One Bike to Rule Them All: Buying Advice
A little backstory
I started learning to ride in 2020, beginning with a Yamaha YBR 125 with L plates, which I absolutely loved. My first bigger bike was a Ducati Scrambler 400—its look was great, but it was too small for me in both seat height and engine size. After doing my DAS on an MT-07 and getting used to that power, I sold the Ducati at a small loss and bought an XSR700 for £3.2k, which I still own. It's great for getting around the city: nimble, fun, and perfect for urban rides.
One afternoon, I was browsing Autotrader and found an F800GS less than a mile away. It was a bike I'd admired a few times, so I went for it. I bought it, loved it, and took a few trips—it's a fantastic bike, paid just £3k! After doing the GS school in Wales twice, I wanted to get into laning, so I joined the TRF on the 800. I loved it but struggled to keep up with others on their smaller trail bikes. My lack of skill didn’t help either.
I then bought a KTM 350 EXF from the TRF group, a great price and a beautiful bike. I redid the same lane route I did on the 800, and it was much more enjoyable.
So, here I am with three motorbikes. I used to enjoy maintaining and servicing them, but with a little baby now, I don't have the time. What was once enjoyable has become a burden, so I want to reduce my collection to one bike.
Long trips on the F800GS are out of the question for a few years, so it's time for that bike to go. The KTM is great for lanes but not practical for town use—it has no proper key and is easily stolen. So, I’m looking for one bike that I can use on the lanes and ride about the city.
I saw the BETA ALP 4.0 in the TRF magazine, and it looks like it could do both tasks. Does anyone have experience with this bike and can share their thoughts?
If I sell all three, I should get something like £6-8k, havent checked recently, so that's the absoloutle limit of the budget.
TL;DR,
Advice for a motorbike, so be used for laning but also about town in London.
A little backstory
I started learning to ride in 2020, beginning with a Yamaha YBR 125 with L plates, which I absolutely loved. My first bigger bike was a Ducati Scrambler 400—its look was great, but it was too small for me in both seat height and engine size. After doing my DAS on an MT-07 and getting used to that power, I sold the Ducati at a small loss and bought an XSR700 for £3.2k, which I still own. It's great for getting around the city: nimble, fun, and perfect for urban rides.
One afternoon, I was browsing Autotrader and found an F800GS less than a mile away. It was a bike I'd admired a few times, so I went for it. I bought it, loved it, and took a few trips—it's a fantastic bike, paid just £3k! After doing the GS school in Wales twice, I wanted to get into laning, so I joined the TRF on the 800. I loved it but struggled to keep up with others on their smaller trail bikes. My lack of skill didn’t help either.
I then bought a KTM 350 EXF from the TRF group, a great price and a beautiful bike. I redid the same lane route I did on the 800, and it was much more enjoyable.
So, here I am with three motorbikes. I used to enjoy maintaining and servicing them, but with a little baby now, I don't have the time. What was once enjoyable has become a burden, so I want to reduce my collection to one bike.
Long trips on the F800GS are out of the question for a few years, so it's time for that bike to go. The KTM is great for lanes but not practical for town use—it has no proper key and is easily stolen. So, I’m looking for one bike that I can use on the lanes and ride about the city.
I saw the BETA ALP 4.0 in the TRF magazine, and it looks like it could do both tasks. Does anyone have experience with this bike and can share their thoughts?
If I sell all three, I should get something like £6-8k, havent checked recently, so that's the absoloutle limit of the budget.
TL;DR,
Advice for a motorbike, so be used for laning but also about town in London.
