Is your sport bike comfortable?

Question

I keep hearing from cruiser guys that sport bikes are uncomfortable, and I can't understand why...

I just did a 400 mile trip on my bike (no freeways) and my biggest discomfort was the wind burn on my digits.(I don't wear gloves) No back pain, no discomfort otherwise...(ftr it's a 2001 Honda CBR1100XX with Corbin GFL seat)

Is your sport bike comfortable?

Answer 1

I would not call a CBR1100 a sportsbike. It is a super tourer, specifically designed for that kind of journey - like the 'busa, or the ZX14. These are nothing like the 600s/ liter bikes from the same makers - super tourers are designed for hours of freeway cruising, followed by enough cornering ability to make track days fun for anyone with a mortal man's skill, as opposed to the Troy Bayliss/Valentino Rossi skill level.



Try riding an original 80s GSXR. Then you'll understand just how uncomfortable some sportsbikes are. Modern track focused sportsbikes - say the R6 - are equally uncomfortable, and getting more so. The proof of this is Yamaha still sell their old R6 as a softer, cheaper, more touring focused alternative to the R6. Honda did the same with the F4 alongside the early CBR600RRs, and Kawasaki sell the old ZX6R with some cheap shocks on it as the ZZR600 - more of a tourer. Yesterday's sportsbike is today's tourer; today's topline sportsbike is a revvy, uncomfotable razor blade nothing like your CBR1100.



A lot of the issue here is down to your personal shape. I am quite tall, so I find the folded up legs riding position uncomfortable. It is also down to how hard you a ready to be on yourself. I used to find my Gixxer uncomfortable after and hour; now I am more experienced I can ride all day on the road; on trackdays, after 6 sessions I am done, and don't want to ride again for at least a week.

Answer 2

Very.  This is the most comfortable riding position I have ever ridden in.  But I have the upper body to deal with it comfortably.  

I understand why the cruiser guys have misgivings, all that pressure on their huge guts would be instant heartburn and their little wrists would give out after any length of time.

Answer 3

there is nothing like a cruiser. rockets are fun to go fast on and try and kll yourself on. cruisers are just big pimpin

Answer 4

I have ridden a sport bike on a long trip when it was done my shoulders and neck hurt and my legs where killing me. I ma a tall guy so I need a bike I can stretch out on. but then again i can't sit in a car for more than an hour without being uncomfortable. One thing I can say is I rarely see a sport bike in the back of a truck or on a trailer

Answer 5

Cruiser guys usually have no experiance with sportbikes. That being said sportbikes arn't very comfortable droning down the highway, they are designed to handle. I could ride all day down a twisty road, but if you make me putt down a straight road I'm ready to quit in 20 minutes. I ride my bike for fun on twisty roads, touring or posing in town does nothing for me.

Answer 6

I just got back from a 5 day 2000 mile trip around Scotland and i rode on A and B roads (No motorways).

My bike was really comfortable (even though it rained for the whole trip!)

Saying that the ZX-14 is not a full on track style bike and was made for covering great distances at speed unlike my mates  GSX-R 750...the poor guy couldn't walk after each days ride !

I don't think you can put the likes of Blackbirds, ZX-14s, Busas, etc in quite the same category as full on sports bikes that are track focused !

No matter what Sports bike you ride you are never going to have the same level of comfort as a Cruiser or Tourer but you can still cover great distances !

Summers...i should have read your post before i sent mine ! LOL

Reddishpa...i dont mean to be rude but are you really telling us you can cover 1000 miles a day for 2 weeks ? Lets do the math....even at an average of 100mph you would have to ride for 10 hours solid without stopping !(where can you hold that kind of average speed?)

If you only managed an average of about 60mph and had 2 or 3 1/2 hour stops you would still pretty much have to ride around the clock !

And all that fully loaded with luggage and a passenger !

Answer 7

My ZX6R would be more comfortable if the gas tank had a opening on the top shaped like a cup holder big enough to hold a 7-11 Big Gulp.

Just being funny.

Yes, my sportbike is comfortable enough for me and I'm 40yrs old.  I do admit that when I sit incorrectly and put all my weight on my hands and wrists, they do get sore, but that's my fault for not using my legs and back more.

Answer 8

Hey this is my new accoutn because I GOT SUSPENDED AGAIN!!! I GET TO ANSWER IT AGAIN! WOOOOOO!!!

Yea I rode my R1 800 miles every1 knows this already

My little pony

Answer 9

What do you do with 2 rain suits, 2 jackets, 2 helmets, if you run into a helmet law state, enough clothes for 2 for 2 weeks, tent, sleeping bag, and your woman? I'm not talking 400-500 mile a day, I'm talking 750-1000 mile a day for a couple weeks. 400 miles ain't a trip, it's a putt.

Answer 10

yeah man. Long trip i just lay across the tank and cruise. Or I sit up one hand on hip. The only minor discomfort is from not using my legs for so long. need to stop and stretch them out. other than that I'm good to go.

You cannot deny that cruisers are more comfortable comparibly.

Edit:  CCFUSER, you can kill yourself on a 49cc scooter if you ride like an idiot. Same goes for crusiers

Answer 11

Compared to a cruiser, not really.  You know the bikes i've had in the past, they were not as comfy as your 'bird, certainly not as comfortable as my FLH.  But, when I ride 'em fast, I don't have time to think about, or even care about being comfortable.

FYI,  I just bought an '04 RC-51.  I haven't picked it up yet, and it needs a little work.  I doubt that I get it on the road this year.

Answer 12

NO! It is not. The seat is too hard and my back hurts like h**l if I ride over 150 miles. But then again I am almost 60 years old and I have back pain 24/7 as a result of a misspent youth. There are days that I would kill for a nice cruiser with a heated backrest.

But then I come across a nice twisty bit and I am immediately reminded of why I ride the bike I have. No cruiser in the world can duplicate the moves of a well tuned sport bike carving up the valley roads. I have nothing against cruisers but that is not the reason I ride a motorcycle. For long trips I just take the car ........................... SIGH.

Answer 13

>>>  I just did a 400 mile trip on my bike

I see a trend.  You ask - then answer your own question.  You ain't interested.  You just want to spout...

Good luck...

Answer 14

so do it with a laptop, a shaving kit, a change of clothes, business documents, and rain gear packed.  where, oh where are you gonna put all that c**p on a sport bike and be comfortable?  backpacks suck for any distance

that's how i mainly ride distances.... i have 3&1/2 hours each way once a week to go to auction (some times i load my bike if i buy a truck at the sale to save a trip.... much as i'm embarrassed to be seen with my bike being a trailer queen)

i just can't do that with a sport bike.... maybe a sport tourer, but the bags would have to be ugly big to still work, everything i need fits a tbar bag strapped to my b*tch bar

Answer 15

i messed up my lower back in a snowboarding/ falling on a hand rail accident.. so it hurts after about 2 hours on my gixxer but i need to get up and stretch after an hour in a car so id say sport bikes are comfortable