Sport-Tourer.com

If you are a seasoned sport-touring rider, you probably have a few pair of motorcycle gloves in your garage.

Maybe more than a few? Perhaps you’ve got some riding gloves for when it’s hot. And you’d need very different motorcycle gloves for when it’s cooler. Neither of those might work when it rains, so you might have a pair of waterproof gloves and/or some “rain covers” to slip over the gloves-of-choice for rainy-day riding. Could anyone complain if you also have a separate pair of mechanics gloves? More importantly, there’s “the” gloves. Stated differently, your “favorite” sport-touring gloves. Those are the gloves that engender the right, somewhat indescribable, combination of tactile comfort, pleasure and familiarity. They are likely the gloves in your collection that are the most called to duty, even if there are other gloves better suited to the day’s conditions.

For all the various routines, skills and habits that a sport-touring motorcyclist may execute on any given ride, motorcycle gloves serve two primary purposes:

A) Increased comfort and enjoyment with attendant better motorcycle control. You probably don’t think too much about the role your hands play in the overall picture of your riding experience. However, those fleshy mitts of yours execute the routine, subtle and occasional emergency handling of your front brake, throttle, clutch and steering inputs: your entire life, and that of your passenger’s, is literally in your hands!

Fortunately, your hands and fingers do their job quite well, given a reasonable amount of comfort to aid their performance.

On the other hand, have you ever ridden beyond the point when your hands had become fatigued? Or, too cramped? Or, how about when your hands were cold?

As a result of any of these mentioned points, have you ever experienced the disquieting recognition that your hands are NOT responding to situational demands as you normally would expect? Such have the potential to spell “bad news,” PARTICULARLY in any kind of threatening riding situation, when your instant response and control is what can differentiate a disaster, from a merely increased flood of adrenaline into your blood stream, as you avoid an unfriendly obstacle – completely unscathed.

B) Protection. And what if, in spite of your best efforts, you were not able to avoid that unfriendly obstacle unscathed? Protecting your hands in the event of a motorcycle mishap is a vital benefit your riding gloves may offer: even if you never require them to fulfill that duty. Ultimately, if you crash, your hands are going to do whatever they can to protect you – regardless of the type of motorcycle gloves you are wearing (or not).

Without trying to be morbid, if you do go down without gloves, your experience will likely impress you with the notion that you won’t ever ride without motorcycle gloves again.

As a point of comparison, I’ve survived a few motorcycle crashes. Two of them were dramatic. Although separated by a quarter of a century of riding experience, both separate motorcycles were totaled as a result of those escapades. The good news it that, in each case, motorcycle gloves kept my hands from sustaining any injury at all. The point? Protect YOUR hands with good motorcycle gloves.

So, how many pair of motorcycle riding gloves do you have? Regardless of how many you own, when you are riding, you need at least one pair that you are actually wearing.

Yamaha has made an indelible mark in the sport-touring motorcycle world with its well-crafted FJR1300.  This is a “purpose-built” sport tourer, meaning it comes factory-equipped with shaft drive, saddlebags, a large gas tank and a fairing.  Here in the USA it comes in two flavors: the FJR1300A and FJR1300AE.

The “AE” version is unique in the big motorbike world with its semi-automatic transmission, which Yamaha calls YCC-S (Yamaha Chip Controlled-Shift).  What that means is you get a 5-speed manual gearbox with a computer-controlled clutch so that no clutch lever use is needed by you or I.  Whether you or I actually need such a gizmo is another story.  Regardless, having ridden a few of these FJR 1300s with, and without, the electric shifting, I can say that the electric gizmo does indeed make shifting easier - although I have no immediate desire to put that on my motorcycle wish list of desired features.  (Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve been using a clutch for so long that by taking it away it, well, it just doesn’t seem to me like that’s the way a motorbike ought to be).

Regardless, with or without the electric shifting, this is fine bike.

When the FJR1300 was introduced in 2001, it was only available in Europe.  (I don’t quite know why manufacturers do that, but the FJR is not the only bike to make its debut overseas).

Anyway, we in North America were able to see the FJR in 2002 (with the 2003 model year).  It was initially available without ABS.  It made a splash that year with Motorcyclist magazine, which named it the 2003 “Motorcycle of the Year.”

With the 2005 North American model year came an option for ABS (and no other revisions).

Other than 2005, for most model years Yamaha has made some minor revision to the bike.  (At least up to the 2008 model year).

However, if you are considering the purchase of a used FJR, one important improvement you should be aware of is that in 2006 Yam resolved some complaints of overheating the rider by including better insulation under the tank and better ventilation around the motor to direct the heat away from the rider.  Hence, if you are looking for a used FJR 1300, you would be better off if you grabbed any one manufactured for the 2006 model year or later.

