Hello Everyone that owns a dl1000. I hope you are enjoying your bike as I am sure you are...You may have seen one of my other threads, but I wanted to ask a seperate type of question about the comfortability of a dl1000.

I am looking to buy a bike for commuting about 50 miles to work and school 5 days a week. I spend about $800 per week in gas and it is hurting my pocket. I would like to have a bike to be comfortable for the drives to work, but one that will also let me load it down and go 2 up and across country with no problem. I have only driven dirt bikes and have not bought a street bike before (although when I was young I drove dirt bikes on the street!) One can only tell the comfort of a bike in the stores while they sit on them unless you have any friends that you can borrow. I don't have my motorcycle license yet so I can't test drive any of them at the store or friends bikes. I have narrowed it down to a dl1000 or a cruiser.

I know the 2 bikes differ significantly. My main thing I want in a bike will be fulfilled by both types. I want reliability, the ability to sit straight up and not have to lean over like a super sport bike, good gas mileage, abiliity to ride 2 up, and able to pack them both down somewhat.

My question for you dl1000 owners is how do you like your bike for long distance riding? I understand some may have issues with the stock seat, but that can be fixed easily. Have you owned a cruiser in the past and how do you compare it to your dl1000 for long freeway drives across multiple states? If I were to go the cruiser route, I was looking at something like the Kawasaki Vulcan series. I prefer fuel injection and shaft if possible on a cruiser. The look of the dl1000 and cruisers are ok to me, so I am not buying them based on looks. I wouldn't be buying the dl1000 for the off-road capabilities because that would occur very infrequently (but it's nice that you can) Can you tell me which bike you would prefer to drive long distances and why?