Comfortable bikes for day long rides

 Been asking around what people would choose to buy for day long rides. I
used to ride a sportbike until it was stolen and a day long ride was
pretty painful, two days was agonizing. My wife had a Nighthawk 750 which
was comfortable but I always felt it was underpowered and I didn't care
for the look. So far I've gotten quite a few recommendations for the v-
strom, the versys, zx-6e and personally I like the klr650. Budget is $3-
5K, so it'll be a used bike. Are these my best bets or is there anything
I'm over looking?

 Mac Cool wrote:

You really need to give more information to get better answers.

How tall are you?
What's your inseam measurement (inside leg)?
How much do you weigh?
How often will you be riding 2-up, if at all?
Do you favor interstates, us highways, state roads, county
roads, dirt roads, etc.?

You list a handful of middleweight bikes but you say you are
looking for all day comfort.  If I had to pick from your list
the winner would be the V-Strom DL650 with an aftermarket
seat included in the budget.  However, you may be a really
short person and in that case the wee-strom might be a little
tall without a lowering kit.

Offhand I would say a Concours (ZG1000) or an ST1100 with an
aftermarket seat is your best bang for the buck if you're
serious about comfort yet don't want a Gold Wing.  A GL1500
with high miles can be had for $5k but when you go much below
that you're just asking for trouble from a poorly maintained
example.  GL1200, GL1100, GL1000 are all possibilities too
if you are willing to do what it takes to restore/maintain one.

In nearly all cases you do need an aftermarket saddle to meet
the all day comfort requirement.

 Mark Olson:


30"
240lbs
most of the riding will just be myself


Truthfully most of the riding would probably be highway and street. The
mountains are 3-4 hours away and I will be spending several hours in
the mountains during trips. Also the occasional country road just for a
nice ride.

I like to ride for fun but I also just like to ride period. With my
last bike I ended up selling my car and riding summer and winter for a
couple of years but I have kids now so I won't get as much riding in.



Well affordability was part of it. As much as I'd like a big bike, they
are on the outside of my budget.


I sat on a v-strom today and it is a little tall, I was on my tip toes.


Thanks. What about a C50 or C90? I read a lot of positive things about
them and they sit well.

 
Quite a lot of stuff available for lowering the v-strom.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=v+strom+lowering+links&aq=0s&oq=vstrom+lower

Looks like you'd want a lowering link for the rear, forks
slid up a little in the front to keep the geometry consistent
and then some kind of a hack to the centerstand.
Also, possibly a mod to the seat.

This is pretty much what I'd contemplate for the bike if
I were buying one.

 Mac Cool wrote:


No idea really, I am not into the cruiser genre.  But if you want
more power than a CB750 you don't want one of those.  However,
anything more than a 40hp/500cc bike[1] has adequate power to ride
as far as you want.

Just about any bike can be a decent distance mount if you are
comfortable and you have adequate storage.  I favor hard bags
and a trunk but I ride 2-up sometimes and even when I am just
commuting all that space comes in handy.  For true long distance
comfort you need a windshield or fairing and a supportive saddle.
The more your saddle looks like an old-style tractor seat the
more comfy it is.

The best way to find out what you need to be comfortable on a
long trip is to take one using the bike you have now... come
back home, buy more stuff for your current bike, change things,
etc.  Then go buy another completely different bike, try again
and eventually you'll be enjoying your dream bike and giving
advice like me... I ride an FJR1300 now.  I looked at a couple
of repaired salvage title FJR1300s that would have just squeaked
past your $5k number last summer but couldn't bring myself to
spend that much on a potential disaster with hidden damage
although they looked and sounded perfect, so I bought a brand
new one.

[1] Using displacement as a shorthand measure of power is fraught
with difficulty, in fact cruisers like the C50 and C90 are pretty
good examples of bikes that make far less power than sportbikes of
the same displacement.