Wanted: Guys with opinions on best bike for two-up riding?

[Red39]

......2 up riding. Need a bike which would be good for weekend trips away but would also cope with 2 weeks touring in South Island (without my ass going completely numb). So.......before I make a monumental mistake and buy that ZX9 on Trade Me which I covet sooo much please advise. Answers on a postcard to.....

[MSTRS:Me]

Bandit or similar

[Subike]

Any thing built after WW2
any 4 cylinder touring bike over 750cc
any 3 cylinder touring bike over 750cc
any 2 cylinder touring bike over 750cc

Our roads are good enough to ride whatever you like ,
Fuel stops are frequent enough to not be a concern,

Why 750CC min?, pillion and gear adds weight, most 750;s and up are designed for this

the range is huge and is only limited by your wallet, the fit, and the style you like.

as for you num bum, gel pads are wonderful

[CookMySock]

If your pillion isn't used to motorcycle touring, that will be your biggest hurdle. Cue break every hour, 3-4 hours max every day, and pretty grim mouth after 4 days.

Anything with a really wide seat, and upright bars / seating. Bandit, Comet, etc.

[Red39]

Any thing built after WW2
any 4 cylinder touring bike over 750cc
any 3 cylinder touring bike over 750cc
any 2 cylinder touring bike over 750cc

Our roads are good enough to ride whatever you like ,
Fuel stops are frequent enough to not be a concern,

Why 750CC min?, pillion and gear adds weight, most 750;s and up are designed for this

the range is huge and is only limited by your wallet, the fit, and the style you like.

as for you num bum, gel pads are wonderful

Thanks Subike, very informative - maybe I just need to eat more cream buns - then I wouldn't need the gel pads

[Tigadee]

Bandit 1200 (semi-faired) or CB1300 (naked).

[Ragingrob]

......2 up riding. Need a bike which would be good for weekend trips away but would also cope with 2 weeks touring in South Island (without my ass going completely numb). So.......before I make a monumental mistake and buy that ZX9 on Trade Me which I covet sooo much please advise. Answers on a postcard to.....

The zx9 is a pretty great bike for 2up, plenty of power and a sizeable bike so you barely even notice that somebody's on the back. Still quite a sporty position though and from memory the pillion is a good step up on the raised seat behind you, big and comfy though.

A pillion would probably prefer a bandit/rf900 or similar I'd say.

[5150]

My personal choices would be:

RF900 for faired sports tourer (very underrated bike)

CB919 Hornet for naked weekend worrior and reasonable tourer. Both very comfortable 2 up touring bikes with plenty of power and good reliable engines. Also parts are plenty.

[Red39]

The zx9 is a pretty great bike for 2up, plenty of power and a sizeable bike so you barely even notice that somebody's on the back. Still quite a sporty position though and from memory the pillion is a good step up on the raised seat behind you, big and comfy though.

A pillion would probably prefer a bandit/rf900 or similar I'd say.

Ahem, I'm gonna be the pillion (for the forseeable future) - but I just love the look of those bikes - might not be the most comfortable though eh.....

[Paul in NZ]

FFS - Vicki and I have regularly toured all of NZ on our 1980 Moto Guzzi LeMans that has a seat like a concrete block and the rugged reliability of the French Infantry. (no - its actually kinda reliable really - it certainly runs further than you can actually ride it)

Point is, no matter what you buy you WILL get a sore arse and you WILL NOT have enough space to carry everything you think you might need. Motorcycle touring is about triumphing over inconvenience and adversity. Funnily enough the more of that you have the more fun you might have. Buy an A100 - pack a credit card and enjoy

[Mystic13]

BMW F800, belt drive = quiet. I have one for sale with Givi side box's and top box..

When i say for sale I mean reading your post reminded me I should sell the bike. Done 50 something km's, 2006 one owner. Cheap. And very comfortable pillion seat. If interested let me know and I'll tell you the good, bad and ugly of the bike.

