Mount Rushmore of Motorcycle Engines - Touring Edition | HSLS S07E06
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
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In this episode of Highside/Lowside, Zack & Spurg welcome back Patrick Garvin! The trio embark on the ambitious task to design the Mount Rushmore of motorcycle engines. First up - Touring motorcycles! Which engine deserves this prestigious honor?
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0:00 Intro
0:37 Our Sponsor Motul
1:08 Learn More about our Rider Plus Membership
2:16 Not the News!
7:08 Patrick Garvin & Mt. Rushmore Intro
12:06 Grand American Touring
35:41 Sport Touring
54:27 Adventure Touring
1:07:48 Inappropriate Touring
1:37:34 RevTrivia Engine Sound Guessing Game!
1:42:40 T-Shirt Giveaway & Listener Comments 
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Did you just take 2 hrs to say gold wing?…. I kid… great show.
Great show, even if got it wrong😅 should have been the BNW GS
BUT in side note, how about asking a European to join you for the sport bike engine. Michael Neeves is your man, give him a shout
Seeing as this is a world wide podcast, how about asking a European to join you for the sport bike engine. Michael Neeves is your man, give him a shout
I’ve got a victory kingpin with the 100cubic inch motor and 6 speed I’ve got 30,000 miles and and it has never been opened plenty of power for a stock motor. And is super fast 6th gear is useless below 100 mph
What about the Hondas Vfr’s
Props to producer Chase for always popping the pics into the video every time (or whoever does it, I'm just assuming that's who is responsible). The quality of the pics you use and the frequency with which you put them up is really far and above what most productions of this nature do. It really adds context and improves the visual experience so much. It is much appreciated.
My thoughts exactly. I used to listen on Apple Podcasts but I love the visual references, and the ability to watch their body language so much that I just have to watch rather than listen. RUclips is absolutely the best way to consume HSLS.
Hey guys Senior here! Just finished listening to this episode. Great great GREAT!
Only one thing Im surprise nobody mentioned. The last question, "Which engine
would rule all of these categories"? Junior, I agree with your original thought. The
BMW Boxer 1250. But what nobody mentioned is............................................
BMW invented 3 out of 4 of these categories!
The original R bikes, 750, 850, 900, 1000, were all considered touring bikes because of
the drive shaft on a standard bike.
The R 80 GS was the original Adventure styled bike.
The R 90 s was BMW's first sport bike, (Not Original Sport Bike)
The R 100 RS was the original Sport Touring styled bike.
The R 100 RT picked up the mantle of the earlier standard bikes as a dedicated Tourer.
So, Junior, I agree with you.
The Boxer twin through all its iterations in the one engine to rule them all.
Now if I could just get you off those silly looking Orange motorcycles.
Senior
Agree, R100/7 with a RS fairing was my first big bike. Come to find out that it weighed less than most new bikes over 700cc today…
Thanks for chiming in there, Popster! Good comments !
I think everyone is sleeping on the vmax 1700 v four engine. It has 200hp 125lbs or torque, 45k mile vavle checks, shaft drive. It's smooth but also has a pulse since it half counterbalanced, sounds awesome and can easily hold what ever speed strikes your fancy without stressing itself out. Also it looks great and has that vtwin look from the side view.
In 2017 at age 52 I rode my 28,000 mile 1975 CB550 SuperSport 4700 miles round trip from Chicago to Colorado. Total time on 2 wheels was probably 10 days. I had vintage Shoie hard bags and a small windshield. Im not a small man, 6-4 and (at the time) about 240lbs. It cruised 80 across Nebraska. Ran without hesitation up over 11,000 ft. I had some hickuos along the way, but with some help from friends in the SOHC4 owner's club i made it home in one piece. You don't need a big powerful bike to have a great trip.
Yup, the coming 2 hours are by now reserved.
Some time ago, once a year I went a 1000 miles south on a 83 GL1100 and it did a great job on the hills of the Blue ridge Parkway. Didn't miss a beat. I miss that old battle horse.
Is this surprising? The service interval on these bikes is probably about 6-8k miles right, and you did a small fraction of that with no issue, not really a shocker when these bikes can exceed 100k miles just with basic maintenance.
I've been lucky enough to own several Goldwings. Currently ride a '76 GL1000 and a '97 Valkyrie, and have owned in the past an '83 GL1100 (for a week) and an '84 GL1200. The engines in all of them are something special.
