Robin: Hello everybody, this is Robin Dean with The Riding Obsession. I'm here with Travis Burleson, co-founder.

Travis: Hello.

Robin: We just attended the 2015 Progressive Auto International Motorcycle Show at, what was it, Rosemont?

Travis: The Donald B. Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, located conveniently by O'Hare Airport.

Robin: You actually used to work right there, right?

Travis: Yeah, I used to work across the street at one of the big hotels.

Robin: I know that the line right there in this photo that we're looking at right now, I know people can't see this, but I swear that's my doppelganger right there. So yeah, as we walked in, I was pretty entertained by the slot car track. I thought that was pretty cool. I heard a guy next to me talking about how basically they set up a slot car track that was for slightly oversized motorcycles. It was a large three-lane track that did a full figure eight. And yeah, I heard one guy rolling by talking about how he used to do model trains, which I used to be a big fan of when I was a kid. And so this really caught my eye. And they even had the stats up top. I thought that was a really good way to introduce everything for the kids, especially since there were obviously a lot of strollers around.

Travis: And the big kids. Well, you had to do it, like you could win a prize.

Robin: What was the prize?

Travis: A cheap, progressive branded stuff, I think. It may be like one big prize, because I talked to some of the progressive girls, and they're like, oh, there's like a spin the wheel sort of thing. Oh, you have to do the race, and then how you finish in the race determines which wheel you get to spin. So if you win the race, I guess you get a better prize.

Robin: So you win an opportunity to take an opportunity at winning something else.

Travis: Yes.

Robin: Oh, wow, that's a champion maneuver on that one.

Travis: Yeah, I think it was a little complicated. Last year, you just went up and spun the wheel, and you got sunglasses or a chapstick or a tote bag or something.

Robin: Oh, yeah. And we had the tote bag. I know we were throwing a lot of pamphlets other than that.

Travis: Yeah.

Robin: A lot of writing on that. And the very first thing I saw, actually, believe it or not, the first thing I saw when I walked in was Tony from Analog Motorcycles here in the Galena area. Where am I at? I'm in Libertyville, and he is just north of me. He actually, his Indian, there it is, is a 1920s Indian cafe racer. He is in upwards of a $75,000 bike that's been completely rebuilt and customized with all kinds of brass trimmings. Somebody kept throwing money at it.

Travis: Yeah.

Robin: That easily, hands down, would have gotten my vote had I voted for anything that was on the level.

Travis: You're a bad American.

Robin: I'm a bad American. But that is a gorgeous bike. And then just past it, very first thing I know I was drawn to was, because I am the current owner of a large Suzuki, I went straight to the Suzuki section. And the new GSX-R, a good looking bike. I have this photo here with Rich Scheidlich, who is going for a land speed record in the next year. I don't know, I really, mostly I just saw the signature colors of their Gixxer and thought I need to ask them about the other GSX models, which was particular to my personal favorite niche, which would be road bikes, luggage equipped. And it seems that, let's see.

Travis: What was that, the GSX-F? The GSX-F is... It's like the naked Street Fighter-y one, right?

Robin: It is. And so what I have is a GSF 1200, second generation from like 2003. And then they, that became the GSX-FA, which was, you know, it was basically a developed, it developed in the sport touring direction with, you know, more aerodynamic headlight and it was based on the same engine. But it came with factory luggage that was absolutely gorgeous. And they continue to make that luggage I like with my bike. This apparently, the GSX-S 1000. They're not doing a 1200. The photo we have here is of a prototype version in their signature blue.

Travis: Yeah, that's the Street Fighter-y one. So it's kind of, kind of reminds me of like the SV before they made it look ugly. Yeah. But you know, it's got, it doesn't have clip-ons, doesn't have a full fairing.

Robin: You say the SV looks ugly. They made the SV look ugly.

Travis: The new one, the Gladius. And then they realized they like, they took the SV, which was a great bike, made it look ugly, called it the Gladius, the same motor. And then they realized Gladius was a stupid name. And now they call it like the SVF, but they haven't made it look better yet.

Robin: No, that's not the, that's not the one where they made the transition to the square tube some time ago. This is a different, completely different animal.

Travis: Yeah. It's like all kind of weird and bubbly looking. I mean, so you might like, it's kind of a love it or hate it, I guess, sort of styling. But you know, it's that street fighter sport bike chassis, but with regular handlebars and a little bit more relaxed foot pegs. That's what the GSX S that we're looking at is.

Robin: Yeah. I'm past the nineties. So anything bubble and oval is pretty much out for me. But this, the bike we're looking at right here isn't a 15, it's a 16. I don't know if they told you that.

Travis: Okay. Yeah. So that's not actually out yet. Maybe the gauging reactions. It's not even in production. Probably in Europe.

Robin: Yeah. And what I found, yeah, maybe GSX S 1000, they're not doing a 1200 and politely enough, they pulled me aside after I mentioned an interest in luggage, got my information. And they had said that the, you know, the guy that was in charge of that particular bit of the show expressed that he had, he had the ability to contact those in charge who are taking notes on what people mentioned about the bike. And what's particular to me is I want hard luggage. I want a comfortable sport bike. I'll probably get something full fairing eventually someday. And something that blocks wind and has full luggage for long distance storing. And they don't have luggage for this yet, nor do they have one for the actual release, which they had in a flat black. This right here, that's the same bike. It's a really nice profile.

Travis: It is a tough looking, you know, street fighter.

Robin: That is the 15, which doesn't look much different.

Travis: It's a little less, it's got a little, it doesn't have the, yeah, like the sport skirt on the bottom. But yeah, I could see, you know, where that, they could put a little more plastic on it and make it more touring friendly. Well, cause I think in the literature too, it says sport tour, but they don't have luggage.

Robin: Yeah. It's just confusing. I mean, it's, it's an undefined genre. We picked a niche that it's not a manufacturer label. Really. This caught my eye. I thought this was great. This is the GW 250. Is this a brand new model altogether?

Travis: No, that's been out for a couple of years. The, the, I forget which one came first. Cause now as a show, they had two, there was just one. I think the GW 250.

Robin: They were both two fifties.

Travis: Yeah. And then they have like the two 50 F. So one is kind of a naked and the other ones, they got more fairing and a windshield on it.

Robin: Right. And that's a great entry level. I mean, that just has an entry bike. That's kind of cool. If you're, if you're making the transition from a naked bike, which I personally feel everybody should start with a naked bike, just because it's as close to a bicycle as you're going to get with a motor on it.

Travis: It depends. I mean, if you're really going to be commuting and you live in the, anywhere but Southern California, you know, the one with a bit more fairing on it and the windshield might do you better if you're going to be riding in cold weather or a little bit of fog or something.

Robin: Alaska, you know, Antarctic. And the one you're talking about is this right here. That's the naked version.

