What is a reliable but low-priced make/model?

I would be using it for occasional commuting to work but more for exploring the mountain highways around my new home.  This would be mostly for fun in lieu of using a car.

Something in the 650-750 cc range would be more than adequate.  My last bike was a Honda V45 Sabre.  Something like that would be fine.  <-- yes, it's been a while.

You can never go wrong with a Honda!

If you do your own work, a used Honda is a good selection.


A friend wanted to get a starter bike for his wife. He found a 500cc four that had set in a neighbors back yard for at least five years.

The brake lines had rotted and the tires were dry rotting.

We replaced the brake lines and replaced the front disc brake which was froze up. Next the carbs were rebuilt.

We flushed the gas tank and added fresh fuel in addition to new spark plugs.  A new battery was the last thing, before buying tires (wanted to see if it would run before spending money on tires).

We hit the starter and the engine immediately caught and purred like a kitten!  Next I sync'ed the carbs... and  the engine ran perfectly!

Kawasaki Versys:  great reviews worth looking at.
Engine

4-stroke, 2-cylinder, DOHC, liquid-cooled, 4 valves per cylinder parallel twin
Displacement  649cc

Compression ratio: 10.8:1

Fuel System, DFI® with two 38mm Keihin throttle bodies

Transmission.  6-speed with positive neutral finder

Dual 300mm petal-style rotors with 2-piston calipers, ABS

Rear Brakes. Single 250mm petal-style rotor with single-piston caliper, ABS

Overall Height, 55.1 in/57.1 in

Seat Height. 33.1 in

Curb Weight.  476.3 lb**




Fuel Capacity

5.5 gal

Honda CB500X

Okay, those look cool but maybe a little small (500 cc).  I used to have a 400 cc Honda (CB400F).  It had plenty of power but would have benefitted from MORE!  

Are there any others worthy of mentioning?

ETA - I found this CB600RR for $3k.  It's a bit too racy but sure looks cool.

Look into a Suzuki V strom DL 650.

I just picked up one, great little bike that does everything.  I mainly use it to commute in the Winter as of now.  But the DL 650 is known as the Swiss Army knife of motorcycling.

What type? Cruiser? Sport? Adventure?

I would look for a Kawasaki KLR 650.  Aftermarket support on them is fantastic.

You will want to get an insurance quote before you buy something like the CB600RR.  They have a lot of plastic that is expensive to replace and appeal heavily to younger less experienced riders.  The rates can vary heavily but it is something to be aware of and research before the purchase.

Suzuki Bandit 600 or SV650

Inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to insure, easy to ride, dead-nuts reliable, and both are fully capable of going from daily commuting to weekend rides in the mountains. Sporty looks without the sportbike riding position.

SV six fiddy

Motorcycles have certainly gotten much more specialized and segmented in the last few decades.  I watched it happen but...

Not a cruiser.

Not too sporty.  So, I won't be buying the CB600RR, shown above.

Not an on/off road, either.

What does that leave?  Generic, road-only motorcycles.  Generic is good, it means lower price.

Anybody say SV650 yet?  

Maybe I should look at the SV650.  What do you think?  

I am always attracted to café style bikes but this one looks impractical.  Can you imagine riding a 650 cc single?

No one really makes a standard anymore.



 

Kawasaki ER-6N

Kawasaki Ninja 650

Kawasaki Versys 650

Suzuki Bandit

Suzuki SV650

Yamaha FZ6

Yamaha FZ-07

After having both cruisers and sport bikes, I prefer cruisers 2/1.

With that being said, I do like a sport bike for commuting.

Triumph Bonneville.  A newer one with fuel injection.  Manageable, comfortable, easy to ride, cool.

What about the Yamaha Bolt?

Honda NC700X -  670cc 65mpg

Looks good.  I was thinking of a Suzuki SV650, which is a similar V-twin 'sporty' bike.






LOL - I went back and read the other responses.  Lots of love for the SV650 I see!





