{"id":9007,"date":"2015-11-04T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/?p=9007"},"modified":"2015-11-03T20:18:58","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T19:18:58","slug":"top-5-best-motorcycle-tourers-under-3000-gbp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/2015\/11\/top-5-best-motorcycle-tourers-under-3000-gbp\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Best Motorcycle Tourers under \u00a33,000 GBP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking for the perfect motorcycle for your next grand tour? Got a limited budget? No problem. There are two great things about tourers that make them ideal for the second hand market. Firstly, they\u2019re built \u2013 above all else \u2013 for reliability. Secondly, if used properly in their past lives, they\u2019ll have taken a real beating. These two things combined mean that, if you\u2019re prepared to overlook a bit of dated styling and a few chips in the paintwork, you can pick up a great, trustworthy motorcycle ready to take on plenty of mileage for less than 3000 quid.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"2002<\/a>

2002 Honda NT 650 Deauville – click on the image for spec<\/p><\/div>\n

The same five top tourers pop up again and again for 3000 pounds or less, so here\u2019s your ultimate run down of Britain\u2019s favourite affordable touring bikes.<\/p>\n

Honda NT650V Deauville<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a decade and a half on the market, British bikers are wise to the fact that the Honda Deauville is nowhere near as stylish as its name suggests. Nor is it the fastest tourer you\u2019ll ever ride, but this firm favourite is a firm favourite for a reason \u2013 it\u2019s almost as unbustable as a CG125 and a reliable one with all the trimmings can be picked up for well under our budget of 3000 Great British pounds. Even the newer 700 Deauville often comes in under the budget. If you\u2019re not easily susceptible to road rage and you\u2019re not planning on hitting the autobahn<\/em> anytime soon, this could be the budget tourer for you. Especially recommended for trips to Africa, Central and South East Asia.<\/p>\n

Price range: \u00a31695 to \u00a33695*<\/p>\n

\"BMW<\/a>

BMW K100LT – click on the image for spec<\/p><\/div>\n

BMW K100RT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing says touring motorcycle like a BMW, and yes, you can get one for well under 3000 pounds. In fact, as well as the K100RT, we\u2019ve also found the K100LT, K1100LT, R1100RT, R80RT, old R100T Roadster, R1150RT and K1200LT \u2013 all well within your budget. These are without a doubt the cheapest bikes on the list, on average, though some of the older ones are also the most dated in appearance. But you don\u2019t go German for looks. With a tourer, more than any other kind of bike, it\u2019s what\u2019s inside that matters. In the case of the BM\u2019 that means shaft drive, solid engineering and almost guaranteed reliability, even in bikes that are over 20 years old. Now this is one for the autobahn. Plus, the later models at the top end of the \u00a33000 budget really don\u2019t look so bad at all. If you can get hold of an R1150RT, that\u2019s our pick of the bunch. Recommended for touring Europe.<\/p>\n

Price range: \u00a3695 to \u00a31675*<\/p>\n

\"2003<\/a>

2003 Triumph Trophy 1200 – click on the image for spec<\/p><\/div>\n

Triumph Trophy 1200<\/strong><\/p>\n

What better bike to spend your hard earned British pounds on than a Triumph? Yes, there\u2019s a British tourer on our list too, and nowadays there are as many, if not more, 1200 fours in this low price bracket as there are 900 triples. The Triumph Trophy 1200 may not have the BM\u2019s shaft drive, but a fancy chain adjuster makes for easy maintenance while on the road. The only issue with the 1200 \u2013 for riders used to the 900 \u2013 is that it\u2019s a lot of extra weight, so riding style of course needs to be adjusted accordingly, unless you want to be thrown across the middle of a roundabout in some far-flung country. Recommended for the UK \u2013 of course \u2013 as well as Ireland, continental Europe and North America.<\/p>\n

Price range: \u00a31195 to \u00a314,595*<\/p>\n

\"2002<\/a>

2002 Honda ST1100 Pan European – click on the image for spec<\/p><\/div>\n

Honda ST1100 Pan European<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pan European sits consistently at the higher end of touring motorcycles under \u00a33000, but it\u2019s no secret as to why. This iconic out and out tourer has proven itself again and again over the years, and if the ST1100 model isn\u2019t good enough (it really is good enough!) the lucky bargain hunter might even be able to grab an ST1300 for under 3000 pounds. The mileage will be high and the battle damage will be plentiful, but a real Pan European rider doesn\u2019t give a flying hoot about such things. Recommended for\u2026well, anywhere and everywhere.<\/p>\n

Price range: \u00a31245 to \u00a314,695*<\/p>\n

\"2005<\/a>

2005 Kawasaki ZZR1200 – click on the image for spec<\/p><\/div>\n

Kawasaki ZZR1200<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ZZR actually belongs to that illusive motorcycle genre \u2013 the sports tourer \u2013 and while some people may say it couldn\u2019t possibly be comfortable enough for a long distance ride, this reviewer has in fact picked up an old ZZR600 for \u00a3500 and toured 25 European countries on it \u2013 two up \u2013 without any discomfort at all. The hard part is fitting luggage to it. A top box solves the comfort issue for the pillion \u2013 and therefore also the rider \u2013 over long distances, so once that challenge is overcome, the ZZR can handle the likes of Tirana traffic, Macedonian mountain tracks and 140 mph on the autobahn<\/em>, all with the same relative ease. They\u2019re ugly, incredibly fast and, most importantly, cheap \u2013 consistently cheaper than \u00a33000 anyway. Fit this bad boy with some Continentals, keep up with your basic maintenance, and it\u2019ll easily see you through any grand tour. This is another one best suited to Europe and the Americas.<\/p>\n

Price range: \u00a3495 to \u00a33795*<\/p>\n

5 More Touring Bikes for 3000 Pounds or Less?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also be sure to look out for the slightly less common, yet equally good value for money Yamaha FJR1300, the Triumph Sprint ST, and even the odd Honda Gold Wing. The Kawasaki GTR1000 beats the ZZR if you can find one. (We have spotted them for under \u00a33000, so keep your eyes peeled.) Finally, the VFR \u2013 undisputed, over-engineered, king of the sports tourers \u2013 can also be found within this budget. From the old 750s, right up to the newest models in this price range, nothing on this list offers the same reliability, speed and fine handling as the VFR, and it even comes with a much appreciated touch of style.<\/p>\n

Happy trails!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* Please note: all price ranges are based on searches conducted during October, 2015 and were accurate at the time of writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking for the perfect motorcycle for your next grand tour? Got a limited budget? No problem. There are two great things about tourers that make them ideal for the second hand market. Firstly, they\u2019re built \u2013 above all else \u2013 for reliability. Secondly, if used properly in their past lives, they\u2019ll have taken a real […] Read the full article »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6130,6132,6133,6127,6128,6125,6124,6131,6129,6126],"class_list":["post-9007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motorcycle","tag-000-gbp","tag-best-cheap-motorcycle-tourers","tag-best-cheap-used-touring-bikes","tag-bmw-k100rt","tag-honda-nt650v-deauville","tag-honda-st1100-pan-european","tag-kawasaki-zzr1200","tag-top-5-best-motorcycle-tourers","tag-top-5-best-motorcycle-tourers-under-3","tag-triumph-trophy-1200"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9014,"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9007\/revisions\/9014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mbike.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}