My 1000 is quiet enough that I can't hear it over wind noise, so that bike is as close to flying as I can get. I took it down to The Dragon a couple years ago and it handled wonderfully. The 1200 I put into a ditch, but in all the years I owned it I never had to do a THING to the motor, even after skidding 100 feet down the road and landing in 6 inches of water. The Valkyrie is just tons of power, whenever you want it, however you want it. I can only imagine how awesome the 1800 motor is.
Yamaha FJR1300 for me... A great sport tourer!
Great episode and I especially like the inappropriate bike to tour on. I couldn't agree more with touring on an inappropriate bike bringing the best memories.
I did a 1200 mile tour through the PNW to visit a friend in September 21 on a Kymco Spade 150cc mini moto. It has to rank as one of the best tours I ever did. I dare say, one of the best vacations I had taken in a long time. This is coming from a guy knocking on the door of 50 years old. It really brings you back to what brought me to motorcycling in the first place. Pure and simple fun transportation and adventure.
I'm also pleased with the mention of the DR650, which I bought last June. I've already put close to 9k miles on it and it's definitely a keeper.
Glad to you guys bring up touring on smaller displacement motorcycles. I love riding liter bikes, but I have a blast traveling on my Vstrom 650. Backroads, 2 lane, freeways, and interstates.The Vstrom 650 has tackled them all with my 200lb meat sack in the saddle. Keep up the great podcast!
It's a great engine with proper lineage too
Agree I really enjoy mine, does everything I ask it to do.
Although mostly used for back and forth to work
I think a good way to break it down is The V-Twin is the ultimate touring engine. And currently the LC8 is the Apex of the engine type. To be honest there may never be a better V-Twin built given the time line we find ourselves. No one is out there working on a brand new V-Twin engine.
Triumph watercooled 1200cc twins are great for everything. Great reliability, excellent gas mileage, smooth and can pull gearing from 16/42 to 18/37 sprockets.
As far as best touring engine I've seen over the years has to be the Goldwing and has gotten sweeter since 1976. I've owned BMW boxer engines are pretty good but I'd still have a 1200cc watercooled twinTriumph engine with what it does.
Ok so Patrick Garvin thinks the best touring engine is one that needs a ton of (very costly) mods to make it shine. To me that just sounds like a really dumb pick. Sorry.
Agreed. It should come from the factory ready to go.
I can't ride cruisers, but if I bought a cruiser it would be an Indian that actually makes horsepower.
It will also be illegal to ride on public roads in many countries, which defeats the whole point of a touring bike.
Also it would void the warranty and reduce the long term reliability which is bad in a touring engine.
I think one might argue that it is dumb to take long trips with an engine you can’t maintain and repair in the field and without the knowledge to do so. 😁
@@LTVoyager fair enough, but seems like a very high bar to set for touring. The argument of Harley being preferable because there's a dealership everywhere in America also falls apart if you're just expected to rebuild your engines. I'd take my chances with my mediocre maintenance skills and a goldwing/bandit/vstrom :)
A man with an experience is not subject to a man with an opinion!👍 Run what you brung
Can we all agree to just call it the 8S, I think we can lol! Be careful guys Spurge is a Master Debater! I should think most of us wouldn't want to modify an engine ourselves and then go touring around the country with it, stick with the known. Don't know if the Thunderstoke is a good engine but it could be the coolest name for an engine ever! Every time it gets mentioned I hear AC/DC in my head. If Spurge can tour on his Bonneville you can tour on a Z650RS, get some throw over bags and good size backpack. So, Zack is into fitness? Zack "Yeah, fitness whole pizza in my mouth!" Would have been great if the guessing game engine had been from a Goldwing lol No idea again 0-6 this season oof! Not that you asked, but I think for the wedding you should go clean shaven. Good show old sports, see you in 2!
