Is a Monster sit up enough? Have you looked at older stuff?
I bought Mrs. 914 a Suzuki 550 (last photo) because of its low seat height, ended up loaning it to a half a dozen guys to take their road test on. Their sport bikes couldn't turn around on the average side street.
In reply to Nick Comstock :
That, plus new ones are the same as the old ones. I've never found them comfortable or a reasonable ride. One side the carb sticks out, The other, the drive.
FWIW, Japanese bikes are the most reliable, BMWs are the most rugged and Ducatis are wonderful but maintenance heavy. (in other words, Italian)
Naked bikes are fun around town, but not so good for sport touring mounts. Get out on the highway, and the lack of a fairing gets old fast.
In reply to Rodan :
I've done several thousand-mile rides on my naked bike and have never been bothered by the wind. My legs and rear we're not feeling great by the end though.
+1 Vstrom and Verysis. (FJ09, too, but out of budget). Try an adventure bike. They are not glamorous, but a better bike for most of us who aren't as limber as we used to be. I had a Wee Strom, and miss it.
I think that's an individual thing. I added a small fairing to my Sportster when I moved to Texas because even the two lane back roads are 75mph and I felt I needed to reduce the parachute effect from my chest. I only run the big windshield in the FJ in the winter. Spring, summer and fall I have a a very small cut down screen that I install. Still takes some wind of my chest but I much prefer having my head out in the air.
My old '82 R65Rt was great in the rain. Only my boots got wet. A good fairing can be very handy.
bgkast said:I've done several thousand-mile rides on my naked bike and have never been bothered by the wind. My legs and rear we're not feeling great by the end though.
It depends a lot on the speeds you're running, and the distance. Out here in the west, where you're running 75-85 on the open highway, and can easily have a 600-800 mile day, a naked bike gets old pretty quickly. Throw in some wind, or bad weather, and it tends to suck.
I did a few 1500-2500 mile weekends on an SV650 with just a flyscreen, and I did it, but it was very tiring compared to a true sport-touring bike.
Man I wish I knew a guy selling a bike that had multiple recommendations in this thread...
cough...
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/open-classifieds/2005-suzuki-vstrom-1000-mine/136715/page1/
cough...
lol.
That's a LOT of bike for the $$... 
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