned one, but I will... (is it sad to lust after something so dull?)

Oops. Not my day is it? 😉
Excuse is that I missed it on my small phone screen...!