Why do you need one of these things? Just about any bike will drag you to work, and the super sporty contenders are fine if all you do is carve up the local twisty bits. Honda's Gold Wing and its ilk will haul two people, one overstuffed Alf doll and all manner of kit cross-country as cheerfully as any family four-door. But any one of our big-bore sport-tourers will devour 400 miles' worth of all that before you deploy the centerstand for lunch-and follow up with 400 more before dinner.
Sport-touring motorcycles are tools, really. But let's say you're not afflicted with a neurobiological need to funnel vast quantities of real estate through your rear-view mirrors in a hurry. Fair warning, then; after a weekend with these three, riding from L.A. to San Francisco for a quick scrape up Mt. Tam-and some Mitchell's Mango ice cream-will sound perfectly reasonable. It's a slippery slope from there to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, for Blobfest '07 (Indescribable...Indestructible...Nothing Can Stop It!) next July.
The motorcycles themselves are considerably more logical. All three start with a four-cylinder engine displacing something to the left of 1000cc and enough fuel to cover at least 250 rapid miles. Add adjustable ergonomics and wind protection and you're in the hunt, but just. Despite these basic similarities, the BMW K1200GT, Honda ST1300 ABS and Yamaha FJR1300 AE are parked at different coordinates between sport and touring. And because stripped-down sport-touring is an oxymoron in 2006, each contestant comes with its own arsenal of technical gee-wizardry, running the gamut from helpful to hopeless and various points in between.
All three rigs aim at the same target. But like most sport tourists we know, each has its own way of getting there. Which one works best? It took us two days and 750 miles of the best and worst pavement in the bottom half of California to find out, but here's the story.
Yamaha FJR1300AE
What we have here is a very good motorcycle afflicted with a bad transmission. Blessed with a raft of carefully targeted improvements for '07, Yamaha's standard FJR1300-with a lever on the left end of the bar attached to an orthodox clutch-would have shuffled the finishing order in this deck. For anyone who knows how to wield a clutch, this clutchless version makes smooth forward progress harder than it needs to be. Roll on the throttle from a stop and it initiates forward motion with a jerk. Roll it off in low gear for a U-turn and as soon as the tach needle drops below 2000 rpm, you're coasting-and possibly falling over. A good rider can compensate, but why would you want to pay an extra $1800 over the price of the standard FJR for a "convenience feature" that's anything but? It's worth mentioning that the electric-shift system was much smoother and better behaved at the bike's press debut than it was on our test bike.
Precise throttle control helps, but the Yamaha's stiff throttle-return spring does not. Otherwise? Physically smaller than its peers, the FJR feels lighter as well, though at 687 pounds fully fueled, it's 14 pounds heavier than the BMW. Still, compact dimensions and relatively sporty steering geometry make it the most agile of the bunch, regardless of speed or situation. Careful airflow management aims hot air from the engine away from the rider much more effectively. And the Yamaha's suspension delivers a comfortably taut ride around town, though never as plush as the Honda or BMW.
Adjourn to open road and the FJR acquits nicely. There's a bit of buzz at 75 mph in fifth despite taller '06 gearing. Dual counterbalancers do an admirable job, but the 1298cc four always feels as if it would be happier with a six-speed. This year's bigger windscreen spans a broader range of adjustment, creating a relatively calm cockpit. Tall riders still get a speck of turbulence with the firm-yet-comfortably-humane seat in its upper position. Sensitive backsides wished for a better seat after two hours or so of saddle time. At that point everyone would have paid Big Dough for cruise control, or at least a lighter throttle. Though a prudent hand can squeeze nearly 300 freeway miles from the 6.6-gallon tank, we were ready for a break after 250 and ready to turn into the twisty bits.
The FJR feels progressively more agile and athletic when corners outnumber the straights. Three years ago, the original FJR was hampered by soft suspension and an inclination for dragging various hard parts on the pavement, but no more. The firmed-up suspension isn't quite as compliant as the Honda's, but it manages to keep the Yamaha chassis happy over all but the worst sort of pavement. Pegs touch down a few degrees earlier than on the BMW-a consequence of abundant legroom-but if that's a genuine hardship, get an R1.
Yamaha's admirable mix of power and feel make the newly linked FJR brakes the best in this bunch, especially with an ABS system that never intrudes unbidden. All is well until it's time to shift gears. Use your left hand or left foot; the computer clutch really is a hardship. Upshifts are slow and clumsy. And forget about thumbing quick Michael Shumacher-style downshifts before peeling off into the next bend. The YCCS system takes its time there as well, pushing shift points infuriatingly close to the next apex. Anticipate the lag and you can approximate the precision of the manual-clutch bikes, but we found ourselves shifting less and enjoying it more.
In the end, technology should solve more problems than it creates, but Yamaha's digital clutch-in its current iteration, at least-inflicts the opposite on an otherwise excellent package. As C. Tuna Everitt said more than once, "It sucks the life out of the whole thing, undermining the rest of the motorcycle literally and figuratively at every turn." And that's A shame, because most of this motorcycle is very, very good.
BMW K1200GT
Aside from its name and Corporate Origin, BMW's latest K1200GT shares nothing with the last one. Out with the old 1171cc flopped four. In with a long-haul version of the sporty K1200S, complete with A tricky Hossack-derived Duolever front end and the latest single-sided Paralever in the rear. In keeping with its latest mission, Grand Turisimo tuning pushes power and torque a bit to the left. Everything has been tuned to the touring end of the sport-touring band.
Saddle up and the BMW feels huge. It doesn't feel like the lightweight of this bunch in urban traffic. The GT fairing is more expansive than the others, though the adjustable windscreen never extends as high as the Honda's. The seat is the tallest as well, though it narrows toward the front to give short legs a straighter shot at the pavement.
Some things, however, haven't changed. The K-spec six-speed moves between first and second with the same unnerving "clack" as the K1200S, and off-idle throttle response is more abrupt than ever. Factor in heavy slow-speed steering and you have a motorcycle that's happier outside the city limits.
Reeling in desert two-lane with the cruise-control holding an effortless 80 mph, everything begins to make sense. Welcome to the First Class cabin. Gadget nirvana. With the screen deployed to maximum height, wind protection is exemplary, though tall riders will drop the adjustable seat a notch and give up a little legroom to duck the turbulence. Vibration is essentially nil except for a tingle through the passenger pegs. Set BMW's electronically adjustable suspension (ESA for short) to "Comfort" and that's exactly what you get.