Middle-Weight Sport-Tourer

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by JerryH

The Goldwing is also the most comfortable bike ever made.

[mokosai]

Originally Posted by JerryH

The Goldwing is also the most comfortable bike ever made.

...

Too relaxed ergos would seem to be an oxymoron, unless you are talking about a supersport bike.

Not to start another debate within this one, but nothing to do with comfort is universally true. The V-Strom I had for over a year (and the Ulysses that I had for 2 weeks) gave me upper back pain, and I longed to stretch out forward. I find the forward lean on the Street Triple much more comfortable.

[single]

Originally Posted by Elkwood

Another thing is power. I might be in the minority on this but i felt the 800 was underpowered at times.

I don't think it's so much that the VFR800 is underpowered as much as it's powerband is unlike other sport tourers with the torque and HP located higher in the rev range. It's a free revving bike, so it's easy enough to exploit, but I think many people prefer a lazier power band that just has torque everywhere especially for touring.

[Joe?]

Originally Posted by DanVFR

my 2003 vfr was a great bike 41k miles very very few issues, could be loaded up and would still handle sweet. 800cc was a peach of an engine. Most sports tourers are too big nowadays, to heavy for a morning blast etc.

Same here, couldn't ask for a better combination of reliability, fuel range, ergonomics, and, of course, grunt when you get on the throttle. Did 8k in 2 weeks without batting an eye.

[Jetpilot5]

Originally Posted by single

I don't think it's so much that the VFR800 is underpowered as much as it's powerband is unlike other sport tourers with the torque and HP located higher in the rev range. It's a free revving bike, so it's easy enough to exploit, but I think many people prefer a lazier power band that just has torque everywhere especially for touring.

I'd agree with this. When you read the tests on the VFR800 they always comment on how much torque it has, but keep in mind that it's an 800 that's only a few pounds lighter than many open class bikes and that they're usually referencing pure inline four sport bikes of the same displacement. I don't think I ride any faster on my K1300S than I did on my VFR800, it's just that having all that power on tap lets you be lazy. A VFR800 is a great bike and it'll go, you just have to work at it a little harder.

[Tom-Nor]

When i think of weightclasses in sporttouring, i think of the complet packed,size,power weight and etc.
Heavy weight are for me FJR1300,c14,RT etc. Their big,heavy,knock out power but not that fastest or lightes on theyr feet.
Light heavy weight ZX14,busa,K13,XX etc. Big,lighter then the heavy,knock out power,fast,moves lighter on the feet.
Middle weight GSX1200,Ninja 1000,FZ1,Sprint st,VFR800 etc smaller,power,fast and moves light on its feets.
Light weight GSX650,ER6,FZ6 etc smal,fast on the feets, make up the lack of power in nimblnes.
Feather weight from 500cc.
yeah i know, i whatch to much kombat sport.

Riding posistion os so difrent from person to person, i have two friends with VFR800,one can ride it for a while and get wrist pain, the other feels fine.
Ownd a Sprint 955i before, and i thought that the ZX14 whould be thougher to take long trips with becouse its lower bars and a more aggresiv riding position, but th ZX14 is more comfy then the 955i.
The ZX14,VFR800 and 955 are comfy and god bikes in theyr class but they all can be tiersom to ride in 40mph or lower for a time.
If you ride alot in citys but still whant somthing with a litle kick that you can easy tour with, my suggestion whould be somthing like Ninja1000,GSXF1200/1250,FZ1.

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by mokosai

BMW K1300S
===========

Honda VFR800
============

Triumph Sprint ST
==============

[600cc Sport Bike] with bags (e.g. R6, CBR, GSXR, maybe even SV650 and FZ1)
======================

[Touring Land Barge] (e.g. FJR, Concours, R1200RT, etc)
================


So, what am I not thinking of? Or, do you have one of the bikes above, and am I wrong about it?

Define: Middle-Weight.

On your list, the only "middleweight" motorcycles are the VFR800 and the 600cc Sport Bikes.

For new bikes, BMW's 800s should be in the mix.

Anything over 1000cc and 500-lbs is NOT a "middleweight" motorcycle!

My riding is all sport-touring. Most of it over the past three years has been 2-up. I ride a 500-lbs Moto Guzzi LeMans with Hepco + Becker luggage.

I tend to be at the "sportsbike with bags" end of the sport-touring spectrum, so I see the Ducati ST2/3/4 as the benchmark sport-touring motorcycle.

Lots of great used machines of all stripes out there, if you're willing to buy used.

You really need to decide on YOUR balance of sport and touring. For me, I do not enjoy the heavy sport-touring and touring bikes over 550-lbs.

[Jetpilot5]

Pretty well defined here in an earlier post. While not using displacement as most people do he does have a good idea of what he's looking for it seems.

Originally Posted by mokosai

There seems to be some disagreement over the chosen thread title.

In my head, the categories go as follows:

Light-Weight Sport Tourer (<520lbs wet): Ninja 1000, FZ1, SV650 etc. (also pretty much any sport bike with bags)
Middle-Weight Sport Tourer (<600lbs wet): K1300S, VFR1200, Sprint ST, etc.
Heavy-Weight Sport Tourer (>600lbs wet): Concours, ST1300, etc.

I'd consider a Goldwing, V-Strom, Ulysses, Versys, R1200RT to all be just "tourers" and not "sport tourers" because of the too-relaxed ergos.

So, I guess I should clarify that while there are a ton of good suggestions for bikes you can tour on here (like the Street Triple R I already have!), I'm looking for something a little more "refined" and with more fairing and storage and "amenities." There's also a chance I'm just trying to justify to myself that I'm craving a K1300S, even though I certainly don't need the power.

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by Jetpilot5

Pretty well defined here in an earlier post. While not using displacement as most people do he does have a good idea of what he's looking for it seems.

Originally Posted by mokosai

Light-Weight Sport Tourer (<520lbs wet): Ninja 1000, FZ1, SV650 etc. (also pretty much any sport bike with bags)
Middle-Weight Sport Tourer (<600lbs wet): K1300S, VFR1200, Sprint ST, etc.
Heavy-Weight Sport Tourer (>600lbs wet): Concours, ST1300, etc.

Let me add:

"Super Heavy Weight Sport Tourer" (>700lbs wet): GL1800 Goldwing, K16LT, etc.