[ST] re: The Sport Touring Category - long

[BikerDadHLV@xxxxxxxxxxxx (BikerDad)]

I just have to put in my tuppence here!  (Hey, this IS a Britbike list, right?)

A prior post noted that you could almost define the Sport Touring Category as being two categories, and I think that's true.  The way I look at it, you have the SPORT Tourers, and the Sport TOURERS.  The latter group has long been the domain of the BMW's, the ST1100 aka Pan European, the Trophy, and the Kawasaki Concours.  These are bikes that are LONG RANGE, two up missiles.  They have upright riding positions, weigh in well over 500 lbs, and are truly designed for TWO people.  That's really the key.  From all accounts, the new Yammie fits into this category.  The Trophy and the Kawasaki ZZ-R1200 bridge the gap, primarily because of the lack of shaft drive.

On the other side of the fence, you have the Sprint ST, the Ducati ST2 and ST4, the Futura, a few of the sportier BMWs, and of course, our favorite bike to hate, the VFR-800.  These are bikes that are designed to run long distances almost as well as their brethren, but they carry a pillon, which is somewhat different from carrying a passenger (not to be confused with coddling, which is K1200LT/Wingebago territory).  All of the purpose built sport tourers (of both camps) have more robust electrical systems and accomodations for such things as heated vests, grips, centerstands, etc.

Then there are the outliers.  The new Goldwing can almost claim to make it into the sport tourer class, except for its weight.  Given that it pretty much outhandles the Concours and ST1100....  On the other end, bikes get into the category one of two ways.  First is the likes of the Hayabusa and Blackbird.  These wheeled cruise missiles are not track bikes.  They make no pretensions of being track bikes, which current mindset means they aren't "sport" bikes.  While moderately comfortable for long runs, they are designed as single rider bikes and lack the "touring" amenities.  Second are the "has beens."  These are bikes that have been pushed into the "sport touring" category becuase they're simply outclassed by the new breed of more extreme sportbikes.  The Kanatunas, Bandits and YZF600s are examples.

So, from my not humble perspective, there are really two categories of Sport Touring bikes.  Those truly designed for two-up (Trophy), and those designed for solo (ST).  All else tossed into the category are pretenders or orphans.

Grace and peace,
John S., unofficially "BikerDawg"
'00 RS (pretending to be a SPORT-tourer)
- -- 




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