Best Sporty Tourer (2025): Honda NT1100 vs Kawasaki Ninja 1100 vs Suzuki GSX-S1000GT | BikeSocial

hello welcome to bike social and you probably can't tell from there but it's about 2 degrees it's really gray out anyway regardless everyday is a brilliant day when you're on a motorbike right Lads today the three of us we've got Andy shoubridge our Partnerships manager from bike social Road testing Superstar Martin Fitz gibons and myself we've got three Sports tours of the era we've got hus nt100 that's been updated for 2025 Kawasakis ninja 1100 SX SE and we've got Suzuki's GSX s000 GT one of the best sellers from the last three years so throughout the course of today we are going to try them on all sorts of different roads we're going to try and get through most of if not all of a uh tank of fuel and we're going to come back and we're going to disect it all for you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] right then boys a tank full of fuel later and here we are with our executive boards very professional I feel like a news reader sxse GT Dez they call it DCT electronic suspense a Dez GT and they sounds like members of a '90s boy band really but Sports touring it's it's kind of had a bit of a well I didn't even realize it but more of a sort of a Resurgence hasn't it over the last decade what how do you qualify what is a sports tour where's this class come from what is a sports tour I mean I guess the clues in the name really it's kind of uh taking two disperate worlds of exciting Dynamic fast hard sports bikes and kind of comfortable practical tours and trying to create a bike that can do a bit of both I guess they kind of go back to the late' 70s they kind of really took a leap forwards with the iconic Honda VFR 750 in the'80s in the '90s everyone started making them uh and then by the 2000s you had daati getting in with st2s and st3s and fours you had Triumph with the Sprint ST but then after that they kind of started falling out of favor slightly I don't know whether that was because we changed as riders or because Adventure bikes kind of took their place but 5 or 10 years ago there weren't that many sports torers on the market and now here we are with three of them yeah of course so the the GT the Suzuki's been around since 2022 and the other two in some vein have been around for a similar amount of time but they are have been again up upgraded updated for for this year [Music] should we start with the price between the three of them there's not a massive difference is there with how we've been handed them how we've been tested them today with their piers and their different uh forms there's not a great deal of difference in the price of right not really given that we've uh well the Suzuki we've got here is in the most affordable most basic spec and at $1,899 that's our kind of affordable option uh the Honda and Kawasaki that we've been sent are in kind of more Flagship specs aren't they really so the Honda we have with the dctt gearbox and the new for 2025 electronic suspension so that's the flagship NT and that's just over 14,000 14,99 so we kind of gone from 13ish to 14ish and then the most expensive is the Kawasaki this is the new SE version with some fancy chassis bits and it's not just that it's the SE Torah which has paas and heater grips and a delightful USB charger and some other questionable accessories but that comes in at just over 15, 15171 so kind of 13ish 14ish 15ish it's not a huge amount of difference given there's a there's a kind of big difference in some of the aspects of them yeah we're recording this uh towards the uh sort of middle to the end of February and up until the end of March up until the end of March isn't it there's a % deal at Suzuki roing which we really must we really must um uh talk about because it's it's very attractive isn't it on on this bike % until the end of March on a PCP deal yeah and the end result of that is that for the similar deposit the Suzuki is about half the price of the Kawasaki in terms of monthly payments very attractive astonishing so as part this conclusion then um we've kind of dived into the price already now price and value are two different things aren't they very much so definitely what do you reckon and if we we'll get to the kind of the crooks or the the the the resulting question a much later on about which one would you buy which one would you want in your garage and actually you it's a good point because you've you ride an s000 XR don't you you own an S an XR yeah I do so i' I've I've had that for about five years now so um for me I'm genuinely thinking what do I get next because it's a great bike there um XR but uh it's really just fancying the change more than anything so this is really ideal for me just to get a comparison of of what's out there in terms of sports tourist are these three on your shopping list definitely yeah I mean don't want to give too much away but yeah great they're all great bikes don't get me wrong they're all fantastic and they uh they're all ideal for touring obviously in terms of value though going back to the the question I think obviously the the stand out one is a Suzuki for me but there's are lots of bits and pieces aren't there lots of R kind of ride arrays and equipment and again kind of the differen the detail of that in due course but actually when you look at them you've done this amazing cheat she here but you you