Absolutly new to the sport

I am looking for advice on what to buy.

1. budget $3500
2. work commuter
3. riding in national park (off road)
4. rural mountain roads paved
5. touring pacific northwest and deserts +1k milers

What type of tires would you recommend?

thanks,

pbook

 

Do you have a license? How much riding experience do you have?

I would recommend different bikes for 2,5 than for 3,4, and I don't
think that you'll find any single bike for 3500 that will do all of
these things well.

Without knowing more, I'd recommend finding a good commuter (something
like an SV650, Bandit 600, Honda 599) bike, then expand into other
areas, or on finding an off-road bike (XR, KLR, etc.) and expanding.
Either way, you likely want to start with something fairly small, light,
and without lots of plastic (quite expensive to repair if you fall
over/hit something).

I would strongly recommend against buying a "fixer-upper" if you need it
to be a reliable commuter (if it's your only vehicle), unless you are
_extremely_ keen on working on the bike...all the time. Especially if
you're new to biking, aren't mechanically inclined, or end up wanting a
different bike, putting that much work into your ride is going to be
frustrating. If you want a project, things are different.

No one set of tires is going to do 3 and 5 well.

HTH, YMMV

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a noun. Leave only the noun between @ and .edu to reply

 

I have very little experience to offer, but just some comments
on the nearly contradictory requirements you seem to have...

Can't help -- I just dumped $6000 OTD for a Vespa GT200...

Assuming similar to my use... probably any scooter in the
150-250cc range. Many scooters even have storage space available
/before/ adding cases.

Probably want something with large diameter wheels (so much for
the majority of the scooters -- even the larger wheel diameters tend to
only reach 16", most are in the 10-12" range), and moderately long
suspension travel (so much for the rest of the scooters). What I used to
know as a "trail bike" 25 years ago, slightly detuned engine for
expanded torque range at a loss of top speed, dirt bike build, but with
full street lighting -- think they now bill them as "dual sport".

I'd guess something in the 250-650cc range, with a bit of
nimbleness in cornering. Almost anything qualifies.

Reasonably large engine for sustained cruising speed, lots of
fairings and windshields for streamlining, water cooling... Lots of
storage boxes. Not something you'd want to take off road -- too bulky to
navigating pot-holes, streams, and rocks. OTOH, you wouldn't really want
to take a "trail bike" on very long sustained road trips either...

I think almost everyone makes something suitable for this; even
some scooters -- the Burgman 650 (?), Honda Silverwing. Not cheap...

--

 

Used DR650, KLR650, or maybe even a F650 though their prices tend to run
higher.