Travis: Yeah. The only thing wrong with this bike is the fender. It's at this big, like big clunky, like Busso looking fender on it, on this little 250. And it totally looks out of place. Otherwise I think the styling's good. I like the way the, uh, the turn signals are integrated into the body work there on the edge of the gas tank.

Robin: Oh yeah. That's super clean.

Travis: I know, um, you know, a lot of the test rides compared to, um, a current competitor, like, you know, the, the CBR or the Ninja 250 or 300. Now they bumped those up to 300, you know, it's heavier and slower and less of a sport bike. But if you're a beginner and you're looking for a commuter or a starter bike, maybe you don't want a sporty seating position, which the CBR and the Ninja have. And this has more of a, it's definitely a standard motorcycle.

Robin: Which actually stands out compared to the TU 250 there, which I've heard. I mean, I don't, I'm still an entry-level mechanic at best. You know, I've been riding for five years. I've been getting my hands dirty, making my mistakes going along the, going along in the motions, but I see the TU 250 there. And I've only heard that it's nothing short of a disaster in so many directions.

Travis: Really? I've heard, I think it seems pretty, I mean, it's a single, it's a little vibey. If you like, if you like that classic styling, it's good. You know, if you want something more modern though, this, this I think is your, a modern standard. This is your best solution. Plus this is a twin. So it's a little revvier than the single is. Oh, is the TU 250 a single? TU 250 is a single. Yeah. They're both fuel injected. This has like good starter. Yeah. The GW 250 has good, um, like it has like a six speed transmission. It has a gear position indicator in the dash. The dash on it's quite, quite nice.

Robin: The TU 250 has a six speed, you said?

Travis: Uh, the, the G the GW 250. Yeah. The one we're looking at now. Yeah. It has a six speed and it, um, has a gear position indicator. So, you know, I think it's, it's, it's a really a good bike. I mean, it's a little. If you are a rider, you're going to find it kind of slow, kind of heavy, kind of basic, but that's what it is. You know, I think if you were, if you were looking at like a Nighthawk 250, which both of our wives ride a Nighthawk 250, this is the modern equivalent to that where it's like, it's not super sporty, but it's comfortable and it's reliable. And with this, you get fuel injection.

Robin: Oh, wow. So, you know, that's fantastic. It's a good looking bike.

Travis: Yeah. I think both versions are good looking. The naked and the feared one.

Robin: Yeah. Agreed. What's up here. Another angle on it. Let's see.

Travis: You know, I mean, you can definitely see where it's a beginner bike, like the switch gear and the handlebars are not, you know, not $20,000 bike level. I mean, it's cheap kind of ish, but it's an inexpensive bike. So.

Robin: Yeah. No, no, making a transition. I walked over. I don't know how I ended up skipping so far ahead, you know, but I may have gone past the booths and seen KTM. This may have been a little bit of a highlight to my trip to the show. As I walk up to this is not the KTM dealer. This is a an aftermarket KTM service.

Travis: Yes. The KTM dealer in Woodstock. So it wasn't, it wasn't the corporate booth. It was a dealer booth.

Robin: Exactly. And so I walk up and I see a great bike and I decide in my, in my amateurish way, I'm going to take a knee and take a photo of the motorcycle. And I hear a whistle and a snap. And all of a sudden these two ladies appeared out of nowhere. The KTM models for Wisconsin just show up and pose right next to the motorcycle made a really great shot. And it's a good looking bike. I guess. What is this? The Duke 690 or is this the Super Duke? That's a good question. I'm not really sure. I know that they had, you know, I wish I could move that tag that's in front of me right there. Um, but I remember that my friend, Neil, um, Neil Sullivan, who has written for BMW in the past, he really was kind of blown away by the fact that the frame was painted. And I don't know if KTM does that by default or if this is a pull apart revamp, but, uh, it looks freaking sharp. Either way, amazing bike. And I know that one particular Polish friend of mine, one, Andrew, I can't pronounce his last name. He is going to drool for this particular series of photos as he owns an earlier model of the 990, which he's been modifying to death. And I mean, even the older models from years past, they make a glass clutch cover. I don't know if you've ever seen that on a bike, but basically it's just a destruction proof glass that you sort of fastened on the side and you can see all the fluids rolling around while the clutch operates. So it's kind of sticking it to Ducati and saying, you don't really have to do an open clutch. You can always just do glass.

Travis: Yeah. Well, let's see if you're actually going to ride it on the street and not just on the track. You know, you don't want to get all that street gunk in your, you know, in your clutch.

Robin: Yeah. It is a moving part, right?

Travis: Yeah.

Robin: It's your turn. What do you, tell me what you're looking at here. Now I know that's the 990.

Travis: That is the Super Duke. Yeah. What's it's actually, isn't it bigger now? It might. It is.

Robin: So is that, oh, is it 1100 or a thousand or something?

Travis: That's the 1290. 1290 Super Duke. Yeah.

Robin: So it's a naked, it's well, just like a street fighter. 1300 is basically what we're talking about.

Travis: Two cylinder, 75 degree. It's 1300 CCs.

Robin: It's a 650 twin. That is a monster bike right there. I bet you that. Wow. Beautiful.

Travis: Yeah, that's the, that's the one I don't remember when that there was like a video going out when that was still in prototype and it's basically just two and a half minutes of a guy burning out around an airport.

Robin: I think, yeah, I remember that. I saw that. It's got a natural, I mean, they really took everything that hipsters are trying to bring to cafe racers and just made it a modern bike and said, yeah, here you go.

Travis: I mean, it's really just a hooligan death machine. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing. So yeah, the trellis frame, giant V-twin motor and slick tires and that's it. And that's it. It's just a motor and wheels to make you go spin out and crash.

Robin: You'll go in every which way you want extremely quickly.

Travis: Except straight.

Robin: Now the Triumph, there was, this was hidden in the back corner on day one. Triumph, there were two Triumph bikes being given away. One was a speed triple. The other is this Triumph Daytona. I signed up to get this bike and I ended up getting, I ended up signing up for the triple. Because that's how I am. I didn't pay attention. I wanted to sign up to get the Daytona. And here we are with my application, which I still haven't heard back from. Go ahead and call me. I'm ready to pick that bike up whenever you let me know. That's a good looking bike though.

Travis: Yeah, it was the triple 1090 and the Daytona, which are both good looking bikes. I wouldn't mind. I mean, it may be a little sporty for me because I'm tall and I'd be tight. I'd be sore after about 40 minutes on one of those.

Robin: Okay. This is, this is all your show right here. We're looking at the Kawasaki versus.