look at the the detail of what is available on each of these bikes and and they do start you kind of see where that difference that price differential becomes don't you it's you do but I think I think the key thing is that they're all quite affordable like I'm not pretending that 14 Grand isn't a lot of money it is a lot of money but what we don't have here is three bikes that add up to 60 Grand you know we don't have a bunch of high-end Flagship Adventure bikes that set you back 25 Grand each you're saying about quite lik in the 1300 GS that you've had spent some time on that this year and it's a fantastic bike but I can't you know justify that sort of spend as many people would be in that boat I'm sure but these kind of come down at slightly more every man prices don't they yeah and they're a lot of bike for the money [Music] should we talk about engine and performance next yes there's plenty of that too yeah well do you want to kick off then M so we've got I wanted to call this the liter Class Sports tourist but of course everyone's going to go hang on a minute two of them not even are above a liter now AR they and they're the two that have been oh sorry the the ninja the Kawasaki's been updated and it's got a bigger capacity engine it has it's gone up to 1100 from 1,000 I think in nerdy terms it's gone up from 1043 to 1099 and they've done that with a slightly longer stroke but the unusual thing we're kind of used to manufacturers going bigger engines year after year after year the slightly unusual thing is that the ninja 1100 is actually slightly less powerful than the ninja thousand it replaces which from a sort of uh superficial perspective seems like a bit of a crazy move it's gone from 140 horsepower to 134 negligible isn't it in real world terms and then you ride them exactly you wouldn't know that would you you certainly wouldn't you don't get you don't use all 134 I wish I got 140 no absolutely not especially not on that engine did it make a difference when they when they reduce the uh maximum power as to where it comes in or what Kaki has done by kind of making a longer stroke engine they've shifted the whole power curve lower down in the revs so the torque is increased and it's the peak torque is made at lower revs and that 134 horsepower Peak although it's slightly lower is now also made at lower revs and I think you can really tell it when you ride it it's such an easygoing engine there's no effort demanded of you you don't need to scream it to the red line to make progress it's smooth it sounds pretty good once you get going and it just makes your life easy doesn't it it just whisks you along with effortless speed right to yeah I agree completely it's it's unbelievable performance really and and I was surprised when I was looking at the the sheets earlier 134 it feels like a lot more than that to me well it's it's three for three cuz I'm with you I think it's of the three bikes it's the I think it's probably the the easiest bike to sorry the easiest engine to get on with cuz we did sections of of sort of you know a lot slower riding with towns the way in which the engine performs at low RPM even the throttle connection is is really sweet go from the Ki to the Suzuki and it gets a little bit clunkier just sort of what would you call it off throttle to on throttle that sort of that one couple of deges it's a lot smoother on the Kawasaki I was really pleasantly surprised yeah it's really good it's a great engine yeah and on paper the Suzuki is the one that should be the monster of the class isn't it with 150 horsepower definitely that's the one that we should be getting on and talking about how it rips your arms off it feels the closest to a pure super bike engine to me it is derived from the iconic GSXR 100000 K5 engine and yeah it's the most powerful hereit but it's also the one that kind of requires the most put into it to get power out of it if you know what I mean all the Peaks come up at much higher revs I think it revs on to like nearly 12,000 RPM whereas the Kawasaki is done by kind of 11-ish and the Honda's done by eight I think it's got a great kind of sporting character to it and and it sounds fantastic but it's not quite as willing as the karasaki it kind of requires you to put a bit more into it you got to be patient with it I think haven't you if you do want to wind it on it's it's it's there you kind of got to wait for it it's almost like it needs to be unlocked doesn't it you you you wait at the bottom if you not that you really want on these bik you you always crack it up and and catapult yourself what you can do is just be patient with it at low RPM and then it'll come and it'll come it come and it'll still keep going and and as you say it screams all the way to to to to double thousand RPM but of course the two in line in a parallel to in this this the Honda it's a nice thing to listen to isn't it sounds good surprised me to be fair and it is just like an Africa 2 with 17in wheels yeah I think the engine is exactly the same as it is in the Africa twins so 10804 CC parallel twin again quite a long-stroke engine a real low revving engine you don't need to do anything you certainly don't need to work it it almost works against you if you try and work it too hard got the same torque as the Kawasaki but it's delivered at even lower revs so it kind of just offers all the performance up to you and says there are