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another which bike ?

ob1ventura

ob1ventura

Active member
Joined
Mar 24, 2006
Location
moss beach
Moto(s)
'20 RSV4rr, '01 FXD, '07FXDC
Need some help here.

The Kawi is great for the commute home over 84 and the H.D. (flame on) works for the slab out of state, but looking for another bike for my 100 mi round trip commute.

The commute is from 1/2 moon bay to San Jose. 280 south bound moves well in the morning so the bike needs to be able to handle a steady diet of at least 80mph. An upright riding position would be nice for the visability, particularly in the rain, and decent gas milage is a must.......50 mpg or better. Ideally the thing is easy to maintain such good accesablility to the valves because it will be racking up the miles. Good range would be appriciated so that if the spirit moved, the Kawi and H.D.s could take a rest when I head over to Death Valley, Carson City or out of state.

I do not want to duplicate my exsisting bikes and had considered the KLR650. From what I hear though the commute on 280 would burn it up. Any duel sports out there that could handle it? Used to ride some dirt a couple thousand years ago and it would be fun to have that option again even in a limited way.

Not concerned about wind protection.......hell it's a bike for gods sake, or cross winds.

Since the bike will be parked outside every day and rack up the miles quickly I would like to keep the price somewhere around 5K for a used bike if possible.

(edit) Airhead?

Any suggestions or am I dreaming?

Thanks..............ob
 
50 mpg? and park it outside? An HD is not what you want then.
I think that only leaves a Scooter, not that many bikes offer over 50 mpg...
 
DarkNinja75 said:
SV650, SV1000, FZ6, Bandit
Click to expand...

How many of those bikes are really 50MPG+... at 80MPH. I have my doubts. Anyone with actual experience?

I'm not sure there is a 50+ MPH bike at regular 80+. I'll bet there are a lot of 45MPG bikes, but I'd bet real world 50+MPG bikes are real slim pickins if you plan to do 50% of your driving at 80+. From what I've read about KLRs, even they dip down into the low 40s at those speeds.

edit: I get 45 out of my current bike (Futura) at a regular ~80MPH, but I'm pretty dang sure I couldn't squeek 50+ out of it no matter how hard I try.
 
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radvas said:
How many of those bikes are really 50MPG+... at 80MPH. I have my doubts. Anyone with actual experience?
Click to expand...

If mileage is the MAIN concern: Ninja 250 or GS500. :x
 
50+ MPG on highway, especially 280's 80 MPH, is NotGonnaHappen.com, as the wind drag on ANY bike will be hideous.
 
radvas said:
How many of those bikes are really 50MPG+... at 80MPH. I have my doubts. Anyone with actual experience?
Click to expand...

My FZ6 sure as heck isn't. My SV650 was 55ish at 70mph (I was in WA at the time).

The rec I made on the other board did the high 50s in my mostly-80mph commute when I first moved here. :)
 
radvas said:
How many of those bikes are really 50MPG+... at 80MPH. I have my doubts. Anyone with actual experience?
Click to expand...

True. The SV650 with a fairing is a maybe. Otherwise you're looking at Ninja 250, Ninja 500, GS500F. And yeah, the fairing makes a difference. My Ninja 500 didn't have a fairing and I always got 38mpg freeway. Everyone with a fairing gets 48+.
 
Vstrom 650 should work well. MPG will be around 45 MPG and there are too many options as far as upgrades. And it has a 5.8 gallon tank to cut down on trips to the gas station.
 
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thanks for the input.
Ok, 40 to 45 mpg. My '01 H.D. got 45 to 50 at those speeds but it is wadded and sitting in the garage. Hell, my ZX10 gets 40 and it is rarely below 80 and gets into jail time numbers at the bottom of 84:laughing

Had a TL 1000, and it sucked gass.

Would really like to have something I could do some fire roads w/ and something w/o a lot of plastic. Working on the ZX10 is a pita.

The monster is interesting. Always liked them but shyed away due to the valves and short range.

(edit) Vstrom is interesing and I think Moto Java has one coming in, but I have a fragile ego and have to look at it in the garage. Sorry to the strom riders here.......certainly respect the bike but.......
 
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DarkNinja75 said:
True. The SV650 with a fairing is a maybe. Otherwise you're looking at Ninja 250, Ninja 500, GS500F. And yeah, the fairing makes a difference. My Ninja 500 didn't have a fairing and I always got 38mpg freeway. Everyone with a fairing gets 48+.
Click to expand...
My Vulcan 500 got 50 mpg at 60 mph, no fairing. Same motor as the ninja. My ZR-7S averages 50mpg. Range is about 300 miles on mostly freeway, +10 over limit.
 
The SV650S will get above 50mpg if ridden at that speed. When I had mine I got about 46-48mpg commuting from San Jose to Oakland, and about half of that time was in very heavy traffic so I was always in a lower gear. There were days when I would barely touch 3rd gear with all that congestion.

Some of the empty highway longer runs I did I saw above 53mpg. The new SV650SF may do better with full fairing, but the same fairings were an option for the earlier models
 
I think you'd make a lot more selling a redundant bike than buying a third one that gets better mileage :)
 
Thanks Darth but that is like asking me to get rid of one of my kids:laughing

Nope, just need an inexpensive easy to maintain commuter. Considering the F650 gs because it has some off road skills which my others don't have at all. Still wondering about the airheads. One for sale at the Dianese store in S.F.
 
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