"Unlikely" Touring Bikes

[1200B]

Originally Posted by KOTH

2008 Hayabusa. Did an 8,000 mile cross USA trip. Usually got 39-40mpg. Highest was 44 mpg.

Nice Busa! how does that luggage affect the bike at higher speeds, is it stabil?

[KOTH]

Originally Posted by 1200B

Nice Busa! how does that luggage affect the bike at higher speeds, is it stabil?

I only tested it up to 130 or so and it worked quite well. Also rode over quite a bit of rough pavement with no issues. The SW-Motech brackets and Givi bags are a great system. Never had any rain get in the bags. The bags lock to the brackets and are quick release. Side brackets are also quick release leaving behind 4 tabs which are used with 1/4 turn fasteners to mount the side brackets. One of my 1/4 turn fasteners was lockable to help prevent the brackets from being removed.

I kept around 20-25 lbs in the side cases but used the top case mostly as a trunk for my helmet, gloves, and electronics when I made gas stops, etc. Otherwise just kept maps, rain gear, snacks, and a few bottles of water in the top case. Handling was naturally effected a little and you are impacted more by cross winds. Never felt any impact on that great motor.

[Reryder]

You have to look a long way to find a bike less suited to touring than a 70s Harley Sportster.
Not only is it 35 years old or so, with a dc generator for electrics, two inches of rear shock travel, and vibrates like a paint shaker, but it was always known as the "fast but fragile" Harley. Built originally as a desert racer, turned into street hot rod, it was never intended for touring. And for me at 6'2" tall it is like riding a minibike. Need highway pegs just to maintain what would be a normal riding position on any other bike. Then there is the 70s chopper style seat all of about six inches wide and one inch thick. If you were choosing a bike to go touring on, this should be one of the last on the list.
Yet somehow, I keep on riding the damn thing all over hell and yon. Masochism is the only explanation.

[Barnone]

Rode down to British Honduras (now Belize) from Houston,TX in the late 1960's on a Suzuki X6 250cc. Don't remember any paper work at the borders. Camped out wherever.

1997 rode down to the Panama Canal on a 1982 Honda naked Silverwing.


Touring to the WNC dump on my Chinese hardtail.

[Noreaster]

Originally Posted by Barnone

Rode down to British Honduras (now Belize) from Houston,TX in the late 1960's on a Suzuki X6 250cc. Don't remember any paper work at the borders. Camped out wherever.

1997 rode down to the Panama Canal on a 1982 Honda naked Silverwing.


Touring to the WNC dump on my Chinese hardtail.

LOVE the (peddle)bike trailer! No stability issues or any thing at motorized speeds?

[TheAntiCage]

That silverwing is the shit.

[BTL]

[IMG][/IMG]

Loaded up 109R..I was on the road for 10 days like this and camped for 9 of them..

[IndyChizzle]

Honda 919 with luggage:



Holds a ton of gear, especially if you put a duffel bag over the passenger seat and lash it down between the panniers.

[pyro_]

Here are a couple of my old ones.

First up Triumph TT600 sportbike



Next up Kawi KLX650R

[lake_harley]

IndyChizzle....I'd think you could put enough stuff in those "steamer trunk" proportion panniers to put quite a stress on the rear of the frame. Looks ready to go though!

and...

pyro_....in the photo of your KLX, by the looks of your rear tire you must have either been in a firey burnout competition or maybe spent quite a few miles on the 'slab?

Thanks everyone for the unlikely tourers that have been posted.

Lynn

[pyro_]

There was a lot of slab, between going from Virginia to Northern Ontario on it and also going back and forth to work

[aCab]

Rode my EX500 3500 miles in 9 days the summer after I graduated High school.



Loved that bike. Kinda miss it sometimes.

[Reconstructed]

Originally Posted by aCab

Rode my EX500 3500 miles in 9 days the summer after I graduated High school.



Loved that bike. Kinda miss it sometimes.

Wow, talk about a lurker. Almost four years and one post.

Sweet.

[nskitts]

Originally Posted by Ohio_Danimal

I rode a Ninja 250 all over the country on a month long tour in the early 2000s


and since 2006 I have toured all over on my 2003 SV650, racking up 105,000 miles on her before oil consumption prompted an engine swap




as "unlikely" a touring bike either would seem to some, it really never seemed that way to me.

Where did you find all the time? I would love to do that...

[Ohio_Danimal]

Originally Posted by nskitts

Where did you find all the time? I would love to do that...

LOL...that's a great question, and not the question I would have expected!

I always tell people that you find the time for things you love.

truth be told, my ex-wife set me free about 9 years ago. I didn't want the divorce, and when faced with the reality of losing her, my house and my son, I fought for custody like an IDIOT for 18 months, going many 10's of thousands of $$ into debt doing so. At one point the Judge told me in private that I didn't stand a chance because I didn't have a vagina.

Years later I came to realize that she did me a favor in many ways. "Shared Parenting" meant organized visitation, so every-other weekend I was free completely. My Summers became a flurry of taking my boy around the country to baseball tournaments and then, when his time with me was done in the Summer, I was OFF!!

He's 18 now and going to college next year to study Pre-Med and to continue playing baseball. With the summer baseball ending, I will have even MORE time to ride!!