Sport Touring Motorcycle Defined
A sport touring motorcycle combines sport bike performance with touring motorcycle comfort. The pioneering 1977 BMW R100RS marked the first fully-faired sport tourer, defined by journalist Peter Egan as “a café racer that doesn’t hurt your wrists and a touring bike that doesn’t feel like a tank”.
Design Features
Performance Meets Comfort
Sport tourers feature enhanced wind protection through larger fairings and adjustable windscreens. The design incorporates lower-geared transmissions, shaft drives, and pannier storage systems. These bikes come equipped with robust alternators, heated grips, adjustable headlights, and expanded fuel tanks for extended range.
Engineering Distinctions
Sport tourers maintain higher ground clearance than touring models, enabling superior cornering ability. They carry less weight and storage capacity while offering enhanced performance capabilities. The riding position strikes a balance between aggressive sport and relaxed touring postures.
Engine Technology
Shared Platform Strategy
Manufacturers often adapt existing sport bike engines for sport touring applications. This engineering approach modifies cylinder heads and exhaust systems to prioritize mid-range torque over peak horsepower. Notable examples include:
| Motorcycle Model | Shared Engine Platform |
|---|---|
| Triumph Sprint | Daytona/Speed Triple/Tiger |
| Kawasaki 1400GTR | Ninja ZX-14 |
| Ducati ST4 | 916 |
| Aprilia RST1000 Futura | RSV Mille |
Market Evolution
The distinction between sport bikes and touring motorcycles continues to blur. By 2013, Rider magazine observed touring models gaining increased horsepower while sport bikes expanded their feature sets. This convergence reflects the motorcycle industry’s response to evolving rider preferences and technological advancement.
A sport touring motorcycle (sometimes a "sports tourer") is a type of motorcycle that combines the performance of a sport bike with the long-distance capabilities and comfort of a touring motorcycle.
The first sport tourer is said to be the fully faired 1977 BMW R100RS. Journalist Peter Egan defines the sport tourer as a "café racer that doesn't hurt your wrists and a touring bike that doesn't feel like a tank," and identified the R100RS as the first example he owned.
Unlike a sport model, a sport touring model will typically have more wind protection with larger fairings and an adjustable windscreen, a transmission with lower gearing, a shaft drive instead of chain drive, side and/or rear pannier storage systems, a larger alternator for more accessories, heated handlebar grips, remotely adjustable headlights, a larger fuel tank for increased range, and a more upright seating position. Unlike a full touring model, a sport tourer will typically have more ride height ground clearance for better cornering, less stowage, lower weight, a less relaxed seating position, less room for the rear passenger, and higher overall performance.
When designing a sport tourer, some manufacturers make economies by using an existing engine, technology and tooling from their recent sport bikes, rather than creating a dedicated engine design from scratch. Sport tourer engines could be differently-tuned versions of their sport bike siblings, the emphasis becoming mid-range torque rather than peak horsepower. This often includes a different cylinder head and exhaust system. For example, the Triumph Sprint motorcycle shared its engine with the Daytona, Speed Triple, and Tiger models; the Kawasaki 1400GTR/Concours 14 shares the basic engine with the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14; and Ducati's ST4 sport tourer used the 916's engine; the Aprilia RST1000 Futura used a differently-tuned engine from the Aprilia RSV Mille sport bike. As consumer expectations changed, some sport bikes were redefined (for marketing purposes) as sport touring bikes, for example, the 2000 Kawasaki ZX-6R sportbike became the 2004 ZZR600 with just a change to a fairing bracket.
Rider magazine noted in 2013 that the line between sportbikes and touring motorcycles was becoming blurred "with [touring] horsepower rising higher and higher and lists of standard [sportbike] features growing longer and longer".