 

 
And for good reason too.  I like V-twin type motors more than big thumpers or inline engines.

V-Stroms are good bikes.  I love mine.  It is great for just about everything except for riding in a strong crosswind.  

Vote for the Versys here.  Turns better than an SV (WAY better factory suspension)  and is far more comfortable to be on for a long ride, but you give up about 10HP up top and it's about 40 lbs. heavier.  Depends on what you want.  The Versys also makes a damn good light-touring bike.  

That said, there's an '07 SV650S around town here for $2500.  I've a mind to pick it up as a commuter/beater bike to sit next to my big Tenere.  

It's worth noting that SV riding position is different than the SVS (less sporty, feet and controls more rearward). My limit on the SV650S was about 200 painful miles. YMMV.

I saw a Royal Enfield Continental GT at the show. Looked nice (I have a thing for cafe racers) but too bad it's 500cc thumper. I'd want something with a bit more engine performance.

That's some funky styling, but it looks like a pretty comfortable ride.



 

Will this be your only bike?

I've had 14 bikes and been riding since I was 8.  I've had dirt bikes, crotch rockets, dual sports, an adventure bike, a sport tourer, even a goldwing!  Never owned a harley but have ridden a few.  I've ridden so many bikes....  So I feel I can give a somewhat experienced opinion, YMMV.

If this is gonna be your only bike, I'd go with a KLR 650, there just ain't much that bike can't do, and you don't want your only bike to keep you away from some of the most beautiful places you'll ever see.  What I mean by that if you're on a dedicated road machine... you won't be able to get to those off the beaten path, magical kinds of places that aren't sitting next to the pavement.

A lot of us do.

Stick with 4 cyl

You said low cost. You can still get clean, low mileage V45's all day long on Craigslist. They seem to run about $2k here in Dallas.

If you want new I'd go with a Honda CTX700:

I have a friend that has one.  It looks good and rides well.  But it's foot peg placement just feels weird if you have longer legs.  

Lots of good ideas, thanks.

New is out of my equation due to cost.

Really old, needing work, is out of the equation.

Let me parrot...

SV650
Vstrom 650
Versys

All would be great bikes, be super reliable, easy to ride, and useful all around bikes.

I would avoid a KLR 650 or a DR650 though I love and have had multiple KLRs. They are too high (35" at the saddle) for you to be comfortable on starting out. Plus, their long and springy suspension takes some getting used to build a comfort level in the twisties. They are more than capable but it might make you nervous as a new rider. There are a million things you can do to make a KLR an awesome beast, but for what you want any of the aforementioned bikes would be great out of the box.

That's good advice but I am not a new rider.  I understand off road suspensions and seat height.  I was into super-moto before there was a super moto.

Again, thank you for the advice.  You're helping bring me up to speed on modern bikes.

Then the height won't be an issue as you are used to only being able to get one foot down. But if you don't plan on leaving the pavement the other bikes will be superior in most every way.

Truth is there are so very many great bikes now it is hard to choose.

Double post

94-97 VFR750 or 98-01 VFR800.  They consistently won bike of the year for good reason and are now superb bargains.

I checked Craigslist and Ebay Motors, neither had any VFR's for sale.

My daily commuter is a kle650 versys. Not even 11 months old and already have 7500 miles on it.

Here's my take.... its reply really hard to go wrong with any of the middle weight cruisers by the metric big four.  Yamaha, Kawa, Suzuki or Honda.  Take your pick.

When I looked at middle weight cruisers a few years back, I was really quite impressed with the overall 'features per dollar" offered by the Suzuki Volusia 800.  It's since been rebranded into the C50.  Shaft drive, low maintenance, fuel injected.  Great aftermarket.  Overall, its a very very solid bike.

I'll admit I'm NOT impressed with Yamaha's Vstar 650.  Yamaha makes a great bike, but the 650 is a little too porky for that 650cc engine.  The similar Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki cruisers do better.

