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RE Himalayan?
CB500 -
Can you twiddle a spanner? Lots of cheap bikes that need work.
I like bandit 6 and er500
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I was here about a year ago and got slightly carried away and bought an engine swapped XTZ750...
Shortlist was V-Strom 650XT for something newer or Transalp XL600V for something older... Africa Twin would be great too (RD03 is the one but RD04 probably a bit more accessible)
Love this Trail Découverte Concept V-Strom...
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V85tt if you want adventure style
V7 stone if you want nakedBoth Moto Guzzi and a piece of piss to work on.
Bigger engine than you asked but the power output is more akin to a 650 so easily manageable as a first big bike. Air cooled and shaft driven so two bits of maintenance in the bin from the off.
Otherwise
V-strom or sv650, still easy but they have radiators and chains and our rural roads are covered in crap. -
Do you have a main dealer or a used bikes dealer nearby?
Cumbria is too far away or I’d say come visit Swindon. Lots of London customers buy in Swindon and have a (mate of mine) courier deliver the bike to London town. Apparently it saves hundreds vs buying in the big city.
If nothing else the benefit of the shops is sitting on the bikes and seeing what fits you and what just looks like crap.
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411 Himalayan. There is really no other choice worth considering.
Reliable, easy to work on, in budget, comfy, I used to get 90+ mpg, great on and off road. You could easily get one sub 10k miles in your budget.
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You'll probably want to try different engine types in time but I would look at a Honda twin with a low centre of gravity. V twin would be my preference or the Svartpilen 401.
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@seanmur
Can anyone offer some recommendations for a first “big” bike. Got my DAS booked in over the next month or two, and figured now was a good time to set up some eBay saved searches.
Main criteria are -
Sub 750cc (no interest in going particularly fast and I enjoy the 80+ mpg of the 125)
Ideally around the £2k-£2.5k mark.
Suitable for the potholed gravelly Cumbrian roads I ride on.
Simple enough to service and troubleshoot without an electrical engineering degree.
TIA