Motorcycle Forum / General / Sportbikes / June 2005

Not good for 2 up touring, but Aprilia Tuono comes to mind.  Especially if
you want agility in tight twisties.  However, the engine is a twin, and
while counterbalanced and smooth, you feel power pulses quite clearly.
Quite a bit cheaper to maintain than a Ducati, and more comfy than a
CBR1100XX in my mind.  - Phil

ZG1000 (GTR1000) any year after '95. It aint a Duc but it does 2 up
well. They are inexpensive and maintenance free as a bike can be.
There is a reason I still have a Duc and the Kawi. (Though the 900 is
well ahead of the 750 when it comes to grunt. Still gets it's a.s handed
to it by modern 600s.)

There seems to be a lot of interest in this:
http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/machine/models/model.jsp?model=r1200st

I rode one at a recent open house, and was very impressed. Not overpowering
but extremely do-able for two up stuff. We took it over one of the local
goat-trails and got on it fairly aggressively, it just did what we asked. I
like that in a bike. The suspension is by far the most stable in high speed
turns ( even on bumpy, nasty roads) that I have ever ridden. The best.

My spouse enjoyed the ride, too. We own a 1994 R1100Rs and found that the
ST put to rest anything we don't particularly like about the RS. So when we
win the lottery, we'll get one. Silver , I guess.
I would look at Yamaha FJR 1300, Ducati ST4, and even the BMW R1200GS (the
new one).

Personally, I think the CBRXX is a great GT bike, and the ZZR1200 you
mentioned in your other post is very well respected in that department as
well. Essentially, there are many to choose from- so one question to ponder
is how much do you want to spend? Because I can find new VFR's for under
$8000 (but it will not pull like the others listed), and the XX is no longer
being sold in the US so you may be able to find some deals on it also. The
FJR is a bitch to get your hands on, there is a wait list typically so there
will be very little bargaining involved in that purchase. The K1200S sure
does feel sweet when I sit on her, but she's also somewhere around $16,000.
More to add to the list: Triumph Sprint ST, Aprilia Futura (as Bob
mentioned), and the Ducati ST3 or ST4s. I guess all one can do is put
together a list of bikes and there features- or lack of- and compare to a
list of what you want, everything from price down to the looks of the bike.
Good luck.

DaveG