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I am considering purchasing a motorcycle for travel between my home and college every few weeks, a distance of about 300 miles. I need help in deciding which beginning bike would be best suited for highway speeds with the wind almost always blowing (about 20 mph+ at times). Gas mileage is also a large factor in my decision.

Thanks

New, old, have you experiance?

I am new, and I plan on taking a motorcycle safety course.

Whichevwer you get, think about a windshield. It makes long trips easier.

For local trips, I take mine off unless cold or wet weather.

I would suggest something that gets 50 or more MPG.

Although my Buell Blast gets 70 MPG, I find it too light for highway trips over 200 miles. Being light, crappy roads cause some vibration/bumps.

My Sportster is 180 pounds heavier, gets less MPG, and I've ridden it nearly 700 miles/day on two different days.

DustyJacket,

What kinda speeds are you going to get 70mpg? Best I've gotten is about 56mph. From where I'm at I gotta get on the interstate to get anywhere so I spend a lot of time around 80 (indicated) to keep from getting run over.

There are plenty of bikes that could fit that bill. A cruiser would be comfy and handle the wind pretty well as they tend to be heavier. Something like a Yamaha V-star 650, a Suzuki Bolevard C50, or a Harley Sportster would fill the bill there pretty well with the Japanese cruisers probably being a little more fuel efficient.

If cruisers are not your thing a standard could also do nicely. A windscreen and a set of soft bags on something like a Suzuki SV650 or just a set of bags on a Yamaha FZ6 (the FZ6 has a fairing) would make for a decent setup as well and will still be comfortable (though many standards look like sportbikes the seating position is much more upright). A small standard may not handle the wind as well due to lighter weight but they are usually much more responsive than a cruiser to its easier to get em to do what you want.

Sportbikes are not well suited for long trips, the riding position will likely have you pretty sore in an hour or two.

A dual sport can also work pretty well for long distances as they typically have the same riding position as a standard but a softer suspension and many are already set up for touring from the factory. You also get the added bonus of being able to take the bike off road (think of a dual sport as the Jeep of motorcycles, perfectly usable on the street but can be taken all sorts of places off road, plus dual sports tend to be fairly fuel efficient and have large gas tanks so their range is good).

Of course a proper touring bike would fill your requirements the best but they tend to be pricey, big and heavy, and not as fuel efficient as a smaller bike.