Advice Needed

[cdmtdm]

Ok ,this is a serious question and i hope we can have some great input without the war of words over which make of bike is best etc

I want to add another bike to my collection purely for long rides with a passenger , i am talking travelling long distances throughout Thailand and SE asia , i am not envisaging any off road riding unless absolutely necessary , i have a budget of around 1 mill the bike does not have to be new ....... what will it be Harley ? Honda? BMW ? Yamaha? Suzuki ? Kawka? my only stipulation other than price and passenger is it needs some grunt , be comfortable and have some storage ...

I look forward to the replies guys

Cheers CdM

[guzzi850m2]

I have a HD Road King, extremely comfy, we can sit for 8 hours a day without any pain. Good storage too, cruising between 100-140 km/h.

You can get a good second one for about 700-1mill bath.

A original HD lacks the extra grunt, an air filter + new muffler and if fuel injected a power booster, will give you enough power unless you want to cruise at +200 km/h.

If you buy HD, you will be entitled to membership of the biggest MC club in the world: HOG. They arrange tours all year in Thailand and goes all over the place.

[ttakata]

I'd look at a new Yamaha FJR1300 and especially a BMW.

These have shaft drives and are truly meant for long hauls with nice luggage options.

They have solid long term reputations, Harleys don't.

http://www.ironbutt.org/intro/ibrfacts.html

http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/20...01210MWEBMP.htm

I suppose the Honda VFR1200 deserves a look too.

Post bikes of your new ride too.

Edited April 14, 2010 by ttakata

[BigBikeBKK]

This should be a good discussion- with a budget of ~1 million Baht you have plenty of choices.

If you're looking for a brand that has in-country dealers and service Honda is out.

The Triumph Tiger 1050 is an awesome go anywhere tour bike with plenty of grunt-

The BMWr1200GS really seems to be top dog for adventure touring and you only have to watch the great series LONG WAY AROUND and LONG WAY DOWN to see how tough and versatile these bikes are.

It just so happens that a friend in Khon Kaen who is 'victim' of the British Pound is selling he immaculate GS- tons of extras, never dropped and WAY less than retail. Not sure if he's posted an ad in the ThaiVisa Classifieds but it's up for sale on the GTRider site and the SecretSoi site. Here's a picture of the bike:

List of accessories etc:

BMW R1200GS 2008. Bought 22Nov 2008 from BKK Motorad in Bangkok. Purchase Price 998,000 Baht. Since fitted, BMW Top Box. SW Motec. Engine guards. Machine Art Cylinderhead guards. Mudsling mudguard, protects the battery and ESA rear motor, Touratech underrack tidy.

New Bags connection tankbag, on its way from the UK with the tank filler clip on fitting, and additional mappocket.

Bike taxed, insured, and warrantied until Nov 2010. Current km 26729. All services at BMW Bangkok or Chiang Mai. New Pirelli Scorpion Trail tyres fitted at 20K Km. Never abused, dropped or taken off road. Never missed a beat apart from faulty petrol guage sensor, replaced under warranty.

Another excellent tour bike that's available in Thailand is the Yamaha FJR1300:

850,000 baht

It looks like a pig but I've ridden it and it handles like a bike half it's size- really an amazing piece of engineering- you have to ride it to believe it!

So, of the choices available here in Thailand those are the three bikes I'd consider: Triumph Tiger 1050, BMW1200GS and Yamaha FJR1300.

Let us know how it goes!

Happy Trails!

Tony

Edited April 14, 2010 by BigBikeBKK

[noahvail]

If I had had the money I would have gotten a Beemer instead of the Kawa 650. Great machines, go forever, very rider friendly. There are several configurations, so you figure out the best one for you. I know there's one dealer in BKK, in the BMW car dealership. When I was there last year they only had one machine; and they pretty much order parts as needed from Germany. But it's rare that you need much more than warranty service. Great touring machine!

