Need some input....

[thefuzz]

Im considering getting a new bike. Im not new to rideing street or dirt, I have owned a GPZ550, GPZ900 Ninja, XL600R, and lots of dirt bikes. With gas prices creeping up a bike makes sense to travel to and from work. Here are the ones i have narrowed it down to SO FAR.

Suzuki DL1000 V-STROM
Suzuki 1200 Bandit
Kawasaki KLR 650
Yamaha FZ1
Kawasaki ZRX 1200

All of these bikes seem to be ok daily drivers. For those of you that own them, any regrets?

Any bikes i havnt considered? My round trip daily is around 65mi. And i would like to take the wife on weekend rides.

[High_Side]

You have owned some great bikes and are looking at some of my favorites as well. One that you might want to add to the list however is the V-Strom 650. I ride a VTR1000 myself and thought that the V-Strom 1000 would be good for me, but when I rode them back to back, the 650 was the nicer bike. Good enough power for the type of bike and far lighter than the 1000. Take a test ride if you get the chance.
High_Side

[MASHBY]

Hi the bikes you have short listed are a good choice these are my views on then.

Suzuki DL1000 V-STROM
Great bike comfy but as High_Side said the 650 is a slightly nicer bike due to the wait.

Suzuki 1200 Bandit
Fantastic bike best bike availble as far as Im concernbed,but then I biased as I have just brought one.

Kawasaki KLR 650
Not bad for short distances if you are going longer you will problay need the corbin seat as stock is very hard.But their are guys who travel the world on these.

Yamaha FZ1
Nice bike but not as toquey as the Bandit but more top end.Fairing could do with being a bit bigger.But a great bike never the less

Kawasaki ZRX 1200
Comfy bike again in the same class as Bandit and FZ1 apprantly the little faring is quite effective.Again another great bike.

Just my

[Toyuzu]

That's quite a wide range in intended use in your list. The KLR is the go anywhere slowly kind of bike. Probably not the best bet for two-up riding.

The V-Strom is better for two-up, but reviews say it's not happy at all off-road, even though it is classified as a dual sport. It has the best luggage though, and might be the most comfortable of your choices for your wife.

The other two are big-bore standards tuned for tire shredding torque. They can also both be outfitted for touring easily enough.

[thefuzz]

Well after doing more research on the web im leaning towards the V-STROM and BANDIT 1200S. The BANDIT is cheaper by @1500$, but the V-STROM might be worth the money. I dont plan to take the V-STROM off road at all. Any idea which one would be best on the freeway? Most of my driving is done there.

[isaac]

One of the Cycle World writers took a V-Strom 650 all the way to the arctic circle and raved about the bike, so I wouldn't count it out for off road duty.

Good luck with the other choices; I only wish I could afford any of them.

[varenka]

The broad range of bikes you have listed is not unfamiliar - I just went through the whole narrowing down process in selection of a replacment for my'86. Which I'll give you a good deal on, if you're interested. hehe.

In my research, I found that the Suzukis had a raw chainsaw kind of sound that was aggressive but not very pleasant. It was the biggest deciding factor against Suzooks, frankly. I didn't try a twin, though.

The FZ1 I ruled out because it had carbs and I've frankly had enough of that old technology.

I wish this bike had been available when I was looking: http://www.motorcycledaily.com/21april05_z750.htm

[rdeviney]

I have the V-Strom DL-1000. No regrets. At 458 lbs dry, it's 40 lbs more than the DL-650. Off-highway (hard-packed gravel roads) yeah, but not off-road (dirt biking).

[thefuzz]

OK, i went shopping and sitting on bikes the past few days. Now im even more confused..lol.

I like the SV1000S....they seem to have several 03-05 models in stock at various dealerships.

Do they fall into the "sportbike" catagory for insurance???

Do any of the bikes i like fall into that group?

Well thanks in advance for everyones input, helps to have people who own the bikes as opposed to the salesman.

[oldnslo]

Only your agent can tell you. Different companies use different methods for making that distinction. The agent may also be able to provide a list of bikes his company would insure at less than highway robber prices, too.