Touring: Goldwing boxer 6
Sport touring: Honda st 1100 v4
Standard: bmw airheads
Sport: Japanese inline 4 maybe the yam crossplane
Cruiser: hd evo
Honorable mentions: bmw brick, Honda interceptor v4, Ducati testa stretta
Blue Highway, I have that book. The guy drives around the country in a van👍
Thanks for another fun and thought inspiring video. Stay safe and keep the rubber down and the smiles shining.
moto guzzi v7. shaft drive. bugger all maintenance. those v twin vibes. perfect sitting at the table upright comfy position. 21ltr fuel tank. lacks wind protection and wont tear your arms off but has character for days. and the lineage is great too. but it fits the inappropriatte category, i agree the ktm engine deserves top spot
I'd pick the BMW inline 6 over all others for the best touring engine...because I have ridden it, a Gold Wing, a GS, etc. and the BMW is so smooth I have to keep looking at the tach to make sure the bike was running AND it has VERY good power even when in a huge bike like the K-16. As for the "small" engine question...I do looong rides on a DRZ400 and I have it geared 16F/38R so the top speed is 102 mph on level ground. Great video and discussion, Thanks Guys.
in fact DS for the Ducati back in early 00's stood for Dual Spark. The DS moniker was also used on the 1100 SuperSport of around 2005 Model Year
Reliability, smoothness, low down torque, adequate horsepower, and fuel economy to an extent, would be important features (in that order?) for a great touring engine.
I am not a BMW fan, but I think it's a better pick because of those requirements...
Appreciate you fellas, thanks for what you do.
KTM is the winner.....BUT what about its reliability?
Does it measure to the others in terms of reliability?
Yea let's be honest. A boxer is going to live forever. A KTM you can't guarantee that.
The leaderboard proves it; just because it's new doesn't make it better.
Any of the newer bikes, engines can provide great memories. Going touring is all about the memories to me. YMMV!
Yes you can tour on anything. I rode a 110cc Yamaha scooter 2000km from Saigon to Hanoi
What about that 3 cylinder 2500cc Triumph Rocket 3 engine???
Three undeniable touring bikes as seen on RUclips: Honda C90, Royal Enfield Himalayan 411, Honda CRF250/300. Any more engine power is an optional extra!
Agree, really like my RE Himalayan.
Started my work day. Now ill be set for two hours.
Thanks to (lowers voice 4 octaves)
SPURGEON DUNBAR, LOG SLAMMER. and Zack.
For its time back in 2004, the Vulcan 2,053cc was one of the best of all time! PC, air kit and pipe and it made 110hp and 140tq to the tire!
I've got a couple of entries for inappropriate touring. A 1984 Honda 500 Interceptor from Chicago to SoCal and a 1978 HD XLCR cafe racer from Virginia to SoCal.
Seeing as this is a worldwide show , how about asking a European to join you for the sport bike engine. Michael Neeves is your man, give him a shout
Form a Brit who loves your show
Another topic could be what bike the world get and USA don't and vice versus
Is the third time the charm?
You own the Internet for today!
@@LTVoyager Oops didnt mean to take over
Loved the inappropriate touring section. I put 75K miles on a DR650 and have done a ton of touring on my Gen1 SV650 and many touring miles on Speed Triple 955i. Way back in the day I rode from Dallas to Charleston on a 1981 GPz 550. The inappropriateness of these bikes was integral to the fun.
Had to be the BMW flat twin, after all the RT tourer, the RS sport tourer, the GS adventure tourer, and the R/R NineT inappropriate tourers are already in the showrooms. KTM second, because there is no RT equivalent.
I’ve toured on my KTM 690 Enduro for a few years now and it’s been brilliant on highways and single track. Not what most might see as a “touring bike,” but it works for me.
@@IRLtrolls I'm not there yet, but so far, so good.
The moment Spurg mentioned that the engine needs to rule all the categories I expected it to be the GS engine.... but I found the ad for duke and I understand :D
For me they are so close in two of the three categories. But for sport touring the KTM is just so much better it wins.
As someone who has ridden my superduke to the alps and this summer to the arctic circle. You have my heart!!!
I've taken my FJR1300 on a 3200 and a 6200 mile road trip, and I can't wait to do it again. Both trips I did over 1000 miles the last day. Mine is the auto clutch version, and while I miss having a clutch at times, it's so nice and so smooth and it has all the power I need. The auto clutch is really nice in stop and go traffic.
Always interesting 👍
Twins are the most fun! Didn't hear any mention of a Moto Guzzi V85tt... but, looks like we are talking about high speed touring here aren't we! Gotta luv the twins! They don't usually have annoying vibrations and provide good predictable power bands - if not a little respite for a tired or just lazy right throttle hand!
I was listening to your stories. Like about riding across the USA. Two weeks ago. In Arizona. I met up w a pair of true road warriors. One said check out my odometer. 176,000 miles. About a 2013 Suzuki Vstrom. Engine had not been touched. I had two 2012 Vstroms.