[katabeachbum]

second Tonys 3 bikes

If you are looking for low end tourque like a tractor I would also have a look at cruisers like Honda VTX 1800 V twin, Yammys 1900cc and Triumph 2300cc.

I used to have a VTX, but found it to large around town, so replaced it with TMax. But for cruising only, what a machine

[CroBiker]

I agree with posters above, BMW and Yamaha are great choices.

Since you already own Tmax, I think another Yamaha wouldn't hurt:

Yamaha FJR1300A

Dual front - rear single disk brake

1298cc liquid-cooled 4-cylinder

DOHC 16 valves

Price 850,000 Baht

No dodgy green books, this is legit dealer with warranties and service center, spares etc.

From BMW R 1200 RT is great looking bike too, brand new will set you back 1.1 mil but I am sure you can find used one for much less.

Edited April 14, 2010 by CroBiker

[cdmtdm]

I agree with posters above, BMW and Yamaha are great choices.

Since you already own Tmax, I think another Yamaha wouldn't hurt:

Yamaha FJR1300A

Dual front - rear single disk brake

1298cc liquid-cooled 4-cylinder

DOHC 16 valves

Price 850,000 Baht

No dodgy green books, this is legit dealer with warranties and service center, spares etc.

From BMW R 1200 RT is great looking bike too, brand new will set you back 1.1 mil but I am sure you can find used one for much less.

Thanks Fellas for the comments so far , i will study them all in due course but a couple of things which did slip my mind and the posts reminded me

1/ reliability ( is the harley reliability still an issue on newer models comments please) the others ???

2/ service in rural thailand or adjoining countries , what is the best bet of them all ..... ie bmw shits itself bangkok i presume , triumph same , harley same , yamaha ??

3/ re sale ..... do jap bikes as opposed to bmw , triumph or harley fetch less on resale ?? if not which model ??

4/ passenger comfort and storage capacities ......

5/ compliance / green book issues

cheers CdM

[guzzi850m2]

New Harley's are extremely reliable, they just go and go.

You can have HD's serviced many places in TL, only autoized (sorry can't spell) dealers in BKK and Pattaya so far, I think the plan is to open one in Changmai as well.

Harley's are very special, you kind of either hate them or love them, if you don't have a particular interest in them better stay away and buy something else.

If I was you I would go to a second hand HD shop and talk to the people hanging around, and see if you can test a touring bike, then you will either be hooked or say never.

[BSJ]

I don't know if there available in LOS, but the Kawasaki 1400 GTR would be hard to toss.

I was salivating over one in the dealership last weekend.

[CroBiker]

Yeah, concorse....

I was about to suggest this one but it is not avaialble in LOS. In Malaysia sells for equivalent of 1.1 million baht.

[cdmtdm]

New Harley's are extremely reliable, they just go and go.

You can have HD's serviced many places in TL, only autoized (sorry can't spell) dealers in BKK and Pattaya so far, I think the plan is to open one in Changmai as well.

Harley's are very special, you kind of either hate them or love them, if you don't have a particular interest in them better stay away and buy something else.

If I was you I would go to a second hand HD shop and talk to the people hanging around, and see if you can test a touring bike, then you will either be hooked or say never.

good advice , will do that having not ridden a hog before , time to try and it may be love or hate situation as you mention ..... next week when things return to normal ..

cheers

[cdmtdm]

Yeah, concorse....

I was about to suggest this one but it is not avaialble in LOS. In Malaysia sells for equivalent of 1.1 million baht.

shame that is very nice .........

[BigBikeBKK]

I don't know if there available in LOS, but the Kawasaki 1400 GTR would be hard to toss.

I was salivating over one in the dealership last weekend.

Yeah, I didn't mention the Kawa GTR as it's not sold in Thailand...

[GungaDin]

Good topic,

I'd buy another Yamaha in a heartbeat after my experience with them in the EU.

That shafty never let me down.

[cdmtdm]

Good topic,

I'd buy another Yamaha in a heartbeat after my experience with them in the EU.

