Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I need opinions on what bike can handle my particular circumstances. Thank you in advance for any help you folks give.
It needs to be able to handle the following:
-Reliably commute 114 miles a day, every day except snow days...
30-36 miles in stop and go(more stop than go especially in the evenings-any one been to Northern VA/DC suburbs? the remaining 78-84 miles is highway w/hills and straightaways, tractor trailers and all.
-cost around $5,000.00(yep, there goes the Goldwing)
-Be reliable and not expensive to maintain
-Long lasting(lots of miles in heat and cold)
-Newbie friendly(I am taking my class in 2-3 weeks) but not so small to get blown off the highway.
-Do I need to say comfortable ?
I am 5'9", 36 years old, 190lbs with bare average athletic ability and strength.
WATCHA THINK ???(need more details please let me know)

I have a 750 vulcan it does it for me. I am 5"2" 120 lbs.
You could probably go with a bit heavier bike like an 800 or so.
A cruiser would probably do better for comfort for that long a trip every day. Other people will chime in and you are going to have a lot of info to sort through. Have fun riding.

Since your a new rider. I'd recommend a suzuki S-40 or Honda VLX 600. Alot of bikes would be more suitable, but learn to ride first.

VIRGINIASCREAMS wrote:I need opinions on what bike can handle my particular circumstances.

Although you've listed the conditions you're looking for in a bike, it's still a lot like walking into a used car lot and saying "I need a car". The sales guy won't know if you need a 4-door, station wagon, convertible or whatever.

There'll be lots of good recommendations from the members here at TMW and the most practical thing for you to do is visit all the local bike shops and see if you can find any of these bikes. Tell them your parameters and see what they recommend. Keep track of which sales guy helps you the most and with the least pressure and then go deal with him when you're ready to buy.