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Recommend a good touring bike

fubar929 said:
I'm also still a bit miffed that the speedometer on my KTM SuperDuke is off by a good 20%;
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I don't know why KTM makes all of their speedometers read high by so much. I can't remember how far off my 2008 990 Adv was, but probably 10%. I was able to "lie" to the electronics and tell it that it had a 19" front tire, then the speed was fairly accurate, but the odometer was off.

Both my 2018 1090R and my current 2020 790R read 5% high on the speedometer, verified with a GPS. If it says 100, I'm only going 95.

The 1993 Ducati 888 SPO was off about 20%. I never checked it with a GPS, but that one was WAY off.
 
I believe this error in US moto's speedometers is a remnant of congress/NHSA attempt to deceive US riders, because we "all" travel faster than the posted speed limit by 5mph.
My Hyper's manual stated that the speedo is 8% high.
My Triumph won't match the radar checks anywhere above 30 mph, reading 5+ low. Sturgis runs adjustable speed limit signs and the radar checks. Speed limits slow as the crowd increases, from 55 to 35. For me to maintain 35 radar, I see just a tick below 40 on the clock.
My last two trucks, freight liner, dodge ram, are spot on, same testing.
 
guycole said:
New bikes are nice. I go between SF Pay Area and Shasta every week. Sometimes I stop for people on the side of the road with new and shiny and broken.
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dravnx said:
Is anyone else seeing this?
I average 20k mi. a year and I don't.
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I've only had two motorcycles that stranded me away from home. They were both VFRs. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed riding both of those machines, but they were not "high tech" and strand me they did !!

My 2000 K1200RS had the most failures of any bike I've owned, but it NEVER stranded me anywhere. Stuff like ABS computer failure, rear main seal leak, exhaust pipes cracking, rear drive bearing failures (3), etc.

The two FJRs, nuthin'. Change fluids and filters on schedule, and not one issue with either. Of course, they're only semi-high tech compared to the Euro machines. :laughing
 
Don't they make Speedo-healers for KTM and Ducati? I know there are several brands available for most Japanese bikes. I like to know what my speed is. The point about the odometer is true though. Get the speedo right, and odometer is off by the same percentage.
 
The story I've heard and this is not substantiated, it that European regulations are strict about speedometer accuracy and that the speedometer cannot display a speed that is lower then actual. In order to stay within the tolerances, the manufacturers build in a large tolerance.
 
I've got a 2013 VFR1200 in my garage I might part with for a reasonable sum.
Around 7k$
35k on the clock. Ohlins rear recently added. PitBull stand and Honda manual.
Givi 3 bag setup.
 

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fubar929 said:
I can share two problems I had with my 2016 Ducati Multistrada 1200S. Neither left me stranded (or dead), but that was due to luck as much as anything else:

1) The dreaded 2nd-gear 30mph software glitch

2) My bike was one of the ones that suffered from a bad batch of fuel-level sensors.
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1) Is the software glitch a common problem in 2016, or just your bike? Were you able to get it fixed permanently?

2) Both my 2004 and 2013 Multistrada had/have errand fuel-level readings. That's a common issue for Multistrada, but to me it's more an annoyance to live with than a real problem. Jim Davis at Advanced Cycle Service said it'd cost over $400 to get the fuel-level sensor replaced, but no guarantee that the problem wouldn't come back. Seems like there's intrinsic issue with the sensor design rather than bad batches.
 
dravnx said:
The story I've heard and this is not substantiated, it that European regulations are strict about speedometer accuracy and that the speedometer cannot display a speed that is lower then actual. In order to stay within the tolerances, the manufacturers build in a large tolerance.
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The manufacturers of the speedometers in Europe used to add about 3% in the display. The old mechanical ones with the transmission from the gearbox were not all that accurate, so they purposely matched the new ones which could be accurate.
 
Holeshot said:
Sorry all. Pretty big life event happening on my end (that kinda drove this idea too). I read this thread 3 times to completion. Thanks so much for all of the thoughts/ suggestions/ posts. Everyone Has been super helpful; Karl, Kevin, Alex, Mike, Scott, David, Jason, Jeff, John, Archimedes, Merlin, George, Bill, Dan (both), Shannon, Tim, Bud, Jim, Gary, Victor, Rob, Don, Amit, Fubar, Kestrel, Giles, Steve, Jon, Reama and anyone I missed...totally not a trolling post (although that is something I'd do...), I'm serious about doing some different type of riding.

