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Slowlycatchymonkey

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1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Not a lot of power for any sort of distance on that Bob!

Old XT's and DR's would be too tall! Plus they were withdrawn about 20 years ago so she'd have to buy something really old.

I still say the 650GS is the most logical choice!

I'm taking my bike is in for a service/MOT on Thursday and have asked for the G310GS as a courtesy bike while I wait. Am interested to see what it's like. 

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7 hours ago, Specs said:

I'm taking my bike is in for a service/MOT on Thursday and have asked for the G310GS as a courtesy bike while I wait. Am interested to see what it's like. 

I think you'll be a bit squashed on it Alan......they look pretty small to me!

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11 hours ago, Skippy said:

@Slowlycatchymonkey how about a second hand KTM690 Enduro R, fairly tall but again they sink a fair bit once you get on. Great bit of kit off road and plenty of grunt on the tarmac………but that seat is truly awful. Mind you, I rode mine from Burgos in the north of Spain to our house down here on the south east coast in one hit. Couldn’t walk properly for a couple of days 😝

Anyway, loved it and I’d have another in a heartbeat.

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Looks great but it sounds painful and more of a second bike than a combination mile eater. It’s going to have to cover some distance. 

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I was put off the 310 by a BMW mechanic who said it’s not the same as the other BMW bikes. He said it’s cheaply made and relies on the BMW badge to sell it without delivering the ride you’d expect and at that price point there’s much better bikes available. 
 

Ive looked at the 650, it’s available used at very reasonable prices with low mileage so I’m leaning that way. 

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Just now, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Ive looked at the 650, it’s available used at very reasonable prices with low mileage so I’m leaning that way. 

It's the best allrounder for my purposes here in Spain, and it'll probably be the same for you.

The 650 Strom is a brilliant bike......one of the best bikes ever made! Problem is it's a higher seat, 30kg heavier than the 650GS, and very top heavy.

Far better than the 650GS's for distance work, but once you get on the rural roads then it gets hard work. If you end up off road then it's very hard work.

The CB500X would be an option, though it's 10kg heavier than the 650GS.......and like the Strom it's a road bike with a 19" front wheel.

Similar power to the 650GS (delivered in a different way) but I imagine for distance work you'd have to keep the revs up to maintain any sort of pace. Whereas the 650GS will plod along all day at 70mph/120kph at 5K revs and return 75+ mpg.

There's a reason so many people have done RTW trips on them......they don't do anything great, but they can handle virtually anything you throw at them.

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59 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Looks great but it sounds painful and more of a second bike than a combination mile eater. It’s going to have to cover some distance. 

In that case you’d do a lot worse than a twin. However, the main limit will be your budget and also how old you’re prepared to go. For example, a newish Honda CB500X with decent tyres will do everything you want and Rally Raid in the UK do some great stuff for them. However, you could pick up a much older Kawasaki KLE500 for next to nothing, spend a little bit on consumables to get it running and riding nice and that will also do the distance stuff but will be so much better than the Honda off road……….and it’s a Kawasaki so will not break. 🤣👍

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4 minutes ago, XTreme said:

I never saw the CCM as the type of bike that you'd buy Alan.

The idea was to do some lanes on something lighter than the GS. That's when I discovered that my back and knees weren't up to standing up on the pegs for any length of time, and on the road the riding position gave me back ache. After walking too much over the weekend my bloody sciatica has returned with a vengeance and I can barely hobble around the house. If it's no better tomorrow I'll have to postpone the bike service/MOT on Thursday.

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29 minutes ago, Specs said:

The idea was to do some lanes on something lighter than the GS. That's when I discovered that my back and knees weren't up to standing up on the pegs for any length of time, and on the road the riding position gave me back ache. After walking too much over the weekend my bloody sciatica has returned with a vengeance and I can barely hobble around the house. If it's no better tomorrow I'll have to postpone the bike service/MOT on Thursday.

Getting old is shit......I'm aching after just a short run and a bit of offroad yesterday!

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On 18/09/2021 at 10:40, XTreme said:

It's the best allrounder for my purposes here in Spain, and it'll probably be the same for you.

The 650 Strom is a brilliant bike......one of the best bikes ever made! Problem is it's a higher seat, 30kg heavier than the 650GS, and very top heavy.

Far better than the 650GS's for distance work, but once you get on the rural roads then it gets hard work. If you end up off road then it's very hard work.

The CB500X would be an option, though it's 10kg heavier than the 650GS.......and like the Strom it's a road bike with a 19" front wheel.

Similar power to the 650GS (delivered in a different way) but I imagine for distance work you'd have to keep the revs up to maintain any sort of pace. Whereas the 650GS will plod along all day at 70mph/120kph at 5K revs and return 75+ mpg.

There's a reason so many people have done RTW trips on them......they don't do anything great, but they can handle virtually anything you throw at them.

Apparently the same engine as your bike, @XTreme.

http://vogefrance.fr/voge-650dsx/

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