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Touring bikes are made for touring. No surprise there! They mostly are big and heavy, and come equipped with options for carrying luggage. The riding position on these bikes is often quite relaxed or upright. You may immediately think of heavy Harley’s, but other brands also offer plenty of touring bikes. Think of the Honda Goldwing, a touring bike through and through. Do you want to cover long distances on a bike in a comfortable way? Then touring bikes might be your thing!
In addition to real touring bikes, we’ve also included sport touring bikes in this overview. These motorcycles are most often derived from a sports bike, but are modified to provide a more relaxed riding experience. You’ll still have a relatively sporty riding position, but you won’t have to lean as forwards as you’d have to on a sports bike. This type of motorcycle can be a great choice for anyone who wants to ride sporty, but who prefers to avoid the seating position of leaning forward as you do on sports bikes.
Let’s get down to business. Calling a motorcycle ‘a high bike’ is, of course, a subjective topic. But to make it all a bit easier we drew a line at 31.5 inches. All bikes below 31.5 inches are classified as ‘motorcycles with a low seat height’. Above 31.5 inches we classify the bikes as ‘motorcycles with a high seat height’. We’ve done this with a perspective from riders who are around 5′ 6″ tall.
Model | Seat height | Weight | Power | Top speed |
BMW F 800 GT | 76.5 in | 214 kg | 90 bhp | >200 km/h |
Harley-Davidson Street Glide | 26.3 in | 361 kg | 86 bhp | 150 km/h |
Harley-Davidson Road Glide | 27.3 in | 372 kg | 93 bhp | 170 km/h |
Honda GL 1800 Gold Wing | 29.1 in | 365 kg | 127 bhp | 210 km/h |
Indian Roadmaster | 26 in | 403 kg | 73 bhp | 175 km/h |
Model | Seat height | Weight | Power | Top speed |
BMW R 1200 RS | 29.9 in | 236 kg | 125 bhp | 200 km/h |
Ducati Super Sport S | 31.9 in | 184 kg | 113 bhp | 250 km/h |
Honda CBR 650 F | 31. 9 in | 211 kg | 91 bhp | 200 km/h |
Kawasaki Ninja 650 | 31.1 in | 193 kg | 69 bhp | 200 km/h |
Kawasaki ZZR 1400 | 31.5 in | 268 kg | 200 bhp | 300 km/h |
Yamaha FJR 1300 A | 31.7 in | 289 kg | 146.2 bhp | 245 km/h |