If this doesn’t stir something in your soul, you’re either dead inside or you’re a woman. Wink. Gareth taunts me and my sedentary, non-sportbike-touring lifestyle by commenting, “Here’s my 2003 Kawasaki ZZR1200 being used as god intended on Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, WY, during a 3,000 mile road trip.” I’m even gonna let him get away with not capitalizing the name of the Deity because if you ride a ZZR1200 long enough, and hard enough, you’ll eventually come to terms with the Almighty one way or another!
guy who works for one of our suppliers rides from Detroit out to Wyoming (the state, not Wyoming MI) every year on his Valkyrie. Hardcore…
What’s really the difference between a sport bike and a sport tourer? when I look at the ZZ-R1200 the seating, controls, and general look all scream “sport bike” to me.
The ZZR1200, for example, is much larger than a sportbike - I’m a gangly 6’2″ and folks with shorter arms and legs struggle with the reach to the bars and ground. It has a 22litre gas tank instead of the 15-17l of a sportbike and weighs nearly 600lbs wet, whereas something like a ZX10R weighs well under 500lbs and has a two-inch shorter wheelbase. A sports-tourer usually has crazy sportbike straight-line quickness and speed but nowhere near the handling of a sportbike. True track capability in a sportbike requires punishing ergos and minimalist construction, while a sports-tourer is a compromise that dials in some livability at the expense of weight and handling. ZZR1200, BMW K1300, ZX14R, KTM Super Duke GT are on the sports end of the spectrum, while an FJR1300 leans farther into the touring side just because of its sheer size and mass.
You guys are really making me want one of these sport tourers. I can’t justify having 2 bikes though.
I’m the opposite, I’d like at least two. Sometimes I’d like to saddle up on something other than a heavyweight cruiser.
I’d like about 5 but I’m not that wealthy
The difference between a sport bike and a sport touring bike is the difference between a sports car and a grand touring car.
There are actually two classes of sports bikes:
There are sport bikes like the SV650 yesterday. They tend to be pretty quick for the price and they tend to be easier to ride to fast - they have motors tuned with friendlier powerbands (usually bigger motors in lower states of tune) and they (can) have cheaper suspension and brakes. The Japanese make these bikes with de-tuned inline-4s or twins - with twins becoming more common for the compactness, cost effectiveness, and twins work pretty in motorcycles (because you can tune the firing order / distance between ignition events to maximize traction). But KTM sometimes uses single-cylinder, counterbalanced engines. Usually these bikes make ~70 horsepower at the wheel but anywhere from 50-100 hp.
And there are supersport bikes which are nearly ready for closed circuit racing off the showroom floor. these bikes have high-strung inline-4s (unless they’re Italian) and the most compromised ergonomics and most aggressive weight savings. Usually only younger guys commute on these things because they’re pretty uncomfortable (doubly so if you have a gut) and all the Japanese manufacturers design the bikes to work for japanese sized males - about 5″7 and 150 lbs. Though the liter bikes (named after their 1000cc max displacement) have recently moved towards more western ergos. Usually the Hondas are noticeably more street-friendly but the Yamahas, Kawais, and Suzukis make some serious concessions for the track. Most of the liter-bikes have 6 speed close ratio gearboxes with a 2:1 ratio spread - they’re all limited to 186 mph top speed (300 kmh/part of a gentleman’s agreement) and first gear takes them to 85-100 mph.
And there are ‘naked bikes’ which are a relatively new class - they take the supersport bikes and re-calibrate them for the streets: wider ratio gear boxes, punchier powerbands, suspension that can handle hard landings from wheelies, remove the fairings, ect. A lot of people really like them and it helps the manufacturers amortize their production lines.
I can’t imagine the supersport bikes are very profitable but perhaps they’re useful for marketing and as rolling testbeds. I think the head of Honda’s R&D is on the record saying that the CBR600rr (circa 2009) had the most advanced Honda engine in production. Usually the BMEPs of these engines aren’t crazy high (there in the range of high-tune E46 M3s) but they have such small parts that they can spin pretty fast and pump a lot of air and put up crazy specific output numbers - some of them get near 200 hp/liter.
The sport touring bikes usually have more relaxed ergos (they have handle bars rather than clip-ons that go directly on the fork tubes), the big fairing is there to keep the wind away from the rider (rather than helping the bike cut through the wind on a sport bike) and they share inline-4s, but the motors tend to be in a lower state of tune and have much higher displacements. Also, they have much bigger seats (and are designed to accommodate a rear passenger). Also, they tend to have shaft final drives rather than chains.
And like ZZR said, they exist on a spectrum. All bikes do within a class, the quality gap is relatively narrow between the Japanese manufacturers (and the quality differences take a few years to manifest - that said, I’d be surprised if any Japanese inline-4 bike had serious problems in the first 100k miles) so a lot of the competition within a class (e.g 600 cc superspots) is on tuning - where the bikes make their power, what trade-offs they make on the suspension, how the brakes feel, stability verses turn-in, ect.
All in all - good eye. The building blocks between bikes are usually pretty similar - and you usually have to ride a bike to figure out what it’s about.
thank you sir
Lower-case ‘god’ was really an invocation of Shinto deities, kami, which are the spiritual essence of something powerful like a striking landform or a ballistic sports-tourer. Bearded old white God rides a parade float…or married Jewish women.
That’s a good looking bike! Love the ZZRs (I wonder who’s bike this is…). Do we think the ZX-14 or the Concours 14 is the spiritual successor to this bike?
What sort of life do you get out of the chain? Any mods for touring? This is the highest horsepower carb’d motorcycle, right?
Lack of imagination…
Thanks! The ZX14R is definitely the successor. The Connie 14 is the successor to the weirdly long-lived Connie 10. Most guys I know who had ZZR1200s moved on to ZX14s, unless they often cart pillions around. Kawasaki made some weird decisions with the 14R that make it slightly less happy than the ZZR for touring, but it’ll almost certainly be my next bike.
The ZZR1200 was the most powerful carbureted bike, yes. The only mods I did for touring are add a Corbin seat and a Dale Walker exhaust (-14lbs, +7HP). I don’t do jackrabbit starts, so my chains seem to last @20,000 miles. The carbs are a pain in the ass because ethanol gums them up terribly, but the benefit is wonderful fuelling and excellent mileage (mileage in the sense of range and not running out of gas in the empty West).
What a great photograph ! .
It makes me want to hop on my Moto and see how far I can ride before having to call an ambulance (? WHAHmbulance ?) to carry me home again……..
-Nate
” I’d like about 5 but I’m not that wealthy ” .
Unless you insist on only new ones, having too many Motos is easy and dirt cheap .
-Nate
That Chief Joseph highway, and the Beartooth pass near it, are two of the best motorcycle roads there are. In fact, they meet.
Oh, and as long as you’re in the area. scoot on over to Shell, WY and stay the night there. There’s one good bar and one hole-in-the-wall bar. The next morning, have some coffee and take the canyon east of Shell over towards Sheridan. You’ll see rocks that are literally 2+ billion years old. I said “billion” sorta like Carl Sagan would say it.
You’ll reach elevations above 9000 feet there and come out on the other side with panoramic views of the Sheridan valley.. Beautiful country. Perfect motorcycle roads. I’ve you’ve never been, make plans and go. SO worth it.
Thanks, now my trip to Colorado next summer is harder to plan. That route looks great!
During the trip picture above I spent the night before in Red Lodge, MT, and rode over Beartooth Pass without seeing another car on the road. It was an amazing day of riding that ended up with a nice soak in the hot springs at Thermopolis, 90F weather be damned.