Touring: CB1100 vs. F800GT

[Ghis_imp]

First off..BS on the 250 not being a highway machine. It's not without drawbacks as noted, but it works just fine on the highway. I rode mine all over the place before I got my CB. While we're at it, BS on screens, fairings, saddlebags, as requirements to tour on the CB. Oh, and one more thing, never noticed buzzing over 65, never felt like I was being blown off it, and I got used to the seat. I have 15,000 miles on mine with no windscreen. Two week long trips to NC/Tenn, Two weekend trips to Wisconsin, and another week planned to the Ozarks. Most folks like a screen for touring, but it's fine without it. I'll let someone else comment on the ergos, the chain, and the maintence, but none of them have been a barrier to my travels.

I'm not trying to talk you into it, but it's a wonderfully versatile bike. Strap a good sized waterproof duffle on the back and take off for a week. There are better touring bikes and you may already be riding a better around-town bike right now. Someone said of this bike that it's not great at anything (except turning heads), but it's very good at almost everything and isn't bad at whatever's left.

I hope you're keeping the CBR. Love that bike.

Any reliable motorcycle is a good fit for touring. A 250cc bike gets excellent gas mileage, and might even be more suitable than bigger bikes with lesser range. The only thing that can make a bike non suitable for highway riding, is truly the sitting position. Standard position is ideal, and even often better than cruisers with forward controls. All Harley touring rigs have a very conservative sitting geometry. Nothing with rear set controls, and clip on bars will ever do. People tour on scooters, and have a great time. To me a motorcycle should be reliable, fun, and cheap. Both my Triumph Scrambler and my CB1100 are just that. I have a harder time justifying $15k-20k bikes, for a set of hard bags, and a fairing. It's nice if you have the money, but IMHO way over rated. Any bike over 800cc will do find for 2 people and gears. Anything bigger is just ice on the cake. I would love to tour the world on a Kawasaki KLR650. Its a 651cc bullet proof, water cooled, fuel injected single, that gets around 50mpg on a 6.1gl tank. People do it all the time.