Travis: Yes. I went to the Kawasaki booth. Well, I test rode a versus the old, the last generation versus 650 in the fall. And really liked it. It was actually one of the, when I got my BMW, it was one of the bikes I was looking at. And you know, the BMW sort of came my way before a versus came my way. And in retrospect, I kind of, as much as I love my BMW, I kind of wish I would have gotten a versus just because they still make them and there's more parts available and there's more aftermarket for it. But yeah, this 2015, they finally brought over the versus 1000, which has been in Europe for it's on the list of good European bikes.

Robin: So, so what do we have before then?

Travis: Just the versus 650.

Robin: Okay. So the America only got the 650.

Travis: Yeah. We only had the 650, which is basically a 650 Ninja on stilts. Like it's the same motor and a similar chassis design as the Ninja 650, but it's got, you know, five inches of suspension. And, you know, came with a little windshield. The first generation, the older one, or the first two kind of had love it or hate it styling with a sort of stacked headlight. And for 2015 and the versus 1000, which was only available in Europe, had a similar styling queue, but for 2015, they sort of gave it a more Ninja-esque styling queue with a little more fairing and dual headlights and more windshield. And then they brought the 1000 over to the United States, which is the same as the KX 1000. KZ 1000?

Robin: Yeah, the KZ 1000. This definitely has like that same robust.

Travis: Yeah, it's the KZ 1000. It's the same engine. They retune it a little bit to give it more mid-range grunt. So it's kind of got more of a linear torque pull, whereas the, you know, the KZ is, you know, it's peaky. It's a sport bike engine. You got to really get it up, you know, over 7,000 RPMs and get that surge of power and the...

Robin: Really high power band.

Travis: Yeah, the versus is way flatter. So, you know, it's maybe not, you don't get that high rev surge of power, but you get that pull all the way from like 3000 RPMs. Definitely fits you.

Robin: Did it feel comfortable?

Travis: Yeah, the bike is super comfortable, you know, being a taller rider. You know, a lot of the sportier bikes just, you know, I could sit on them for about 40 minutes, an hour, and then, you know, I'm just going to be, my knees are going to start cramping up and, you know, my legs are going to hurt. So, and I look kind of silly. But yeah, the versus 1000 especially is a, it's a pretty sizable bike. You know, and they, they only import it in the LT trim, which has the, comes with the saddle bags, but it's got, you know, adjustable windscreen, hand guards, saddle bags are spacious and really nice. They're integrated mounting points. So when... How many liters are we talking? It's a reasonable amount. I'd have to look up the specs on that. I mean, full face helmet, you know, you can fit a full face helmet in each pannier. Top case is an option. When your top case comes, it's a GV, I mean, GV built luggage. And the top case, if you get it, comes wired for lights.

Robin: That could spell trouble for you in the future though. Take it from me.

Travis: I mean, if you, if you, if you wire it up, right, it's not an issue.

Robin: Yeah. Or if you go with a twisted throttle, which is always good. Let's see here. Okay. The big girl, the big girl's looking good. I'm talking about the Kawasaki Concourse. Is that the Z 1400 or ZG 1400? What'd they call this?

Travis: Just this Concourse 14, right?

Robin: Yeah. I think it's the, yeah. C14 is the known moniker is, you know, in short, shorthand moniker. And in this green, I just think that, I think she looks really good, but she's still, she's still like the confident big girl at prom. You know, she's got the bright green dress and she, she, you know, she knows that she's standing out, but she just looks kind of rocking. And I personally, it's not my bike. It's not my bike to buy. It's not my style. It doesn't have enough of a, it's not nimble enough in my world. And it's got that enormous wheel span, but all in all, it's, I think it's a, like it's developing still for the better. It seems to have its good years. It's bad years.

Travis: Well, definitely. If you want, you know, if you want a sport tour, a full-on big, you know, big sport tour, I mean, that's, and that's really the distinction is that things that are called sport tour now are like 1200cc and above it's the Concourse, it's the FJR, it's the R1200RT, or even sometimes they consider the R1600 or the K1600 in there.

Robin: You can back up on that. I debate that, that anything above 800 is the magic number in my mind.

Travis: Cause if you look at the F800, I'm saying this, what you're going to see that says sport touring on the, on the sticker, on the sticker that says, this is a sport touring machine. They're all going to be big. You can take sportier bikes that are smaller and make them sport touring bikes. I mean, other than like the F800GT is probably the only, I mean, who else, who else sells a midsize bike with a windshield and panniers?

Robin: That's a good question. I mean, maybe there are a couple of Suzuki's, it's, it's like making the conversion, which I'm a big, I'm a big fan of making.

Travis: But I'm saying, and this is sort of where, you know, the, maybe not the market as much as the production is going is, you know, you have that, the Concourse, the FJR. Production intended. Yeah. Those big, big displacement, long wheelbase, lots of luggage, long distance sport haulers. Well, I mean, I think though too, compared to the competition, this is a lot of motor. I mean, the 1400 is just going to rip your arms off. It's not maybe as nimble as the FJR, but.

Robin: Here's a good example. Now let's, let's talk about a short trip sport tourer. This is a Ninja 650 in black gloss. And it seems to me that, I mean, those are standard position bars. It's got the sexy aerodynamic look, but you get the upright position.

Travis: Yeah. I mean, that's, the Ninja's always been sort of a, I don't want to say a poser sport bike, but it's been, it's a standard, standard sport bike, standard position. It's a sporty standard. Like they make it look, you know, it's always been fair. You go back to like the ER6 or the ER500, like the old, like, you know, Ninja 500 with that twin was not, or the GSX was not a sporty bike.

Robin: Yeah. The thing is it's nimble. I mean, you could probably do things.

Travis: Now they are, I mean, they've, they've definitely improved over the years, but you know, it has that, that fairing, it has that sport bike look, but with regular handlebars, lower foot pegs. So you could, you could definitely like, is it this, you could basically make this a lower, like I said, this and the Versys 650 are pretty much the same bike, except the Versys is taller, has a more relaxed seating position. But if you want a sportier seating position, you want to be lower to the ground. You could easily, and they, and they make, there's a huge aftermarket, huge following for the Ninja. So you could always put bags on it. I think they even, there's even, there's even hard bag options. Yeah.

Robin: The concept of a conversion, this one kind of fits the bill. I mean, if you're looking for something that's more like a weekend getaway sports or something that's not from here to Portland per se, um, in either direction from here in Chicago, uh, this is a good bike in terms of if I'm going up into Wisconsin, I'm gonna do some riding, you know, I've got my, I've got my, it's not technically vintage yet. I've got my Hawk GT here and I'm going to start building up and I'll probably bring that up by you a couple of times just to enjoy in the twisties. But this is a good example of a newer bike that you could probably add luggage to and use for heavier function.

Travis: The 650 is a good, it's a really great platform. I said, this is maybe the, the current iteration of, uh, a UJM, you know, it's going to look sporty, but it's got slightly more relaxed ergonomics. So it's still sporty, not full standard. Um, I'd say the versus is closer to that, but the versus is kind of the adventure sport category. So it's pretty tall. So if you're not, if you're not, you know, long leg, you might have an issue with the versus 650 where you can always lower it. Cause that's, yeah.

