VTR1000 touring, two-up, etc?

[Aaron]

I found a nice 2000 VTR1000 Super Hawk locally and the price is right. The bike is nicely tricked out (Jardine high-mount exhaust, Race Tech fork springs set up for a rider of my weight, jet kit and ignition advancer, new Pirellis, etc.). The riding position seems reasonably comfortable for my 6' 2" frame, as well.

My question is whether this would be a decent all-around, day-to-day motorcycle. I'd mainly use it for commuting and weekend trips to the twisties. However, my girlfriend (who also rides) will want to come along as a passenger now and then and I'd also like to use it for the occasional weekend trip (not two-up). I realize the fuel capacity and mileage isn't great, but is it at least feasible to strap a tail bag to this thing or haul my 5' 4" girlfriend around?

Thanks in advance for your input.

-Aaron

[jschmidt]

Great choice. I love everything about mine except for the range. But 100 or so miles actually turns out to be fine unless pumps are rare. Then it becomes an irritation.

The front forks are too softly sprung for most everyone. That's a 100 dollar fix.

[goodhawk]

Honda VTR 1000 - very, very close to 'perfect' all 'round bike ( says me, chief bozo) BUT Honda blew it totally - 120 mi  range or so before reserve - useless, makes bike a ' no buy' fer 'sport/ touring.
Now, there  are two places ya can get larger tanks - fairly big bucks
www.eti-fuelcel. com  ( ' only' 5.3 gal   - still only 145 mi range. poor.) $1300.  carbon fiber -- they also list several other models
or   >  www.kiyowatanabe.com  - 6 gal tank fer VTR  , very good, but $1800. +
Plus  - corbin seat, fireblade forks, ohlins / wiburs shock . . .

[Nimh]

I found a nice 2000 VTR1000 Super Hawk locally and the price is right. The bike is nicely tricked out (Jardine high-mount exhaust, Race Tech fork springs set up for a rider of my weight, jet kit and ignition advancer, new Pirellis, etc.). The riding position seems reasonably comfortable for my 6' 2" frame, as well.

My question is whether this would be a decent all-around, day-to-day motorcycle. I'd mainly use it for commuting and weekend trips to the twisties. However, my girlfriend (who also rides) will want to come along as a passenger now and then and I'd also like to use it for the occasional weekend trip (not two-up). I realize the fuel capacity and mileage isn't great, but is it at least feasible to strap a tail bag to this thing or haul my 5' 4" girlfriend around?

Thanks in advance for your input.

-Aaron

I had a Superhawk prior to my current bike, and used the older version of this Nelson Rigg bag-

http://www.newenoughhp.com/luggage/tail_bags/nelson_rigg/cl_150_expandable_sport_tail_pack.html

The quality was great for the price, and I plan on mounting it to my wife's SV this summer.


I found (or at least my wife found) 2-up to be a challenge, and she's just 5' 0".  The seat is small and light on padding, and the pegs are pretty high.  Even an hour was tough to tolerate.  A few years before I sold it, I put a set of 2Bros high mounts, which eliminated the rear pegs.  Maybe the Jardine's are a little different.

You might also want to member up over here...

http://www.superhawkforum.com/forums/

Good bunch of guys, and tons of info.  

[bluepoof]

My sweetums has a Superhawk and when I drag him out touring, that's what he takes.  He's 6'4" and finds it pretty comfortable (he put on bar risers, which helped a lot). The range doesn't bother him much since a bad back forces him to take breaks about every 70 miles anyway, so it's trivial to get gas sooner than the tank needs it.  I think he did run out of gas once with about 130 miles, oops.

I put a Givi tail rack on it and have loaned him one of my Givi E360 deluxe bags and it works really well for him.

[Jeff]

My wife is 5' 7" and absolutely HATED the pillion accommodations on my SuperHawk that I had for 8 years. A backrest would have helped I'm sure, but more than 30 minutes and she was practically in tears.

I personally would not recommend the SuperHawk for two up touring. Everything else about it gets  

Mileage wasn't bad for me. I turned 40mpg all the time, 130 miles before the light came on. MPG definitely dropped though if it was flogged.

Jeff

[smiling johnny]

I have an older model Nelson Rigg expanding tailbag and can pack a lot of stuff in it, as long as I don't mind how goofy it looks.

My wife looked at the back seat and laughed, so I'm no help on convincing your SO that it's the two-up bike of her dreams.  It is, however, a great backroads bike.  Torque is a beautiful thing.  I'm 6'0 or so with a 34 inch inseam, and it fits me great.  Risers would be nice on the highway, but I didn't buy it for distance, anyway.

  Highway miles aren't so great.  I did 600 miles in a day last year on mine, and I hurt.  But I got back on and finished up about 1300 in the next 4 days, so it must not have been that bad.

[Nimh]

Yep - Like Jeff, I could get 40mpg if I wasn't ham fisting.  And as a couple of others have noted, bar risers may be a good idea if you're planning longer days.  I had convertibars on mine, but Helibars can be found on ebay from time to time, and I've read about using VFR bars too.

I found a couple of pics tonight with the Nelson Rigg...




...and this is a pic I found a long time ago featuring Corbin's Beetle Bags (which I don't believe are in production any longer) and some extra plastic.

[DosEquis00]

I had a 1999 and like everyone said the only complaint was the range. As a commuter it was great and that 6 gear truly felt like an overdrive. It’s a fun bike to ride and can inspire confidence but just remember ground clearance is not the best. I don’t know if I was lucky but Honda had that bike dialed in as throttle response was smooth and it always stared on the first hit. You will not be disappointed if you go to the superhawk.

[brett]

I've had a 01 for about three years, every summer I spend a week zipping about on it. As a tourer my only complaint is as mentioned, short range. When in doubt, fill it up.
I use a Wolfman bag, http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/Enduro/AlfaRearBag.html which has tons of room and no problems with the high mounts.

[Aaron]

I ended up buying the Super Hawk. I'll post pics when I pick it up (next weekend, if it's not snowing like it is now). Thanks to everyone for your input.

-Aaron

[Nimh]

Cool!  

[DosEquis00]

Congrats Aaron! Enjoy the bike and be sure to post up some pics.

[Jeff]

Excellent! Have fun with it.

Jeff

And just for old time sake, here's a pic of my old one: