Say the words "motorcycle touring," and the second thing to come to mind -- after you wonder why you actually spoke aloud at the command of a motorcycle magazine -- might be the image of a Honda Gold Wing, loaded to the gunwales, pointed at some distant horizon. You'd be right to envision this bike, of course, but it's not the whole picture. Riders go touring on all sorts of bikes: massive dual-sports, high-strung sportbikes, fairingless retro-sports and, yes, cruisers.
In an impressive galaxy of bikes that could go touring you'll find, fairly far along the austerity/ostentation trajectory, these bikes: luxury tourers based on cruisers. They're stylish and comfortable, ready to travel thanks to handlebar-mounted fairings and a host of amenities, including a radio/CD/CB, cruise control and standard hard luggage. If we can have heated grips and seats and antilock brakes, so much the better.
Although futuristic-looking,...
Although futuristic-looking, BMW's R1200CLC fell short of our expectations for a modern-day tourer.
Out of the Box: BMW's R1200CL
Seems the touring cruiser lives in a zero-sum world. Just as Honda's Valkyrie Interstate bowed out, here comes BMW's R1200CL. You might latch onto the fact that it's based on the R1200C and assume, incorrectly, that it is little more than a C with bags and a funky Electra Glide-from-Germany bar-mounted fairing. In fact, BMW comprehensively tweaked the R-C underpinnings to better suit the bike for touring.
Although the basic 1170cc, four-valve-per-cylinder Boxer is held over from the R1200C series, it's received a host of big and small changes. Revised Bosch electronic fuel injection includes an automatic fast-idle circuit -- no more fiddling with the "choke" lever -- while the ignition side gains plug-mounted coils. The so-called Oilhead is tuned for maximum torque, which explains why it's rated at only 61 horsepower -- and delivered a pathetic 52.2 horsepower on our SuperFlow CycleDyn dynamometer. (Other Oilheads produce 75 to 90 horsepower, for cryin' out loud.)
In addition to being puny...
In addition to being puny on power, the CL is short on packing space. You'd be lucky to fit a sack of groceries in there.
Following the pancake twin and the hydraulically operated, single-plate dry clutch is a new six-speed transmission. (The other R1200Cs retain the somewhat clunky five-speeder.) An ultra-tall top gear is supposed to reduce vibration and improve fuel economy -- a worthy goal given the bike's meager 4.5-gallon tank.
BMW tweaked the R-series chassis as well, beefing up the rear subframe for the standard hard luggage and increasing suspension travel. You just know the spring and damping rates have been juggled to accommodate the extra heft over an R1200C. Our test unit punished the scales to the tune of 724 pounds wet; some of the blame going to the new fairing. Yep, it's odd-looking, but it moves a lot of air. What seem like bolt-on kidneys are actually useful fairing lowers, intended to redirect air that sneaks beneath the main fairing. Supplemental coverage comes from a pair of chromed cylinders just below.
The basic $15,990 CL comes with the luggage, Integral ABS, wiring for a radio and heated grips. The Classic version adds the actual radio and CD player (that consumes a patch of the right saddlebag) and heated seats for $16,490.
An Old Standby, Still Spry At 100: Harley Electra Glide
With almost 40 years of refinement...
With almost 40 years of refinement behind it, the Electra Glide does everything well. It earned high marks in every category -- from performance to convenience and comfort, and was the personal lovey of all who tested it. Price, however, is not on its side.
Harley-Davidson is too busy celebrating its centennial to fuss with new product for 2003, and that's fine with us. The Electra Glide Ultra Classic (or FLHTCUI) is merely a special 100th Anniversary paint scheme and a CD player in place of the old cassette. (Just updated from 8-track, we're told.)
Although the Electra Glide name dates back to 1965 -- a time when Harley renamed its bikes by the addition of a shocking new technology, like electric starting or suspension -- the important date to us is 1999. That's when Harley replaced the FL-series bikes' 1340cc Evolution engine with the far superior 1450cc Twin Cam 88. The new powerplant runs better and more reliably than any stock Evo and, thanks in part to the electronic fuel injection standard on the Ultra, has superlative manners.
The remainder of the FLHTCUI's running gear is familiar fare. That TC88 engine is rubber-mounted to all but eliminate transmission of the 45-degree V-twin's inherent thrashing and mated to a clunky-if-positive-shifting five-speed transmission that pays off to a belt final drive. The Harley's suspension is stone-simple and shy of travel, but the bike's great heft (840 pounds wet) and generous front-wheel trail (a whopping 6.2 inches) keep the bike from ever feeling nervous.
At $21,065 in the special two-tone Anniversary paint, the Harley is the most expensive in this test, but it wants for little. That fee includes everything but spoke wheels, a security system and a free pass to Harley's Parts and Accessories catalog. Speaking of which, the Electra Glide comes with massive aftermarket support. Anything you could ever want -- from fuzzy dice to wake-the-dead exhaust systems, chrome windshield trim to big-bore kits is available at the swipe of your credit card.
The Harley's side-opening...
The Harley's side-opening trunk can be opened with something oer someone on the passenger seat.
A Familiar Yamaha Royal Star Venture
Stand a few feet back from Yamaha's Royal Star Venture and you might get the impression that this is an Electra Glide done with a liquid-cooled V4 instead of a pushrod twin. Not true, actually; that's just Yamaha's way of making the bike seem familiar, of placing it in easy context. Really.
For 2003, it's business as usual for the Venture. Introduced in 1999, the Venture uses the basic Royal Star 1294cc, 70-degree V4 that at one time shared DNA with the mighty V-Max powerplant. It's a smooth, sweet, if slightly underwhelming powerplant that produces a cat-like purr at low loads and a subdued throb when hard on the throttle.
Chassis-wise, the Venture is the state of the art of touring cruisers, just bigger. It's heavy -- 887 pounds wet -- and has the longest wheelbase of the group by two and a half inches. Next to the defunct Valkyrie Interstate, the Venture isn't too outsized, but it looms large over the BMW and positively towers over the Harley. Who knew? We're accustomed to seeing Japanese motorcycles as the value leaders, but the Yamaha is actually more expensive than the BMW -- a 2003 Venture goes for $16,399, while the blacked-out Midnight Venture (something we used to call going out for another keg in college) will set you back almost 17,000 clams.