Robin: You're still one of us.

Travis: Yeah. Or we can just do this.

Robin: We'll just get the H2R and convert it into a commuter bike.

Travis: Well, it's how many, how many horsepower? Well, the R is not street legal, but it's, you know, claimed 300, uh, claimed 300 horsepower.

Robin: So yeah. All right.

Travis: I mean, this is, uh, you know, this is just a, basically Kawasaki was like, well, we could get bikini girls and become Ducati, or we can build a supercharged carbon fiber death machine and have people Google over that instead. Which I think was a good idea. I mean, you can get the, the H2 is the, um, the, the version you can, uh, right on the street, which doesn't have the carbon fiber. And there's, I think the H2 is only like 200 horsepower. It's not as high strung. Uh, so that's the one you can buy for an exorbitant amount of money, but for an even more exorbitant amount of money, you can get the H2R that's track only and 300 horsepower.

Robin: I think that that Honda, there's a GL absolutely amazing vintage GL.

Travis: Um, you know, I would just, just cause, well, they had just to go back to the GL for a second because they had the, um, the, the CB 1100. I don't remember if you remember when that came out, the CB 1100, that was, um, that vintage, it was 1100 CC in line four is basically a modern interpretation of an old CB 750, but it's like fuel injected. It looks like a bike from the six or the seventies. Um, and I would love if they took that concept with the flat four and like redid like a naked gold wing. Oh yeah, it wasn't the, what's the, they brought back the, the, the Valkyrie with 1800 C like the current golden engine, the 1800 CC flat six. It's like a power naked cruiser bike based on a golden platform, which is cool if that's your style. But I'd love to see when that looks like a UJM from the seventies, uh, with a more of

Robin: a, yeah, modern, modern, modern equivalent with a throwback flare is basically, yeah,

Travis: you know, I mean, keep it injected, you know, injected, but I mean, it was, you know, it's already water cooled being better forks, better brakes on that modern stuff, better suspension, but you know, basically take the, the CB 1100 and just put a flat four in it. And I think that'd be awesome right here.

Robin: I can't lie. The Honda VFR interceptor may very well be my next sport tour. And I mean, I get that it is, it is right, right on the line, just between sport bike and standard motorcycle. Um, but if you're comfortable leaning forward, which luckily I'm, you know, I'm a smaller guy, I'm five seven, then this is a bike that for me, I can lean forward a little bit without it really doing too much damage to my lower back. And I can tell you if they make a luggage package for this and I know they do, uh, this is what a bite, just beautiful. The luggage itself. And I think that I've seen it on other VFRs. It's a little bit low and solo. In fact, that it actually has a divot underneath to shape the exhaust and that, that doesn't look right to me. It also looks a little bit hazardous and, you know, you can probably cook an egg inside the base of it. But, uh, if they make it a little bit higher this round, I think they're really, I think they're about Honda. They might be onto something there with these motorcycles that they're making.

Travis: It was near the VFR making a comeback. I mean, it's always been popular. It's always been a sport touring. I mean, you know, people have always, I mean, the, that V4 motor just sounds great and has so much low end, you know, grunt to it. It's a great around town bike and there's always been a, you know, a cult following for the VFR and, and people have, have definitely, you know, turned them into sport tours in the past. And I think that the, the newest iteration of it, um, is right there with it. I mean, easily, you know, I said in that range of midsize bikes, it looks like getting to the, uh, getting to the engine might be kind of a hassle though.

Robin: That looks like a one piece fairing almost.

Travis: Um, yeah. A couple of bolts and it comes off.

Robin: Yeah.

Travis: I mean, it's not gonna be any worse than my BMW.

Robin: So you'd say it's a four banger. Yeah.

Travis: That's a V4. Yeah. Yeah. The VFR, um, you know, classic, you know, V4 growly engine, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's always sort of had that, um, yeah, it's sort of what we're talking about earlier, where if you, if you go by what the manufacturers say is sport touring, you're going to buy a 1200 plus CC long distance, you know, you're not old enough to own the Goldwing yet sort of bike, but, um, but, you know, but this isn't definitely in that category of, of midsize bikes. You can, you can convert. Um, yeah, I like this, you know, the, the GSX.

Robin: I like the, I like the fact it's probably got a digital readout for the speedometer and there's a single dial for the RPMs right in front of you. That's freaking hype.

Travis: Yeah. The big analog tack.

Robin: There, there you go. This is, here's your, uh, here's Travis's genre. If, for those of you who don't know it already, uh, there are a couple of riders for the site who are very particular to their, their joy of adventure. What would be some called adventure sport, but really it's just sport touring on steroids. It's the same, it's the same general bracket. And, uh, I used to argue it because I'm personally more attracted to road bikes that are equipped with luggage by road bike. I mean, sport bikes, uh, luggage equipped sport bikes. I find them that they really draw me in. I think that that's a lot of fun to me. There's a whole idea of getting from here to California as fast as possible and trying to get a knee down at the same time. Travis is, uh, very familiar with more comforts, uh, things that in a bad situation, if you needed to ride in the dirt, you probably could.

Travis: Like if you roll into dinosaur national monument at sunset and the campgrounds down a five mile dirt track.

Robin: Yeah. That, for example, uh, you know, that was, what did I say? Yeah. You go on ahead. I'll, I'll, I'll catch up here on my band at 1200.

Travis: Yeah. But I mean, what, to what we're looking at here, this is the F 800 GS. It's really, I mean, I think this is out of the realm of sport. I mean, this is an adventure bike. I mean, you know, people put, you can put road tires on it and people do, and they ride it as a street bike. But, you know, I think that's on the far, far cusp of, uh, it's a, it's on the adventure side of the spectrum for sure.

Robin: It's just got a huge butt. The thing has got so much luggage action going on. It's intended to, it's intended to protect and survive, you know, got its own military base built, right?

Travis: Yeah. It's the long way around, uh, sort of bike, you know, but I feel like the, you know, like the versus is maybe that more adventure sport, uh, where it's, you know, got street, street wheels on it or the, uh, you know, the multi strata is more adventure sport where it's got that adventure bike style and flair to it, but it's, you know, and the adventure bike ergonomics. Um, but you know, it's really a street bike underneath, whereas the GS is our adventure bikes.

Robin: At its heart, at its core. Yeah. And then of course the grandpa machine here, we've got the, is that the GL, the 1600 BMW 1600 GL?

Travis: That's the, yeah, the K 1600, K 1600 LT.

Robin: LT. There you go.

