How are you choose what motorcycle(s) to keep when you don’t have room for all of the dozens that you want?
Photo above is my 2009 k1300s, set up for long distance touring. I’ve ridden it to both coasts. It’s amazing to ride in good weather on good roads. But when it rains, or when you have to spend all day on the interstate, or when you are choosing what to pack and what to leave home, it’s not the best bike.
I have room for two motorcycles in my life. I’m 100 miles away from some okay riding, but 1000 miles away from great riding. I like to go for a week-long ride, camping every night, but that requires a ton of storage space. And I want to maximize how much fun I have on great roads when I finally get there.
So, what does everyone think? What’s the right motorcycle purchasing philosophy? The best bike for the best roads and suffer on the way there? The most comfortable bike for rain and packing and highways, even though it’ll be less fun in the mountains? A compromise machine that’s great at nothing?
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That might just be the ticket. The K1300S shown about his now for sale, since I’ve picked up a 2012 Multistrada 1200 S. It’s probably the least adventuresome ADV bike, but it seems to be a great compromise between the goals of:
- fast, lightweight, good handling bike
- comfort and luggage capacity for longer trips
- enough suspension travel to go over rough roads, although not off-road
So far so good on the MTS 1200, although there are some annoyances: non-existent rear brake, iffy quality of buttons/display, annoying and expensive valve/belt maintenance.
Maybe I’ll pick up a newer V4 multistrada in a few years when they price into my price range.
Very hard to just have one. Any motorcycle is a compromise. The question is what you’re willing to compromise on. I personally like my R1250 GSA for luggage, comfort, and a reasonable good time in the corners if using dynamic mode. I ride two up regularly, or I’d entertain a 1000xr for those trips. I also have an s1000rr and KTM 350 EXC-F which have very specific charters. No bike that I can tour on in comfort will hang with the s1k in the corners or tackle true single track with the KTM. For a long time I had an fjr1300 which was a great middle ground before I could afford the GSA.
One think to keep in mind is minimizing packing as well. You don’t need a lot of storage space for clothes if you go to a camp site where you can wash your clothes, cook your food in a shared kitchen, or a hotel even.
You’re riding the best BMW GT so far. (I’ve had a K1200 and K1600GT.) As long as you’re comfy with the dropped handlebars, you’re at peak-smooth, max-power-to-weight, least heavy BMW product. Sure, the later K1300S got a different ECU with more HP, but honestly, you could already peel the paint off my 2016.
Further, I’m kind of in the “butts=motorcycles” quantity school. I have 1, so 1. Mainly because they can suck so much money/labor and the storage space is the same as a car. I do all my own work, so maybe I’m weird.
With those in mind, seems to me you’re next bike should excel at everything your current bike FAILS at. Or it should be a big experiment: which to me seems to scream “electric.” Watch some FortNine videos if your up for a nerdgasm: the bike reviews are fascinating.
You do you, but if we were talking about this over a burger, this is what this old guy would tell you.
Sport tourers are just the way to go unless you do a lot of track days. You can get one that does pretty much all that you want while still being very versatile and comfortable
But that’s still a pretty wide spectrum, right?
K1300S/R1250RS --> GSX-S1000GT/Tracer 9GT --> R1250RT/FJR (Obviously lots more bikes in each of those categories)
How do you choose if you want a SPORT-tourer or a sport-TOURER?
I’m starting to suspect that age has a lot to do with it. I’ve owned that k1300s for over 10 years, and the knee angle and lack of cruise control makes me a lot less excited to ride it now than when I bought it.
Thats the beauty of it though. You get a bike that if its not exactly what you want its close then make a few modifications to bring it that last 10% and you still have the utility and passenger capability of a sport tourer. I actually just picked up a new Tracer 9 GT and while it has all the touring amenities it Feels like a peppy MT09 or XSR900
