"Deauville or Pan for 140 mile commute?" thread in "Motorbike Chat"
I'm currently doing 140 miles a day to and from work (70 miles each way) and need something more comfy than a GSXR600, which is ...

I'm currently doing 140 miles a day to and from work (70 miles each way) and need something more comfy than a GSXR600, which is what I'm using at the moment. The route is made up of fast A-roads, navigating round Oxford on the A40, then dropping onto the M40 and heading towards London (although thankfully not actually going as far in as that). Budget will be somewhere around £2k for the bike.

I definitely want (need) shaft drive, no question, which leads me to narrow the choice to the bikes in the thread title. I haven't considered BMWs as I don't want a pipe & slippers just yet! Seriously though, I haven't seen a BMW that fits my budget that doesn't make me want to vomit. The old ones are just too "Bleurgh!!" for words.

Admittedly the Deauville has the built in panniers which could be useful but the larger fairing of the Pan has a big appeal too, especially after all this rain we've just had. I'm completely divided between them both as each has it's own merits as far as I can tell. However, I've never ridden a Deauville and the brief ride I had on a Pan was quite nice.

Has anyone experience of both bikes? Can you tell me:

• What are typical tank ranges for them?
• What about MPG?
• How reliable are they?

Feel free to suggest other bikes I may have missed out. I thought that XJ900s would be a bit old and slightly knackered by now, although I could be wrong. Again though, the lack of fairing is an issue.

Ta.

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Had an accident? Call RSS, thoroughly recommended.
Don't wait for your ship to come in. Swim out and meet the bloody thing! - Barry Sheene

Get a Deauville. A pan won't get you there any faster and it'll be more expensive to run.

A Deauville will do 60+mpg, you'll get 12000+ out of a rear, it's comfy, it's completely reliable and the weather protection is good.

But I'm willing to bet you won't buy one 'cos of the 'stigma' - especially if you won't even consider a BMW.

Seriously? Neither, unless you try and fall in love with it. That's too many miles to ride a bike which is 'OK'.

Yep so it's back to a BMW1200 RT

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Before your dreams can come true, you have to have those dreams.

I seriously AM considering a Deauville, otherwise it wouldn't be on my very short, shortlist. The main concern I have with them though is the weather protection being inferior due to them not having a full fairing, unless you can get fairing lowers?

I may have been too hasty by ruling out BMWs... maybe I've seen the wrong ones? The other thing I thought would count against BMWs was that they are expensive to run/service. (Or at least, more expensive than the two Hondas - maybe I get that idea from the BMW cars). I'm happy to be told otherwise though. Do you have any particular models in mind that I should consider?

BTW - I can't see a 1200 RT fitting into my budget.

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Had an accident? Call RSS, thoroughly recommended.
Don't wait for your ship to come in. Swim out and meet the bloody thing! - Barry Sheene

K100RT. Cost tuppence h'apenney. Cheap to fix. Parts commonplace.

Yamaha FZS600 2002/3 Foxeye. 55 to 60 mpg on that sort of work, good headlights, narrow enough to squeeze through at Headington roundabout, decent wind protection with a double bubble. Can be made bolt-upright with £25 bar risers off fleabay. Can be done on your budget with a Givi rack and lowish miles.

Mine lives on the A40 several hundred miles a week.

Been riding about 4 years now and had one chain snap mainly due to gross neglect and age - don't see what the issue is personally.

Fairing lowers are available for a Deauville. But so long as you've got waterproof boots you'll be fine without them.


Buy a BMW - you know you want to really....

Hmm, all good so far. The BMWs aren't half as bad as I thought. (I was thinking more along the lines of this when I said they were puke-inducing. Sorry redorzed ) I've found a K100RS on Autotrader. Are they any good? Much difference to the RT?

<EDIT> I quite like this K1100RS on Autotrader too. Okay, bring me a pipe!

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Had an accident? Call RSS, thoroughly recommended.
Don't wait for your ship to come in. Swim out and meet the bloody thing! - Barry Sheene

have you thought about the old shaped fazer,it's not a shaft drive(i get 25000-30000 out of a chain) but really good on petrol,has a fairing,quicker,handles better,and is slimmer.

dullville's are NTV's with body kits and are sluggish and handle like a chivers jelly.

you will have more fun on the fazer when you get bored and want to have a play.

if you have got good kit it wont really matter what you ride to much.

and i forgot what about a TDM

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www.technomoto.co.uk

Oy! I had one of those.

How much practicality are you prepared to sacrifice for style? Because you'd barely notice a 170 mile round trip on one of those..

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(& PIES!)

Not cheap but an FJR1300 would do the job superbly - and they handle well one up and the real strong engine makes it fun.

I don't like the way they look though. Still a very good bike.

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Lying outrageously on the internet since 2003

I used to do my commute, which is around 150 miles a day, on a faired NTV650 which is essentially the same as a Deauville. Was fine but the lack of grunt was sometimes a bit of an issue. I'd take a Pan over ther Deauville.

I now use a ZZR-1100 for the commute. Does everything I could want plus some - comfy, quick, very torquey engine. Doesn't eat tyres, chains and cush drives unless you ride it like a muppett. I have put 10,000 miles on the current set of tyres and will probably get another 1000 out of them yet.

Don't discount any of the sport-tourers.....

Thought you might but the old boxer RT's fairing is the best.
The difference is the fairing. The KRT, although somewhat compromised when compared to the superb /7 RT, is way more protective than that the KRS. You'll need that protection in the winter. (Also asking £2400 for that is shocking)

Perhaps you should speak to Olly for an owner's perspective on that. He regularly embarasses faster (on paper) bikes over the N York moors on his Dullville.

I think the Englishman hit the nail on the head, you don't need the extra power and cost of a Pan (you may want it, but that's another thing ). The Dullville will do it all and more. For a long commute you'll need decent riding gear and then the lack of fairing lowers won't make any difference.

I'm almost embarassed to say this, but have you considered a small car? Running costs are likely to be lower than a bike, and you're less vulnerable to weather. Performance in traffic isn't so good of course but the pluses would swing it for me for a long daily commute.

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Never break more than one law at a time, and never carry more grass than you are willing to eat.