And I believe him. Is that there room for that on your Rushmore ? I have five bikes from one to 6 cylinders right now. So many good Hondas 1500 boxer 6, a couple V4s. All bikes I’ve mentioned are so good it’s ridiculous. Riding 3 cylinder triumph today. Growls. Reminds me of Cummins diesels .
Only four faces ? Still gotta mention that
VStrom 650. One more time. 176 k!!! And don’t forget. An engine you WANT to keep riding to get to 176. Original seat by the way
Ok hear me out. Zack has some great voices(SPURGEON DUNBAR, German guy, etc.) the person that did the high side/low side comics has fodder for potentially VERY amusing voice over animation. Just sayin…… 😂 loved it as always! Thanks Revzilla and have a great week
I agree that Harley likely has the most fleet miles, but I will bet if you look at average miles per engine that the Wing and the BMW opposed twins likely have higher per engine mileage numbers.
I haven't done any real touring, but my commute is >100 mi/day, so my research led me to buy a BMW boxer and I'm thoroughly pleased, and I'm expecting to ride it without needing major repairs for >100k miles.
What I bought is an '11 R1200R, so a naked version of the touring R1200RT. My wife asked several times why I wasn't looking for a new bike instead, but I found mine with only 14k miles for less than half of its as-new price. If I had looked for a new bike in the same price range I would have been stuck with a much smaller engine which would be under much more stress and therefore not last nearly as long.
Well, all episodes can't be winners I guess. Better luck next time guys.
Been painting my helmets for over 10 years. Gone on track, off road adventures, through heat, rain and snow. Even have gopros on top of the clear coat. Some care should be taken while painting but it is very possible and very cool. We need more custom painted helmets in this world!
Gotta love Spurg's Freudian slip about the "CVO shit." It's not my cup of tea either. 🤣
He’d own one in a heartbeat, if he could afford it. He talks about the 890 Adv being his most expensive bike. Listening to his financial perspectives from previous podcasts, he’ll be broke for some time to come.
@@freebehindbars8654 Highly doubt it. He never says it out loud, but he's not into large, heavy tourers.
another fun discussion!
SD: "and it's not about all the power in the world..."
PG: raises eyebrow... LOL
and that's why I like to watch the podcast instead of just listening. Sometimes the facial expressions are priceless.
As far as best sport touring engine, bike, etc....
It's the one you have, the one you can afford, or the one you can rent! Just go!
One thing I'd like to point out is a lot of big bikes mentioned also weight a lot. Once you start factoring in weight of the motorcycle itself, by looking at HP/Weight and Peak Torque/Weight numbers, you can sort of start to normalize across segments of bikes. And you can clearly differentiate a small bike that punches above its weight class and a big bike that does the same. FJR 1300, ST1300, GS1250 all do this. They produce a lot of HP and Torque in relation to their weight.
This is long overdue, engines have taken a backseat to all of the tech laden on current bikes. The tech doesn't propel the bike, the engine does. I do like your choices, especially the VFR . . . A great engine. My choice, only because I have to try it, an M8 117. I do ride the DR650, VFR800 5TH Gen and a Triumph Speed Triple 1050. What I'd like to see, you guys take the Kawasaki H2 750 Triple and Suzuki GT550 and ride them on a Los Angeles to Hurricane, Utah and back trip.
For once, I have to agree with Spurgeon's first choice. Like the blind squirrel and its nuts, Spurgeon occasionally gets it. The BMW boxer engine is the one to rule them all. Just look at the question you asked yourselves, "What if I put this engine in each of these categories of touring bike?". Unlike the KTM 1290, and others mentioned, only BMW has actually done this. There is the R1250RT, the R1250RS, the R1250GS, and the R1250R and all the R nineT variants. Even Spurgeon had to admit when he reviewed the R1250RS, it was probably the best sport-tourer around. Add that to the R1250GS/A being the undisputed king of adventure bikes, and the winner of this contest can have only one winner. The BMW boxer.
P.S.
As usual, your blind squirrel only occasionally gets the nut. The KTM did not come into the ADV segment until around 1996, while BMW stood all alone in this market since 1980. The heritage of the ADV bike is BMW. All the rest are Johny-come-lately's.
I love you inappropriate touring segment. I just got home from a 400 mile trip with a fully loaded CRF300L Rally. I have to say my tush hurt greatly but I would do it again. In my twenty's I put 200 miles on a Honda 175 SL witch was a parallel twin and I continued to vibrate for hours after I stopped. Great episode as usual.
