What's the most fun, efficient, and reliable mid-range ($12-8k new or sub-$5k used) bike on the market in the ADV or Cruiser Category?
I know we never talk about motorcycles in the 3rd world sense, as an extremely cheap form of transportation, but I'm sick of being more efficient riding to work in my cage, 07 Prius, than my bike, 99 Shadow Ace. I want to ride to work on bike can get more out of it than getting to ride. It's not like the commute is particularly fun anyway.
I just want a bike that beats (even just barely) my Prius's 53mpg avg for my 70 city/30 highway commute. I'm obviously not interested in a Grom or something like that, but a proper bike at least above 500cc that's comfortable to ride and fun for my days off.