Cheap commuter

Discussion in 'UK Motorcycles' started by Mike Buckley, May 3, 2010.

  1. Mike Buckley

    wessie Guest

    KLE500 acquired this nickname during its early years when colours were
    similar to a Jimmy Saville tracksuit
    and the price of fresh haddock today is?
     
    wessie, May 3, 2010
    #21
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  2. Mike Buckley

    TMack Guest

    If you MUST have panniers here are a coupe of oddball suggestions:
    MZ Skorpion Traveller (with luggage) if you can find one. Cheap as chips
    and Yamaha XT660Z engine is reliable.
    Honda Pacific Coast, PC800 if you can find one, With built-in boot instead
    of panniers. Good low-mileage examples can be found under £2k

    However, speaking as someone who does a minumum 60 mile daily round trip on
    a bike, I suggest that you forget the panniers. Get any cheap, reliable and
    reasonably quick bike with a large topbox already fitted to it. Then get a
    REALLY big tailpack and attach it to the pillion seat. This will allow you
    to carry lots of stuff without making the bike too wide. You don't want to
    be too wide because you WILL want to filter like a loon either to shorten
    the journey time, get through traffic congestion or just to relieve the
    tedium. My commuting bike is a 650 V-strom and every day I pass much
    quicker bikes that can't get through the gaps that I can because their
    panniers are too wide.
     
    TMack, May 3, 2010
    #22
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  3. Mike Buckley

    Mike Buckley Guest

    Don't have to have panniers at all, a top box big enough to take a
    laptop and a change of clothes will be fine. In fact would prefer not to
    have panniers for exactly the reasons you came up with.

    That PC800 is one ugly bike. Skorpion looks ok, but I'd prefer the
    height of a KLE or Divvy. not ruled it out though.
     
    Mike Buckley, May 3, 2010
    #23
  4. Mike Buckley

    zymurgy Guest

    Seriously, what were the BBC thinking of, putting a wizened man in a
    gaudy tracksuit on a magic chair for the entertainment of small kids
    on his knees ..

    Paul.
     
    zymurgy, May 3, 2010
    #24
  5. Mike Buckley

    Nige Guest

    Well known kiddyfiddler, too.

    Kevin Keegan is the same.
     
    Nige, May 3, 2010
    #25
  6. Mike Buckley

    eatmorepies Guest


    I have a Givi monokey top plate; like this one 270572704101 on eBay. I
    drilled two holes through the KLE rack and bolted the Givi bit on. I have a
    set of monokey luggage and use the smaller pannier or larger top box
    depending on the space I need. You could bolt any top box directly onto the
    KLE rack. There's a 1996 KLE on Bike Trader at £1395 with only 9000 miles on
    it. It could well have a nicer engine than mine - I say this because I had a
    1998 ER5 (which I found a bit cramped) when I bought the 2005 KLE500. The
    KLE seems to run leaner and has a few extra bits of pipework around the
    engine. I think they did something to get it through a change in emissions
    regs. The ER seemed to have the sweeter engine. I found the older (thinner
    and firmer) seat more comfortable than the new one. I like the relaxed and
    spacious riding position of the KLE. As for prices, they do seem to have
    gone up recently; I suppose the big price rises in new bikes has trickled
    down to used ones. Mine has got a bit tatty because I use it in the winter
    in preference to the Transalp. It also goes on farm and forestry roads.
    However last week, when I fitted new tyres, chain and sprockets and removed
    and cleaned the radiator, I also took lots of bits off and gave them a bit
    of a clean - it now looks somewhat better.

    John
     
    eatmorepies, May 3, 2010
    #26
  7. Mike Buckley

    Gyp Guest

    I was thinking more like a CB72. Someone was flogging one recently;
    can't recall who...
     
    Gyp, May 3, 2010
    #27
  8. Mike Buckley

    Mike Buckley Guest

    I did see that one in bike trader but it's in North Wales (considerably
    further than the 89 miles quoted by Biketrader).