Seat concepts seat is amazing if you still have the stock seat. Worth the price.
I off road jumped my 2006 Multistrada sDS. The 17" front wheel was the shortcoming offroad. Otherwise the bike was fab for travel in a sporty fashion. It was slow, alas.
Dual Spark!! Multistrada came out in 2003
Good job Zach
Run what you brung: I put more touring miles on Intruder 1400's than any other bike. I have also toured on a SYM Citycom 300i in the mountains of British Columbia and most recently I did an 8000 km tour up the Cassiar to the Alaska Hwy and Yukon on my Burgman 400. The Burgman would not be a first choice for a freeway flyer, but it held the Canadian limit fully loaded on the mountain highways; no problem and it was more comfortable for the distance than any bike I've travelled on.
When I got home, I had worn the sides off the tires. Great fun!!!
I survived a week with covid last year leading into the weekend of my msf course and that whole time i was in pain, suffering and trying to get any sleep i could i watched thru all seasons of highside-lowside although it was a bit of a blur for some episodes more than others because of my state
My Beast2.0 is down in the garage feeling the love right now…..
My Friday night is sorted now.
I agree with Spurgeon about the 1290KTM torque. You have to go way up on the RPM's to get any torque.
I have a 2019 Super Tenere ES and my buddy has a 2020 KTM1290 and I beat him off the line Every time up to 185KPH, then he catches me and passes me.
His top speed is 250KPH, my top speed is 237KPH.
I will give a thumbs up to anyone that agrees with me. Thanks for listening!
So, will we also get a sport, dirt, and commuting edition?
From my personal experience, owning 43 different bikes over 50 years, The best engine that I have ever encountered, for a Cross-Country tour, is the Triumph Rocket 3 engine - incredible torque, and butter smooth at cruise. Decent fuel economy too. There has never been a Harley engine that can compete with the fantastic triple in the touring world. HD's too often require "McGivering" at the side of the road. No thanks, I would prefer a reliable cross country mount. That eliminates Harley from consideration. And every single and twin that I have ridden are just not the right kind of power for touring, or vibrated too much for comfort. I have not ridden the 6 cylinder BMW yet, but I can say from Gold Wing use, 6 cylinders are smooth! Canadian Honda Goldwing Trike rider Glenn Turple has clocked up one million miles (1.6 million kilometres), on his stock, original engine, but that's not nearly the highest odometer reading. Honda likely has the world record for most distance on stock, original engines. Media reports literally dozens of riders that have passed the million mile mark on their Honda Gold Wings.
McGivering!
Nice
I watched half this
Went for a ride
Saw a pair along
The road doing the McGivering thing
I learned a new word !
For a small displacement engine? - In 1981, I quit racing as I prepared to get married that fall, so I sold all my race bikes, and bought a Race Developed 350 Liquid Cooled Yamaha 2 stroke twin(RD350LC). Then I rode it coast to coast in Canada - 12,900 kms, in 3 weeks. I would do it again tomorrow! Many, many hundreds kilometres at over 150 kph - the only issue encountered was terrible fuel economy. It was not well suited to the long highway miles, but came alive in the twisties.
BMW 1250 for me and shaft drive is a positive not a negative but different strokes I suppose.
Goldwings are shaft too, and yes Shaft drive every time
I love the direct and immediate responsiveness of shaft drive. Not to mention lack of constant hassle of chain maintenance.
^ Owner of a BMW R and Yamaha Virago, fantasy-owner of a GL1000.
I completely agree that touring on a smaller bike is very doable, and the best touring is done by avoiding the inter-state highways. "All bikes are Adventure bikes". I love my parallel twins. My CB500X was fine on the highway.
Good point. I think the message should be , ride whatever you have and just get out and do it.
My favorite section here was about inappropriate touring. I'm glad y'all are down to endorse it within reason and maybe a little farther haha.
I recently found a channel called Daily Yonny, she does some of my favorite motovlogs I've watched (good sound quality, humor, scenery, and food), and so far she has been on a few bikes all 350 or lower including a Honda SuperCub 125. It has been a blast to watch, and has even been the first bike to get my Girlfriend excited about bikes or moto camping! She never got into motorcycling before but her parents both have Pan-ams, brother had a dirt bike, and aunts and uncles all have Harley cruisers, and none of that vibes with her or has the approachability like the simple retro styled utility of the Honda SuperCub
It's not always touring every vid, but several Daily Yonny will take a 350, 125 or a Cub several hours away and camp overnight one or two nights.