Travis: Luxury tour. Yes. So that's which, uh, did you know it has six cylinders as six cylinders. If you're confused about whether or not it has six cylinders, if you look at the side of the engine cases, there's a six on it. And when you turn it on, it says six and on the dashboard, there's a six and oh, there's three, there's six exhaust holes in the exhaust.

Robin: How do you, how do you activate the, uh, the cognac snifter? How do you get the, how do you, where's the, the cognac dispenser with the glass that comes out?

Travis: It's BMW, so that's an option.

Robin: I'm running a BMW K 1600 LT. It's a fantastic bike. I'm going to beat all of you.

Travis: It is a fantastic bike. I mean, really, I'd take that over a concourse any day.

Robin: It, you know, you can get potato, potato. It's up to you. You know, I guess if I were given the choice, I guess with BMW, I've only ever felt a grunting BMW with the opposed or not the opposed.

Travis: Is it the opposed twin? Yeah, the boxer twin.

Robin: And you know, I've, I'm more of a fan. If it's going to be this, it's going to be the flying brick. I feel like that's a smoother operation.

Travis: Well, I mean, the, the straight six is, is smooth and tons of power. I mean, you know, you get what you pay for. I mean, I've, I've, I've definitely used their jog dial interface. I've test ridden in our 1200 RT. When you rode Neil's bike, he's got an R1200 RT, the jog dial on the left-hand side.

Robin: Yeah.

Travis: I don't know how much you played with that, but I mean, it's really a well-designed bike and intuitive.

Robin: The automatic windshield alone is pretty much amazing.

Travis: And well, and electronic suspension and traction. I mean, it's, it's got everything. You pay for it, but you know, that's what BMW is known for.

Robin: Yeah. And this in particular, it's going to be a comfortable bike. It's, it's beautiful. It's just, it's something that I would consider in my retirement if I don't get myself a vintage like Pacific coast.

Travis: Oh yeah. The, the, here's the bike I, the other bike I want, if I don't get a Kawasaki versus is the F800GT.

Robin: And that is a sport touring machine in nimble profile.

Travis: Yeah. Just gorgeous. Yeah. I mean, it's the same, you know, parallel twin 800 from the, um, the GS, the 800GS, 800R, but you know, full, full-ish fairing, most of a fairing, I don't know if it's a full fairing.

Robin: Got kind of a half bite to it.

Travis: I mean, it's got the skirt. Windshield and, um, you know, that awesome BMW luggage with the shelf in it, where it's, it's like a lot of people don't like the clamshell. They prefer the top loading luggage. Um, but, uh, you know, the, the client, the BMW clamshells are nice because there's a, there's a ledge inside the, um, inside. So like, you can just set everything on the ledge in the bag and then close it. So the bottom of the bag sticks out all the way.

Robin: Yeah. I think I saw a photo of that once.

Travis: Yeah. And then it has, uh, the belt drive, actually the belt drive that was designed initially for my bike, the F 650 CS. So the single-sided aluminum swing arm with the, uh, the pulley drive, which is integrated. They did a way better job with this other, with the styling, the way the, um, exhaust is up swept and with the five lug wheel attachment.

Robin: So better clearance for sure.

Travis: When it gives you that floating rear wheel with the single-sided swing arm, look that you get that floating rear wheel. Um, you know, and it comes with heated grips. It comes with ABS, it comes with a center stand. Um, so that's, uh, you know, really the, the bags are an option because, you know, BMW, it's an option. It's always an option.

Robin: As far as like the clamshell thing is concerned, I got to say that it's like, if, if I can get those off of the bike easily and I can get to my hotel room bed and put it on the bed and open it up like a normal suitcase, I don't really need top loading.

Travis: Yeah. I mean, really, I mean, anything you're, you're going to want to have instant access to is going to be in a tank bag or a top case.

Robin: Yeah.

Travis: Right. That's not really, in my opinion, I am, you know, I am HO your mileage may vary, but, oh, here's the other, the other one I really like. Yeah, we got it. This is, this is also in the genre of adventure sport, the new Yamaha F J O nine. So they took the F Z O nine platform with that awesome. Uh, it was like 890 CC something. Um, triple, which, you know, the triples, if you've ever written a triumph or just great, you get the, you get the grunt of a twin and the readiness of a four. And it's really, you know, the best of both worlds. So they took the F Z O nine sort of street fighter concept, gave it another inch of suspension, uh, relax the ergos a bit, put a windshield and hand guards on it. And I think it looks great. It looks mean, you know, this, this'll go toe to toe with like the Ducati is in the looks department, I think.

Robin: Yeah. Or more than the Ducati, I would say with the, uh, what do you think it is against the super 10 array?

Travis: Well, super 10 array is a different machine. Super 10 arrays, super 10 arrays and adventure bike. I mean, the super 10 array is an adventure. I mean, it's got the, the, the big front wheel. I mean, this is running 17 inch. I mean, like I said, it's basically just an F Z an F Z O nine that's slightly taller with the windshield and panniers on it.

Robin: Which that's actually where I became confused was, you know, so the F J are the ones that have more of an ADV profile and the F Zs are the ones that are more lower front ends and sport bikes.

Travis: Yeah. I mean, the F Z is a street fighter where it's like this, that's the thing though. It's like they call it adventure, but really, I mean, the styling looks comparable. They just made like a touring version of the F J O nine. I, I wouldn't even call it adventure styling. They just, that's where the, you know, that's for the FZ series with FJ.

Robin: Oh, for the FJ.

Travis: I wouldn't say it's, it doesn't look adventure. I mean, it's angular and pointy, but that's the way the Yamaha is looking at. That's the way the R one and the R six look in the FZs look like. I think it's just like, oh, we took an FJ, we took an FZO nine and we made it a little more comfortable, a little more standard.

Robin: It's mostly the front end, the front end really stands tall. Yeah, exactly.

Travis: I mean, that, that they made a touring version of the, of the FZ. And I think that's it. Like you want more suspension when you're touring. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. Cause I look at, I mean, the way the exhaust runs underneath it, you're not going to take that thing off road. You couldn't take it. It's got, it's got a sport rubber on it. It's not, you know, it's like the, the versus isn't an off-road bike. I've seen guys convert them, but, um, you know, it's really, uh, it's really, they took their sport bike. They took the Ninja, you know, they took the, the KZ in this case, they took the FZ and they, you know, they made it more comfortable. They lifted it up and they're calling it adventure sport or adventure-ish because that's the market. Because most of the guys who buy those GSs and the adventure bikes, ride them on the road. So they're like, well, let's just make road bikes and call them adventure.

Robin: Like I said, I like the adventure sport moniker, but it doesn't mean that anybody's going to agree, especially when, when, uh, you know, they, they actually build some of those bikes. In fact, they build that bike as a quote sport tour. So, you know, I have to be open-minded, which I am now, thanks to, you know, most of my writers pretty much hammering me and in the editing department. Um, I, you know, the FZ1 though, or the FZ07, even still, I see this bike as something I could ride in long-term. I could ride this long distances without a problem. It's really about the body type of the rider. If you're tall, you're going to want more suspension. If you're short, you're going to be more comfortable. You're going to be just as comfortable with something stockier and more, uh, race ready. So to speak.

