What bike?

It really depends on how much protection you want I. No bike is going to keep you dry in the rain so you'll always need wet weather gear regardless, so really the best you can expect is not to feel blasted by the wind when you're doing 90mph on the motorway. An unfaired bike will be tiring at those speeds but you'd be surprised at how a relatively small fairing can cut the windblast to acceptable levels. Certainly the V-Strom and Versys are fine for all-day riding at those speeds - I had a V-Strom for a year and did many motorway miles in comfort, and I'm 6'3" so on some bikes I do cop a wind blast on my head. Having said that, and re-reading your first message, I think the Deauville sounds like the best option. As I said, it's not as lively or fun as the Versys but you can carry stuff without fitting extra luggage, it's comfy and has the best weather protection, and in fact is the only proper middleweight touring bike you can buy. Oh, and it has the most reliable, long lasting engine of just about any motorcycle ever! I'll be posting a test of the latest model, which came out just over a year ago, on here soon. Earlier versions go back many years but they do hold their price well (bad news when buying, good news when you're selling again).
Feel free to ask more!

Phil - I am not Kevin (of course) and his opinion I have no doubt is much more valid than mine as he has ridden a whole load more machines than I. As this is a public area I shall offer my opinion too, if you don't mind.
In light of what you have said about being nervous on the VFR then I would have thought that you may well feel something similar on the RT. It is physially a big bike and has around 110 hp on tap, which I think is pretty similar to the VFR. Kevin will be better placed than I to say how the delivery of that power is compared to the VFR but even though it is a touring bike, it will still be able to up its skirts, if given a handfull, I am sure. If you compare the weight of the BMW to the Versys etc then you will be looking at a significant number of extra kilos to be dealing with. The weather protection I have no doubt would be excellent and would be good on your commute!

I reckon it comes back to the V-Strom 650 then, I used to cover loads of miles on one throughout the year and loved it, and they're really cheap compared with most rivals. You don't get as much weather protection as the RT of course but it's still pretty good, and you'll have some spare cash for decent wet weather gear - Hein Gericke is a good bet as it's a good balance between decent quality and low cost.

May I suggest Kevin's own review of the F800S/ST from The Daily Telegraph at the following address: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motorbikes/2740777/Everyone-gains-fr...
I bought one 3 years ago partly on the strength of this review and I have not been disappointed - until last weekend when it broke down on the way to, of all things, a BMW bike demo event! Thankfully it turned out to be nothing more than a knackered battery.

A general view - I think far too much emphasis is placed on engine size and performance. Although more cubes are fun when experienced they usually just intimidate when not, though people rarely admit this. I think that's why there are so many big bikes with very low milages around (and so few ride in any but ideal conditions), people don't really have fun riding them, and if it isn't fun there's no point.

Any 500cc + bike will be quite happy on the roads mentioned. When a dispatch rider I used mid-ranged bikes like the CX500 - like every other dispatcher! I averaged 60,000 miles a year all over the UK with no performance problems.

You will smile a lot more on a smaller bike because you will be more relaxed. Forget being macho, it isn't fun at the end of the day. Forget 'learner bike' tags, a few years ago these would be seen as 'ton up' performance machines.

Buy a cheap bike, less to lose when it topples over in the car park - and it will.... If you like the whole deal then trade up in a year or two.