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I'm thinking it's about time to part ways with the big sumgun. This fall (fingers crossed) I'll be going to college at UW-Milwaukee which is about a 45 mile commute one way. That's not even stretching the legs of my current bike, but I'm thinking I want something that gets better fuel mileage (currently 30mpg if I'm hard on it 35 if I baby it) and something that's not going to be such a "dog" in city traffic. The VTX is a wonderful motorcycle and I've loved it unconditionally, but in stop and go and merging situations the sheer size of it makes life not so fun. I'm sure I want to go smaller, but not a smaller cruiser (11-1300 cc range). I've ridden those and after the VTX they just don't do it for me. I'd like to stay relatively cheap - whatever I sell the VTX for I'll buy a bike for about the same amount (or less, and add accessories ).

Here's what I'm thinking about - and all used bikes, this one's going to get a ton of miles put on it and be in a college parking lot, so's I don't want to put a new bike through that hell.

2001-2005 FZ-1 - rode a couple, love them, pretty bulletproof
2005 Triumph Sprint ST - there's one at a dealership with 13000 rounds on her - anyone know anything about the reliability? I've never owned a Triumph
early to mid 2000's SV650 or 1000 - same thing
Honda 919, VFR, or Superhawk - Honda reliability, but I don't know how well they'd enjoy stop and go traffic - once again looking for first hand experience.


Basically I'm looking at a standard or a sport tourer for not too much money, reliable, decent gas mileage, ect. I'll probably either get a tailbag or wear a backpack for my books (I'm 31 and about to wear a backpack again ugh.) I've ruled out small cruisers, sportbikes, and dual sports, all for varying reasons. Just looking for something that'll lead me in the right direction.

Out of all of those for a commuter bike I'd probably vote for the FZ-1.

Here's my reasons...
-The FZ-1 has a half-fairing that will help in crappy weather and on colder days
-The Sprint ST is a great bike and I'd vote for it, but I assume it's more expensive... As far as mileage, I've seen em with upwards of 60K, so not to worry.
-The SVs are fun to ride but get boring in a straight line with that V-Twin buzzing along IMO.
-Honda 919 is naked, so the cold/bad weather thing
-The VFR is great, but they and their parts are usually fairly expensive.
-The Superhawk is also a twin, plus it HATES traffic because the two radiators are placed on the side of the bike underneath the fairing. Works well at speed, but for anything slow it tends to run hot.

You might also want to look at a Kawasaki Z750 or a FZ-6... Both are plenty powerful enough to haul you along but get better gas mileage than the FZ-1.
There's also the Ninja 650... Lots of torque and comfortable at any speed under 110.
Also consider the Triumph Speed Triple 955 and 1050. But again no fairings...
Granted there's always the Suzuki GS500 and the Ninja 500 too but I assume with your choices above you want more power than that... lol

Sorry for the long winded answer, hope it helps!

thanks for the input.
i really like the fz-1, and that and the sprint are my 1 and 1a choices, i just wanted input on the others. i'm really happy to hear info on the vfr and super hawk, because they were high on my list (but dropping now) price isn't really too much of a concern, all the used bikes i'm seeing are well within my price range, and actually the sprint st i'm looking at is cheaper than an older fz-1.

i thought about (and ruled out) the ninjas (seating position), the gs (too small - engine wise) and the fz-6 (great bike, not a lot of power to haul almost 300 pounds around)

the twins in the sv's don't bother me that much. i want something that'll be fun as well. a half fairing is optimal - i'm not a fan of full faired bikes - but a naked bike doesn't bother me that much. if it's too damn cold i'll drive my expedition.

I'd like to suggest the V-Strom, either 650 or 1,000cc as the near perfect commuter bike. First, to avoid confusion, the V-Strom is NOT a dual-sport.

The Strom offers a sporty ride, agility, SUV-like sightlines over traffic, reliability, protection from the elements and the ability to add snap-on water proof luggage (Givi).

They are a ball to ride, and you can ride 'em all day long when you are not stuck in class.

Good luck on your hunt.

a bit of an update. i went to several dealerships and sat on a ton of bikes and narrowed it down to two or three and ruled out the rest. the sv's i didn't feel comfortable on, so they were gone and i'm leaning towards fuel injection for ease of maintainance so the older fz1's were out too.

i'm down to a 2005 or thereabouts sprint st, same era speed four, or an older speed triple (95 with only 8000 miles on it, mint, and in the schweet orange) there's an older sprint 900 i've got my eye on as well, but either way it's definitely going to be a triumph.

paul246 wrote:I'd like to suggest the V-Strom, either 650 or 1,000cc as the near perfect commuter bike. First, to avoid confusion, the V-Strom is NOT a dual-sport.