Travis: I thought the FZ was, I mean, it's a gorgeous bike. I mean, you said I wanted the dealer the other day too. And you know, maybe you were looking at me. It was a little too small for my six foot one frame. But you know, I mean, you want like an around town and it's cheap too. It's like. Yeah. Affordable bikes are always good. It's like six and a half grand. Like it's, it's really good. I mean, the, the F the 09, the FZ09 looks basically the same as just more motor, a little more suspension. I think the components are a little better on the 09, but the 07 is a great bike.

Robin: Now I want to talk about this bike in semi-passing because quite frankly, I find it greatly intimidating and a beautiful, beautiful way. We're looking at the super 10 array, uh, the 2015 super 10 array. I don't know how many CCs this bike is.

Travis: Uh, 1200.

Robin: 1200 CCs. This one has a winch. It has a winch on its butt end. Uh, it seems to have been disconnected or it's missing its cover. But the fact of the matter is this thing exists and I'm not, you know, I don't think that winch exists to protect the bike. I think that winch exists for the bike to help, you know, this bike pull lesser bikes out of the mud. Yeah, this bike could do it. This bike could probably pull a small log. Uh, if not at least provide a car with enough stability to drag itself out in reverse. It's just to think that, okay, this bike is so girthy and meaty that we're going to add an XT17 rear winch to its actual, to the subframe. Not, you know, not any kind of the hull, just the subframe where the top case goes.

Travis: That is, that might be like a marketing gimmick. I don't know if I, I don't know if I try to try to pull a bike out, but the electric winch mounted to my rear luggage. Pull somebody skiing.

Robin: I'm going to pull you skiing.

Travis: It's like, oh, this has a, like a 30 pound max weight limit. Let's pull something on it with a winch.

Robin: You know, I guess one question comes to mind is that, uh, if, okay. Has any of the bike ever done that? Has anybody ever said you can get a winch for this bike?

Travis: Well, yeah, I actually, I saw, so I was, I was, uh, whipping through, um, it was a cycle trader, maybe Craigslist. And I found, uh, geez, it was not the right bike. It was a Buell, uh, not the Ulis, but the XB, the X, the, uh, the X12 Buell.

Robin: So like the, not now we're not talking about the Harley manufacturer.

Travis: Yeah. And we're not talking about the Harley manufacturer.

Robin: Buell racing.

Travis: Yeah. Close to those. And it's like one of the old Buell sport bikes, the, uh, not the fire blade. Um, yeah, the, the, the non XB, the non X Ulysses. And yeah, someone had put like knobbies and a winch and like rally lights on it. And it's like, this bike is low to the ground. Yeah.

Robin: And you know, same thing with what I'm looking at now and the FJR, FJR 1300. Uh, I finally come to cuffs with the fact that, well, yeah, this is, this is kind of like the, this is the girl that you just, you know, you want to make things good with her, but it just isn't a good fit. You know, it's just a beautiful, beautiful machine, a beautiful bike. Uh, but at the same time, it's, uh, it's a struggle for even me at the knees. And, uh, like I said, I'm not the tallest man in the world at five, seven, I'm average, but, uh, it's like, I get my heels up on, on the pegs there. And yeah, I could see that after probably a solid hour, I'm going to need a break. I'm gonna have to stretch. I'm gonna have to relax. I'm gonna have to take some freaking, uh, what do I got that today? Or is it, what's that supplement I take?

Travis: Um, old, uh, old man, whatever old man stuff. See Alice, is that it?

Robin: Yeah. Yeah. So I take my, my knee Alice. And then, uh, yeah, this bike, I love the FJR. I just think, I hope that I hope that the FJR never, ever, ever goes away. But at the same time for the price and what I think it would do to me physically, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to have that dream. You know, coming to play, uh, still just, uh, an amazing machine that I know I could have a lot of go fast juice on and do what I like to do.

Travis: Yeah. I think, yeah, in the, in the world of the 1200 CC sport tour, like, you know, like we were talking earlier, the ones that say sport tour on the, on the logo that are all big bikes, like this is probably the best, the best handling and it's, it's definitely sexy.

Robin: Yeah. The best looking bike of all.

Travis: But yeah, it's, you know, the, the riding position is maybe the tightest compared to like the concourse or, you know, the BMW, um, or even like the S the, the, the Honda, the ST 1300, which is pretty, pretty dated at this point. It's, I mean, it's kind of, they need to re up that revamp that bike.

Robin: They need to get it angry. They need to, they need to have it. It needs to go to the gym. It needs to go to the gym, uh, diet and exercise, and it needs to get angry. And then that bike will be something seriously fearsome. And, you know, at the same time, they could probably keep some of the old parts interchangeable.

Travis: At least the engine's good. I mean, but, you know, beef up the, uh, you know, tuna, retune the engine, put a six Transmission, redo the styling on, on, on the ST 1300. I think it'd be a, that'd be an amazing bike. And then, then it'd really be running with the, uh, with the FJR and the concourse, but they're making lots of money selling 500s and 300s right now. So they don't have to care. They don't have to care. They're selling cheap bikes, cheap and making selling a lot of them.

Robin: So now we've got this FZ09 I'm looking at and, uh, the FZ09, uh, fantastic ride.

Travis: Yeah, that was really, we kind of talked about it when we were looking at the FJ, cause they're more or less the same bike.

Robin: It looks like their answer to the KTMs. I mean, it's sort of like they know KTM is doing well. They know they'll never beat KTM, but at least they can provide something that's formidable.

Travis: Yeah. Or like the, the GSX F or whatever, you know, that street fighter Suzuki. Um, yeah, you know, cause I mean, people like that, you know, the, the, the, I mean, Yamaha has been doing this, the FZs have been immensely popular, you know, since they came out cause they, they look tough and they have a more comfortable street fighter.

Robin: They are tough.

Travis: That street fighter riding position where it's like, you're basically, it's basically a standard motorcycle sort of riding position, but with sport, sport bike inherited performance.

Robin: And yeah, it's amazing what you can do with visual ergonomics while maintaining like comfortable ergonomics.

Travis: Yeah. Like it looks, it looks fast, but you're, when you sit on it, you're like, oh, wow, this is like upright. And like my knees aren't bent too tight and it's comfy. And I could totally, I could totally rock this.

Robin: And then this with the, uh, right now, what is this?

Travis: Is that the R6 or the R1?