yeah have you pick you don't need to do anything for it but that Peak power is just over 100 horsepower it is less exciting it is less thrilling than the two inline fours isn't it agreed yeah I wouldn't say l slower you're right it's not left wanting it's certainly wasn't today because we swapped we swapped about of course you know during the course of the day so we had equal time on on each bike but the person on the Honda was never left behind but then you know you got to take into consideration all the other elements of of creating this sort of performance uh nus of a bike from tires to suspension to road conditions to all the rest of it but yeah which I guess on the Honda you kind of have to get into the tricky topic of its DCT yes I was going to mention that how did you find it because you were you came yeah trying to come with you know no preconception because I've ridden the DCT before and I don't I don't really get on with it to be quite honest so I thought no give it a go today enjoyed riding it and it is fantastic don't get me wrong round Town making life easy for you it's brilliant the thing that I think the thing I struggle with is is that lack of control from gearing so I when you're going into a corner you want to be in a certain gear and it takes away that predictability of it for me sometimes you're not it doesn't do what you expect it to do did you have it in the in the D or the S I had it in the D that that's a good question because the D for me is is really painful because it just going up to to 30 m an hour it will bang you up to fifth gear straight away like instantly fairly quickly that's not great for me but the when you put it into the DS is it DS yeah I think it's just called s isn't it there's three versions of s that was much better I appreciate you can put it into the manual bit with and you do it all on the on the shift buttons but for me that was just so tucked away under your horn your indicators and whatever it's it's not that easy to I'm sure you get used to it if you if you owned one and ride it a lot but for me it was just a bit too fiddly and I I want that control from the gears really how you getting on with it I quite like it it's growing on me I remember first riding DCT the year it came out in 2010 yeah 15 years and the shift was really good but the timing was very awkward and I think over the years Honda have put a lot of effort into refining it and trying to make it feel more natural and I think they've had some success but yes putting it in sport mode definitely makes it feel a bit more natural that kind of holds on to the gears in the way that Riders you know experienced Riders would kind of expect to but you're right if you want absolute certainty of what gear you're going to be in and when you do need to be in full manual mode one thing they have added for this year and an attempt to try and help it feel more natural is they've added an IMU so a lean sensor and the idea is that now the DCT system listens to what the lean angle of the bike is so it should reduce the amount of time that it does something slightly unsettling like trying to change up or down a gear while you Lent over but you said it wasn't I I had one one earlier which caught me out a bit because obviously conditions aren't ideal today for riding bikes sketchy surfaces in places just coming out of the corner getting it onto throttle um and it just dropped a gear on me to because obviously the the rate of frot I was asking was more than it was expecting in third so it dropped second and it just it's just one of those things that unsettled the bike and I thought oh just for that Split Second but it was fine no no issue was that in S Mode yes it was yeah yeah maybe that's that's sort of the nature of that particular mode it just want to cuz I had exactly the same by way we hav't talked about that until now but um yeah I just want the only other issue with it for me was when you do again when you ask for throttle it can it's almost like the oldfashioned automatic car kick down that's the best way for me to describe it you you sort of it cuts the power and then all of a sudden it goes again and it you don't feel like fully in control of it Honda sell a lot of DCT NTS though don't they yeah yeah definitely massive seller he told me a stat earlier on it was almost 2/3 across Europe by their own claim it's about 2/3 of NT buyers go for the DC version yeah I quite like it but I can totally accept it's not for everyone yeah um so it's nice that they don't force it on you just yet I'm pleased that we had to we had it to test today I'm pleased that it was an option for us to have a go so a we could talk about it but also I certainly wanted to refresh myself with it I'd not ridden the previous uh gen NT but had spent a lot of time on Africa twin uh variations so I was Keen to have a go on this as a sort of a sporty Africa twin in inverted Commerce but also with the DCT and sort of the latest uh advancement of that I felt as though other than that one occasion it didn't interfere with my writing I did try in in D and I did try it in s and you as part of the test I just wanted to see what the differences was and I'm I'm glad would I buy the the NT with a DCT yeah probably because I think it's just so it's it just takes a lot of easy doesn't it the additional I don't know ride or inut maybe it's just age and I'm getting lazier I don't know [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] what's next we've got handling suspension and weight now uh interesting because of course we've got the electronic suspension now on the on the NT chewy any thoughts on that did you again just for the vi we had some horrific RADS didn't we you know how to pick a test GR so cuz they you know we wanted to test them out but there was some real sweet say just for me that it just handled everything really well in terms of the bumps and humps and fantastic really um and probably the the the most capable of the three behind us in terms of the road conditions we had today and there were some bumpy elements to it as we all know it was so good you can't really uh can't f it I did adjust the preload on it cuz I think it uh I was the last on the NT so I don't know if either of you with it but I think it was on cuz there's single Rider two Rider and then two Rider with luggage isn't there I think they're the the three presets it was definitely on the middle one and I I change it to the last one again deliberately knowing that there was a particularly bumpy section coming up and it's brilliant isn't it Ian you can almost have a cup of tea out an old fashion K in and then you wouldn't spill it it's just uh I was very very good how did he get on I think it is the best of the three at bump absorption and there were a lot of bumps today for sure yeah it's it's very stable it's very planted for the first go semi-active suspension on the NT I think it's pretty good my slight beef with it and it might be a small thing but I couldn't find a way of changing the damping setting while you're riding so when we switch from kind of really bumpy roads where you want the suspension to be kind of nice and plush and soft and when that ended and we were on some kind of quite fast a-roads where you want a bit more support from the suspension there's not like a thing you can push or a you know like on a BMW you'd press a button and it would switch between Dynamic and Road and all sudden the bike tightens up and it's more precise and it steers better I couldn't find a way of making that damping switch on the go so if you're happy with how it comes or whatever setting it was in it's great but it's still feels a little bit behind some of the really premium European semi-active stuff and also that preload the clever kids are now on auto self-leveling so the bike kind of weighs you don't take it personally as you're riding and adjust the preload to suit just half a step behind the best of the best but it is still very good certainly better ride quality wise than the Suzuki which I think discretely and generously you'd say has a sporting setup yes agreed yeah I'm with you on that I it was always going to be my my sort of my my final conclusion to this is youve kind of you definitely got a sportier end of sports T and A torer ending end of of sports tour there of that of that range but certainly the suspension is the the obvious element to that to that gauge yes so on the Suzuki it's kind of all manually adjustable there's nothing it's not bad suspension by any means it's I'd kind of describe it as mid-range suspension but the bump absorption and the ride quality is clearly not that bike's priority no it's kind of feels set up quite stiff I guess for handling and Poise rather than banging along a a subsided fenland road yeah it wouldn't be of even of these three bikes if you went on that test route again it wouldn't be the choice would it based on on on comfort and suspension alone but then I guess somewhere in the middle fittingly enough yeah lies the Kawasaki yeah it's the first bike that I rode today and I G every so well with it I thought how comfortable it was not just about riding position or or you know stretch to the bars or whatever but actually how it did C cope with the roads and again the roads were not in Prime condition for us to go boweling in and on the brakes and to testing the suspension that way or all kind of it its sportier capabilities but in terms of comfort yeah I thought it was Mega really really nice am I right thinking the the new version has got the ol shock and the previous one didn't is that right so this is part and parcel of the premium SE version cu the SE comes with an Olin shock which sounds very fancy and it the ride quality is pretty good but I would say there are oin shocks and there are oin shocks and this is it has a remote preload adjuster but only kind of single damping adjuster it's not like one of those fancy Twin Tube TTX Stu yeah it's not the kind of stuff that Moto GP it's not the oin that Moto GP Riders on it's good and I have no doubts that it's better than the or offers a nicer ride than the standard shock but it's not like olens olens it's kind of ol well let's go to to to equipment and ride aray then cuz there's a lot of electronics on show here and I might kick us off with um screens the actual you the displays Honda's still got this dual thing going on haven't they with the Y oldi Digital thing and then and it still takes forever the date when you turn the edge of the bike on that was going to be one comment from me by the time the time we set off you guys are up the road and the thing still the dash hasn't come up properly still so it does take a long time yeah I didn't understand the reason why there's this split Dash thing and it took someone far smarter than me to explain that