Sir Stanley Hubris

For those of you that stay overnight in hotels etc - what do you use to secure your bike and prevent it being pinched? I guess secure bike storage is the best but in its absence do you rely on a secluded spot (round the back perhaps) plus a disc lock or chain or is there a better option? (Obviously first choice is a ground floor disabled room as they tend to have wider doors so you can just wheel your bike in!)

I’m thinking of buying a new bike (Z1000SX tourer) and my local dealer is quoting book price of £11k with a semi-reasonable price for my current bike as part ex. Looking online there are dealers offering the same bike for up to a grand less with roughly the same part ex meaning even after factoring in the cost of getting the bike to where I live (200 miles away) is be £100s better off. My question is, is it a no brainer to go for the cheaper price or is it worth paying more to buy from 10 miles away? I’d be very interested to hear from guys who have bought online from a distance. PS My major concern is who does the initial 500 mile check up? Taking a bike on a 400 mile round trip would negate any initial saving but then why should my local dealer do it for free? (Or would Kawasaki pay for this?)

denislordm - that’s an excellent postscript to your post about evaluating myself and my current bike. I love my Triumph and its a very capable machine which in truth satisfies 90% of my needs but to be honest I always knew it was a stepping stone to something else, I just never knew what that something else was. I’m seriously considering a new Z1000SX - big, powerful without being silly, good luggage, wind protection and I think good value for money. I’m thinking of it as my ‘forever bike’ hence the potential decision to buy new but parting with so much cash is taking a lot of getting my head round. I think as you suggest I need to be crystal clear about what I want from a new bike and more importantly if it’s my or my current bike with the limitations! Lots of guys here saying riding a bike is tiring full stop and I guess a bigger machine will only help with some of that.

Some excellent replies, thanks guys. Good to know I’m not done no it wrong and also good to know I may need a bigger bike

Just back from 2 days riding round the Lake District. Including getting there and back I’ve probably only done about 300 miles and I’m absolutely knackered! Now I know it’s been very hot and maybe a 14 stone rider with tank bag and full leathers is a bit much for my Street Triple 675 but surely biking shouldn’t feel like this? I’m just recently back into biking after 10 years away and have always been a 100 - 150 miles in a single ride once a week kind of guy so am I just soft, is my bike too small (meaning in forever changing gear) or is riding a bike really hard work?