Robin: The R1. Okay. Yeah. Now that's a standard. And that is another example of a bike that is basically saying, we know you want to feel some forward motion. You could probably do just about anything you want with it. You could probably get some luggage going. You could, uh, you could get risers. If you want a more comfortable position, you could put some clip-ons if you want to get really well, not clip-ons, but you could definitely throw different bars on there if you want to get more forward. And it's an all around attack bike of sorts.

Travis: I think this might be the R6 because that was just, um, but yeah, but that that's in that realm, that's like the, uh, the VFR or the Ninja where it's like that midsize sport bike. It's got a fairing, but it's got regular handlebars, not clip-ons. It's not super tight tuck. And you can throw some luggage on and make that a midsize sport tour. And I really wish that the, you know, the, um, the manufacturers sort of, you know, that they offered a luggage option for those, or that was, you know, it was something more Thank goodness for Twisted.

Robin: Twisted Throttle has our back, you know, and they'll probably develop something. I was so happy. Uh, and that's a whole different topic. I'll go right up as soon as it's installed. But the fact that they actually provided me with an opportunity to get the luggage that I want for a bike that they no longer manufacture the mounting hardware for, uh, Twisted Throttle really came through on it. I bet they probably do it for this as well.

Travis: Yeah. Well, we have to remember too, Twisted Throttle is an importer like that. Oh, they, they, this stuff exists in Europe, but you know, it's not a Harley, so they don't sell it here.

Robin: But now we're looking at this FZ1, same deal. I just think that's another bike where it's like, it's, this is the, this is really the threshold where you can be in a standard position profile with a meaty engine and a, you know, warp space and time as my friend, uh, Domino would say. Yeah.

Travis: Well this, I mean, I think this is definitely in the same category-ish as like the Super Duke, like that big displacement street fighter, just like.

Robin: It's got a, this guy's a half fairing.

Travis: Well, yeah. I mean, it's got a little more fairing on it because it's a fast bike, you know, and it's the sportier thing, which I think makes sense. Cause like who wants to go 90 miles an hour without a little bit of accent in front of them, sending the wind over their helmet, you know, just hanging on for dear life.

Robin: Legs in the air, feet behind the bike.

Travis: So I think that's, that's sort of where they're going with that. You know, Yamaha, Yamaha maybe has a little more sense.

Robin: Well, I do feel like with this bike, it makes me want to massage the curves with the Dukes and the, with the Dukes and the 990s and the.

Travis: Looks like them Duke boys got themselves in a whole heap of trouble.

Robin: But whenever I see a KTM street bike that isn't fully fared, I see a bike that I really just want to like ride into a curb as hard as possible. And it's not going to do any damage to the bike. It is, it makes me, it looks like a fighter. Whereas this bike looks more like a, like a, a pavement romance machine. You know, it's a little bit, a little bit, a little bit more better lines in my mind.

Travis: It's a little bit less jagged for sure. It's the Japanese versus the Austrians.

Robin: Yeah, y'all. And then this thing.

Travis: Oh, the CTX.

Robin: Oh my goodness. What a bike. The CTX, you know, it's like this bike, this is an oddity that it, it, it really does have a following though. They just don't know it yet. So I have this friend who is, he is a cruiser guy and that's cool. You know, the cruiser people I got, I got nothing but love for you. Just not my thing. And that's, that's just how that is. My buddy is a cruiser man, but he's always wanted something that looked a little bit more racy, I would say. And, uh, you know, so he looked at like the new gold wings that are going after the bagger, the bagger demographic. And he thought about that and he even looked at a couple of sport tours, but then, you know, it's like, I personally even see him as just, you know, enjoy your cruiser, get comfortable, enjoy being low and cushy and just riding around doing your thing. And then, uh, and then I came across this, a Honda CTX, um, and it is quite frankly, bizarre. It's a, it's a cruiser profile motorcycle with, uh, basically a sport touring fairing or it's a full fairing cruiser that doesn't have the same, what would you say? Uh, it doesn't have the same dimensions. It has a much more, it has a much more sporty profile to it.

Travis: What this reminds me of is, um, like the DNL one, the lines or even the PC 800.

Robin: Don't even get me started on that freak show.

Travis: Um, you know, that whatever they have, that's almost actually like the DNL one. Now that's super ugly. I don't remember what it's called. Um, just wrong split fork front fairing.

Robin: We call it incorrect is what we call it.

Travis: Yeah. Well, this is funny. So the CTX actually, it has the same, um, the same engine as the NC 700. So it's the laid down parallel twin. Um, so laid down. Okay. So, so, so the, the twin leans forward. It's the cylinders are parallel to the ground ish. They're not quite parallel to the ground, but they're laid forward. So that's why the, on the NC, which kind of has like, uh, I guess we could call it adventure sport. It's not very sporty. It has an adventure bike styling with, with the road wheels. It's more of a, more of a standard and just in the modern style. Um, but it has that, uh, stow bay where it has like where the gas tank normally would be. There's just a big open area where you like, it'll, it'll hold a full face helmet because the engine is cantered forward. It's just like your bike. Um, yeah, similar to, to my bike. Um, and then the gas tank is under the seat that with the, with the NC, the, the filler cap is under the pillion seat, which I think is a dumb idea because then you can't strap anything down to the pillion seat.

Robin: How does that tie back to the CTX?

Travis: Oh, so it's the same, it's the same engine anyway.

Robin: Um, and so is it in line twin?

Travis: It's yeah, it's a parallel twin. It's a parallel twin that's canted forward, like 70 degrees or something like that. Um, but it's also, uh, it's, it's made in the same, those engines are cast in the same factory that cast the Honda fit engine, which is an inline four. It's basically just half a Honda fit engine. That's canted forward. And like a car engine it's under square, which is weird. So most, most, um, most motorcycle engines are over square where the, the, the stroke is shorter than the bore is wide on these. It's the other way. So the stroke is longer than the bore is wide.

Robin: So it's basically popping up like a frigging groundhog.

Travis: Um, yeah, so it's like this, there's more throw in there. So it's super torquey, but it only revs to like six and a half thousand. Like it's really short revved. Wow. You can't rev it up high because of the, because of how far the pistons have to move. So it's, uh, you know, it kind of drives more like a car and then actually this, this engine and the one we're looking at here, if you know, if you look at the left foot peg there, there's no shifter. Oh, this is an automatic. The engine has a Honda's dual clutch transmission, which the NC also has. So you can, there's no shifter. You can go in manual mode. I'm doing air quotes, manual mode and press up, down buttons on the left handlebar to shift, or just put it in full automatic. And then there's also like a, there's a sport mode and a normal mode for the automatic shifting where the sport revs it out a little bit more. But I wonder if they offer a shift version. Um, yeah, you can get it with a standard transmission.

Robin: Nice.

Travis: That's, you know, that's a good start, which I think, at least on the used market for the NC, um, there's, I think those have been much more popular, at least in the United States.