it's because the NT is set up for Apple carplay and Android auto okay and so if you have I don't know Maps or something displayed on the big color TFT Dash that you still want to have something showing you your speed so apparently that's the reason behind that and given we didn't get into carplay or phone syncing today it felt a bit uh a bit needless but the Honda's got quite a big Color dash it's just very busy there's a lot going on LS of little icons and dials and things it's constantly telling you what level out of something your traction is and your engine braking is and your there's a lot going on I think they could kind of simplify it down a bit there are options to have a different display but it's one of those things it's like you shouldn't need to correct a problem in the first place it would just be better to have a simpler Dash but it's very you know it's very easy to read I guess the kak is is it feels old though doesn't it don't you think I think so in terms of mod Day graphics stuff they've updated the bike and it's a lovely lovely thing but that just feels old even the even the um the switch gear it could feel a lot more premium and I appreciate that we've already talked about you could be out there with your multi Striders or your or your 1250 rs's but that's £10,000 more than that and I I understand the the the difference between the two on this uh Torah model you get the the phone holder don't you is sp connect I don't know by The Bu but don't off get in the way yes there are some accessories and it feels like someone's just sort of stuck them on afterwards isn't it they're not neatly integrated no at all there's a USBC isn't there and it and it looks yeah it looks like it's just you know someone's stuck a lump of blue tack on the on the top there you can't you can't actually see the controls on the bar underneath it it covers so you can't see your cruise control and all that stuff as well so it's really is completely in the way I think it's a bit of a shame because it kind of slightly undermines the Kawasaki's premium thing you know this is supposed to be the SE version with the Lush oins and the fancy brembos and the green paintwork you can't have green paint workor unless you have the SE model but you're right the dash is a bit small and then these kind of slightly tacked on accessories those two things start to make it feel a bit less than premium easy to read enough though yeah definitely very CLE just haven't got as many options every car every bik these days seems got lot of options and that for those who don't like options it's fine then isn't it it tells you what you need to know the Suzuki is okay isn't it yeah I quite like the Suzuki Dash yeah it's got a good size to it it's very easy to see what you're doing the rev counter is kind of beautifully Illustrated it's it's quite a nice Dash yeah good thing uh what else has it got so the quick shifters comes a standard on on obviously the non DCT bike but both the karasaki and the Suzuki and they again I think we all agreed that they were they were both very good systems aren't we they're all two both two-way quick shifters and they certainly don't feel like race developed they feel kind of Road developed so you can use them at Mid revs you know part throttle position and they kind of slice through butter really don't they up and down the Box on both bikes so no complaints on that and uh how's the Honda's quick shifter smooth I think it's even smoother but what's good about the Kawasaki and and the Suzuki is you can do I think modern day quick shif as you mentioned earlier on um you can now how do I describe this so even if you're off throttle you can still change up and if you're on throttle you can still change down that's right isn't it yeah I don't think I don't think I had success with that on the Kawasaki today I can't remember this whether the Suzuki does or doesn't but um I still think there's they are very good quick shifters if we're going to be ultra picky there is perhaps just a tiny little bit of room for improvement there but what about other Rider raids what else have we got on on here we've got heated grips necessary on a day like today yeah how you came to heated grips before uh traction control and Imus yeah heated grips on the Honda and we all agreed excellent really good he grips on the useless on the Honda with the hand heat was um it hasn't got handguard so I thought that might be a problem today but it's got those little wings at the front and I I found the wind protection was really good on it yeah we'll come on the screens in just a second but yeah you're right actually something I noticed first thing this morning as as you know theoretically touring bikes not one of these three has got handguards M which I think is a bit of an odd one but yeah heated grips they there are an accessory I'm going to keep going on about heated grips by the way going to keep coming back to do an accessory on the Suzuki which I think IS300 they're average on the C they're very very good on the Honda yeah I didn't really have any problem with the heat levels I just find on both bikes they're not it's not intuitive to operate so on the Honda you have to kind of fa between a button by your right finger and then a toggle Swit switch by your left finger to make the heated grips work and on the karasaki you have to push a button on the grip itself and then watch while