Surly Long Haul Trucker?
 

Is this a good touring bike? :)

Yes, try doing a search, some very good threads on this bike

troll

Instead of starting a separate thread for each bike you're considering, you might (a) try searching; all of the bikes in this price range have been discussed a lot here and (b) consolidating your specific questions and answers in your thread about sub-$1,000 touring bikes.