Bored today and thinking about what would make the ultimate sport tourer. I have a 2001 ZX9R and an 86 Concours. I use the Concours for 2-up day rides longer than 250 miles, but find myself missing the 9R, light weight, brakes and power. A friend of mine has a Futura and it got me thinking about what Kawasaki should do with the 9R, which is such a sweet street bike.
I think Kawasaki should make a sport touring bike based on the 9R and call it the ZX9ST. This bike should have Futura-like seating, fairing and underseat exhaust. It should have attractive and large integrated hard bags and more upright ergonomics with perhaps in inch more rider legroom and two inches more passenger legroom. It should have remote preload for the rear shock but otherwise the same suspension. It would need to have 6.5 gallon+ tank.
They should leave the lights, gauges, engine, transmission, frame, wheels and brakes as-is (why do manufactures always assume we want a detuned engine for touring?). I'm figuring on a wet weight of <520 lbs (assuming 470 lbs for a stock 9R) and the same RWHP.
With the ZX10R coming out, this would be a perfect opportunity to continue using the tooling left over from the 9R and pay no big R&D costs. I know I'd buy one in a heartbeat and I bet they's sell better than the ZZR1200, FJR1300 and ST1300.
Truth is, any open class machine could have this treatment, I just chose the 9R cause I have one. I doubt Honda would do it to the 954 because it would likely kill sales of the VFR.
I think Kawasaki should make a sport touring bike based on the 9R and call it the ZX9ST. This bike should have Futura-like seating, fairing and underseat exhaust. It should have attractive and large integrated hard bags and more upright ergonomics with perhaps in inch more rider legroom and two inches more passenger legroom. It should have remote preload for the rear shock but otherwise the same suspension. It would need to have 6.5 gallon+ tank.
They should leave the lights, gauges, engine, transmission, frame, wheels and brakes as-is (why do manufactures always assume we want a detuned engine for touring?). I'm figuring on a wet weight of <520 lbs (assuming 470 lbs for a stock 9R) and the same RWHP.
With the ZX10R coming out, this would be a perfect opportunity to continue using the tooling left over from the 9R and pay no big R&D costs. I know I'd buy one in a heartbeat and I bet they's sell better than the ZZR1200, FJR1300 and ST1300.
Truth is, any open class machine could have this treatment, I just chose the 9R cause I have one. I doubt Honda would do it to the 954 because it would likely kill sales of the VFR.