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The litre bike will come :) Modern litre bikes are insane though, there's really no need for it away from a track, it's almost impossible to use fully use them on the road now they can break the national speed limit in 1st.
You'll find out what you want a bike for and that cuts the choice down a bit. Unless you end up needing 2 or 3 to cover the bases which is pretty legit if you tour, commute and like track days.
When I bought my crack den bike it was because my neighbour was smoking it and thought I might be a touch for a few hundred on christmas eve. It was his junky mates bike. The deal went down at 10pm christmas eve in a dark garden in Battersea, not a traditionally busy time for bike dealers :) I had to pay for that bike per ride, every time I got off it it needed something replacing! Still loved it with a passion though.
The 400cc class is great. Main weakness with small bikes for touring that I found was weight carrying. They can have issues with the suspension if you load them 2 up and luggage. It's nice to cruise at quiet rpms on the larger bikes but that's a real expensive luxury. Ask most bikers for a touring story and it'll be the time they went to Spain on a 250cc that broke down every day, not last summer when they did it on a GS.
Airhead-
For sure. Since watching F9 on Youtube I’d consider something like a V Strom as a future desire, but only since I’d already been pining after a Royal Enfield Himalayan every time I went past the dealership.
I’d gone in some months ago to just feel out prices, and it looked way too big, the Continental GT and Interceptor looked more like my kind of bike. However already I’m wondering about those extra dirt roads I could one day travel, that my low little bike won’t survive.
The little GN125 is certainly a baby-sized cruiser. If I tour it’ll be like when i cycled to Berlin, with every gram considered. Going solo, after spares I’d only want a few kg of luggage strapped down tight. I don’t see the point in carrying a house.
Gonna stick some Hayabusa stickers on the 125.
pdlouche
Crack den? Hmmm... well I’m in Swindon so there should be a surplus.
From the camera/longboard/bicycle obsessions it’s easy to understand how people would get buy and sell syndrome, and have a different bike every opportunity. Kind of trying to outgrow that though.
The cost is certainly a big blocker for me. When the trainer guy said he gets 30/40/50 mpg out of xyz if he’s being good, I’m pretty sure you can get that from most modern efficient cars. Suppose it’s not a fair comparison, a little hatchback to a litre bike. And yup, I have the fear it’s not just that running cost, it’s parts, tax and insurance. Something up to 400cc would be nice though.
The GN’s original rating was something like 87.5mph/2.7L per 100km. I’m certain I’ve been getting better than that, 100mpg at least. Makes cheap chilled touring seem doable.
Tax £20, insurance around £160 one-off including some add-ons. Bike £625, plus parts/maintenance which have probably pushed it closer to £800 to get reliable, and then a small chunk on top like the windscreen or whatever.
Short of a Lexmoto, I’ve struggled to find a single 125 for less than a grand on gumtree/ebay/autotrader/facebook. Almost guaranteed to need that £2-300 on top to get roadworthy whenever listed below £1500. For sure I want to find my crackden bike, but that may or may not happen in the future.
I’d said to myself if I can keep the total cost under a grand, then I can’t be too upset.
Still kinda want a litre biek tho.