Anybody with a Sport-Touring Motorcycle that Tours? | Page 5 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anybody with a Sport-Touring Motorcycle that Tours?

I ride an '08 Suzuki Bandit 1250 with the factory side panniers and love it. In 9 months of riding I have logged over 34,000km on it.
Mods:
heated grips
taller Power Bronze windscreen
Supertrapp exhaust
LED tail lights and signal lights
and soon Buell pegs to give me more leg length for my long limbs (I am 6'3")
It is also the bike I am using for season one of The Planet Tour
http://www.theplanettour.com/
Here are a few pics of the travels of Suzy B (the name I dubbed her)
Inside a giant redwood N Calif
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Sunset Beach - Oregon
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Near Joshua Tree National Forest- Calif.
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daddymakk said:
I ride an '08 Suzuki Bandit 1250 with the factory side panniers and love it.
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I love watching your show. You really have to make the episodes longer though!

..Tom
 
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theshnizzle said:
Actually I am pretty excited because I have just bought a hard bag setup for my bike, a Sw Motech rack, detachable, with 2 Givi hardbags. I will post pics when I get it.

I have to ride down to Ohio and the guy I am buying it from is going to install it for me and I will just ride home all good to go.

Mines the blue black one.
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Love the Motech racks, I can go from this:

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http://i708.photobucket.com/albums/ww82/SKurj_Photos/IMG_0045.jpg


To this in less than a minute: (minus swapping the windshield)
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http://i708.photobucket.com/albums/ww82/SKurj_Photos/IMG_0067.jpg
 
Hard bags are the way to go, but they are costly, so I understand why people use nets and bungie cords.
if you do a lot of trips and camping, I think its good to get a quality set of hard bags, and when you get a new bike you just get new mounts

I have Givi E55 top and Givi V35 side bags, they are ok, if I had to do it over a again I would get sw motech Trax side bags



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Ken
Waterloo, Ont
kenmhuebert@hotmail.com
 
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omnivore said:
Oh I can tour!

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Nice setup ... I wanted a 3rd wheel trailer for the ST but unfortunately they told they tried to make the link setup thru the axle on the ST and weren't able to do it ... so they weren't able to offer one to me ... which is too bad since I also wanted a uni-go but like you said in another post I didn't like how the suspension of the bike was going to have to deal with tonque weight ...
 
The motech stuff is a little more pricey than the Givi racks, but it is soo much nicer looking, does not neccessarily require signal relocation - in my case no need, but it would have cost nothing for me to relocate the signals if i wanted to (down near the plate)

and it comes off in seconds.. I would pull up outside the motel room, pull the bags off, and then pull the racks off for the night. For the commute if you don't need all the bags, you can pick and choose without mounting the racks you don't need.. so you can just use top rack, and leave the sides at home, or use the sides and leave the top rack at home.
 
Thinking ahead to my upcoming over-nighter at Parry Sound Sport Bike Rally... here's my touring-sport set-up:

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I still need to purchase a Wolfman Expedition dry duffle bag to hold my tent and other larger items:

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oh, i'd love to chim in.

I have a naked sv650. In the first three months I did 15 000kms across 5 provinces (BC, Alberta, Sask, Manitoba and Ontario)

touring-02.jpg
 
Here`s mine. Pic taken in Key West.
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Been all over Pennsylvania, NY, Deal`s, Quebec, pretty much all of Ontario up to the Sault. Its also been down to Florida Keys ;). Just starting second season this year and am at 26,000kms. Love her, but will enjoy it alot more once my corbin arrives in a few weeks :p.
Here`s how she`s setup:
Hid headlights on there way, PIAA fork mounted hid`s, MRA adjustable windscreen, heated grips, hardwired GPS and Sirius Sat radio, 110 power inverter, 12v outlet, battery monitor, Strebel air horn, Yoshi pipe, Michelin PR2`s and the full 3 piece Givi hard cases.
 
What a gorgeous set-up! Its hard to deny that Suzuki did an A-1 job with the newest generation Bandit. The hard luggage is icing on the cake. :)
 
Some nice setups but in my view a sports-tourer requires:

1) adjustable fairing .... for those oh so crappy days
2) shaft drive.... trouble free maintenance
3) integrated luggage .... for quick on and off the bike without unsightly luggage racks
 
spankayf said:
Some nice setups but in my view a sports-tourer requires:

1) adjustable fairing .... for those oh so crappy days
2) shaft drive.... trouble free maintenance
3) integrated luggage .... for quick on and off the bike without unsightly luggage racks
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I totally agree, BUT.
1) Usually alot more $$$
2) Heavier and bigger bike that loses its appeal during stop and go city traffic
3) Not as flickable and agile for the more sporty guys.

IMO having a sport bike thats OK for touring is better then having a touring bike thats OK for sport. But thats just me.

If i had the funds I would definatly be on a BMW SP, but thats gonna have to wait a few more years.
 
spankayf said:
Some nice setups but in my view a sports-tourer requires:

1) adjustable fairing .... for those oh so crappy days
2) shaft drive.... trouble free maintenance
3) integrated luggage .... for quick on and off the bike without unsightly luggage racks
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1) fairings? what's that?
2) I have a center stand and it takes all of 5 minutes to lubricate my chain. never ridden a shaft drive bike, and i'm interested in the difference
3) i think of my luggage rack as an exo-skeleton of bad *** ness

although, i'll be the first to admit, my faithful steed is far from a sport touring bike. it's more of a "pack whatever fits on it" (which is more than I was expecting) and go for a ride...a long ride kind of bike.
 
My current ride is shaft drive. This is my first shafty and I can say that I don't miss chains! :)

As for weight,... yeah she's a big girl, but big girls need lov'in to! The weight works to your advantage on the highway. She feels planted and stable at any speed. City traffic is a bit of a chore, but nothing I really notice anymore.
 
my '05 Hayabusa in sport-touring mode:

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boooya said:
I totally agree, BUT.
1) Usually alot more $$$
2) Heavier and bigger bike that loses its appeal during stop and go city traffic
3) Not as flickable and agile for the more sporty guys.

IMO having a sport bike thats OK for touring is better then having a touring bike thats OK for sport. But thats just me.

If i had the funds I would definatly be on a BMW SP, but thats gonna have to wait a few more years.
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I agree, but sport-touring (IMHO) is all about the open road and actually "touring". City traffic is better suited to smaller, lighter and more agile motorcycles.

Yes, the better kit is going to cost more $$, so whatever your budget can afford!

Ultimately, there's always a compromise, and one motorcycle cannot do it all perfectly.
 
I am with Booya.
Sporty bike that can tour is far better than a touring bike that can be ridden sportily.
 
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