Lets start a list

[Mark]

Cat amongst the pidgeons

An 883 Sportster.

Top end of your budget, won't green lane(very well) and you'll have to plaster it in protective spray to stop it rotting.

100% reliable, cheap and easy to maintain, cheap tyres, belt drive(never needs adjusting) fun to ride(honest), easy to get parts not that you'll need any. Get more back in ten years than you'll pay for it.

[OMEGAMAN]

 Nobody's mentioned the hack that I'm working on for my coming trip!

  The CB500!!!     just think of the reasons why I decided on it! (apart from the fact I already owned it!)

 decent s/h price / zillion miles to gallon / plenty of ooomph! / comfy / indestructable engine / cheap parts (in fact I'm using a lot of non Honda bits lying around my sheds to re-build mine)

 & this one will be doing a little off roading too!  (will get back to you on that one!)

[Steve H]

Getting a bit long in the tooth but a K series BMW would be my choice.

[Andy M]

Cat amongst the pidgeons

An 883 Sportster.

No real argument here. If the dealer had been a normal human being instead of a corporate lifestyle ****wit spouting garbage about upgrades to 1200cc when I've had some practice (I'd only been riding 9 years!), and free gunk to preserve the petrol in the "closed season" (is Harley petrol made from Grouses of something? Not available after August?), there would be an 883 in my garage now. The test ride had me looking for the cheque book, the sales idiot talked himself out of it. I thought that if they couldn't tell the difference between a bloke on a Yamaha XT who rode in wearing scruffy ex-MOD kit and asked about fuel range from the customers who arrived by car in business suits and asked about leather lined panniers, they'd be useless when I broke something mechanical in January.

For Harley money I can get another Bonneville and always be able to make one good one out of the pair. The daft salesman I suppose could now (or in a month or six) be said to have lost them two sales!

CB500 is on the list with the ER5. BM K-series I'd need to do numbers on, petrol cost versus insurance. The K75 appeals more than the K100/1100, but we do have Motorworks just up the road.

Thanks Guys

Andy

[Steve H]

BMW K-series I'd need to do numbers on, petrol cost versus insurance. The K75 appeals more than the K100/1100, but we do have Motorworks just up the road.

I had a K75S some time ago and was quite impressed with it. I used to get 50mpg and its worth factoring in tyres into your costs, they are quite narrow and hence much cheaper than most modern tackle.

[Steve H]

SV650, cheap and fairly economical, I'm getting 50+mpg. Not too sure on tyre life as I havent ridden it enough yet 

[johnr]

wm20 bsa, its that classic look and the girder forks that do it for me every time!

[niblue]

The Honda Deauville was built for that job - shaft drive, decent weather protection, comfy seat, built-in luggage, reliable. Had mine for 10 years and it never let me down.

If I was buying a bike for a regular commute again I'd have no hesitation in buying another.

I do still commute on two wheels from time to time, however this is what I built at the weekend for that job (mixed on & off-road commute):



It's got a rack on it now but still needs mudguards (proven by a very wet commute on it this morning)!

[stevexbr]

If you can overcome the watercooling thing then a BMW K100 is the perfect machine for commuting.
You'll get a weeks transport out of one tank too - a grand would get agood un , £1500 a minter.

Steve

[beeman]

Just got shot of a k100rs great on the motorways did a 1000miles a month on it but took it up the snake pass earlier this year and corners and k100s dont mix. Don't get me wrong it wasn't dangerous but just hard work. In short I didn't fall in love with it and considered it just a mode of transport.
It did get me out of a cash fund problem so I wouldn't knock. Sold it and got a 1000 fazer much better to ride but motorways are a bit of a bind with just a 1/2 fairing compared with k100.
The srx was just being destroyed with 120 miles of motorway a day, horses for courses.
The trouble with older bikes and reliable transport is that little things always seem to be going wrong. If you dont mind higher maintenance no problem. In my case 60 plus hours of work 10 hours traveling a week didn't leave time for fixing older bikes.
beeman
 

[OMEGAMAN]

The Honda Deauville was built for that job - shaft drive, decent weather protection, comfy seat, built-in luggage, reliable. Had mine for 10 years and it never let me down.

If I was buying a bike for a regular commute again I'd have no hesitation in buying another.

I do still commute on two wheels from time to time, however this is what I built at the weekend for that job (mixed on & off-road commute):



It's got a rack on it now but still needs mudguards (proven by a very wet commute on it this morning)!

 The mountain bike's a good idea!        But it obviously struggles to get through the narrow gaps!!!!!!!!!

[guest27]

Was cycling with No1 son the other day and trying to learn how to bunny hop, got it a little wrong, landed on the nose of the saddle, snapped the saddle jabbed myself in the bum and had to ride home with a bust saddle etc.

Oh bugger - I forgot to say it was my lovely B17 Brooks too.

Sulk

R

[Steve H]

It's got a rack on it now but still needs mudguards (proven by a very wet commute on it this morning)!

Off topic a bit, but what waterproofs do you use off road ?. My current jacket is waterproof but doesnt breath too well.

[niblue]

The mountain bike's a good idea!        But it obviously struggles to get through the narrow gaps!!!!!!!!!

The bike fits through that gap no problem - it's just me that struggles to fit...

[niblue]

Oh bugger - I forgot to say it was my lovely B17 Brooks too.

The worst thing about that is just how long it will take to break another one in.