I've got a nice collection of tents for various scenarios. My first good tent was a Eureka 3 man (an El-Capitan maybe) and it's still going strong after 8 years. It came with fiberglass poles and they seem to break every couple years so I'd go with aluminium. Eureka has a life time warranty so I just bring the poles in and pick them up a month later. Eureka makes a real good tent, I've been through the worst weather with it and it still hasn't leaked. The negative side are the fiberglass poles (if they still use those) and the size/weight.
I have a cheap Woods tent from about 10 years ago which is a 5 man. It might have cost $60 and it isn't bad. I used it a few times but only for trips where there is a guarantee of no rain. It was that tarp style floor that you can't trust in the rain. I keep it around for those trips where it will be dry and I need extra room.
About 5 years ago, I picked up an MSR Hubba one man tent. It packed rediculously small and was perfect for touring with my Ducati. Paying extra for a lightweight backpackers tent is definitely the way to go but they are well over $200. The Hubba, though, is too small to bring wet gear (or any gear for that matter) into. So your stuff needs to stay outside or you need to buy the vestibule (I have that too).
This past year, I started travelling with my girlfriend. We don't mind the Eureka but it takes up a lot of room. I picked up an MSR Hubba Hubba and it is maybe the perfect motorcycle tent. Really small, easy to put up, can use my Hubba vestibule. Used it for an 11 day trip down the BRP and was perfect. Only a couple drawback; is material is very thin so you need to be careful, and it is small for a 2 man tent.
If the MSR Elixir has the same build quality as the Hubba Hubba, I suggest starting with that one. If you want a small pack size for longer road trips, save an extra $100 for the Hubba Hubba.