Anybody with a Sport-Touring Motorcycle that Tours?

[Triple]

Just curious to know how many of you have sport-touring (lean more towards sport) or touring-sport (lean more towards touring) motorcycles that actually tour?

I've seen too many posts of people buying sport-touring motorcycles and then complaining of too much weight and not enough speed, etc.

From my perspective, sport-tourers were designed for touring with a sporting edge... with the weight contributing to a more planted, stable ride while on the highway.

Chime in with your opinion.

[lil red bird]

I have a CBR 1100 blackbird I use it for sport touring I have done as much as 3 to 4 days on it at a time. yes it's heavier than the standard sport bike in the corners and not as comfortable as a gold wing on long runs, it does a beautiful job for what I want which is a sport touring bike serious balls.

[RichinOville]

I had a baby sport tourer, a Kawasaki ZR7s. It came with mounting brackets for givi cases. It was an old school, carborated, air cooled inline four. It wasn't heavy at all. Very flickable through the twisties. Reasonably fast for just a 750. I had mine modded up for touring. Corbin seat, bar risers, throttle lock, heated grips, etc, etc.
I went on lots of extra long weekend, high km rides with that bike.

[gwelfmike]

I have a 2003 Yamaha FJR 1300 since the spring of 04, so far I have done the east coast three times , East coast of the US to Key West Floirda, James Bay Road, Tail of The Dragon,

I have the factory saddle bags and rear tail trunk, I usually put on about 30-40,0000 k's a year.

My old sport tourer was an 86 Yamaha f1200, it had 260,000 on it before I retired it, but my brother still uses it.

[chinto]

01 Hayabusa.

These shots were taken during a 10 day trip.

[HDRod]

I just bought a VFR to compliment my vrod ... and I'm TOTALLY excited to use it as my touring bike!!! The Vrod was just so damned uncomfortable, even on one day rides ... mostly because i've set it up to look pretty, and not be a functional high-mileage bike. Looking forward to the long weekends this year and a hopefully some less painful riding!

d

[TwistedKestrel]

I've done two separate week long trips with my ZX-11D. It's still a little heavy, but that doesn't bother me too much, just makes walking it around difficult. Other than that it seems like my perfect motorcycle, definitely not wanting for power, comfort, fuel capacity, or handling. Did I mention it's not wanting for power?

[Barneycanoe]

I have a 1999 Triumph Trophy 1200. Last year my wife and I went to Thunder Bay. Love the bike, hauls a ton of gear and handled great with its new Avon Storm tires!

[Triple]

I agree with many of your points, but there certainly are "designed" sport-tourers... like the Honda ST's, Yamaha FJR's, BMW RS's, etc. I guess where the lines get blurry are on standards, nakeds and other sport-bikes (busas, SV's, etc.) that are set-up for touring... some lean more towards sport others lean more towards basic touring. I mentioned in a previous post that the new generation Goldwings are arguably "sporty" and they sure can tour -- however, I feel confident in labelling them "tourers"

[too much]

I ride a Bandit 1250, had to modify the seat, added a bigger winddhsield, a top box. Went in a couple of 3-4 days rides, it does a good job for the money.

Pros - big engine, lots of torque, decent handling in twisties, should not be taken though for an SS , cheap, reliable.
Cons - a bit on the heavy side (not an SS ) in the twistyes, front suspension could be easily improved, eats the rear tire due to (my) weight and torque.

I have to agree, the discussion resides in SPORT-touring versus sport-TOURING. I would see the Yamaha FJR and BMW GT for example in the sport-TOURING catgory, while FZ1, Bandit, Triumph Sprint, K1200S or touring modified SVs 1K more like SPORT-touring. And then it's the SS bike made more comfortable which is and SS - tourer Bikes like VStrom or BMW GS are more in the Sport-Adventure category in my opinion.

[kat]

I toured on my old Katana...loved it. Currently looking for a bandit 650 for some big k runs...almost pulled the trigger on a vulcan 900 but i think I will hold out for the bandit

[inreb]

Suzuki DR650. Motarded. Pelican cases. Duffle bag. Bobs your uncle.

[Zoltar]

05 Kat 750 with Corbin seat tank bag and ordering a givi top rack hope to do my first overnight tour up north this year!

[Shaman]

Funny, I complained that my Sprint was way too fast to be a touring bike the whole time I owned it.

Used to have time for touring and I hope I will again. The reason I sold the Sprint is that I didn't have enough time for multi-day trips anymore. Wish I was one of those guys. I sure like the idea of towing a trailer with my GSX-R, though... hahaha

[homme de fer]

Omnivore,

The more I look at your setup, the more I can justify the price of that Third Wheel Trailer.

[omnivore]

Inside trailer:
2 man tent, sleeping bag, camp chair, camp pot and cooking utensils, 6 cans of stew, 6 pack of bottled water, extra gloves, boot covers, rain suit, tool kit, first aid kit, clothes for a week inside a backpack, personal hygeine stuff, a towel, laptop, 2 cameras, various chargers for cameras, batteries, ipod, a pair of sneakers, and my back protector sometimes when I was boiling in traffic. I msy be forgetting a thing or two but you get the idea. I arrive at destination, remove whole trailer in 30 seconds, wheel it into motel room. Everything in it remains safe and dry.

[regder]

I've put on 40K KM in three seasons on my '06 FZ6, 24k km of that last season. Including going to Skyline Dr/BRP, Cabot Trail (7k km in 7 days of riding), Quebec, Ohio, and many trips to Muskoka and elsewhere. Very decent sport tourer for my needs. Comfortable riding position from the factory and fairly capable handling, 350km fuel range too.

I've added a Corbin seat, Throttlemeisters, soft luggage, and GPS to help with the touring stuff. Only negative is the wind noise which I'll either replace the windshield or cut down the factory one.

[YamaMana]

... Only negative is the wind noise which I'll either replace the windshield or cut down the factory one.

I've had the factory, puig, and puig double bouble racing shield. The last looks like a sea shell but works the best for no turbulence. I'd like better wind protection but from everything i've read our bikes ('06 fz6 as well) just don't fair well with the factory touring windshield. I've seen a lanier installed, looks like crap but apparently does an adequate job.

I'm going to drop in at a hearing clinic and see if i can get some made specifically for me. Cannot get those ear plugs to seat properly.

[Fallinganvil]

Nice set up omnivore!!

Who is the manufacturer of the trailer? I'm looking at setting something up like that and the only one I know of is a uni-go trailer.

[ts]

Inside trailer:
2 man tent, sleeping bag, camp chair, camp pot and cooking utensils, 6 cans of stew, 6 pack of bottled water, extra gloves, boot covers, rain suit, tool kit, first aid kit, clothes for a week inside a backpack, personal hygeine stuff, a towel, laptop, 2 cameras, various chargers for cameras, batteries, ipod, a pair of sneakers, and my back protector sometimes when I was boiling in traffic. I msy be forgetting a thing or two but you get the idea. I arrive at destination, remove whole trailer in 30 seconds, wheel it into motel room. Everything in it remains safe and dry.

you're missing the kitchen sink

Why do u take a 2 man tent, sleeping bag, camping chair, camp pot, cooking utensils when u stay in a motel room?

I like the look of the trailer, pretty cool