I have ridden both the 2008 FJR1300A and FJR1300AE models and, as mentioned above, although I find the electric shifting on the “AE” intriguing, my preference is the standard “A” model.

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Sport-Tourer.com went through a major upgrade today!  The “old” site was dismantled and a brand-new web architecture was installed, then the original content was re-uploaded on top of that, and now you have the ability to add information about your own sport-touring experience. Just toss in your comments at the bottom of any page.

In July of 2007 the completely brand-new “2008″ Kawasaki Concours14 (4 cylinder, 1400cc) finally became available to the public for purchase. And if your recollection suggests it’s been longer, well, you’re not actually getting senile: This bike was “announced” to the public back in 2006. (Yep, that’s an unusually looooong stretch of time for a motorcycle to be promoted by its manufacturer prior to its availability).

And as Kawasaki was purposefully desiring to create, a lot of C14 hype was built up during that interim.

So, with 12 months behind us, how has this Concours14 been received in its first year?

In simple terms, “rather well.”

The July 2008 issue of Rider magazine awarded the Kawasaki Concours14 as “Best Sport-Touring Bike” for 2008 and then went on to further award it as “Motorcycle of the Year,” making the C14 their #1 pick for all the categories of motorcycles they awarded. Here’s a short quote from Rider mag: “This stylish sport-tourer…has an impressive list of standard features that are both fun and useful, including KIPASS key fob security, a tire pressure monitoring system, electric windscreen, remote rear spring preload adjuster and large, functional, locking side cases.”

In the same month (July 2008) Cycle World magazine bestowed upon the Concours the title of “Best Sport-Tourer” of the year. And here’s a few words about the C14 from that mag: “It moves with an athletic confidence and over-powerful ease like nothing else on the road.”

I have had the opportunity to take a couple of the 2008 Concours14’s out for a spin, and I have to say, overall I agree with the assessments of Cycle World and Rider. Technically, Kawasaki has a big winner here with the Concours14 and they have pushed the sport-touring category up another notch.

Alas, is it possible to go too far in terms of power and wizardry?

Don’t get me wrong, the C14 is by all reckoning a great motorcycle. Heck, I imagine at some point there will be one parked in my garage for a much longer-term analysis. But I’m not head-over-heels about it. The thing is, although I enjoy a wide variety of motorcycle categories, I’m primarily a sport-touring rider. And because of that, you’d think this bike would automatically become my favorite (especially because among all the bikes I’ve owned, I’ve had 3 of the original 1000cc Kawasaki Concours motorcycles from their 20-year production run).

Alas, I cannot. I believe Kawasaki has pushed the C14 boundaries to the razor edge of what constitutes a “Sport-Touring” motorcycle. This bike is a VERY powerful surface-to-surface missile.

I am of the opinion that Kawasaki manufactured this rocketship with a greater emphasis on technical and marketing panache than the actual riding needs of a long-distance tourers, many of whom select their intercontinental weaponry from the sport-touring category.

From a marketing perspective, it’s pretty sexy to promote this as the fastest, most powerful, and arguably the most advanced sport-touring bike on the market at this time. And technically, the C14 does reflect the best in what our world’s motorcycle makers can envision for this motorcycle category.

Having said that, it’s also the heaviest (dry weight = 615 lbs. with ABS) of all the purpose-built sport-touring bikes, and most importantly from my perspective, it has the smallest gas tank (5.8 gal) — which is a pretty fundamental disadvantage for a long-distance, sport-touring rider, as myself.

Shoot, if you really want that much power for your sport-touring pleasure, why not just get a sport bike? The C14 is built on the foundation of the Kawasaki ZX14, and that bike is one of the two fastest, mass-produced motorcycles in our world. (The famous - or infamous - Suzuki Hayabusa is the other sport-bike champion).

More to the point, when I want to get out of town, whether for a weekend, a week, a month, or longer, I am just as interested in blasting through scenic twisties as I am about getting across a continent in relative ease. And in both regards, I want as BIG a gas tank as I can get to keep the fun factor going longer.

Bear in mind that I may be categorized as a “mature” middle-aged rider, with a lot of riding experience, so I am more interested in the basics of riding than more power and more gadgetry.

Having said that, I do find myself enjoying the flexibility of electric windshields, the added safety of ABS and something that is relatively new to the motorcycle world which is included on the C14: a tire pressure monitoring system. I’m much better than I have been in the past about regularly checking my tire pressures, but that digital read-out on the instrument cluster sure makes that task all the easier.

In short, the Kawasaki Concours14 is a fantastic motorcycle and quite an inspiring ride. However, it is more performance weighted than cross-country lighted, in comparison to the current BMW K1200GT, BMW R1200RT, Honda ST1300, or Yamaha FJR 1300. I would categorize the C14 more as a “Luxury Sport Bike” with long-distance livery, than the most practical sport-touring bike for a true long-hauling motorbike rider.