it flashes yellow lights at you to count how many flashes it has to tell you how what what heat setting it's on there kind of no display on the dash again I just feel like there's they could be more intuitive and as tour is I think the one thing that people in on watching this on YouTube will talk about is Center stand and only one of these three bikes has a center stand even as an option the super sensible Honda comes with a center stand and the other two can't have them yeah they're not even options would that be a deal breaker for you and not at all I don't know not really I don't really obviously for a bit of Maintenance and stuff it's nice to put it up on a center stand but it's not not an issue for me I'm with you I you know and I don't understand necessarily why it has been become such a big bug bear for people you've clearly never found yourself in south of France with a Thousand Mile old chain needing to put okay I'm Happ to be proved wrong to be berated for that well you know as you were saying that they run from kind of sporty to T so too do their screen adjustments like the Suzuki doesn't have any screen adjustment and it's quite a low screen I didn't have any turbulence or buffeting from it but it it feels like the kind of least wind protection the Kawasaki goes sort halfway between you can push a button within the cockpit and then move the screen through three or four positions kind of adds a little bit of height I think that might be a touring screen on it I'm not sure it I think it's as the touring it's as part of the tour but I think it's just a smoke screen as opposed to a higher touring screen but yeah four four settings but you need both hands to do it don't you one to push the button down and one to move the screen uh but I found it better or best in the most upright position for for wind protection which is the mistake I'm the N of assuming that cranking the screen up to the full height would give you wind protection along the lines of pan Europeans and doils and stuff but it doesn't does it Michael not at all no I likened it to having Woody Woodpecker baming at your skull it was it was so much turbulence is that the best way to describe it turbulence because it was awful I mean again just so you guys know I rode the Kawasaki first I tried it in a couple of different positions but I had my AG on which has a peak and you know I had to take the peak off um have to but I did chose to just to kind of you feel what it was like without one uh and then yeah get on that Honda I thought yeah same as you I thought right I'll have a go at that and within half a mile was just fighting to get the damn thing down again it's literally that quick isn't it you kind of get out you get onto the road you get up to speed and you just think what's going wrong here and then you have to adjust the screen down a couple of clicks to kind of get a bit of peace and quiet and that's not the easiest process in the world either but once once you do get it down into kind of a mid-range position I think the Honda does have the best weather protection it's kind of a wide screen and those little deflectors that's right they kind of contribute the biggest body work as well so for wind protection is the Honda once you've got that screen height sorted [Music] uh boys one thing we did notice is the the differential between tires here we got three different tires three different brands haven't we again with the sporty to the T RI we've got three different sort of yeah qualities qualities types so Dunlop sport Max Road sport I think it might be Road sport to whatever they're called I'm not a fan I don't think that the OE tires on on the gsxs 100000 GT are its strong point in fact I think especially when it's kind of cold and a bit slimy and a bit damp underfoot it really it sort of hobbles the bike in a way that's a bit unfair really feels a bit like you're doing a bit of a disservice like you're trying to I don't know Sprint in hobil boots or something it's just not they don't instill loads of confidence now I have ridden this bike a couple of years ago on a th000 m tour in the middle of summer up in the north of England and it was lovely I think once the tires are kind of warm and grippy they're they're good but they do really struggle in these conditions today which I don't know did you find the same 100% I when I started on the Suzuki it was quite dry and then it's only a little bit of rain we had all day really but um so the road got quite greasy quite quickly and I just found myself almost tiptoeing around corners because as soon as I was coming out of the corner asking for the gas it was literally spinning up so and I I do think I'm sure they're a good tire but in these cold temperatures they're just not not performing for me now I rode the Suzuki third out of the three of us whether they'd warmed up a bit whether they G gone through a heat cycle I don't know I didn't feel as though they were that bad but what I did do is notice that you boys were were very unconfident on them it's definitely a consequence of the conditions right if you ride a lot in really cold wet conditions they're not the best tire I would much rather be on the Honda's excellent metla Road TX which feel I mean jumping from the Suzuki to the Honda in the same conditions feels like I don't know like you've got slicks on or something it feels incredible yeah yeah it feel so much