Sport tourer for an old fart?

[BimmerMike]

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I agree with Sunny, just met a guy yesterday who has a VFR800 VTec and his wife rides a BMW F800ST. having had an earlier VFR model myself and now the F800ST we compared thoughts.
We both agreed that not only is the BMW much lighter but it is much less top heavy due to the fuel tank under the seat..it's not perfect...front forks dive quite a bit...can be easily fixed...some find the seat uncomfortable on long rides...also easily fixed.

You should give it test ride at least...I also think you should consider having ABS brakes.
As someone who hasn't ridden for a while make sure you don't wind up with something big and heavy.
Modern bikes have changed drastically from what we were riding 20 or 30 years ago.
MY 1983 Honda CX650 Turbo was a rocketship in it's day and it only had about 10 hp more than my F800ST and probably weighed 100 lbs more.
BMW has some interesting financing options if you are looking at buying new.
When our weather returns to the normal Canuck stuff you will love the heated grips as well

 

[Moggs]

All good choices, however, I think you should add the BMW F800ST to the short list.

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+ 1 from a retired old fart. Ridden cruisers for 30 years then bought my F800ST last year and love it. Am a long distance tourer (Utah last year) and the bike gives and gives and gives

 

[AGS]

Find a 2nd gen sv 650 standard, keep it for a year or so and then go on to a litre V-Strom

 

[ike]

Thanks for all the opinions and advice, the research continues. The hard part is I don't have a helmet or know someone who has a spare I could borrow for test drives. At this point I'm not even sure I would be comfortable riding again. Maybe I'll just go buy a cheap helmet and keep it as a back up once I do make a purchase.

I was just at GP Bikes the other day and noticed that they had some full faced helmets for $50 (cant remember the brand - CKX I think) and some G-Max Full faced helmets for $100. Not bad lids for the price! Of course, for a few bucks more you could get an HJC as well. GP also has a good selection of gear on sale at great prices. Also, just down the road from GP is the new Royal Distributing store and they have lots of gear at good prices as well. I imagine you can get geared up for about $200 - $250 at either place (helmet, jacket, gloves.) Add another $100 or so if you want boots. This isnt top line stuff like Dainese, but should be more than adequate for a year or two.

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