Topic: Looking for good sport-tourer under 3k

[jbailey]

You're right about the heat.  My Concours has the stock windshield, and it is OK up to about 90 degrees.  Over that I don't ride much.  On the other hand, it is good down to 40 and I have ridden in the upper 30's, so it extends your riding season into early spring and late fall.  I live in upstate New York (Rochester/Buffalo), so temps above 90 or anywhere near 100 are usually not a problem.

[Goofaroo]

To be fair to the Concours, we should say that any other fully faired motorbike will also be uncomfortable in the summer heat. The worst I ever had was my 1985 BMW K100RT. That thing was like sitting in a crock pot.  It was great for fall and winter camping trips though.

[Really?]

True, i was speaking of my bike, since that one is my largest amount of experience dealing with that.

[catzor]

Well, I'm located in the foothills of NC so it gets somewhat hot and humid, but we don't see 100 often. I ride year round for a total of 5000+ miles, usually. Winterize certainly isn't in my vocabulary, that's for sure. I'm not worrying much about weather when picking a bike, since I'd appreciate the wind protection in the winter with full fairings, but appreciate the wind-cooling of something "naked" in the summer. It's a win/lose either way. Since I ride just as much all year round, the only solution is to own multiple bikes! Now that's an idea I can get used to...

As far as the sport touring goes, I think I'm after somewhat more sport than touring, so I'm loving the FJR, Concours, ZRX, and old CBR1000 suggestions. This will be 99% used for 1-up riding. I try to get my girlfriend to ride with me, but I don't think it's really her thing, so I'm not going to get too hung up on taking her into account. Even if I can get her on the back, I know she'd have no interest on anything more than a day trip, which is where I think passenger/luggage accommodations would really make the difference.

So, in order of sport/touring ratio, would it be something like:

CBR1000
ZRX
FJR
Concours?

[MCRider]

03 being the earliest year of USA FJRs, probalby none for $3k.   

[Raef]

I think Yamaha made an FJS 1100 sport tourer in the late 80"s Air cooler think.

If it weren't and fjs its was along those lines, I chased a 1989 low miles one up to 2500.00 on ebay, its was in New Jersey. it ended up selling for 50 more than my last bid

Mark

[tango911]

my father just bought a 2004 ST1300  for $2600  :/   told him i wanted it

[Raef]

Not sure how long they made this but it is what I was refurring to.

this is an 86 with 68,000 on it and it is up to 2100.00 with just over a day to go.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/yamaha-/290528105431?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item43a4d313d7

[catzor]

Yeah, I know the FJs were made in the 1100 configuration in the 80s and in the 1200 configuration into the 90s. Both are pretty solid from what I understand, but I think the transmission had a tendency to go out if abused, IIRC.

[Really?]

I think most of yammy's bikes have a darn second gear issue in a line until they figure it out a few years later and fix it.  Ridden a FJ100 and liked it.  It felt a bit long in the corners as well.  Yammy seems to have a thing for slightly longer wheelbases.

[Goofaroo]

This is the generation of CBR1000 I was referring to. This one is a first year 1990 but they made them for about three or four years before they started becoming more of a true "sport" bike. Very comfy, nice upright seating, reasonable leg room, all sorts of windscreen options, and looks that kill. In my opinion it is one of the best values around. As I said earlier, I could have (and should have) bought a super nice 1991 with only 26K for $2,000. You could outfit it with a taller windscreen in the winter and add some heated grips, then put the stock windshield back on in the summer. A tank bag and some nice soft luggage and you'll be stylin'.
The closest thing I can think of to compare it to would be the BMW K1000RS.  A great bike but they are not to be found in the same price range.

[Raef]

I have had a 86 1000RR ( loved) and  a 1990 zx 10 ninja (OK) both Kawasaki's and Ive always wanted a Concourse of that generation just never went through with it.

the shaft drive was kinda a turn off

[MCRider]

While the FJR is the evolution of the FJ (no R), they are way different bikes. The FJ being air cooled, chain drive, no rack or hard bags, 3/4 fairing and the like. Still the FJ is a WONDERful choice, comparable then to the CBR1000 type sport tourer in build.  My build buddy has an FJ1200 ABS I think a 92, paid less than $3k for it years ago. Its a real torque monster, much more fun to ride in that respect than the CBR as Hondas tend to like to rev more. Its a style, but I've learned that big bunches of torque makes a long day of scenic 2 lanes a lot more fun than shifting gears all day.