That shafty never let me down.

what did you ride ?? i also have huge raps for yamaha , i had a station in the north of West aust , we ran WRF 450 ""s in hard hard country all off road , never let us down , also used 660cc Grizzly 4wd quads with difflocks also incredible machines spent many many hours upto the seat in water during the wet season , so Yamaha is hard to beat for reliability in my book already ..... but had little road experience which is why i posted .....

cheers

[GungaDin]

XS1100

Before that, a Gold Wing, no comparison.

Edited April 14, 2010 by GungaDin

[bprinceuk]

This should be a good discussion- with a budget of ~1 million Baht you have plenty of choices.

If you're looking for a brand that has in-country dealers and service Honda is out.

The Triumph Tiger 1050 is an awesome go anywhere tour bike with plenty of grunt-

The BMWr1200GS really seems to be top dog for adventure touring and you only have to watch the great series LONG WAY AROUND and LONG WAY DOWN to see how tough and versatile these bikes are.

It just so happens that a friend in Khon Kaen who is 'victim' of the British Pound is selling he immaculate GS- tons of extras, never dropped and WAY less than retail. Not sure if he's posted an ad in the ThaiVisa Classifieds but it's up for sale on the GTRider site and the SecretSoi site. Here's a picture of the bike:

List of accessories etc:

BMW R1200GS 2008. Bought 22Nov 2008 from BKK Motorad in Bangkok. Purchase Price 998,000 Baht. Since fitted, BMW Top Box. SW Motec. Engine guards. Machine Art Cylinderhead guards. Mudsling mudguard, protects the battery and ESA rear motor, Touratech underrack tidy.

New Bags connection tankbag, on its way from the UK with the tank filler clip on fitting, and additional mappocket.

Bike taxed, insured, and warrantied until Nov 2010. Current km 26729. All services at BMW Bangkok or Chiang Mai. New Pirelli Scorpion Trail tyres fitted at 20K Km. Never abused, dropped or taken off road. Never missed a beat apart from faulty petrol guage sensor, replaced under warranty.

Another excellent tour bike that's available in Thailand is the Yamaha FJR1300:

850,000 baht

It looks like a pig but I've ridden it and it handles like a bike half it's size- really an amazing piece of engineering- you have to ride it to believe it!

So, of the choices available here in Thailand those are the three bikes I'd consider: Triumph Tiger 1050, BMW1200GS and Yamaha FJR1300.

Let us know how it goes!

Happy Trails!

Tony

Nice looking bikes, are there BMW or Truimph service centres in Khonkaen

Brian

[witold]

You should seriously consider Suzuki Vstrom 1000, if it is available to you. It's basically a cheaper version of BMW GS. Very nice and reliable bike that handles well on the street, and can do a little dirt too. I was very impressed with this bike.

[powderpuff]

I like the Yamaha. Great cruiser.

[cdmtdm]

You should seriously consider Suzuki Vstrom 1000, if it is available to you. It's basically a cheaper version of BMW GS. Very nice and reliable bike that handles well on the street, and can do a little dirt too. I was very impressed with this bike.

not sure if the vstrom is available here , very popular in oz , i remember a big off road test they did against the Honda Transalp and Vstrom it was pretty close but from memory the Vstrom won , will look into that if they are available ..

Cheers

I think a week in Bangkok is required to purely test ride my short list, once i get to that stage ...... good idea ???

[thaieagle67]

Just recently completed a Northern Thailand tour (starting in Chonburi!) on my Ducati Monster. I had a great time on the bike and she never let me down even in the steep mountain roads from Chiang Mai to Pai, although arm pump from the continuous clutch engaging was sometimes an issue!

Although I travelled with a backpack for storage I understand your additional requirements and from experience during that trip I was suprised by the amount of BMW GS owners I bumped into, both Thai and Farang. The Thais I spoke with sware by them, as it does give the option to do a bit of off-roading. Personally not my choice as far too heavy but the numbers on the roads speak words.

