Middle Weight Sport Tourers! | GTAMotorcycle.com

Middle Weight Sport Tourers!

Alamode

Well-known member
My wonderful VFR is getting a bit long in the tooth. At 12 years old and rapidly encroaching on 100k miles, everything is going fine but i'm basically using that as an excuse to eyeball other bikes that may or may not serve as a good replacement, eventually. The obvious route is just to get another VFR, but if I was entertaining that idea I wouldn't' consider having this discussion.

My criteria is fairly specific, but open ended. I ride a lot, give or take 30,000 km per year. Approximately half of that is commuting and the rest is touring and futzing around. Touring is typically doing 5,000-10,000 km over a week or two, and I like doing 800-1000km per day. I like having a 350+km range per tank of gas, but I don't get upset when more spirited rides reduce that to 250. Spirited riding happens... Often. I'm definitely not the fastest rider and I've never even seen a track, but I definitely like to get my *** off the seat. I like my bikes to be agile. My VFR handles it's weight marvelously, but it's probably at the upper limit of what I like. The FJR feels glorious, but it's just too heavy for what I want. Finally, power is definitely a consideration but keep in mind I'm coming from a bike with 100bhp and weighing in at 550lbs wet plus touring bags. I don't need the front wheel to come off the ground, but I wouldn't be happy with a tractor either.

So with that long winded opening, what are your favourite middle-weight sport touring bikes and why? For the sake of this game lets also say that price is not a consideration, but ease of maintenance and reliability is.

Have at it, GTAM. Shower me with your wisdom!
 
I sold my VFR after 16 years (and 196K on it) a couple of months ago - we're in the same boat.

I've been considering the Yamaha FJ-09 strongly.

Great engine, good ergos, upgraded seat/suspension (compared to the FZ-09).

Compared to your VFR it has things you didn't have: ABS, traction control.
It also has something you'd probably miss: center stand.
Valve adjustment schedule is at around 40K.

Oh and I should also mention that it sells for $10,999 while the US sells them for $10,499 (that's a great bargain with how our dollar is right now)
 
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Very hard to beat the VFR in this category. At slightly more cc the Ninja 1000 makes a nice sports tourer, especially the newer model with the newly designed bag system.
Other options I would look at would be the BMW 800 GT, or the FJ 09.
 
Very hard to beat the VFR in this category. At slightly more cc the Ninja 1000 makes a nice sports tourer, especially the newer model with the newly designed bag system.

That gets my vote as well but is a litre bike (more thana litre actually) still a middle weight? OP, are hard-bags a necessity?
I've ridden the FZ1 (a rather nicely modded one at that) and it still doesn't excite me.
 
Some find the VFR doesn't compare as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvfwgnwpA34

Here's a comparo video of some mid weight sport tourers.

I'd personally go with an FJ-09. Test rode some bikes this summer and the FJ-09 was awesome. What a motor. Nice light weight package (it is over 100 lbs lighter than the fjr). Plus what a great price. A friend rode the FJ-09 too at the Yamaha ride days and bought one three days later.
 
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I have a GSX650F, I like it a lot. ABS, centre stand, hard luggage options, I can get 300Km per tank of gas but I fill up at 250km, typically 13L out of a 19L tank. Don't know about your personal power preference but it has a lot of power compared to my gs500, more than enough for the highway and whatever else you want to do.

But it is a bit heavy compared to my GS500.
 
I'm also looking at this category of bikes... although I'v never owned one so my opinions arn't based on experience. I'm looking to to buy one as a second bike, with my first bike being a pure sport bike.

One bike I keep seeing come up, but wether its a sport bike or a sport tourer seems to depend whose doing the review... its the BMW s1000r... looks like a really nice bike with plenty of power and handling like a sport bike, has all the new electronic bells and whistles, under 500lb's wet(wiki says 456) which seems pretty good tbh. With about 160-200hp, its alot more horsepower then my starting bike, but apparently it has like 11 different traction/power modes, so you can drive around with just 100hp if you wanted to. Not sure what range is and I havn't seen to many pictures with it kitted up with abunch of cases/gear but I think it could be quite good.
 
Ninja 1000, FZ1, FJ09, Sprint ST, Tiger 1050

My FZ1 isn't perfect, but it's a decent package for me. One big upside, the bike is the cheapest used by a large margin.
 
BMW F800GT. Incredible fuel economy, light, lots of torque and a plethora of aftermarket accessories. Plus, excellent dealership coverage and warranty. 450 lbs and 90HP. That would be my choice over all others.
 
BMW F800GT. Incredible fuel economy, light, lots of torque and a plethora of aftermarket accessories. Plus, excellent dealership coverage and warranty. 450 lbs and 90HP. That would be my choice over all others.

Interesting bike but I just don't see it being as strong as other options. Fwiw, the F800GT weight is 470 dry, near 500 lbs wet (from what I've seen on websites, a few sites appear to mischaracterize it as 470 wet). So near 500 lbs wet and 80 hp to the wheel. The FJ-09 is just over 460 wet and about 104 hp to the wheel. And the FJ-09 is over $2k less.

I just found that the FJ-09 won the related comparo to the vid I posted earlier.

http://www.motorcycle.com/shoot-outs/sport-adventure-shootout
 
I have a GSX650F, I like it a lot. ABS, centre stand, hard luggage options, I can get 300Km per tank of gas but I fill up at 250km, typically 13L out of a 19L tank. Don't know about your personal power preference but it has a lot of power compared to my gs500, more than enough for the highway and whatever else you want to do.

But it is a bit heavy compared to my GS500.


GSX650F was/is a great bike. I had a 08 model a few years ago. Ididnt like the Bazooker size pipe (worth getting a slip on for this). Heavy bike though.. the K1300 weighed as much as it. Lots of accessories and mods available in the European markets. Its often overlooked here.
 
A newer entry is the 2015 BMW R1200RS. Sportier version of the R1200RT. Low maintenance shaft-drive, good tank range and baggage options, also easy on the eyes.

f1h2lh.jpg
 
I'm always surprised by how good-looking the FZ6R is. Lots of them downtown.

Prolly going to feel slow as molasses compared to the VFR though.
 
I like the CBF1000, I never rode one but it looks pretty good on paper. You can get a used one for 6 to 7k

honda-cbf1000-abs-6.jpg
 
You can get user Tiger 1050 not much money and it will do everything. Amazing performance and all day comfort. You just have to have long legs :)
FZ6R is almost as heavy as Tiger 1050 and it does not come even close to the power. I have seen tigers come up for sale for 6-7000$ with luggage.
 

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