If you want a bike that can take you on the highway in comfort, is affordable, and you have a 31" inseam....and a bit of weight isn't scary - you should consider a sport touring bike.  The Honda ST1100 or ST1300 are great bikes.....although they are a bit heavy and tall for my 170 pound, 30" inseam.  The Kawasaki Concours are great bikes..the newer ones are bigger, the older ones lighter.  The Yamaha FJR is a good bike.  (All of those 1,000+ cc bikes can blow a lot of heat on you if you end up sitting on them while stuck in traffic on a hot summer day).   Unfortunately the small sport touring market is not all that well developed - it used to be the handled by the Honda Pacific Coast, and then they made a NT700 and I just bought a used one and I love it....Honda has now replaced that with a feet forward Honda CTX which is a bit too new to be found cheap on the used market.

The Kawasaki Vulcan S is also a really good bike - it looks like a Cruiser but has the soul (engine) from a sport bike.

Oldfeller just bought a great used Suzuki VS800 Intruder.....we will find out more about it this summer.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1479149386/0

Apparently I should have refreshed before posting.

These are all interesting options. That Gunner sure is a looker if a bit impractical for me.
The FJR is pretty interesting.
I don't have anything against the adventure touring bikes. In principal they have alot of virtues as per my needs.
The Vstrom has that beak though   wtf Suzuki?

This is interesting regarding the Concourse
Quote:
According to  Motorcyclist magazine. Curious...

The VS800 Intruder does look like quite a catch. I was tempted by the Marauder - M50 for awhile because they are so affordable. Then I noticed that pretty much all of the used ones for sale had mileage just short of their 11,000 mile maintenance. But the reviews on them is also a mixed bag. Seems to be one of those love/hate type machines and frankly I'm not sure about a drum brake on a bike so heavy  

I think I'll do some homework on the Sport Touring style.

BSTON wrote on 12/19/16 at 11:12:12:


No problem in providing a second opinion.

I was tempted by the Kawasaki Concours.  The riders leans a bit forward which was fine with me - but I wanted a bike my wife could ride with me, and the passenger seat just didn't look comfortable for a woman in her 60's.  

As long as you are not in a hurry, and buy smart......you can buy a used motorcycle and ride it for a year to two, and then sell it and get something else.   This gives you a great way to ride and experience bikes without it costing very much.

You do have to watch for a bargain, and get a bike that does not need expensive repairs, and one that sells well on the used market.  There are a lot of motorcycles that have been purchased......and the owners found out that they are not riders - and the bikes don't get ridden and the owners finally decide it will be smart to get rid of it. Since they aren't looking to get another bike they can't trade them in on anything....and often they just want to get rid of it and sell it cheap.  Other times the owners need to move, lost their job, are getting a divorce, etc - and they have to sell the bike in a hurry.

Craigslist is a good source of used bikes, and you can use the Tempest Search to look of a particular model in areas that are nearby - but not on your local Craigslist.  

pg wrote on 12/20/16 at 04:18:04:


I agree with 1000cc or higher. I briefly rode a Ninja 1100 on a secondary road with highway speed limit with a passenger and when it became necessary to pass 9 cages at once I was able to do it with no problems and then duck back into my lane and slow to normal speed with ease. Not that I enjoyed riding the thing but as an example of what is occasionally necessary riding the roads around here.
I've taken my better half's Vstar 650 on the highway a few times and it does considerably better than my S40 at those speeds but it definitely cannot do what that Ninja could. It doesn't have the escape speed required to get away from the aggressive road raging kamikaze cagers in these parts.

I do search craigslist daily if only to look at pictures of bikes. There's a nice Russian military Ural with sidecar on there now I'd give my left testicle for just for the coolness factor.  
There's also a Vstrom 1K, Honda ST1100, Kawasaki Vulcan S, Kawasaki Concours, several Suzuki M series and a handful of other interesting things. If I can make time for it I might try to go look at a few of these and possibly test ride them.

Concerning the Sport Adventure class it does have some appeal in that I started out on dirt bikes. I got my 1st (1982 XR80) when I was 11 years old and kept riding in the dirt until my mid 20s. It might be a good feeling to be able to hit some trails and such once again.
Also something that can handle off-road will probably be better on the streets of Philly too. Calling streets in this town paved is going too far.

My Honda NT700 has plenty of power for 2 up riding, and it can comfortably cruise at 70 or 75 mph - beyond that and I begin to feel I am asking a bit much from the little V-twin.

It most likely won't pass 9 cars at a time - I am OK with that.  At 5'-8" and 170 pounds, I find that the 1,000 cc and up Sport Touring bikes bikes are just a bit too bulky for me to own and ride (same things for Adventure Touring bike).  I have no problem on them when my butt is in the seat and my feet are on the pegs...they are a joy to ride.  My issue shows up when stopping on uneven ground, gravel and wet pavement when loaded and I have a passenger on the back.  That really tests my limits for keeping the bike and gear and passenger upright.  I have ridden large V-Twin Cruisers and Sport Bikes - the lower seat heights make them a bit easier to get my feet planted - but they are not the style of bike that I find appealing.  (My current obsession is Cafe' and Sport Touring bikes).
 

Perhaps this will aid you in your decision.  

http://www.gearingcommander.com/

http://cycle-ergo.com/

http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/model_eval/2012MayDL650.pdf

Subscribe to mcn and you can go back digitally and look at all the data for numerous models like the one I posted.

Best regards,