Robin: Um, the luggage is even the luggage has a little bit of, they've put it probably in just the right position where you can't really quite decide whether or not, uh, we're dealing with a cruiser and bagger luggage, or if we're dealing with sort of like an almost Goldwing sport bike.

Travis: Yeah. Which actually I think, you know, and I think this has a wide appeal for people who are maybe older and getting back in the bikes or getting the bikes, like the midlife crisis guy. Who's got some sense in the midlife crisis guy is not going to go drop 18 grand on a Harley or buy a Boosa and kill himself.

Robin: For people who are just getting a little bit uncomfortable on, uh, the bikes they've ridden in the past.

Travis: Someone who, who's new to motorcycling, um, you know, cause it'd be a comfortable, but it's super, you know, but like you want, you want that cruiser stance, but you don't want a big, heavy cruiser. You want a little more comfort or you want the automatic transmission, or you just like the, you know, the, the sort of sport ish style. Cause that's kind of been a thing too. It's a Kawasaki just came out with the Vulcan S, um, which actually has the same motor as the Ninja, but it's like a sporty cruiser. Um, Harley's got the new 500 and 700 street, which are kind of like sportier, lighter, you know, cruiser things. Cause they, uh, Americans like that, like cruises, that's what the market likes. So the only thing I really don't like about the, this bike about the CTX is the, you know, it does do a cruiser riding position, but the foot pegs are way out in the middle and like, I'm six, one, I have a 34 inch in team and I think the foot pegs are too far forward.

Robin: So this is basically like a, it's basically a brawler is what it is. It's sort of like you're going to a free, it's as though you're about to go into the mosh pit.

Travis: Well, don't get like, let's say you're a shorter rider, um, you know, or maybe like a female rider has a shorter inseam and you might like, you might be drawn to this bike because of the super low seat height. Cause it's got that cruiser sort of seat position, but you're not gonna be able to reach the foot pegs.

Robin: Yeah. Well, I mean, I'll beat this part out, but we have a, we have a moniker for that. We call it the tank basically.

Travis: Yeah.

Robin: That's a frigging hilarious.

Travis: All right. But you know, but they, um, they also have, uh, a very similar style bike with the, uh, 30 with the engine from the ST 1300.

Robin: Do they?

Travis: Yeah. So you can get like, if you, if you like it and you like that cruiser, you want a little more sport. Um, you can get it with the ST 1300, uh, V4 engine in it and, uh, have a 1300 CC only that doesn't have an automatic option. Cause the engine doesn't have a transmission set up for it, but you can get it, you can get the CTX and the 1300.

Robin: This is the last bike I got photos of, and this is the truck, the trophy S um, you know, I think that they kind of, it's as though they are, there are a couple of bikes by trophy that seem to follow suit and it not necessarily, it's not that they necessarily imitate, but they do definitely take some cues.

Travis: And I guess part of, part of me wishes that when the case was moving by at 40 miles an hour and didn't say trophy, I'd say it looks like an R 1200 RC. Yeah.

Robin: Yeah. And you can see it in the front end and they've done it a couple of times. So, you know, if you look at the third generation of bandits before it became the GSX FA, that particular bike had a, uh, a really sharp combination light. So instead of having an obvious set of eyes on the front, it had a giant knife for a front lamp. And, uh, the pretty much the day they brought that out trophy announced that they were going to develop, uh, some bikes. And so the sprint, the true, I'm sorry, the triumph sprint, literally, if you put them side by side, uh, the triumph sprint as incredible as that motorcycle is. And as much as I'd probably trade my bandit for one, uh, it almost looks like a lesser version of the third generation bandit. And the same thing seemed to happen with, uh, the trophy S here, which I'm telling you, it really just is a, it's a probably a much angrier engine on an R 1200 RT, if I could say it that way. And it's like, you know, I think of my friends who own triumph motorcycles and they take a lot of pride in those bikes and I can see why. But it doesn't change the fact that now having seen this and having seen the sprint, it's as though triumph motorcycles remind me of bikes that, uh, I'm already more familiar with. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe that's the opposite direction.

Travis: At least with their, at least with their touring bikes. I mean, obviously like the, the Bonneville or the tiger, that's a, are there, are there thing or the, um, you know, the street triple, um, and the speed, an icon in motorcycles, especially with those, like the dual headlamps that, that, that look, uh, you know, it's very signature, but I think too, I mean, if you're, if you're in the, like I said, if you're in the market for that, um, You know, big displacement sport tourer, I think the trophy is a viable option to, I mean, it's going to be more comfortable than the FJR or the concourse. I think it's going to be sportier than, um, than the R 1200 RT than the BMW. I think it's just going to feel less, you know, cause that even with the new water cool, uh, boxer engine, you know, that I feel like that always kind of has a bit of a tractor feel to it. You know, that, that twin just always, you know, I mean, it's got tons of torque and that's good, but you know, if you want Revy, um, you know, I think, you know, the, the trophy is a viable option because you get the wind protection, you get all the, the, the bells and whistles that you can get on the other big touring bikes. Um, you know, but it's just something a little bit different. And it, especially if you look on the used market, you know, they're, they're out there and the, the, the market isn't, uh, as hungry for them. So if they're, if they're out there, they're usually less expensive than, than a comparable BMW or, or Yamaha.

Robin: That brings up a good point. Anybody out there who's listening to this, if you're looking for, uh, you know, a particular type of motorcycle and any kind of a filter results within the sport touring market, or if even if otherwise feel free to visit the site, uh, at www.theridingobsession.com. And then under services, look for motorcycles for sale because they link to pre-filtered results on eBay. And that helps us help the site to help you. We also have to be nice to our Triumph owners out there because, uh, you know, we have a couple of friends that ride speed triples and they're not, they're, they're missing some bolts.

Travis: The riders, not the bikes. The bikes are fantastic.

Robin: It's the riders you got to worry about. One, Mr. John Revilla of, uh, the seat guy, John, the seat guy, look him up on Google. Fantastic motorcycle seats. But you can just tell if you, you talk to him, don't look him in the eye too long. You got to be careful about that.

Travis: Um, so that's a quick look at our IMS show, uh, Escapades.

Robin: 2015 International Motorcycle Show, Chicago at Rosemont. What's it called?

Travis: The Donald D. Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

Robin: Followed by, followed by, uh, all kinds of travel havoc, trying to get, uh, Travis here back home to Madison.

Travis: Yeah, it's, you know, I'm 31 and I remember taking buses in college. Actually the bus ride was fine. It was just my leaving my bag in my coat and riches truck when he left without me. That was bad.

Robin: All right. Well, uh, you know, good as always people don't forget to visit us online. We could use your support. That's www.theridingobsession.com. I'm Robin Dean.

Travis: I'm Travis Burleson.

Robin: And we will talk to you again via this podcast in the near future. Have a good one.