07-01-2014, 03:28 AM
Interesting replies.
I think it might come down to how you define touring and sport touring. Honda calls my ST a sport tourer. I call it a tourer. Primarily used (by me) for freeway work, and although it handles pretty well, at 717 pounds, to anyone who has ridden a true sport bike, it definitely leans toward the TOURING end of the equation. On the other hand, the new Kawasaki Ninja for example, weighing in 200 pounds less, with 140 horsepower, less wind protection and storage than the ST, leans more toward the SPORT end of sport touring. Both are classified the same, but couldn't be more different.
So if you define sport touring as a lightweight reasonable powerful, reasonably comfortable motorcycle capable of carrying you and some gear on mostly backroads with a lot of curves, I think the CB is perfectly capable of filling that role with a small shield and some soft luggage.
Having said that, Bob lives in southwest, I live in the midwest. Around here you are rarely further than 25 miles from a gas station at any time so gas capacity of your tank is not that big of a deal. You can Sport tour from the top of Michigan to the tip of Florida, from St Louis to the tip of Maine on a bike with a 4 gallon tank without much worry. Having just returned from a trip to the west coast, I can tell you this is a huge country and out west there are expanses of nothingness that stretch on seemingly forever. There were times I was thrilled to have the 7.7 tank on the ST. My buddy on his Suzuki with a 5.8 gallon tank went within .4 gallons of pushing several times before we were able to locate gas. Arizona, Nevada, parts of California, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon are some very remote areas. If I lived in some of those areas I'd be worried with a 4 gallon tank. Like I said there were times I was concerned and I had almost twice that at my disposal. So I'd say a lot depends on where you live or where you plan to ride geographically whether the CB has a big enough tank.
Every time I am out touring or sport touring, I like to think about the motorcycling pioneers, guys who rode across the country in the early 1900s..or around the world even.
This month in Rider magazine there is a story about Carl Clancy who made an around the world trip in 1912-1913 on a 1912 1000cc 4 cyl Henderson motorcycle producing a whopping 7 HP.( touring spped 40 mph). It had a 2 gallon gas tank, got 50 mpg (range 100 miles) and with a total loss oil system 175 miles per quart of oil. Few paved roads, few gas stations, few motorcycle repair shops. No helmets, no commercial riding gear, and English was not spoken in many parts of the globe. Oft time he would run out of gas and have to walk until he found a hardware store which sold gas. 11 months on the road, 18,000 miles. No AAA, no cell phones, no U haul rentals, no McDonalds, no Holiday Inn Expresses with air conditioning. Astonishing what he must have gone through.
When you consider what Clancy went through, sport touring on a 2013-2014 CB 1100 Honda inside the borders of United States... Sheesh... Piece of cake!
I think it might come down to how you define touring and sport touring. Honda calls my ST a sport tourer. I call it a tourer. Primarily used (by me) for freeway work, and although it handles pretty well, at 717 pounds, to anyone who has ridden a true sport bike, it definitely leans toward the TOURING end of the equation. On the other hand, the new Kawasaki Ninja for example, weighing in 200 pounds less, with 140 horsepower, less wind protection and storage than the ST, leans more toward the SPORT end of sport touring. Both are classified the same, but couldn't be more different.
So if you define sport touring as a lightweight reasonable powerful, reasonably comfortable motorcycle capable of carrying you and some gear on mostly backroads with a lot of curves, I think the CB is perfectly capable of filling that role with a small shield and some soft luggage.
Having said that, Bob lives in southwest, I live in the midwest. Around here you are rarely further than 25 miles from a gas station at any time so gas capacity of your tank is not that big of a deal. You can Sport tour from the top of Michigan to the tip of Florida, from St Louis to the tip of Maine on a bike with a 4 gallon tank without much worry. Having just returned from a trip to the west coast, I can tell you this is a huge country and out west there are expanses of nothingness that stretch on seemingly forever. There were times I was thrilled to have the 7.7 tank on the ST. My buddy on his Suzuki with a 5.8 gallon tank went within .4 gallons of pushing several times before we were able to locate gas. Arizona, Nevada, parts of California, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon are some very remote areas. If I lived in some of those areas I'd be worried with a 4 gallon tank. Like I said there were times I was concerned and I had almost twice that at my disposal. So I'd say a lot depends on where you live or where you plan to ride geographically whether the CB has a big enough tank.
Every time I am out touring or sport touring, I like to think about the motorcycling pioneers, guys who rode across the country in the early 1900s..or around the world even.
This month in Rider magazine there is a story about Carl Clancy who made an around the world trip in 1912-1913 on a 1912 1000cc 4 cyl Henderson motorcycle producing a whopping 7 HP.( touring spped 40 mph). It had a 2 gallon gas tank, got 50 mpg (range 100 miles) and with a total loss oil system 175 miles per quart of oil. Few paved roads, few gas stations, few motorcycle repair shops. No helmets, no commercial riding gear, and English was not spoken in many parts of the globe. Oft time he would run out of gas and have to walk until he found a hardware store which sold gas. 11 months on the road, 18,000 miles. No AAA, no cell phones, no U haul rentals, no McDonalds, no Holiday Inn Expresses with air conditioning. Astonishing what he must have gone through.
When you consider what Clancy went through, sport touring on a 2013-2014 CB 1100 Honda inside the borders of United States... Sheesh... Piece of cake!