When my insurance renewal comes through I would like to change my ninja to a sports tourer.

What would be the best mode;s to look for, im pretty much set on a pan euro 1300, but would love some advice.

cheers

aidan

A Pan?

Slow, ugly, thirsty, underpowered, seriously uncool
(Sorry all pan-riders - nothing personal )

Can thoroughly recommend the FJR
So can my wife, and son, both of whom have fallen asleep while pillion (not at the same time obviously, my son being 23, not a baby.......)

And before any pan riders take issue, I have to admit I have never, actually, as it were, ridden a pan!

Nor would I want to

Im not sure they are underpowered,

They are used as pursuit vehicles afterall

There were some questions on handling characteristics some time ago with the pan and this bike was dropped from a number of Police Forces, i would be biast and say the ZZR is a good all rounder there is a review on this site that you could view and i am sure others with this type of bike would agree to its sport/touring potential. Good luck.

Dont think I would call a pan a sports-tourer, thats a full out tourer, (same with the FJR!)

To me a sport-tourer is a vfr, triumph sprint, zzr600, thundercat etc, eg still reasonably svelte but actually able to take a pillion in reasonable comfort and carry luggage without the subframe snapping off.

then you have the hyper-tourers like zzr1100, blackbird, busa etc, that do the same but add in OMGFUGINFREAKINFAST to the mix

Wouldn't call the FJR a full out tourer, it's called a sports tourer and very different from the Pan. The panniers can be taken off and it becomes a very different bike, the design is sporty compared to the Pan also

Its bigger and heavier than most BMW tourers though. I know from trying to keep up with you 2 they can be quick through the twisties but I'd still classify them as a tourer on sheer size alone (270kg dry!).

they are pretty nippy.... we have never had any problems with a 2 man and 4 man tent, 5 sleeping bags, 3 air beds, 2 full panniers (and a partridge in a pear tree ) and a pillion. Very comfy ride, no problems with power. Longest journey we have done was on our honeymoon, 630 miles in one day.....

VFR800i vtech would be my choice.

got the sporty looks, good comfy bike for both rider and pillion and with proper honda luggage for space than you'll need

And we won't mention the collapsed rear shock at all, oh no wouldn't dream of that, (I blame the partridge!)

Well, from the Ninja to a Pan, you're not that much further across the spectrum to grab yourself a Goldwing. 1800cc flat-6, isn't it. Bags of torque for you to have fun with, all sorts of plugs for phones, sat-nav, toaster, laptop... You can get a trailer to go if you're *really* out to go touring, and you can get matching leathers too.

Oh, and you can whang the exhausts off the road much more convincingly than you can on the Ninja. I'd say it's well worth considering.

Jesus Aidan, why not go all the way and get yourself a K100RT, a pair of slippers, a flat cap and a pipe

In fact if you want something that'll go like stink buy Ace's ThunderAce

I had one for 3 years (bought it brand spanking new as well )

It made my ZZR600 look really slow

GO for it

its the best bike i have ever owned

Peter

I had a Pan for a while and it is a great bit of kit BUT be very aware of the weight. They also drink fuel like it's going out of fashion.

If you haven't ever tried one, have a play on a TDM900. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant bike. Comfy, quick enough, frugal, takes luggage no problem.

If you want to do big miles in comfort, try one.

I was wondering,

Will I notice the lack of acceleration on one of the bigger sports tourers, or are they pretty close to the 600 sports class, Im not on about racing or what not, just everyday poke.

I believe the figures are (if you take notice of these things)

is 0-60mph 3.7 seconds with a top speed of 144mph

There are a few sites that you can get some invaluable information from and you are welcome to PM me or I will post them here but as a new member I am not sure if I am allowed to

Regards

Peter

You can post links in here no worries - as long as they don't point at your website/shop/personal porn site.



2nd thoughts, most of the reprobates here will now ask you for a link to your personal porn site....

Yup, post the links up for all to see,

If you dont mind

cheers

aidan

How much you selling the kawasaki for?

There are several sites that are full of Pan Owners

There are two main ones in my opinion and they are as follows

Click on Honda to get to the Pan bit but of course you will see lots of other stuff in the other threads as well

This site has more Brits on than the second one I shall mention and is very friendly we have met up for camping weekends and even for tours around the UK for a week or longer. we have also met abroad and have even had Merrycans come over to join us and a couple of us have joined them

The next site is more Merrycan than the first

It can be found at ST Owners this site possibly has more information about the 1300 than the first site but like the first site lots of events are organised but not many out of the USA

You will notice that both sites talk about SToc events are own BritSToc is coming up in early May. Which is a camping weekend in May

I hope this information helps

Regards

Peter

Pan yuk! Get a 1050 Sprint.

the zzr1100 is a big comfy mile-eater with poke to spare.

for sure it's gonna eat that skyliner with a couple of gears in reserve

I think the idea of getting a ST (and for the gutter-minded, that does NOT mean sanitary towels!) is brilliant... but then I would, as I've owned one or two

Choices... hmmm;
Pan 11/13
FJR
ZZR11/14
Sprint 1050 (though the 955 is still pretty good)
VFR
K1200S
Busa
Blackbird
Oh and from the outfield;
Aprilia Futura (I know, Iknow)
Ducati ST2/4

OK then what's what with each of these? These are mostly just my opinion/perception, so son't quote me

Pan 11/13
Heavy, thirsty, more tour than sport, comfy, might be a bit lacking in power after a Ninja. 11 is getting on a bit & the 13... well you may get unlucky with that infamous handling issue.
13 MCN Review

FJR
Damn fine engine, can have soggy handling (allegedly), still heavy, not the most economical, comfy.
MCN Review

