As I'm moving a bit further from work this year. I'm looking for ideas on a good commuter bike. So looking for something thats comfortable to ride (hour + trips), cheap to run (fuel+ insurance). I've seen a few g650gs's for sale. Or i was thinking a maxi scoot. Going to be doing 80 mile round trips. So any suguestions?

Take my Yam out some time see how the sit up stile feels. I get around 35 mpg going to work but as I only do 5 mile each way and homeward ride is solid traffic the run your doing will be much better.                                                                                                                                                                             

Hi - I used to commute on a gs650 - did it for about 4 years - comfy, light & easy to look after, perfect commute and tbh I really miss it, I’ve had a couple of different bikes since but my Beema was the best.....                                                                                                                                                                             

R1200gs or R1200r

Both are cheap to run. Comfy amd go well. There good in town traffic as well. Theres also the honda dueville uber reliable and built for comuting.

These have the added advantage that there shaft drive. Once you start racking up the miles as you know the chain starts to become an expensive pain in the bum.

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R1200gs or R1200r

Both are cheap to run. Comfy amd go well. There good in town traffic as well. Theres also the honda dueville uber reliable and built for comuting.

These have the added advantage that there shaft drive. Once you start racking up the miles as you know the chain starts to become an expensive pain in the bum.


I wouldnt go maxi scoot as the smaller diameter tyres wear out quicker.                                                                                                                                                                             

I would go maxiscooter for what you describe.
I run a Honda Silverwing 600. Rear tyres last about 4k for me, most people get more, and the fronts last forever.
Fast enough for most things (70 is cruising but they do get a bit flighty much over 90), mega reliable, very easy to self service, about 50mpg but more if you're gentle, good weather protection and storage. Very comfortable too. Also cheap, £2 - 3k.
Bit fat for city traffic busting as they are proper bike size and weight.
Ugly things so don't expect people Oooo'ing at it.

Yes get a scooter then you can get the plastic down on the bends like you did on Stella's steed.                                                                                                                                                                             

Whats up with your BMW
Hornets are a good bike, or a Triumph Tiger.
Take some out for test rides, you'll know when you ride it.
                                                                                                                                                                             

I would go for the honda cbf 600 or one of the Honda cb 500s                                                                                                                                                                             

One of those big 650cc scooters will do the job, my mate uses one for work and loves it. It actually goes alright too for a scooter, but then it does have a 650cc engine. Suzuki Burger Van or something like that, well that's what we call it anyway.                                                                                                                                                                             

Thought about a Vespa GTS 300cc? Rev-and-go, ABS etc., relatively cheap to insure, look nice (IMHO), about 75mph top speed, comfy, partial weather protection, 70+mpg and not the dearest on insurance. A couple of serious bike nuts that I know use them for daily round trips of 30+ miles and swear by them. Failing that, I agree with Cornholio. The Suzuki Blurgh-man should be a consideration.

Maxi scoots are worth a look if you can manage the piss-taking!
Burg 400s would do the job easily and are economical to run, burg 650s and silverwing 600s offer less mpg but considerably more oomph. I'm a silverwing convert :-) or is that pervert?
All are available for not a lot of money.
If you want to stick to a bike a honda cb500 is, perhaps, the best bet.

I commute on cbf500abs and it's great, good mileage for petrol. Hard working puts up with a lot of me not cleaning it. Reliable too. Only downside on mine is there isn't a fuel gauge,but saying that I know I've at least 15-20 miles of petrol left in the tank when the the fuel light comes on. Pootles along nicely at slow speed but enough oomph to get out of trouble if you need. Does a nice 100 as well (apparently/ theoretically .....as it would be illegal to have done that at any point on a Welsh road!)

What type of roads you'd be riding? Going back to my comments about Vespa 300 or Blurgh-man, my mates who ride them, both do almost all on dual-carriageway/3-lane A-roads from Warwick-ish to Bedworth-ish. One also rides a Bobber (and until recently an X-Diavel), the other until recently, a Ducati Monster, just to give you an idea of their 'other bike' experiences). A few miles of that involves quite heavy urban traffic where they say their smaller mounts are ideal.
Personally, I would have thought the Vespa too small and slow, but they, through experience, say that they are more than up to it. It would be interesting to hear what you end up with and then follow up with your views on the suitability of your choice.

Its mainly a roads and dual carrageways. My road bike is a bit heavy on fuel/tyres. So thats why i'm looking for a cheaper bike to run. Maxi scoot yes, scoot ....no.                                                                                                                                                                             

A 600 Bandit is also a good cheap commuter bike if you buy an older one.                                                                                                                                                                             

I love a big tall trailie, easy to filter & you can see over hedges on twisty b roads which is a good early warning..l am biased but did a Bristol commute for four months on a ^50 Domie..                                                                                                                                                                             

650# it did 50mpg+ and if you (when ?) Have a tumble nothing much snaps off..                                                                                                                                                                             

The main problem with the maxi scoots is that performance doesn't really change over about 250/300cc
Ones I'd consider would be Sym 300's reasonably cheap & reliable.
Only problem would be that insurance hikes up the price for any but the big makes.

Alternatively the Honda NC700 or 750. Just avoid the 2014 models, ABS recall & gearbox problems.
60-85mpg, 80-90mph.

honda NC700