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People tend to talk about sport bikes in the same breath as torture racks and caning, but I’ve always found the riding position to be pretty comfortable. In fact, if were to desire a sport touring bike, it would probably be this bikes with some aftermarket panniers tacked on.

Agreed, I have also gone back to a 250 enduro and a street bike. And if you travel elsewhere in this big world of ours you’ll see that many, many people are happy to explore and journey on “smaller” bikes.

What is it? A medium weight bike that one can commute on, venture off-road and of a popular style. I have no issue with it in the slightest.

WSHart is bang on the money. I owned a Katana 650 shaft drive briefly back last century & replaced it with with the Katana 750cc 4-valve aircooled pop-up headlight model. It does pay to remember that Suzuki is a Japanese company that sells motorcycles across the world and that what holds for a regional market like the US may not be the complete story. As for the hideous fully faired GSX600F & GSX750F (aka plastic teapots) as far as I can see they were only called Katana in the US and that we can all agree was a travesty.

Just speaking for me personally, I’ve never felt pressure to my back or wrists from sport bikes. I don’t feel like I’m craning my neck either. I always seem to be looking down the road just fine.

You are so right. Remember the 2008 Monza round? Race 1, Max Neukirchner, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Bayliss and Yukio Kagayama. Kagayama finished fourth and he was only 0.771 off the winner. Race 2 Max was 2nd by 0.009 and Kiyonari was 3rd, 0.051 sec off the winner. Man that was some awesome racing! Wish we could get that back.

675cc triples are homologated for SS600 racing.

A look at the British (one country’s worth) had more 20 2017/18 Yamaha R6s racing at Brands Hatch yesterday (across Supersport and Superstock 600 classes). It’s easy to see how many there are at world level.
There are lots of smaller UK championships in progress. Who knows how many other are on sale in the UK alone, across privateer and road racing disciplines. So your ‘100 world wide’ is well wide of an educated guess.
It makes good sense to sell to racers, as they tend to crash them and need to replace bits too, with spare engines and even frames.

The riding position of a sport bike has more to do with weight distribution, posture for heavy acceleration (forward lean) and ground clearance (high foot-pegs). Aero is part of it, but a guy can tuck whether or not his handlebars are low.

I personally find a sport bike position more comfortable than anything that sits me bolt upright, placing 100% of my weight on my butt/lower back. Foot-forward is the worst.

The Dempster’s not too bad, especially when it’s dry, but either way your Strom would make it fine. I took my DL1000 up to Inuvik several times (before the permanent road went to Tuk). The KLR might be more fun, but less so on the pavement getting up there. Have fun, take the Cassiar.

I really like this bike, but not sure I like it $24K worth. Now a good used example for $10K might get my interest. Are the tires tubleless?

This is the first time I can recall (not that I follow very closely) a non-KRT Kawasaki finishing high in the order.

I would rather see World Supersport go to two races per weekend. Just a thought..

Yawn fest. Great for Kawi and Johnny Rea is amazing, but I sure miss the “old days” when it was more competitive.

That old Cagiva Grand Canyon still looks like a practical ride to me.
Carbs, suspension, and lighter weight. Simplicity has it’s place.

Wow, good catch! Yup, ’83 GS1100ES. This new Katana fairing and w/s kept catching my eye, and you correctly described a similarity I missed.

Yeah right Paul. We all can’t have designer seven buckle boots and Velcro gloves for when we go to visit our “lady friends”.

Um…yuck.

If Ducati made a 450 street single with NO gadgets and less than 400 pounds, would it still cost a multiple of $5000 ?

Reginald,
Why not just buy a KTM Duke 390 for about $6000 brand new. Yes it’s closer to a Monster than a Multistrada but without the Italian accent.

From the side the front looks like a bird with its mouth open trying to eat the front wheel :).

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