If you're partner/wife has pillioned before get them to check some bikes out with you.

The top box at the back is great for the pillion to feel more comfortable. My wife would fall asleep on longer trips. And we mostly did long trips. She'd sit there all day long except for when she slept. We'd time food stops with gas stops.

Another favorite was hot pool stops on the side of the road in streams etc. Whip off the bike gear, soak for an hour then on our way toastie warm.

The bike has heated grips.

As for gear we always travelled light. I think that's a good thing to learn. And carry spare plastic bags for those things you end up buying along the way. I like to have a good size front fairing for wind protection but not so much it makes the bike too heavy. So the 3/4 fairing look.

750 - 900 you get a much lighter bike. Some folks love the 270 - 300+ KG tourers. I never liked them.

Our next tourer will still be around that smaller size. The problem is finding a bike that ticks all the boxes. A shaft drive 900 would be good. I've been talking with her about using my CBR600 as our next tourer and we'd need to change the seat and do some other work to make it work.

If your partner sleeps on the back then you have two choices. A few guys will keep riding with their partner asleep. I couldn't get used to that so I'd wake her up and if need be do a stop. It's the funniest thing having this dead weight from a pillion just drop against your back usually with a small helmet knock.

Get an intercom that works, it adds to the experience of the ride in a positive way.

My wife would ride all weather through some storms, into the depths of night. She's a great pillion. Her only requirements were to stay warm, and getting food stops when needed. Our funniest ride was a short ride to Warkworth where we decided because the weather was good we'd go a little further, then further again from the next stop. 3pm at Kaitaia we decided we might as well wander to Cape Reinga. We arrived back at McDonalds Whangarei dressed in leathers at midnight needing to stuff newspaper down our leathers, me throwing on a rain coat before heading back to Auckland. I love that she loves bikes and is just crazy enough to enjoy this stuff. We only had a top box and minimal gear for a short ride that day.

[winston]

I have been looking for a new bike recelntly. Had a scorpio as a learner but as i ride from welly to taupo every weekend i wanted something better. i tried the suzuki 650, but didnt like it, so I now have a bmw 650 which is actually an 800. I made the mistake of bying the suzuki without riding enough bikes. So I rode lots of bigger bikes before i decided on the bmw. I keep finding that i come back to the smaller bikes around 200 kg, even though i am a big guy i like the smaller bikes.Maybe think about trying a few, go for lots of rieds, they got sick of me at bike shop, but in the end they sold me a good bike. my advice is try heaps of bikes first.

[Ragingrob]

Ahem, I'm gonna be the pillion (for the forseeable future) - but I just love the look of those bikes - might not be the most comfortable though eh.....

Go take one for a test drive and see how you feel on the back then! They are great bike, nice big engine with power through the range and I would constantly get over 300km on a tank of gas... cruising at 110kph you're only sitting at 2,500rpm or so

I took a girl on the back from Auckland to Coromandel and back, stopped for 5mins in Kopu each way, no complaints about being uncomfortable or anything.

[Red39]

Go take one for a test drive and see how you feel on the back then! They are great bike, nice big engine with power through the range and I would constantly get over 300km on a tank of gas... cruising at 110kph you're only sitting at 2,500rpm or so

I took a girl on the back from Auckland to Coromandel and back, stopped for 5mins in Kopu each way, no complaints about being uncomfortable or anything.

Thanks Rob......you've made it sound so good I think you've sealed my fate :-) will try and get over to red baron next week and have a look at what's there. You're a veritable mine of information

[cowboyz]

I did a 1700km 2up trip round the north island and then put slicks on it and won the pmcc clubmans summer series on a ZX9R. I love my 9. Its super comfortable. Its big enough to tour on and small enough to throw around. Loads of power that can be used but also has to be respected. 180,000km on mine and its still going strong (well once I fix the brakes which are only fucked cause the bike left me behind in Higgins at manfeild) but the motor is still strong as. Anyone looking at buying a 9 for road riding or 2up riding I say go for it!