Your posts all were really good and helped narrow down my thinking and direction. Alex's post helped a bunch as well, given we're coming from the same path for the most part. I got ahold of another AFMer who's gone the ADV route (Cory Call) and given we have a good relationship and he knows my riding habits/ history has been super helpful. I'm now stuck @ a 1250GS/GSA or 1290 Super adventure S. I'm leaning toward the BMW...my budget is what it needs to be, I suppose. I do want to try and find something at the auction if I can tho...but don't have to. My 2015 R1 was new, so there's that.

Alex, what drove this was a new friend suggesting we go do some touring rides...another guy in the racing community.

Thanks again everyone. I'll be putting some parts on the bike too when I locate one.
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Where can you get a BMW R1250GSA, they seem to be made of unobtanium. I think CalMoto and SJBMW had a low suspension model in stock. On ebay motors MAX in NH had 1. And that for 320M people in the whole US.
 
Gary856 said:
1) Is the software glitch a common problem in 2016, or just your bike? Were you able to get it fixed permanently?
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This was a potential problem for all bikes, though it took a somewhat specific set of circumstances to trigger it. Ducati released an ECU update that fixed the problem about a month after I encountered it.

2) Both my 2004 and 2013 Multistrada had/have errand fuel-level readings. That's a common issue for Multistrada, but to me it's more an annoyance to live with than a real problem. Jim Davis at Advanced Cycle Service said it'd cost over $400 to get the fuel-level sensor replaced, but no guarantee that the problem wouldn't come back. Seems like there's intrinsic issue with the sensor design rather than bad batches.
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I got my fuel-level sensor replaced for free under warranty. The replacement took less than an hour. My bike was under warranty, but the issue was so wide-spread that Ducati was very liberal about replacing the sensors even if you were out of warranty. Apparently the "1D" part number was significantly less likely to have issues than the A/B/C parts which proceeded it. The one that failed for me was a "2C" and I got a "1D" to replace it. Didn't have any problems after that.
 
SFMCjohn said:
my claim to suffering and fame is being the first person to have used an EX500 on the Iron Butt Association’s list of qualified rides ... that bike cost me $400, CA to NJ in four days and didn’t get rained on once, though I certainly was able to embrace the pain anyway ... :laughing:blah
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I bought my 2006 G1K new in April of that year. Then I slabbed to Vega$ and back that Labor Day.

Wtf was I thinking? :laughing
 
dravnx said:
Is anyone else seeing this?
I average 20k mi. a year and I don't.
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Ditto.

Tom G said:
Where can you get a BMW R1250GSA, they seem to be made of unobtanium. I think CalMoto and SJBMW had a low suspension model in stock. On ebay motors MAX in NH had 1. And that for 320M people in the whole US.
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I could've sworn there was one on the floor (normal suspension) when I bought my RS in February. :dunno

Berto, I'm still saying you need to take the RS for a spin before you make up your mind. Seriously. :teeth
 
I took out the R on a test. The RS is definitely the better of the two...for me. The R reminded me of everything I hated about the Nine-T that I was getting rid of when I bought the RS. The GS just did not feel right to me...and I REALLY wanted it to feel right. But the saleswoman really pushed me to at least try the RS and it was like a bell went off in my head when I rode it. That was definitely the right choice for me. The RT would've been great for me too, but they've gotten far too expensive. I had a 2011 RT that I bought new back in the day and got rid of it when I thought I wasn't going to do long trips anymore...which was a mistake. They're still as comfortable as I remember them to be...just too damn expensive for what they are IMO.
 
Tom G said:
Where can you get a BMW R1250GSA, they seem to be made of unobtanium. I think CalMoto and SJBMW had a low suspension model in stock. On ebay motors MAX in NH had 1. And that for 320M people in the whole US.
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Look on Cycle Trader. There are a lot of GSA's out there.
 
If it matters, there's a YouTube video out there somewhere where a two man team reviewer in the U.K. put the GS1200 and GS1250 on the dyno back-to-back to compare power curves, fueling, etc. The 1250 was obviously more powerful across the rev range, but what was impressive was how smooth the curve was and how perfect the fueling was. The dyno expert who runs the facility where they do the testing said he had never seen a bike that fueled as perfectly as the new GS does.
 
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