What Do You Look For in a Touring Bike?

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JohnBM01

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I will continue to offer as many different kinds of discussions on motorcycles spanning a broad variety of topics. Think about the Honda Gold Wing. Think about the Yamaha FJR series. What do you look for in a touring bike (of any kind)? Do you look for style? Do you aim to have a touring bike as your two-wheeled home away from home? Touring motorcycles offer a lovely experience if you just want to ride on something classy and stylish. So what do you look for in a touring bike?

I still think back to a YouTube video I saw about the Honda Gold Wing. Just some of the intricacies of it make it a wonderful touring bike. I've seen GPS navigation and stuff for it. You're not likely to win a MotoGP World Championship on a Gold Wing, but you are able to have a two-wheeled home you can take anywhere. Then in my thread in the "Site Feedback" forum, my GTP buddy UnoMOTO mentioned the Yamaha FJR. I think the person's screen name was wfoshee that has an FJR. You can ride the FJR in "Tourist Trophy." I can remember trying to ride the FJR in TT. It's quite sporty in looks while also appointing riders to a comfortable and smooth ride. An absolutely stunning motorcycle.

Now I have to envision what I would want if I had my own touring bike. I'd be more than proud to have a bike with amazing styling. My department for cars or motorcycles is style. So I want something that looks classy and can handle the duties of being that house-on-two-wheels I envision it to be. I'm not too sure about stuff like an adjustable windshield or anything. As much as rider comfort up front is for me, I'd also like to be able to have my rear passenger to also feel comfortable with the rear seat. For horsepower, let's just say I'd prefer a bike that has adequate horsepower so that I don't feel like I'm riding something that goes as fast as a bus. I'd surely prefer something agile and capable, not that I'm expecting a superbike.

So what would you look for in a touring bike? Or do you have a tourer you love most that's out right now?
 
When I bought my FJR, I was looking for a Gold Wing. I've always had a bit of a woody for those big highway bikes. However, my budget has never allowed it, unless I wanted to go to one 15 or 20 years old.

Last summer a friend of my brother's replaced his FJR with a new FJR. His old one was up for sale. My brother told me I wanted it, even if I didn't know I wanted it. He was right!

I bought in June last year, and it had just under 41,000 miles on it. Right now, this very moment, it has 49,153 miles. I ride to work every day, including light rain. I don't car what the weather is going home, I can clean up when I get there. I use it for grocery store trips, and I travel with it. I've been to Pensacola (100 miles one way) to visit my brother 3 times, I took my wife on a 200 mile day trip last fall, and I've had several Saturday rides in the 2 to 3 hundred mile range. I also went with my brother to last fall's AHRA historic races to work corners. I took my FJR, he took his Honda VTR1000. I had to carry some of his stuff! :)

In hindsight, I'm glad I have this bike instead of the Gold Wing. Maybe the Wing would be more "comfortable," maybe it would carry more stuff, but it doesn't have the performance of the FJR, the sport character, the handling. I'm an "old guy," coming up on 51, and I'm not exactly the reference specimen for human physical fitness. I'd look stupid on a sportbike, but with this bike, I get jaw-dropping performance, with 120 HP at the wheel (145 crank), eye-popping brakes, and handling worthy of much lighter bikes. I don't look stupid on it either, the way I would on a liter sportbike. It's more upright than a sportbike so it's more comfortable, yet the feet are underneath me like a sportbike to help yank it around a bit. Lastly, it's big enough to carry the missus, which I wouldn't try on a sportbike. And yes, shafties can do wheelies!

For sport-touring, you're looking at the FJR, the Kawa C-14, the big BMWs, or the Honda ST1300. The Honda is slower than the others. The BMWs are considerably more expensive. The C-14 is in its 1st year, and who wants to be a beta tester? Which one does that leave????



As for what to look for in a touring bike, the ones I mentioned are very close to each other in size, capacity, and performance. I think the FJR is distinguished by its value for the investment. Add-ons are widely available: you can get intercoms for rider/passenger, Bluetooth phone for your helmet, satellite radio, GPS, aftermarket suspension upgrades, high-capacity touring cases (like my Givi E52 top case: 52 liters! Holds 2 full face helmets with room left over) and from a couple of vendors you can even get better seats, for those guys who do 1000 mile days.

OTOH, if you're looking for a little unpaved capability, maybe something like the Suze VStrom or any of several BMWs is more what you need. That's more the "adventure" type than touring, I think.

Finally, I found the best support group for the FJR you could hope to find. Most motorcycle forums you see are full of people who have nothing better to do than flame each other with stuff like, "Well, these are better cuz they have 3 more HP, you're a &$&#&!" But fjrforum.com is managed at least as well as our own GTPlanet, which for a bike forum is saying something!
 
Elaborately described. Thanks for your comments, wfooshee. I don't think I see too many touring bikes around the greater Houston area. I mostly see cruisers and some sport bikes. The FJR is very sporty and seems to tackle dozens of responsibilities. It is indeed a very classy machine, not to mention very sporty.

Anyone else want to contribute?
 
Yeah, cruisers outnumber anything else here, as well. And with Daytona Bike Week going on, and Spring Break here, you wouldn't believe the traffic through here!

John Q. Public has bought into the big V twin cruiser style. I liken it to the 60s with Americans running around in their Buicks, Lincolns, Cadillacs, and Chryslers, while a select enlightened few had MGBs, Austin-Healeys, or E-type Jags.
 
Triumph ST or an Interceptor

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