ZZR11/12/14
11 is pretty old now; suspension will be shot, eats disks/chains/tyres/etc, BIG grin factor
12 the forgotten ZZR, a bit tamer that the 11, but comfy & plenty capable. Handled better too.
14 OMFG factor, short tank range (in comparison), mile muncher par excellance
14 MCN Review
Sorry couldn't find a review for the 12

Sprint 955i/1050
Very nice handling, good consumption, very good mid-range, variable build quality, variable dealer quality
955 MCN Review
1050 MCN review

VFR
The 750 is probably too old, but who knows. Very varied opinions on the 800 VTEC(is that the right abbreviation???) or not VTEC. Known as a very good all rounder. Linked brakes (again; polarised opinions) which for some can seem weak, good build quality, go on forever
VTEC MCN Review

K1200S
Don't know much about this, other than they're (apparently) very capable. Oh, and they're BMs, and all that goes with that brand
MCN Review

Busa
More sports than tour. Comfy, heavy, thirsty, BIG insurance (so not likely to be any better than the Ninja)
MCN Review (up to 2007)

Blackbird
See Busa Except better build quality & have lower 'hooligan' status
MCN Review

Aprilia Futura
Marmite bike; love the looks or loathe them. Had one & they're hugely underrated. Very good engine (hit red line in top), terrible dealer network/spares, good handling, extremely comfortable (ditto for pillion).
MCN review

Ducati ST3/4
Know very little about these, but seem to be a bit underpowered (in compaison to other STs), handle nicely, thirsty, and of course thery're Ducatis (chich can be either a godd or a bad thing)
ST4 MCN Review

So there you go, my two-penneth-worth on STs.

Of course you could go completly off the rails & get a Buell

Im trading it in hopefully, they offered me about 3.5


E&B

thanks for the write ups, thats certainlly a good list of what i can be looking for,


Peterpan

Thakns for the links,


Tahks everyone, keep the ideas coming


I think the short list so far is the blackbird, pan euro 11/13, or a busa.

I have had good quotes on older GL goldwings, but am I paying alot for the name?

aidan

thanks fellow Mr FJR owner this happend after 55,000 on the clock, so not bad going....... still think it's a great bike....

as for fuel consumption.... up to 240 to the tank and costs about £24 ish to fill at todays prices. Have done many miles loaded with luggage and been very comfy....

Happy hunting and hope you get what you want

A few friends have Pan 11/13's. Good bikes, but few problems to be aware of that you'll find on the the Pan web sites.
As far as performance compared to a 600 sportsbike, the Pan has more go until the sports 600 gets to around 12000RPM and gains on it significantly; then the 600 fcuks off into the horizon.

Pans have surprisingly (very) good ground clearance, but will never keep up with a sports 600 using all its ground clearance; different tool for a different job. Quite a change in direction, from looking at sports 600's (?)

Well to be honest I dont go much more than ?20 any more on the ninja, this combined with comfort and being able to carry alot more.

Early days yet.

Personally I can't see the point of any of them if they have to be restricted...

Yeay.. that is a cracking idea....



I should hope so, the Thunderace ia a 1000cc

Are you trying to bait me?

sorry but I agree with Faze... In fact won't most of these bikes become rather unwieldy and rather poor, performance wise, if they are restricted? You'll end up with the equivalent of a landrover with a nissan micra engine in it? Something huge that just won't go...

Im assuming that from other posts your under 21 at the moment? Would it not be more advisable to stick with something smaller, that won't suffer so much from the power loss, get your No Claims up and then when you are 21, get something big, but un-restricted, so you can enjoy it fully?

This will be for after my restriction has expired

that makes more sense then.

My only realy suggestion then would be to go sit on some at dealers, see how you feel with the sizes and weights etc.

Man if I had the spare cash I'd be having it off you

you can get to 120 on a restricted bike?

Push it off a cliff???

Ive already been bollocked once on the subject of restriction, so to stop arguments, lets not discuss it please.

Aidan

Sorry mate - I've told you before - if you advertise the fact that you're doing something illegal and people pick up on it then you have no defense. You just don't learn do you?

I just dont want to talk about it, but im not a liar either

and clearly you learnt your lesson...

*sensing impending doom*

In last months Bike Magazine they did a ride from Dover to Land Ends on a Blackbird and a 1050 Sprint ST. They couldn't fault the sprint for ride comfort, useability and economy but they just couldn't fault the Blackbird for sheer power and its ability to consume the road miles.
Personally I'd go for the Sprint but I have a mate who rides a Blackbird and says it's the best bike he's ever riden.

*sensing another coffee about to be made*

Black no sugar ta.

I looked seriously at the Blackbird before I bought my 12R.

The only thing that killed the Blackbird for me was the cost

They were at least a grand more expensive than the 12R for double the mileage for the same year

Like I told you on MSN, if I were you I'd get a blackbird.

Don't consider a ZZR 600. It's going to feel really slow compared to that ZX6R.

If the Blackbird costs too much then get the ZZR1100.

Or if you can afford it, get the ZZR1400.

Being a bit slow - as you know I am - I just clicked. The title of the thread is "Sports Tourer" not "Tourer". That would most certainly exclude some bikes mentioned - the Pan for example.

My bike is defined as a sports tourer but I am sensing that a 600 is not what is wanted. Perhaps the OP - so long ago I have forgotten who it is - could tell us for exactly what do they want the bike? Trips of up to a few hundred miles round the UK - well my bike would be fine (I have done over 300 in a day no problems and can get loads of luggage on it). Trips to Europe - well Hobo's Sprint would be better for that and luggage wise his is excellent.

Oh and no sugar or milk in my coffee please, and I would prefer a Broadside anyway!

What does the ST in ST1300 stand for then Nemo

Regards

Peter