I have a few bikes in the stable currently, and will only be able to take one with me, but I plan to ride it a LOT while over there. All three are very dependable bikes with relatively low miles, so I'm not concerned about parts availability, I guess, I'm just having a devil of a time figuring which to bring with me.
2016 R1200GSA
1997 GL1500C (Valkyrie)
1999 VFR800FI
I'm leaning toward bringing the GS, because of the range, the comfort, reliability and luggage (I've got a nice full set of GIVI luggage I picked up when living in Italy a few years ago). I rode all over Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia on that bike with my kids or my wife and never had any problems and loved every minute of it. And the range on the Adventure model is awesome. But then...
The Valkyrie is such an awesome machine! It is powerful, huge, comfortable, it barely has 10K miles (picked it up last year, have gone through it completely, desmog, full carb rebuild/sync etc) has a custom seat that matches the paint, is SUCH a looker (Bumblebee yellow and black) and is also very fun to ride. Fuel economy isn't great, (100-120 miles/tank) but I assume there are sufficient gas stations about, since there are villages and towns almost everywhere. Bonus that it is a pretty rare machine over there, and if offered the right price, I'd sell it and pick up another in the states when I got back. It took a while to find this one, but I'm patient and could find another, I'm sure. Maybe an Interstate model next time.
The VFR is probably 3rd, probably because it's special to me. It was my first road-motorcycle (ok - not the exact machine, but same year and outfitted the same as when I had to sell mine to pay for IVF for my oldest son). I'll never sell this one, it's in perfect condition, has about 20K miles, runs beautifully, has a brand new Staintune exhaust that looks and sounds incredible, has the SebSpeed clutch cover that looks so dang good, and it's still pretty comfortable to ride as I get older (45). I think VFR's are pretty well represented in the UK, like the GS is (and the Valkyrie isn't).
I ride each bike once or twice a week where I live currently, maybe 80 miles that week, maybe 400 - though not nearly that much in the summer (Las Vegas is too hot!!). I'd put the other two in storage with a family member who takes white-glove care of motorcycles and has lots of space to watch after mine...
What would you do in my situation? I wouldn't get rid of my GS - I probably never will. I'm inclined to move and get a bigger shop before I sell off toys
The other alternative is leave all three and buy a new Triumph or something there to add to what I have now, or buy something else here that is hard to get there and sell it when it's time to come back to the states.
Interested if you have any insights, if you live in the UK, or if you just love the GS more than any other machine and can't imagine riding anything else across Europe (I have plans to take it to the continent after I've ridden it all through the Scottish highlands, Wales and England). Thanks for reading.
