Hello everyone, first post here. Bear with me if you will because I'm in a pickle:

My only bike right now is an '05 1000RR. It's great and I love it, but it seems that more and more of my riding is shifting to longer, 2-up trips (the girlfriend would rather ride with me than sit there while I do a track day...). I'm in western Washington and there is some really good riding nearby, but most of it takes at least a couple of hours' ride time just to get to it.

So the conundrum is that it seems like I have two choices: A big, 600 lb. bike that can comfortably get myself and passenger to the twisties and then bore me to sleep once I get there, or a razor sharp bike that would be heaven in the mountains, but impossible to ride TO the mountains.

I did the North Cascades Loop last summer over two days and by the time we got back, the pain was so bad that I have not been able to talk her back onto the bike since. We actually stopped at the Safeway in Chelan and MacGyvered-up some "gel pads" out of bags of marshmallows and a roll of packing tape (worked surprisingly well for about a half hour so don't laugh!).

Recently I was at a used bike dealership and sat on a '98 'Hawk. I was surprised to find that it felt even lighter than my CBR! And the seat pad was way thicker and softer, of course, than I'm used to. Plus the bike seems so narrow and flickable that I can't see why it wouldn't be a blast in the twisty stuff.

Yet I get on here and see people complain about the discomfort and say that 2-up riding is a no no.

So:

Can I bolt on enough parts to make a Superhawk a decent sport tourer? For, say, 300-400 mile days? And if so, will these parts basically ruin the sporting nature of the bike or can you still have fun on it?

Is there a good passenger seat? I notice that there's a Corbin with a passenger backrest. People on this board trash it, and the Corbin seat I bought for my CBR (before I decided that another bike altogether might just be a better solution) is a piece of crap that I had to mangle with a hammer to get the mounts to line up. Build quality aside, is the Corbin Gunfighter and Lady seat for the Superhawk a decent solution for long range passenger comfort (what with the backrest and all)? Does anyone have one of these seats and carry a passenger often that can give a review?

If it just can't be made a good tourer, does anyone else have a recommendation on a bike that will do everything? My friend has an FZ-1 and he and his wife had no problems on that same trip that left my girlfriend and I crippled. And he seems to be able to carve a corner pretty well on it. The thing's just so heavy though! (It doesn't help that I'm a terrible motorcycling combination of short, skinny, and clumsy. Even at just over 400 lbs., I've accidentally dropped my pretty Respol CBR on its side at least three times, so bikes that weigh four times as much as I do just aren't that appealing...)

Anyway, thanks for reading and weighing in. The problem with buying a motorcycle is there's just no way to ride it how you would want to before you buy. It's not like you can take it on an 800 mile 2-up test ride. Hence it seems I always regret the bikes I buy.

So should I join the Superhawk community or what?

 

I love my hawk, and I use it as a sport tourer more than anything else. I live in oklahoma it is flat and the roads are all straight. I have helibars, the corbin seat and a zero gravity touring screen. The most miles that I have done in a single day is right about 650, that is single. two up around 200ish with no real complaints. I would recommend some type of throttle lock to give your hand a rest when needed, and if your going to ride two up much at all i would spend the money on a good rider pillion com system. that way it makes the miles go by for her faster.

 

Well, I'd love to say "YES", but I'll stick with a more somber, yeah, it can do that...

It is lighter and more flickable then the CBR at road speeds, a lot more nimble... It's a curbe carver of great renown... It's also lot more forgiving than a CBR if you aren't running at a GP riders pace... Altough it doesn't have the insane tops speed of the CBR...

The seat is better by far than the CBR for the rider as stock (even better with a Sargent) unfortunately the pillion seat isn't very good as stock, and even a Corbin/Sargent pillion seat isn't that much better... Mainly based on the cramped angle of the legs and other things it's not that comfortable back there unless your girfriend is very short and petite... A lot better than the CBR by far thoo...

Weather the Corbin "Gunfighter & Lady" is any good... dunno... never tried it... Did try another Corbin seat and sold it after 2 weeks since I couldn't get it mounted right (I didn't use a hammer, so that might have been the problem...) But I imagine that a more cushioned pillion won't make things worse... The backrest looks a bit flimsy though and it's definetly a "false safety" in regards to it holding anybody's weight, should theoreticly improve comfort though...

Basicly, for you, miles of improvement, for the Gf... definetly better, but might not be good enough for the miles you are talking about... Also for you it's a lot easier to buy comfort parts (adjustable clipons being one...)

Oh... and bolting on stuff?? No need to, other than clipons, seat and with short legs possibly adjustable rearsets you won't need anything else, and it won't ruin the bike in any way... just make it better...

 

Oh... btw if the VTR isn't enough of a tourer, might consider the VFR... it's a great 2-up bike, and it eats corners... not a much grunt as the VTR (which to be fair is a hoolingan bike...), but when I get of to adjust various body parts and fill up the tank the VFR riders take another 4-5 runs through the twisties, still smiling and with their respective comfortable in the back... (and still on their first tank...)