What's happened to all the BMW K-series?

That was for a very ratty CB500. A newer / nicer bike was a lot more
than that (Around £350for a new-ish Transalp)

A quick look around shows a Dullville coming in at £300 / week.

True, but doesn't take long to rack up a couple of grand in hire charges
if you want to hire something decent.

One of the reasons I got rid of the VFR is that I no longer found it
comfortable for long distances, so I want something with a more touring
biased riding position.

 

<thinks of VeloSolex in garage>
I'm not quite sure that's correct.

 

By 'riding position', do you mean just the height/reach of the bars, or
the pegs as well? If it's just the bars, that's generally quite easy to
sort, & not a reason to dismiss an otherwise perfect bike.

--
Krusty

'03 Tiger 955i
'02 MV Senna (for sale) '96 Tiger (for sale)
'79 Fantic Hiro 250 (for sale) '81 Corvette (for sale)

 

I know this sounds crazy, but the R6 made a great tourer. good range
between fill ups, easy to sling panniers on, and with a luggage rack
slung on the back was ideal.

 

Pegs are where I struggle.

I may be short legged, but my knees are buggered - I had one cleaned out
about 15 years ago, and the other is also giving me hassle.

 

So give in to your gay side & fit some fold-down highway pegs. Srsly.
Tigers have fairly high pegs & lots of people fit extra pegs further
forward & low down to help their knees.

--
Krusty

'03 Tiger 955i
'02 MV Senna (for sale) '96 Tiger (for sale)
'79 Fantic Hiro 250 (for sale) '81 Corvette (for sale)

 

wessie wrote:

What leads you to say that? Spares availability from breakers is not
bad (although do seem to dry up now and then). Other than the
aforementioned ABS the only other really expensive problem AFAIK is the
earlier alternator. Possibly collector box and swing arm I guess,
although Dave Silver had the latter for a couple of hundred.

 

I knew you'd suggest an FJ.... not sure, really.

Lots of high mileage ones around, and some low mileage examples at twice
what I think they're worth.

What kind of money should I be paying for a tidy one - and what should I
be looking out for?

 

Tiger is out for the same reasons as the R-GS. Just too bloody tall for
my stumpy legs.

 

That's certainly true for one-up usage - pretty much anything can be
toured on [1].

However, it get's harder if you want to carry a pillion, cos you
obviously lose space for luggage and gain the requirement to carry
more luggage.


[1] I once saw a 350LC at the Bol D'Or with "Dol D'Or Bust" written on
the screen

 

back in '96 or so, the bird who used to write for PB did a series of
articles about a fairly large tour of Spain she had done on an RS250.

And I took my SZR660 to Tuscany and back. So yeah, you can tour on
anything if you don't mind a bit of pain.

 

Riding the RGV to the Black Horse was one of the least comfortable
riding experiences I've had. 150 miles of cramp (not in my left hand,
either)

 

Dude, no bike with you onboard has a low CofG.

 

This one looks decent value at £995:
http://tinyurl.com/dbdcgn

40k miles, FJ club overhaul (£1300), heated grips, full luggage.


--
Martin

R1150RS
Falco
GS1000E

 

wrote in @news.gradwell.net:

A similar oil related thing happens on my boxer twin if you always use the
sidestand. However, the BMW mainstand is simple to use once you have learnt
to use the correct technique.

 

I've fitted lower pegs to the R-GS. It's made long trips to the Alps much
better.

 

As Steve is finding out. Cheap, reliable touring bikes are very popular.
Hence the shortage of decent Ks, Diversions etc. IMV, most of the Pans on
sale in the £2k price range will be bikes with some issue that makes them
expensive to repair. Owners of good, reliable bikes are very likely to keep
them, or sell them to someone they know. I'm pretty sure that if someone
offered a £2500 Pan or K, with a known good history, in this group then
there would be a queue of people wanting to acquire it.

 

Ditto with the Daytona.

 

This looks nice:

http://www.bristolmotorrad.co.uk/viewbike.asp?SP_ID=1723960&BRA_ID=19

But the mileage is high at 67k - not convinced it's worth that kind of
money with that kind of mileage, even though it's coming from a main
dealer.

 

I wouldn't. Not any more. They were great in their day, but they're
now old, old bikes and getting older. You'd have the devil of a job
finding a really clean low-miler (like sub-20k).