more connected to the road I feel kind of like something's kind of biting into the TAC rather than just skimming over the top of it so Road 01s SE aren't they and they're very very good yeah they definitely look like more of a touring tire but they they what you need in a tire is to keep ight and to instill that confidence and and I felt at home on on the I think that that we talked about suspension and road holding earlier on and I think that part and part and parcel of that is the quality of the tire absolutely I think sometimes people use touring Tire as a kind of a criticism well that's on Sports tires and that's only on touring tires but for today I'd much rather be on touring tires absolutely then the Kawasakis on s23 bridgeston are they yeah is that new I think it is thought they did pretty well in the conditions today standard tires on Kawasaki Sports tours hasn't been as strong point in the past going back to z000 sxs they came on some slightly uh unhelpful rubber it does feel like this is a big Improvement on certainly the z000 SX yeah I think knowing what we what knowing what or my preconception of an s23 bridgstone is that it was it's more of the sporty Tire it doesn't you know when you compare you line all three up together didn't look particularly as sport as the Suzuki but um but again no problems no issues perhaps because again we were riding to the conditions um but yeah yeah no issues no no no worries about [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] that um should we move on to tank size tank range and fuel economy uh Mr mathematician muff should I get my numbers out for you could uh well on on paper the tank sizes aren't that different the two inline fours both have 19 L tanks and the sensible touring Honda has a big 20.4 L tank so you would think that there shouldn't be too much of a difference in range but the rate they drink that fuel is quite different can I interrupt I just want to talk about weight actually just again it's relevant to this point isn't it here not well not necessarily to handling but but with the purpose of of economy in mind because there's quite a big difference between the Suzuki and the Honda isn't there there Suzuki is the lightest here by quite a bit it is he says checking is prar 226 kilos with the full tank it's pretty all right yeah certainly sets a benchmark for the other two the kosaki comes in at 234 only a little bit heavier although I suspect that's probably for a version without the piers and some of the bits the chunker of the group is the Honda which is 249 kilos without the panas and 260 something with the pan M but I have to say even though that is a what a 35 kilo difference it's not like it makes the Honda a worse bike in any way I don't think no I mean the ride quality is still very good it still goes into Corners really nicely with that in mind how did it perform from an economy well surprising given it is lugging around the biggest amount of lad it was by far and way the most frugal so the two inline fours both returned ATT tested kind of 38 MPG and the Honda was far more passim monus with the 48 MPG brilliant so that's why the Suzuki's fuel light was on and the Honda still said it had 80 miles left to go cuz I was on the Suzuki at the time and it's it started flashing I think that it we' only covered about 125 miles or something like that surprising again for a Touring bike to have its light flashing at at that kind of range symptomatic of its sportiness I think maybe you're right maybe you're right one thing we haven't mentioned in the sort of the the Comfort um section was was about it sort of you the position of the rider and also you know how how we think it might be for carrying a passenger I know you boys were playing around in the garage a bit earlier on any preference in terms of Comforts yes quite a bit is it obvious that we all I think it is I think the Honda is the most comfortable if you're going to do massive miles and across Europe or whatever touring I think that's that's what you'd go on isn't it probably how tall are you 62 59 and I'm 6 foot so okay there's a bit of a difference between us but I think we all we all kind of concur that we didn't cover massive miles today but there was enough for us to get a feel for that that that old hip to KN KNE to foot exactly and then you boys tried out with it as a billion didn't you yeah again it's not going to surprise you it's not going to blow your mind but I think the Honda is probably the most comfortable for ailon when I was sat on the back I felt like I was kind of sat lower down behind and a probably a bit better shielded the seat fills the kind of widest and most comfortable and the grab handles feel big and sturdy um probably next would be the Kawasaki which has a slightly wider Pon seat than the Suzuki and probably kind of slightly sturdier plion handles as well so yeah I think I think the Hond is the most comfortable the biggest SE it's got of got nice uh pullback handlebar and I'd say the Suzuki is probably unsurprisingly the sportiest of the three it's a common theme isn't it but even with the panes because we left the panas on both both the the Honda and the Kaki didn't we into so of access or they a bit in the way or yeah I think it is always slightly trickier to get on the back of a bike with piers and I guess that's one thing in the Suzuki's favor today but of course you can buy P of course