Which bike?

[Helicoptermanr22]

Hi all. Summers coming and need to get out on two wheel, Slight dilemma as I know there is no bike that does everything perfectly.
So

It has to behave on the motorway as would like to do another overseas trip maybe to the Alps this year, hold 75-80 mph easily ish
I have to be able to pick up on my own with relative ease
Reliable.
Good and soft suspension as still have bad (ish) back from enduro days.
Can carry soft panniers.
Seat height 850mm ish ideally .... 880 plus and i cant touch the floor easily.

MY top choices are:

• BMW 650 Dakar.
  Yamaha XT600E.
  Yam XT660R..

Can you let me know your thoughts, good bad and indifferent?

[Brenhden]

Don't forget the DR650SE. Lighter than all of those

[AlanHolt]

My XT600E was only happy up to around 110kph, it would go faster, but it felt as though I was pushing it beyond its 'sweet spot'. My KTM 640 however is happy at 130kph and can be pushed beyond that for overtakes etc., and is almost 20kg lighter than the XT660R. I don't have any experience of the others.

[SteveW]

Those options are a bit off-roady for a trip to the Alps using motorway.
Stop pissing about and get a 2007 Fazer 1000 !

[bigfoot]

Hi

you don't mention it needing a massive amount of off road potential.

If this is the case a v strom 650 would tick all your boxes. My Dad came down in size from a 1200 BMW as, like you, he has a bad back and has had surgeries so he needed lighter.

He says the v strom is a better bike in many ways, but it will only handle light offroading.

My wife also has one and both were great on a road trip down to Croatia on mixed roads and road conditions.

[Helicoptermanr22]

Sorry I didn't make it clear .. Its has to be a good Salisbury Plain off road bike also hence me being able to pick it up. I think for me the Suzuki Vstrom is too road orientated for me and too heavy.
DR650 SE virtually no "very nice" models around now but nice bike, I have a budget of 4k for the right bike.

Has anyone had any experiences with these 3?

BMW 650 Dakar.
Yamaha XT600E.
Yam XT660R..

[willywombat64]

there's a nice DR650 in the classifieds ..might be of interest

[Q plate]

Not had the Dakar version but had standard F650 was a great bike will hold 75-80 ok with a bigger front sprocket biggest trip was the Pyrenees mostly road so can't comment about off road but I'd have no hesitations.. notice theres a few Dakars on eBay at the moment

[Helicoptermanr22]

Thanks for the replies, yes Ive seen the nearly new one, velly nice, but 5k ? currently there is nothing else on the market that are 650 ish , similar weight and decent off road capability with big reliability built in or am I wrong to think that?

I was hoping the KTM 390 Adventure would be out but not so, would stretch the budget for a brand new machine

[royle100]

Had both the Dakar and 660r a while back. Both used for London commuting, so can't comment in detail on dual sport potential. Most recently hired a 660r in Morocco for 3 days and did some fairly knarly offroad rocky riverbed one of the days - engine was great, suspension not so great.

Would say bm is slightly more suited for road and yam more off-road capable. Either probably good buy. Good luck with decision and search.

cheers