Thoughts on a Sports Tourer?

[Martylaa]

Looking for something with a 17” front wheel in a sports tourer type of bike, but one where you sit a bit more upright, seeing as I don’t off-road and most it not all of my riding is days out or the odd your here and there.

Test ridden the 1st Gen Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello S and apart from the harsh quickshifter in 1st and 2nd then I really liked it (although can’t now remember if it felt a bit cramped, I’m 6ft 1”) so when my dealer gets a demo of the 2nd Gen bike in I’ll be taking that for a test ride.

Also gave the new Tiger 800 Sport a go last week, nice bike but maybe a few too many things on it I wasn’t too sure about but a nice enough bike all the same.

Got a test ride of a 2024 BMW S1000XR tomorrow and looking forward to that, all the YouTube reviews are promising and the seating position didn’t feel too bad when I sat on it at the dealership.

Lastly wouldn’t mind a test ride of the Yamaha Tracer 9GT+ but nearest dealers is a fair few miles away.

Not to plussed on the Suzuki GX new touring bike at the moment, seen too many reviews all saying, wooly brakes, poor tyres and electronic suspension not the best.

Any thoughts???

Anyone got any of the above bikes and if so any pointers or things to look out for?

Edited by Martylaa on Monday 10th March 14:19

[Martylaa]

Thanks for the comments, regarding the KTM, then I'm staying away from those bikes tbh, don't like the recent news on KTM and seen some bad YouTube vids regarding problems with the Duke GT's, have to say the new 1390GT looks superb but something about KTM brings me the fear regarding reliability...

I'm tending to stay away from the Kwak and Suzuki due to lower seating positions as I prefer something a bit more upright and finally the R1250 RS just feels to big and long for me when I sat on one, sure they are great bikes but personally for me they are something I'm not going to look at atm...

Edited by Martylaa on Monday 10th March 16:10

[Martylaa]

hiccy18 said:

I'd suggest you ignore the reviews you've seen/read about the Suzuki GX and actually go ride one. I have ridden one, the suspension is fantastic, the handling is nicely adjustable and the engine is giggly fun. The tyres are kind of irrelevant as they'll wear out and get replaced ( you'll ride the bike, right?) and they're not that bad anyway. The brakes work okay, but the lever requires more of a pull than I'm used to, but then the BMW brake lever is pretty rock hard. I haven't ridden the XR, I might like it, but I question if it's worth the extra in comparison.

Given your comments about riding position the R1250RS doesn't suit you, it's canted forwards so requires a bit of core support. I do like that, so in general for me it works, but around town I'd prefer a more upright position. On long journeys the RS works well, all day comfort, flickable in the twisties even with luggage, and plenty of torque so it's not demanding. The "electronic suspension" isn't great, fine for all day comfort, but if you switch to Dynamic the front is a bit firm whilst the back is a pogostick. The big Suzi is way ahead in this area.

If they'd had the colour I wanted at the time I was ready to do a deal I'd have the GX right now, but instead I've still got the RS, and I might keep it another season; I might try to get an XR as a courtesy bike in a couple of weeks.

Btw I loved the Guzzi, but the reason I don't have it is I found the seating position a bit restrictive, there wasn't any room to squidge around; fine for an hour, but after that you'd need to stop. If that suits your riding, it's a lovely bike. I really wanted to put one in my garage.

Appreciate the comments, I probably will try and test ride the GX however for whatever reason my local Suzuki dealer doesn't carry a demo or have a 2nd hand one for sale (which I could test ride).
I'm looking forward to the BMW S1000XR test tomorrow, I'll see what it is like, with regards to the Moto Guzzi, there was deffo something I thought regarding the comfort but for some reason I was thinking it may have been the knee angle rather than the seat not giving much room to move around on.

[Martylaa]

Stone Cold said:

Test rode and ordered the S1000XR (MSport colour) on Sat. I’m 62 and 6’ 2” I’ve had loads of sportsbikes but can’t cope with them anymore, I’m coming off a GS1250, great bike for distance etc but a little dull for a Sunday morning blast. The XR is comfy enough for touring in my view and will satisfy the excitement/sportsbike buzz too, great bike

Nice, also had a 1250 GS myself, and agreed, great bike for touring but my for those day trips out I found it a little too big, heavy and dare I say it bland too...

[Martylaa]

Well, just back from a test ride on a 2024 BMW S1000XR, wow what a machine, never stopped smiling, shame it wasn't fully broken in so could not give it top licks but the seating position, the handling, the comfort, has fantastic gearbox, engine and brakes, the screen wasn't to bad at all and the sound of the akropovic exhaust was gorgeous.

I'm not even going to bother looking at anything else, its blown the V100 Mandello S and Tiger 800 Sport out of the water...

Right, now to sell some bikes...

[Martylaa]

KTMsm said:

For the sake of a test ride, I would highly recommend trying a multi strada

It's the obvious choice for your requirements

Had a Multistrada and once I paid the almost £1000 for the belts to be changed it put me off Ducati solely for that reason.

[Martylaa]

gareth_r said:

Harley Pan America. Don't even have to shim the valve clearances.

I could tell you a story about a Pan American’s engine being trashed on my mates bike on the first day of the NC500 in Fort Augustus, but I won’t as my mate was devasted and we had to leave him behind awaiting the pick up truck, plus I’m only looking at sports tourers with a 17” front tbh…