What bikes do you think meet the widest demands of riders, in terms of skill/performance/etc?

[ScarySpikes]

FJ 09, or whatever it got name changed to, along with similar mid sized adventure touring/sport touring hybrids.

They can do around town commute duty pretty easily, can do basic off roading, though they would struggle with anything really difficult, can do touring duty, no problem, will work in the canyons just fine, though not quite at the level of supersports. Hell, if you don't care too much about being passed by everyone else it could do ok on a rare track day. All while being comfortable enough for someone with a slightly dodgy back, and with ergonomics that are flexible enough that most people won't be sized out unless they are either very tall or very short.

They are basically the modern version of UJM motorcycles, moreso then naked bikes which, while slightly cheaper usually, may not have quite the ground clearance or tech, and don't have wind protection for longer rides.

 

[day004]

to all the ppl that'll say, "oh I have plenty of fun with my stock motor" or "stock suspension"... I used to think the same thing. then I built my motor and got the best suspension. I can still have fun riding a Ninja250 tooling around w/ friends. but its only half as fun pushing for my own records on the best bike I can ride.

Agreed. I bought a stock Aprilia Futura way back in 02. Did all the easy motor mods. Put a Wilbers triple adj on the back and a set of setup Falco forks on the front. I ran with a bunch of sportbikes and always had more fun than them on the same roads at the same speeds. I had to work a bit harder to run the pace that they did. But had hardbags full of cleaner and towels to share!

 

[HeatXfer]

Grom. Yes, really. Small, light-weight for beginners; fun as hell and completely customizable for veterans. And they're cheap.

 

[Rumbo Sur]

mine's plated, on 17s. I've had it at the track once, then decided to pick up a track bike rather than risking yardsaling a difficult to replace bike.

I've done 350mi days on it. Not comfortable, but doable for me.

Have you ridden your WR in the dirt? Trail riding? Motocross? Enduro?
After all ... that's what Yamaha made it for. I had a blast riding my buddies 450 in Baja! We rode over 2000 miles in Mexico on that trip. (street & dirt, mostly dirt)

350 miles if on the stock seat, is impressive! I've done many LONG road rides on my DR650, out to Utah and Colorado, plus 5 Baja trips since 2006.

Heading to Colorado I did 4, 400 mile days, back to back. (all on road) My bike is well set up, has Corbin seat. My DR650 now has 62,000 miles on the clock. No chance without the Corbin.

 

[mitiasbikes]

Any sumo, dual sport 400cc and up. Light, nimble, enough power to get you out of trouble not enough to get in.

 

[Reli]

Sv650

Street Triple

 

[Junkie]

Have you ridden your WR in the dirt? Trail riding? Motocross? Enduro?
After all ... that's what Yamaha made it for. I had a blast riding my buddies 450 in Baja! We rode over 2000 miles in Mexico on that trip. (street & dirt, mostly dirt)

350 miles if on the stock seat, is impressive! I've done many LONG road rides on my DR650, out to Utah and Colorado, plus 5 Baja trips since 2006.

Heading to Colorado I did 4, 400 mile days, back to back. (all on road) My bike is well set up, has Corbin seat. My DR650 now has 62,000 miles on the clock. No chance without the Corbin.

I've done some easy trails, with it's current setup it isn't exactly good at them. I haven't had it on any tracks that involved dirt.

I've done 1100mi on a CBR929, and that was the day after 850, and I've enjoyed back to back 600mi days on the SV1000, so I'm no stranger to long days.

 

[tuxumino]

SV650

there, now it's complete

 

[moto-rama]

I'd have to go with a Gold Wing. It definitely has Everything on it. Like a combo pizza.