Fast touring bike

[Speed addicted]

After a great run round Scotland that included maxing out my 1050 Speed Triple several times (on closed private roads of course) the lads are talking about going to Germany for some high speed fun.

The Triumph is great for everything apart from sustained high speed use, it turns into a torture device above about 1.2 Leptons. I could jut add a screen to the triumph but I'm offshore and daydreaming.

So I'm thinking about adding a faired bike to the stable, it's got to be fast (160+mph), capable of carrying all 6'2" of me in some comfort, fun on the twisty parts of the run, and cheap at around £2.5K as I'm keeping the Triumph.

Any suggestions?

[odyssey2200]

Honda Blackbird?
Not sure when they stopped building the CBR1000 but will do very long distances with ease.

Not sure of the VMax of the VFR800, but a great all rounder.

The Yamaha FJR1300.

[Brummmie]

Those modern 4 cylinder BMW's are pretty rapid, i can speak from experience.

[m3psm]

odyssey2200 said:

Not sure of the VMax of the VFR800, but a great all rounder.

Mine tops out at about 155, but it gets hard work after about 130.

I recon Blackbird or Hayabusa are the only bikes you'll comfortably sit at anything faster than 140 on.

The BMW's and Pan's etc are comfiest, but I wouldn't want to try and stop or corner one at the speeds mentioned.

[Busamav]

Given your 6-2 ,

and assuming you are going solo I would go for a zx12 ,
Easily pick a good one up for under 3k

The Busa will leave your head and shoulders a bit exposed for constant 150 cruising .

[black-k1]

You may also want to try out a BMW K1200RS which will (just about) make your 160mph requirement and is as quick through the twisties as any of the other big sports/tourers of that age. They also do very well on fuel compared to most of the Jap offerings.

[The Pits]

If I was serious about going 160+ for any length of time I'd be looking to increase my budget over £2.5k. Or at least be prepared to spend some money on a 2.5k bike to get it fit for that kind of riding, new tyres, drivetrain and proper service at the very least.

At that sort of money the blackbird's probably your best bet. You'd need at least another grand to get into a decent ZX12R but if you want to go round corners fast it's worth it. Much firmer than a blackbird and with much better ground clearance. With me on board I could lap silverstone quicker on my ZX12 than I could my GSX-R 1000. I sold the gixxer shortly afterwards. Only downside to ZX12 is the pillion seat. It's sportsbike small. But then again, the ZX12 is really just a scaled up sportsbike for grown up sized people. If it hadn't got knicked I'd still have it.

Then again I wouldn't have my ZZR1400 which has the comfort of the 'bird, the cornering ability of the ZX12 and straight line speed and build quality better than both.

[SplatSpeed]

fjr 1300 sensible

1400 gts for the determined nutter

[TL84]

I agree, if you're going to be sustaining speeds like that you want to spend a fair whack on a full mechanical check/service, chain/tyres&valves/oil, etc.

[Busamav]

The Pits said:

You'd need at least another grand to get into a decent ZX12R but if you want to go round corners fast it's worth it. Much firmer than a blackbird and with much better ground clearance.

Seen a couple of low mileage and decent ZX12's go for less than 3.

One had 7000 miles otc. Knew the owner he almost had to give it away in the end.

[dern]

TL84 said:

I agree, if you're going to be sustaining speeds like that you want to spend a fair whack on a full mechanical check/service, chain/tyres&valves/oil, etc.

If you don't keep your bike at this level all the time you need your head examining in my opinion.

[Speed addicted]

Buying at around the 2.5K I'd expect to have to give a pretty serious going over, and possibly fit a new shock.
I'm pretty anal about bikes I intend to use hard, having snapped the chain on a previous 1200 bandit taught me a good lesson!

I hadn't thought of the ZX12R, I won't be carrying a pillion (ever) as my wife hates bikes and my friends know me!

Any idea how fast the thunderace is?

[Busamav]

Speed addicted said:

Any idea how fast the thunderace is?

Thunderace is an excellent bike , had one for 18 months a while back.

Obviously not superbike performance , but you wont be hanging out of the back , its a good forgiving bike for twisties too

[The Pits]

If ZX12rs are going that cheap, look no further. They'll kick an R1's butt above 100 mph and if pillion's not an issue they are the big bike to have, although I'm sure the many legions of busa fans out there would disagree. I saw 195 (kilometres obviously) on the clock in Germany on mine, which was quite enough for me. Just be prepared to shell out for new rear tyres more often than you'd think was possible.

[RizzoTheRat]

As you're already on a Trumpet what about a Trophy 1200? I guess the Sprint ST might struggle on your top speed requirement as you'd be looking at the 955 not the 1050 on that budget.

[Speed addicted]

I like the idea of getting another Trumpet, but they seem to be holding value a bit too well for my budget. And the sprint isn't fast enough (for my obviously epic skills!). Straight line hero, me.

[trumpet1608]

How about a 955 Daytona. I've toured one for 4 years now with no problems. Four times now I've done over 600 miles in a day in relative comfort; nearly as good as the 2 VFRs I had before the Daytonas.

[gsfrontera]

ZX12, oooohhhhhh yeahhhhhh. Its great for distances and it gives my mates Hayabusa a run as well. Only problem is you will not get much more than 100 miles from a tank full.