The Strom offers a sporty ride, agility, SUV-like sightlines over traffic, reliability, protection from the elements and the ability to add snap-on water proof luggage (Givi).

They are a ball to ride, and you can ride 'em all day long when you are not stuck in class.

Good luck on your hunt.

i like the v-stroms, but they're pretty rare around here, dunno why. have only seen one used at a dealership (not that i'm determined to buy one at a dealership, it's just easier to go there and sit on a bunch of bikes and make super cool vroom vroom noises). i liked the seat hight and position, just haven't run across one that's not basically brand new.

Wrider wrote:
-The Superhawk is also a twin, plus it HATES traffic because the two radiators are placed on the side of the bike underneath the fairing. Works well at speed, but for anything slow it tends to run hot.

I'm a little late to the party as it looks as though you already moved on to Triumphs BUT, I rode a Superhawk for 11 years and never, not once did it get hot. When it got warm in scorching hot weather, the rad fan on the right side would come on shortly at lower speeds or stop and go traffic. Not an issue at all in my experience.

It was a terrific bike with just a couple of shortcomings: Fuel mileage and long range (i.e. - touring) comfort....although I did tour quite a bit on it

You really want a V-Strom, I can tell.

The fuel capacity is huge, and my 650 averages 50+ mpg. Fuel injection. Super reliable. Plenty of torque. Ugly, so not much risk of theft.

For me, the biggest downside is that my Gerbing's jacket liner and gloves just about max out the charging system on my '07. Other than that, and a few minor personal gripes, the bike is damn near perfect.

I have absolutely no experience with any of the bikes on your list, so no help there.

you guys are dead on with the hondas the side radiaters are a drag i have an rc-51 and it hates traffic but the vfr is much better in traffic and has been called one of the best sport touring bikes out there! i finally got a chance to ride a 1000 vstrom and i'm sold man that bike is awesome!!!!!! i'm thinking about trading the bulevard (800) in this spring and keeping that one in NC it does everything well I think by now you might know that though. have a great day everyone.

and.... she's gone! no more vtx for me

so after doing my studying, and sitting on and riding a ton of different bikes, these fell by the wayside.
triumph sprint st - just couldn't get comfortable on it.
sv650 - see above, plus it got waaay too buzzy at highway speeds for me, would have driven me nuts commuting with it.
triumph speed triple - i had a hard time not buying one of these. practicality took over, as it's a great bike, but doesn't offer anything in the way of weather protection, or as a all around commuting/touring bike - will get one in the future, just not now.
kawasaki voyager - wait, what?
gzx1100g - holy hell is that thing cool - eliminated it due to high mileage (50k) and all the reasons i eliminated the speed triple, but, still, damn cool bike.
nighthawk 750 - used to have one, remembered why i got rid of it.
buell m2 cyclone - see speed triple
several different vfr's - may still go back to one of these if my top two doesn't work out - all 750's, was real close to being the perfect bike, just lacked wind protection.
so, the final two
triumph trophy 900 - oddly enough the same one i looked at a week ago, dude sold it to a dealer, still real interested, still in my price range, higher mileage, but seems in great shape
and the leader in the club house
1990 yamaha venture. once again, wait, what? i know, i was heading away from the larger bikes due to traffic concerns, but after driving the route several times , traffic isn't that big of a deal. the overwhelming pro's are as follows
-low mileage (20k)
-reliability
-all weather protection
-lockable storage
-i'm not concerned with leaving it in a public parking place (biiiiig reason i got rid of the vtx, i would lose my mind if that thing got scratched, an older bagger, eh, scratches wouldn't bother me that much. also, good luck trying to steal it by loading that 800 lb monster on a pickup truck)
-long distance comfort
i rode a couple of older baggers for the hell of it when i was looking for other bikes, they just seemed really right for what i'm going to be using the bike for. who knew? the voyager i liked a lot as well, i'm just way more familiar with the yamaha, and wings are overpriced in this area.

so, tomorrow (crosses fingers) i'll be on my way up north, and hopefully coming down with a bagger....or a triumph.

thanks to everyone for their help in this search, your advice made this search go easier.