Very encouraging, made me feel like I could take a trip in my DR200, with my gf on a cub and get several hours away from home on state highways to gravel roads here in MT and that would be plenty far for either of us to be getting along with for quite awhile.
Old GoldWing 4-cylinder models - I think that engine would give more people what they want. GL1100-1200 i think would fit all these categories if need be. and dead reliable.
Came here to say this. Th 11- or 1200 ticks all the boxes they talked about: balanced power, serviceable, compact enough to go in any chassis....
The triumph rocket 3 and the thunderbird storm 1700 twin are really great engines that seem very robust with tons of torque.
I recently sent in a request for an episode geared towards two-up luxury touring and while this isn’t that, it is a step in the right direction. 😁
I was actually thinking the same thing. The answer is going to be "Goldwing" or "Road King".
@@lovelessissimo TTSE
@@funk-n-groovin6779 what?
A lot of people hate the Harleys... But I love their touring bikes. Torque for days, comfortable, MASSIVE aftermarket, tons of character, and easy to work on with a HUGE dealer network when on the road. I'm no fanboy... I love all kinds of motorcycles, but i think a lot of people have a weird unnecessary hatred for Harleys.
Courts and Dunbar the Click and Clack of two wheels.
As someone who listened to Click and Clack from the back seat of my dad's truck growing up, this is all I could ever hope to achieve...
@@SpurgeonDunbar Everyday on the drive to school listing to those two tell me about Car-Bu-Ra-tors and now being about to shre that a bit with my kids with you brings the modern dad feels. Also Click and Clack being in the cars movies was a pretty awesome "easter egg".
The M8 is a phenomenal engine. As is. No Mods NECESSARY, but mods make it sou d the way i want it to
My inappropriate touring entry: Yamaha FZ09. Rode 6k miles from the Midwest to California and back, and had a blast every minute of it. When it came time to pick my next bike, I knew I wanted a hooligan machine and was going to be mostly local or weekend trips, but this big trip was in the back of my mind. Went with the FZ09 over the 07 for that highway power.
I don't mind mine. I got a first gen and I've done a few long day trips and it isn't bad. I have my S10 for the trips I really want to relax. Plus having cruise control doing 90mph on the highway is great
Of course you'd pick the orange motor that was never designed for touring. Meanwhile you can put a cup of water on a Goldwing engine, rev it and never lose a drop. The 1290 motor is a fun motor but I doubt any of them will be a million mile motor.
Good discussion! The idea seemed boring, but you guys executed it well.
The elephant in the room is not just the engine whether u take a pillion, lots of luggage, road off-road, weather protection, age ergonomics of rider . Ride what u can afford and like . If I was rich I have ten different bikes for different rides
I never thought busa was a sport touring bike, but according to google, it is.
Love my Connie 14. 174k miles in five years and the beast keeps blasting along.
46:07 I can’t wait for the hyper naked from CFMoto using the KTM 1290 to make it to production
I have a 78 GL1000. I think it is a great engine and motorcycle. It does what I need
My wife refuses to use any highways. You can get around without highways & enjoy your self.
Pretty obscure choice, the chosen engine (no spoiler here) is a very small minority of touring bike engines produced. My assumption would be BMW or Harley, while Honda would have to be part of it, but those bikes are pretty heavy (Harleys are heavy too, but low slung). And if you’re going to be obscure, a transverse V4 is the best, only produced on the Honda ST bikes and the small production Motus bikes could be a choice
Nice
Honda v4 great
Feels almost electric
A reliable, powerful engine is an innovation in and of itself. In the automotive space, the most prolific engine is the gen I small block Chevy. In the motorcycle space, its the honda cub. I absolutely look for length of production and commonality of powerplant because parts are cheaper the more prolific an engine.
6 cylinders is best, and that leaves pretty much all but the Gold Wing out. That said I'd go with a V4 Honda from the ST.
I’ve owned a Concours, a Vulcan, a Versys 1000, a K16, a Bandit, a Boulevard, a Ninja, and a 500 LTD(1984). Best touring bike was the BMW, too bad it’s outrageous to get service done in a timely manner. Connie was the the best on the dragon. Versys was the most practical.
+1million for the M8 engine and so many of the other engines talked about here.
I have a 2017 Ultra Classic that loves to tour 2-up.
