Best Long Distance Touring Motorcycle - Bagger vs Sport Tourer vs Adventure Bike

I agree. Adventure touring motorcycles are the way to go. Long traveling suspensions meant they're comfortable on almost any road.

I had a 2019 Honda Goldwing DCT but the weight started to get to me so I traded for the lighter r1200gs never go off road and no it’s not a goldwing but rides awsome and I still enjoy it… love the seat height on the r1200gs… don’t think I’ll be trading back to the bigger touring bikes been there done that…lol

Read the economic truth in sentence number seven nd eight below. below. I did an around-the-USA back in 1979. I rode a '78 Yamaha 1100XS. I bought it specifically because of the drive-shaft. Now, nearing 80 yrs, I'm looking for BMW 1250 GS or 1250 R . The touring bikes are so expensive. Their cost is ** U to consumers. Truth be told, the expensiveness of today's bikes is due to HD's failure to compete with the Japanese. Back in '70-80 (?) HD got congress to pass import taxes on Japanese bikes to make their cost as high as HD's trashy AMF bikes. I've never given a nickel to HD since then.

Not interested, is this a bicycle channel now?

I have a 2013 FJR1300a. Bought it in 2013 with less than 2900 miles on it. Now it has over 76,000 miles on it. I'm 63 years old, and have taken several one to two day trips, and three multi-day trips on my FJR.
Since this is my 11th motorcycle, and I've been riding for what will be 46 years in August, I can reasonably say that for sport touring / traveling I think the FJR is hard to beat. There are more comfortable motorcycles to travel on, and of course with that I have to acknowledge the Goldwing, and v-twins from Harley and Indian, and maybe also a Star, or Kawasaki Vulcan, but I've covered 952 miles in a day and have routinely covered over 700 miles a day on the FJR. When it comes to covering distances that include twisting roads and high speed interstateineffable or Montana two lane highways at well over 70 mph, comfortably, and with competent handling, braking, and cornering, you can't beat the FJR.
With this machine you won't have a want for sheer mid-range power that let's you roll the throttle on in fifth gear on a tight mountain curve and just accelerate. There's also a top end that'll easily put you behind bars, if that's your thing. This FJR of mine has covered 80 miles of Wyoming black top in 45 minutes, to get to stopping place to camp, before dark.
I've also loaded it with 20 days worth of living on the road, and that was before I learned about doing it frugally. So extra, extra clothing, a four man tent for comfort, laptop, camera equipment, etc. Two large roll top bags, a 50 liter GIVI top box, a tank bag...... The FJR handled the weight, which includes 220 pound 6'1" me and provisions, and went down the road just like it was built for that, and it was.
Yamaha designed and built a great machine here, in the tradition of the famous sport tourer the FJ1200, which I owned two of.
I just can't give enough credit to Yamaha.
If you young folks that are out there tooling around on your naked bikes, or sport bikes, are starting to think of what's the best way to see the United States by a two wheeled machine, forget those lumber wagon V-twins and 900 pound Goldwings. Do yourself a favor and equip your helmet for sound, tune in to some good tunes, and take an FJR for a 1500 mile jaunt for a couple of days. If you don't come back and slap the dog stuff out of the Harley dealer that wanted $30,000 of your money for a chromed up vibrator, it'll surprise me.

I ride a Kawasaki concours (GTR)1400 for touring. I'm 6'1 and 235 lb. For me this bike draws the fine line between performance - handling - comfort. Enjoying the ideal balance with that. Prefer to keep it simple, no need and ain't got extra cash for the fancy aids. But I prefer to ride in UK and the part of Western Europe where roads are in great shape.. If those beautiful roads and landscapes are already there why would I want to enjoy riding in 3rd would country quality conditions?! But of course it's just my personal preference. Each to their own. Peace

Surprised you skipped BMW R1250 RS

I rode a Yamaha yzf600r all around Canada. Your statement 600's are not good touring bikes reflects only your own ignorance.

The best bike for touring is the one you have now. Go and hit the road. There's this dude that rode across America on a Bonneville, and he seemed to enjoy it!

Yamaha Tracer 9

Nice video, but my favourite long distance bikes are simply high displacement naked bikes :)

Good, informative video, however you should have included other baggers like Kawasaki vaquero/voyager, for comparison.

My first bike was a 125cc Cruiser (Gilera Cougar) max speed of 65mph. I used it to tour most of the South UK. It was slow but comfortable, carried a fair amount of touring equipment and was easy to fix on the road. I had the best time. It probably had 12bhp which is ridiculous to think about. I carried tent, camping equipment, cooking equipment etc. This was before the days of satnav, a good old trusty map was used and stuck to smaller coastal roads. The mpg was amazing. Now I'd probably pick the Indian Scout to tour on, I'm used to not taking alot of stuff with me. Or I do really like the BMW Bagger and Honda Bagger but they are just so expensive

Question is how tall is the rider.

Tall persons would be abla to handle top heavy bikes easier...
Shorter appreciates the feeling of being able to safely reach the ground.

So - what kind is the best?

You have to try for yourself and find out. It is the ONLY way. Testdrive!

very simple - if you are gonna stay on pavement, might as well do it in a car.. just don't see the point.. so noisy/uncomfortable/unsafee on a bike.... but if you go off road,then much more fun on a dual sport..... big bikes are for posers.

I have GS and it's excellent untill you need to go somwhere far and use motorways for +1000 km a day, then is problem because without wind protection you got cold very fast on speeds over 60mph. So i'am looking now to buy RT or K1600 for long distance trips and keep GS for local rides and off road trips.

FJR1300 for me! Looks, comfort, Power to spare!!!

Indian Pursuit ✌🏻😃

My 1250RS handles better than a GS and for me, I'm short, it is just as comfortable.