you can they would love to sell you £1,100 they are some expensive Piers yes so Mr Shoebridge yes as you in the market for a sports tour and if you were to be looking at one of these three options which option might it be kawazaki for me yeah just yeah it was I think we touched on it earlier the performance is so good the engine so good gear changes handling brakes all around package really the only the only downside for it for me was a little bit on foot position there was um some getting in the way of my Hill uh just for people's reference it wasn't the pan foot rest was it it it was the yeah there's a little sort of nobly bit underneath that P pan foot Peg which just just for me was just a bit annoying as I was trying to move my foot around but uh but yeah that definitely that' be the one that i' I'd go for out of the three great bike so if you're laying your own money have you got preference very much so yeah I completely agree with you Andy the ninja 1100 is the best sports tourer and I think it comes back to that thing we said at the beginning if a sports tour is supposed to bring together the World of Sports and touring I think Suzuki makes a good case for feeling like the most authentically sporty in that it has the most power and it kind of delivers it in the most kind of aggressive hard-edged way and the Honda is the comfiest and uses the least Fuel and has the you know the best wind protection that is the most sports that is the most Torah but the karasaki brings those two things together in a really convincing way that is the best sports tour of the three bikes for me all I would be doing is is repeating what you boys have just said so I'm with you I'm with you the Suzuki is definitely a more comfortable sports bike uh and the kazak is the it does it kind of covers that the the niche that we're talking about uh the best and even though it's the most expensive yeah even though it's the most expensive we've got the premium one here and it's I'm pleased I think you're right if we were to go do that that that that route once more or even if you you know riding another under up a Motorway it's it's just it's the it's the it's the one I'd choose are there any other bikes that we don't have here good point that you would say might make a case for being a better Sports tour again I'm I'm sure that be several of you screaming where's the Yamaha Tracer well hey Michael where's the Yamaha Tracer yeah we could have covered all four Japanese manfacturers on mainstream Japanese manufacturers here can we all in one go mainly it's not here because I want wanted to reserve it well this is the liter class so to speak and I wanted to kind of hold it back and Pitch it more against the f900 XR which is new updated isn't it for this year and the new Tri Triumph Tiger sport 800 as well which we'll we'll get another uh group test together with those three bites later in the year but um but yeah apart from those three extras what else is there out there well I guess you've got the BMW r1250 RS for as long long as that is still around for it may or may not get replaced by a 1300 at some point I think that's a a good sports tour as well it's got quite uh sporty riding position lovely engine but it would be a lot more expensive than the three bikes we have here and yeah I do get the sense it's probably on its way out soon yeah otherwise we're going to get into because these are all 17 front and back aren't they there's there's a range of bikes out there with cuz we could start getting into Adventure bikes and then there's a whole world out there is there anything else that I think I don't think there's anything else that we' we've missed out the sort of mainstream or shouting at us loud and clear I'm sure if there is we'll be yeah I might regret saying that cool all right thank you very much thank you boy uh for your time and efforts and expertise today thank you for paying attention I hope you're still with us uh we've got to talk about bike social membership of course that's your bag isn't it we've got with the best by 160 different rewards and offers and discounts and Deals and all sorts of brilliance so if you're not yet a bike special member why not it's free if you have uh insured your bike directly with Bennetts if you haven't then it's six p a month or 60 a year um what else we got to mention bike club come and join us at Bike Club it's our online community Forum I think is probably the best way to describe it any questions answered by the experts and that's not necessarily us um but yeah bike club uh so yeah search bike social bike club and otherwise come find us on Facebook that's another one uh so if you're uh willing to come and and and kind to get involved again it's not it's a Facebook group it's called Bennett Spike social and we're always on there every day you're on mypace good on that Merry note uh thanks again and we'll see you next time [Music] m [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] take one you mentioned the I am you do we need to talk about any more about that no can't do the maths hello Michael speaking in a garage with some paperwork hello Andy speaking oh about 130 yeah I'll talk to that one but I'll come straight in here cuz you're falling asleep and then we bought the bikes in hey take two um so yeah we'll do tires Benn bike social cut

2025-03-14 12:42

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