If you opt for smaller, avoid the Honda VLX600.  Nice little bike but Honda really screwed up sticking a 4 speed transmission in it.  The comparable Suzuki Savage (now the S40) is very similar, but a better choice.

As I said earlier, any of the middle weight metrics are fine:  AVOID off brands.  Trust me.

If the cruiser seating position isn't quite as comfortable as it once was, seriously look at the Suzuki Vstrom 650.  Its not a great looking bike.  Kinda ugly to be honest.  But they are inexpensive, ride great, get better gas mileage and offer significantly more power, handling and riding comfort than the cruisers do.

Same here.... Thought about buying another, but driving my F150 in Houston traffic is scary sometimes...

I was thinking of riding on weekends to explore mountains and surrounding towns of the new area I'm in.  There's little to no traffic of the types you get in big cities.

Most people seem to gravitate to cruisers, hence my Volusia/cruiser recommendation.

If you don't want a cruiser, then the choice is really, really simple:  The already recommended Vstrom 650.

I've owned cruisers, super sport touring bikes, etc.  I'm currently on a BMW F650GS, which I really really like.  Seating position is much more comfortable when you are not in your twenties any more.  Beats crusier and sporty seating all to heck.  And handling/performance are miles ahead of the cruiser category.  This bike pushes about 72 HP, which is a whole load more than the 40-50 HP of many cruisers.Its not stupid gobs of power like many sport bikes, but realistically all the power you really need.  Triple digit passing on two lane roads is entirely feasible.  I drive mine like a full on sport bike, and it runs like a scalded cat.

However, my buddy had a KLR 650.  Nice bike, but a realistic cruising speed of 55-60 got old.  Highway speeds were -  pedestrian.  It was underpowered.  He moved to a new Vstrom.  Wow.  NICE BIKE.  Its every bit as good as my BMW, and about $4000 less.  When my BMW dies, I'm buying the Vstrom.  Its everything my BMW is, except the little blue/white rondel and without the big price tag.  Handling is good.  Power is completely adequate, even for "enthusiastic" riding (69 HP i think) .  Even fully kitted out its reasonably priced.  Stone cold reliable too. I'm REALLY impressed with the sort of goldilocks not too big, not too small, just right sort of everything about this bike.

For what its worth, we aren't "ride 20 miles to the bar" sort of riders.  A typical day is a 100-150 mile run to a restaurant somewhere, and 150 miles home, all twists.  We do a 5,6,7 day ride each year in June.  Last one was 3000 miles in 5 days.  On the road at by 7, ride all day, lunch is a granola bar, bottle of water and a nap in the shade, then ride till 6 or so.  Dinner is a pizza in the hotel room.  Repeat next day.  Its all day riding, in search of twisities, views and generally just a two-wheeled escape from life.  The V strom is great for these rides.  sort of a mini-goldwing, moderate sport tourer crossbreed bastard that just works.  You'll likely buy a new seat though.  

Fro

SV650, there are a few varieties to choose from.

Personally, I'm a supermoto guy, I like my big Husky.
Depending on the types of mountain roads, they're a lot more fun than sportbikes.

I'm waiting for the Husky 701...

If his KLR would only cruise at 55-60 then something was wrong. Switching to a 16T front sprocket is a 10 minute job and will drop the RPMs considerably but even with the 15T sprocket it will easily cruise at 70mph. I was doing 77-80 (over)loaded no problem. As for being underpowered I agree to a point. But underpowered for what? I never needed my KLR to go above 80.

But I would agree for most things the Vstrom is likely a better bike, but there is something to be said for an old school thumper.

I picked up a 2014 Versys brand new in the spring  2015 for $5000...dealers seamed to have a few of these around and were pushing them out...
Great bike at fits you requirements...as do a number of other bikes. Good luck..

Yes, this.

It'd be the one I would consider parting with my 510 for.

Well, maybe. I might have to keep the SMR too