I love my Kawasaki concours 14 (GTR 1400) 2022 :)

ninja 1000 sx all day in the saddle and no fatigue, looks great, got torque and power on tap, it’s the best all around coast to coast bike hands down, I know it wasn’t included, but honorable mention👈 right here

Brilliant video!! Exactly the one I was looking for!! Cheers

I have a BMW K 1600 GTL and a BMW r 1250 GS. The K1600 has the most horse power of any touring bike, the most torque, the most comfort, and the best performance. The Goldwing doesn’t even come close. And forget HD there’s just no comparison. The 1250 GS is so incredible that everyone tries to copy it but cannot compete. Even HD tried and fell flat. The video only tells half truths. I’ve found my touring bikes. I’ll never ride anything but a BMW.

I’m 75 years old man planning to ride my Honda Africa Tween DCT in Moroccan Sahara/Desert this coming spring.

I do not accept this class they made-up. ADV sport tourer cos they put street tires on a dorko dad's ADV bike. But I understand why they did it- ADV's took off big, but its dead years ago, and the dads didnt go cross country or any offroad at all. they bought the bike n all the sh*t to role-play adventurer rugged wanderer, but just went down to coffee, an walgreens, an back.
they like the old mans situp straight seating, but had no use for offroad anything and with their bigger front tires an universal treads, they actually sucked on road. actually they was wrekting them selves left n right.
SO they put 17" street tires both front an back on the same dorko dads ADV's an viola- heres ya go broke back dads- its aaaaa "Sport Tourer"!. yup, sign right here, trade in that knobby tire ADV bike for this here brand new category we just made up called "Sport Touring ADV." same thing, different tires. U WILL have to get street gear now, or ull look funny, an a full face to look the part, but think of all the fun u had going shopping when u decided to play dress-up offroad adventurer with ur old ADV. remember that? yeah.. OOOO k... make that check out to...
and now theyll buy that an find out its a gdam buzzbox sh*t windscreen on the freeway at 50 an above. owell.. Im sure theyll think up something else for all these dorko dad ADV frames they still have laying around when they realize that and come back again. orrrrr.., maybe being burned twice, on the same sh*t, they'll wake up, do some research, and get a real sport-tourer, or just a straight touring bike like they were supposed to when they got older.

Well, i own a Kawasaki Concours 14 2019

This video should be financed by BMW. It shows all models if this brand ingnoring other fantastic touring bikes from other makers like Honda, KTM, Suzuki...

Sport touring is the only way to go ! I LOVE my(old ?) Triumph Sprint 1050ST, fantastic all rounder !!

IMHO, baggers are the best, they are super comfy, offer great wind protection and you can ride them sort of sporty if you like, reaction time is some what lagging compared to a sport tourer, but you can still make em rip. Too many people buy them with a permanent fairing on them, when it is actually better to buy a naked one, and then get a detachable fairing.

One thing that wasn't discussed is final drive mode. For long distance touring I'll take a shaft or belt drive over a chain any day.

My touring bike since 4 years is a HD VROD Muscle and my girlfriend is on her Z400 since this year but never complained about the Harley pillion
Next season I'm getting the 2023 Hayabusa as my daily driver and touring bike
I used to tour on Ninja 6R and 9R so I'm getting more and more comfortable 😂

Lot of it is up to the rider and riding style.

I want one of each now!

Been across the US on a borrowed Harley bagger once and then bought a BMW R1200GS. The BMW is smoother, more comfortable, bigger bags (jesse). The only thing I missed was the stereo. Been across the country 7 times on the GS. Anything from multi week to just a few days. Aerostich & GS, plus a little really hot weather gear for above 120 degree days.

"don't expect a bagger to keep up with an adv in a straight line or around the turns"?
You might want to try a goldwing bagger or K1600b before making statements like that.
A 160hp inline 6 certainly isn't going to struggle to keep up with most adv bikes anywhere on pavement.

U just kept reminding me how poor I am 😢

Baggers would wish to be Goldwing comfortable!

You forgot a turbo busa

As we say in Uk its horses for courses, depends exactly what you're doing on touring, if you're travelling across a continent on tarmac, travelling on small country roads or more extreme.
I forced myself to watch this video, listening to his monotonous voice reading off a script, the advice given was pointless and recommended only 1000cc plus bikes! ADVs in the low to mid range cc are much more capable off-road, even gravel tracks are hard work for the heavy ADVs, wait while it rains!!! and your 400lb+ (220kg) falls over all geared up!
And keep in mind your touring bike maybe used 90% of the time for daily commuting, i suppose that'll depend on ones financial position.

Only an American would compare a Harley with the BMW tourers.

ADV for me. Many waterfalls , lakes and vineyards are just 5kms - 10kms down a gravel/dirt road. Choose a bike that gets you there with confidence 🏍️✌🏼🏍️

My favorite bike for my long rides was a 1977 Yamaha XS750 2D. It had the best seat I've ever sat on
and had no reason to go bigger.

You have to review the mighty DR650! Is still the King of dual sports.

I had an early model FJR (back when they had the preorder lists) and loved every bit of it.

We rode our 2007 GL1800 Goldwing 2up to the arctic circle including the Top of the World Highway. It was not a problem.

Did not even mention the Yamaha Tracer, Why?

Ultra classic is the top of the line dont get more comfortable than that

Triumph Tiger

I am fortunate I have my Triumph Trophy SE for touring, A T120 Bonneville for coffee runs and short rides for the day, an Aprilia Mana 850 naked for round town for a little bit of shiftless fun. I had an ADV bike but man the wind would be hammering my head all day off the windshield. I also had a Kawasaki nomad 1600 with fairing and lowers installed but it was heavy and kind of boring and slow and not my cup of tea 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ for distance sport tourers are monsters, when it gets twisty you can still have fun.