So I don't think I fully qualify as a "new" rider.
But I fully admit it's been almost 20 years since I owned a motorcycle. I've read the threads on what a new rider should get and all that and I do heed that to some degree.
But I learned to ride on a '80 yamaha 850 special, fairly heavy bike and only time I dropped it was when I learned that I needed to be 100% sure the kickstand was fully out and locked
After that I had a 83 kz1000j that I rode the heck out of, put over 50K miles on that bike. Had a few small stints on v45 sabre and rode a friends VFR 1000F for a little while (not long only like a month). in all I probably have around 65K ish miles of riding in my past.
So I have a little more sense these days and don't plan on being the nut I was in my youth. I really have narrowed down the bike I want to two primary choices.
1. 5th gen VFR, this is a bike I've always loved and there is a big part of me that just wants to fine decently taken care of one and get on.
2. Sprint 1050
But then I came upon a 2004 R1100s and I simply love the look of it and I'm fixing to go take a test ride this weekend. So my questions are around.
First off for a rider coming back into it.
The weight of this bike is around 500lbs (all 3 bikes are really around the same weight) with a boxer engine is the weight centered lower most bikes? It looks like it should be but just wondering as I've seen some people comment that the weight on this bike is high.
It also seems like the suspension on these bikes is very forgiving, and is an easy bike to ride.
Secondly. I'm looking at getting an older bike, but I want to minimize my headaches. I can find Sprints with less then 20K miles, the seem to pop on fairly often.
VFR's if they are maintained will run damn near forever and still I can find ones in the 30K or less range.
So BMW's, this model in particular, what's the longevity like? The one I'm looking at has 40K on the clock but has records and looks well kept in the pictures I've seen. I am not afraid to do some wrenching but reliability? What should I inspect in particular, and what should I look out for?
Last of all, usage. I want a sport tourer. Something that if I want to pop down the street 10 miles to go get something small from the store I can, or if I want to go on a few hundred mile trip on the weekend to visit friends/family it's no big deal. Honestly the biggest strike against the VFR is no factory panniers I can live with that but it's something I have to do something about to be able to use for short trips.
So sorry it's kinda a rambling long post
I'm all ears on suggestions people might have.
thx!