Had the 1290 briefly, the Pan America for a year and a half and I preferred the Pan America's engine. I have a 2022 890 Adventure S now, the top end isn't what the larger displacement bikes have but it is totally capable for every task you ask of it... except racing the 1290.
Spurge, I'd love a Bonneville or a Royal Enfield Interceptor, or a Kawasaki W800 for a gentleman's touring bike.
My Mount Rushmore engine would be the Pan America's Revolution Max. Talk about crossing two categories, it is also in the Sportsters but de-tuned.
On a side note. The Yamaha TDM 900 parallel twin is so much better than any of these engines. It will never even rate, or be given a chance in your conversation. It's not even an afterthought, but as a touring bike engine? Economy, versatility, reliability, weight, repairability, simplicity. Hands down it's twice as good for this category as any of the engines you discussed.
I wish Suzuki would make a full-on touring bike with a retuned Hayabusa engine.
I am FIGHTING with a choice here. So Suzuki has the GSX-8S now, parallel twin. They also have the GSX-S750 which is an inline 4. I'm gonna have a 50 mile commute coming up, traffic *sometimes* but not always. Which is going to be my better option? I'm really feeling the inline 4 for that smooth power delivery and lower RPM smoothness. I don't particularly care about the speed since they're both about as fast as each other. It really comes down to the engine itself. Any suggestions?
talking about separate oil reservoirs for the engine and transmission, guzzi also doing this with their air cooled bikes, so maybe there is a reason for it
I thought it was odd that the SV650 was ranked higher than the 8S. It sounded like the past history of the SV650 became a significant part of the ranking rather than its current performance. Also, looking at the comments, a lot of people seem to think that Zack didn't think very much of the new 8S.
I think when it comes to buying one today after market support is important along with knowledge of the bike. With the SV650 you can find info on it easy and people alreay know its a solid bike, where the 8S still needs to prove its self. Also the SV has more parts for it to make it do what you need compared to something new. That's why it won over the other bike.
If the 8S sticks around and parts are made then it will take over at some point.
I was holding my breath for a little side whisper on the Beemer R18's monstrosity of a boxer! So many times I kept thinking someone would give it a little side nod! Great episode though! Makes me miss my Indiana to Colorado adventure on my Tiger 800 XCA during the height of covid quarantine times. Went from a 103 Fatboy to a Tiger 800 to an 1190 Adventure to an R18 Classic..Sometimes I don't understand myself ;)
Also definitely not saying the R18 should be a forerunner in the convo..too new and wholly unproven yet, however I think it will have a massive niche following for tourers worldwide if/when they prove to be 200k+ miles bulletproof.
I do the demo rides on the r18 anytime I can. Such a unique feeling. And no heat whatsoever. Although if I had the money for a fourth bike, I'm going K16. Dam thing is so stupid smooth, and makes so much power. Opening her up sounds so good too
If you are going touring you don't want to worry about fixing it and don't want to worry about any 'hot rodding ' you've done. You want to work all day, every day and just get on with its job. So you enjoy the ride.
And once you get outside the States yes there are not a lot of HD dealers because the rest of the world is not addicted to HD 'lifestyle ' which comes at a high cost for bikes with tech many years old.
Hayabusa engine is goated 🙌
You guys talking about torque down low and imply that the K1600 doesn’t have torque down low because it’s claimed peak is at 5,200 RPM.
The K1600 has tons of torque right off the bat. It’s something like 80% of torque right away. It just has a little rounder curve. Riding mine around I have never had it chug at all. I have forgotten that I’m in 6th and gotten slow and it has not acted up at all.
You could leave the bike in third all day and not have any problems.
Guys the GL engine is a flat 6... Porsche is a Boxer engine. All Boxers are flat; however, not all flat configurations are Boxers!
We always check Revzilla first👍RPM rocks
I think you missed a mark during the inappropriate touring section by not up the Honda cb/cbr/crf300l motor. Itchy Boots has shown that an untraditional choice can be the perfect touring bike for certain people.
You got that right!
1800 flat 6 sidecar and two 1250 flat twins (not GS) in my garage now. All good tourers for the same reasons, smooth fat torque, no need to change down. I've covered more kms on BMW K100 fours than anything though. They are all just too old now though
The Indian, Harley or any other Crusiers, Baggers is Good for what you Call the Grand America, But when it comes to TOURING THE WORLD My One R1250GSA is Enough.
For me, it definitely comes down to the Harley VTwin or the Goldwing flat 4/6