    I don't understand why you say you can bolt any top box directly to the
    KLE rack, but also say you needed a monokey adapter which you had to
    drill the KLE rack to make fit?
     
    Mike Buckley, May 3, 2010
    #28
  9. Mike Buckley

    Mike Buckley Guest

    Oh right, whooshed.

    No luggage capacity anyway, umm and out of budget!
     
    Mike Buckley, May 3, 2010
    #29
  10. Crap. Too slow. No weather protection. Utter waste of time for a 100+
    mile round trip.
    Ever owned a sports bike?

    Suggest that a K100/75/1100 or a PanEuropean. Weather protection and
    comfort is pretty important on a 100 mile plus round trip; based on
    experience of doing a 120mile round trip for about 10 years. I'd go
    with the K every time.

    Try ebay 110526713286 or 120562664497

    Condition more important than mileage; the 86 on K series will do really
    big mileages; I've taken two past 100k and the thing that killed them
    was winter use and rot caused by salt. Nothing that couldn't have been
    saved but I couldn't be bothered since it was easier to buy another one
    (my time being worth more to me than the 500 quid or so I had to find to
    get the replacement bike).

    Pan European I thought had a really poor fairing for a full on touring
    bike. Nice engine though but look out for rotten exhausts and swing
    arms.
     
    stephen.packer, May 3, 2010
    #30
  11. Mike Buckley

    wessie Guest

    bolting a topbox to a rack suggests it is a permanent fixture. The Givi
    rack allows you to remove the top box with ease.
     
    wessie, May 3, 2010
    #31
  12. Mike Buckley

    TMack Guest

    Well, if panniers are not required then there is a vast world of SOBs out
    there looking for a home! A lot will depend on your requirements re
    economical running, tank range (really important IMHO), performance and
    comfort. If you want tall(ish) type bike then consider the BMW F650 Funduro
    (and other variants), which returns really good mpg with reasonable
    performance and is now coming into the "cheap" category. You could also
    look at Aprilia Pegaso, MZ Baghira, XT600, XL600 Transalp etc. etc.
     
    TMack, May 3, 2010
    #32
  13. Mike Buckley

    Lozzo Guest

    Gixer K1/2/3 600/750 and the K1/K2 1000s are extremely comfortable and
    don't have a really radical riding position. 140 miles on one would be
    fine for anyone.
     
    Lozzo, May 3, 2010
    #33
  14. Mike Buckley

    Lozzo Guest

    Mike Buckley wrote:

    I have a spare monolock adaptor plate, don't worry about it.
     
    Lozzo, May 3, 2010
    #34
  15. Mike Buckley

    Gyp Guest

    How about 300420822544?
     
    Gyp, May 3, 2010
    #35
  16. Mike Buckley

    Ben Guest

    I can comfortably do 400 miles a day on my K8 GSXR.
     
    Ben, May 3, 2010
    #36
  17. Care to be specific? 'cos I don't *think* Nige has bought an utter
    shitter of a model.
     
    stephen.packer, May 3, 2010
    #37
  18. Mike Buckley

    wessie Guest

    wrote in
    Apart from the Range/Land Rovers
     
    wessie, May 3, 2010
    #38
  19. Mike Buckley

    Lozzo Guest

    I did sell him my Daytona 955iSE
     
    Lozzo, May 3, 2010
    #39
  20. Mike Buckley

    eatmorepies Guest

    As Wessie says - I have Givi luggage which I can clip on and off at will. If
    I didn't already own the Givi stuff (and only 1 bike I wanted a box on) then
    I would probably buy a topbox for less than the price of a Givi and bolt it
    on the KLE rack - just like in the old days; well 1972. My Transalp is just
    the same. It has the Honda rack as standard and I've bolted a Givi top plate
    to it - I can swap boxes between the bikes very quickly.

    John
     
    eatmorepies, May 3, 2010
    #40
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