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G99
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there's been a lot of talk about supermotards, most of it not directed at you Filip, but..

you've said your quite tall and you live in an area full of beautiful mountains with sweeping bends, hairpin bends and lovely views. have you considered a big trailbike ?

modern big trailie's or supermotards are very road biased, have a great relaxed riding position that makes it a lot easier to handle on twisty bends. you dont have your head in the clocks and arse in the air so you get a great view of the surroundings and an advanced view of whats around the bends much like an SUV. they may not have the top speed of a sports bike, but top speed isnt everything, its the way you get there that counts. not everyone takes to riding a sports bike where you have to do a lot of body shifting to get around bends, but nearly everyone can cope with a trail bike as you can just push the bar down to take a bend (thats a very basic way of putting it, but is pretty accurate). they also handle beautifully in town as long as your big enough for them as they are nimble...ish.

there are a huge variety of bikes and engines within the class. 650cc single cylinder engines which have such good engine braking that you barely need to touch the lever, big twins and triples with similar characteristics. all of these engines are far far better in the wet as the power delivery is slightly gentler and more linear whereas an in-line 4 has a much snappier power delivery, which, in the wet can be very unpleasant.

as for comfort, things have changed dramatically over the years and most of them are good long distance tourers. i've personally ridden 480 miles on one day on my Aprilia 650 and more than that on my old BMW R1000GS. i've also spent all day every day for over 2 years sat in the saddle of a Pan European, but i wouldnt recommend that for a starter bike.

a lot of riders (weekend playboys) are hung up on pure power, but sweeping around bends barely touching the brakes whilst admiring the view is a better experience IMO especially as when the tarmac stops you can just keep going on the dirt.

i rode to work virtually every day all year round for the whole of my police career. it didnt matter if it was raining, snowing, dark, cold or sweltering hot and then i was lucky enough for a few years to do it all day as well. i've owned loads of bikes and overall big trailbikes did the job of a workhorse and plaything better than a sports bike. i was (un)lucky enough to own a 1985 Suzuki GSXR750, a bike that would bite back and spit you out if you made the slightest mistake. thats the type of bike i was referring too when i mentioned riding characteristics compared to the CBR. when i owned that i think i spent a lot of time driving to work, but when i finally changed from sports bikes to supermotards i used the car a lot less and probably had more fun.

you should just look at the companies websites to see what sort of trail bikes they are now selling. dont forget KTM, BMW and Ducati along with the big japanese companies. i think you'll be surprised by the power they have. then you need to ride a vast selection of different bikes to find the one you like best. i know that looks are very important to you, but you've also got to enjoy riding it.

just to get an idea of what used bikes are available take a look at the UK autotrader site. i use it regularly to look at cars and now thay do a very good bike section. i know its across the pond, but you'll see a whole load of different styles and you might just like what you see.

best

Graham