As obviously Ducati biased, could I also suggest a look at the Hypermotard or Multistrada, with both having a good selection of storage add-ons available. There is a new model Hypermotard 796 just out and looks the dogs do da's IMHO.

A mate at work has a Triumph Tiger, which he swears bye and travels Southern Europe with it on a regular basis, so many options open but again with a bit of bias thrown in and with now 2 official dealerships in Thailand and rumours of another in the North, Ducati are a decent option.

[neverdie]

XS1100

Before that, a Gold Wing, no comparison.

Thats a nice old bike. Where did you have the photo restored?

[GungaDin]

Not restored. Found it via Google, it's identical to my bike except for the saddle.

I had a better custom saddle.

I bought the Yamaha fairing from a guy who owned "Escondido Yamaha" and we took it to the IOM TT in 1978!

We installed the fairing, juke box and crash bars before Mitsui UK had anything, on the front lawn of the guest house

in Douglas.

We had quite an audience....

The guys from Mitsui were a bit taken aback.

Lots of good guys worked for Mitsui, it turned out later.

[Bard]

I agree with Tony, and I also agree with Harley is a good tourbike.

For the money the Yamaha is hard to beat, know owners and they love them for touring. I also know a lot of HD owners (I also own one myself amongst other bikes) who ride more miles per year than most other people I know. So it's really up to what bike you really like.

If you want an awesome tourer with all the electronics go for the Yamaha

If you want that special thunder get a Harley

Best of luck mate

Cheers Bard

[HDRIDER]

HI

It don't get better than this

http://www.big-cycle.com/shop/shop1.php

[cdmtdm]

HI

It don't get better than this

http://www.big-cycle.com/shop/shop1.php

Hey HD , thanks for that , what is the diff between the Ultra Classic and the Ultra Classic Elect Glide ??? yes i had a look at quite a few at the Phuket Bike week and what sort of money would one of these set me back secondhand ?? many for sale in Thailand secondhand , nice website you sent had a good look over it ..

Cheers CdM

[cdmtdm]

I agree with Tony, and I also agree with Harley is a good tourbike.

For the money the Yamaha is hard to beat, know owners and they love them for touring. I also know a lot of HD owners (I also own one myself amongst other bikes) who ride more miles per year than most other people I know. So it's really up to what bike you really like.

If you want an awesome tourer with all the electronics go for the Yamaha

If you want that special thunder get a Harley

Best of luck mate

Cheers Bard

Thanks Bard , Yes i am down two three bikes in my head that i want to test ride , the Yamy is right up there , but the Harley also interests me never owned or ridden one before , i figured so many people have them somethings getting them hooked , so test ride coming up .... what do you ride by the way Bard (harley )?? thanks for the reply

Cheers CdM

[barrybike]

few baggers

[Bard]

Hi mate,

I just ride a 2009 HD Sportster 1200 Low.

The sportster is an allround bike, light enough to pop in traffic, plenty powerful enough for long tours. Only drawback is the seat really sucks, so it's an upgrade item. Mine also have the Vance & Hines short shots exhaust so it's very loud. I cruise with or without a passenger and luggage in 100 - 140 km/h but do the occasional blast to 180+ with it.

It's not a dedicated touring bike, but it does it very well. If you never ridden one before, I promise you will sit with a smile after a ride. I am not stating it's the bees knees, but it's certainly a bike I enjoy a lot. Just came back from a roudtrip Rayong - Khon Kaen - Rayong. Rode up in 6 hours with plenty of breaks for fuel, water , smokes and look at scenery. Same on the way back, that was 535 km one way, absolutely brilliant.

Probably a Road King or an Electra Glide is more of a dedicated touring bike, but for me they're too heavy to pop around traffic, just for the pop to the shop etc. I use my bike every single day I am home for about everything, so for me the sportster is it for this purpose. Should it be for touring and little else probably a road King would be my choice.

Cheers Bard

Cheers Bard