Anyone doing any sport touring on their 954?
 

Well I did... I wanted to do at least one road trip style ride with the 954... I packed up the tank/tail/saddle bag combo and did a four day, 1000+ mile ride through out the lower peninsula of Michigan... Mostly around the Traverse City area... (wine country) The weather was terrible, but not so bad as to ruin the ride... Great fall colors... Plenty of empty twisties... Had a couple of close calls with deer running onto the road, but otherwise uneventful...

Sorry, no pics or video on this run... (technical difficulties)

I plan to do more of these type trips next season as this one was most enjoyable...

greahttps://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...14068912_n.jpgt bike to do I on compared to other models.

No pics?
At least write up some details of your journey.

Yeah... The ride wasn't bad at all... I got the same bags as you... They are really great... Held everything I needed for a road trip...

Brief and too the point.... nice. You could have done with my Gilles Variobars, they make the bar position very ' VFR' ish. You can ride all day not even feel like you have.

Really not much to tell... I had decent weather for the ride up along the shore of the thumb and to the central part of the upper end of the lower peninsula. The ride along the shore was pretty good. Small towns dotted the route and the backdrop of Lake Huron was a scenic distraction from the yellow and white lines of the road. Which for the most part was straight and empty.
My luck changed as I started to head in-land... The sun ducked behind the mass of dark clouds that filled the sky and the wind picked up to a speed that would blow an unwary rider into another lane. Construction got pretty heavy as I traveled along the highway that led to the middle of the state and just when I thought it could get no worse, it started to rain... Thankfully it was just raining enough to be annoying and not hazardous. With the vents on my jacket and helmet closed, life on the 954 wasn't bad at all...
I was relieved to reach the first stop on the journey as temps had sharply dropped and I was seeing hints of snow in the air.
My second day saw me ride to the Mackinac Bridge... The weather was cold and overcast with pop-up showers here and there and the wind was making the ride a bit dicey, even more so when I was out in the open. I made my way to the Petosky area and did the "Tunnel of Trees" ride which is 20 miles of road elevated over the shores of Lake Michigan by several hundreds of feet. The views were limited due to the weather and the lake was looking very angry. All was not lost though, as some of the houses along the route were very striking and seemed to be clinging to the hillside for dear life. Plus, there is one set of turns along the route that look as if they were lifted right from Laguna Seca... This scaled down version of the corkscrew was worth turning around and hitting it again and again... I must of looked like quiet the fool riding a loaded down CBR back and forth in the cold misty dampness.
I made my way down to Traverse City as this was my second stop. The rain had gotten heavier as I was getting to my destination and just before I left the wooded areas a pair of white tail does decide to run out onto the road just ahead of my bike and then stopped as if they were wondering what I was and then scampered off into the woods... Not exactly a close call but there was a pucker moment involved...
The third day was a bit of a wash. I fought more pop-up showers as I made my way to various vineyards in the Traverse City area. Warmed only by sips of wine and whitefish pate' served with crackers. For braving the elements I rewarded myself with a thick steak after a hot shower.
The final day of the ride was spend heading down the lake shore and into Sleeping Bear National Park... The trees were a radiant burst of reds and oranges peppered with the green of the pines. Straight roads were in short supply there were more vehicles parked along the side of the road than were actually on it. (hunters, but not in the park)
I started to head in-land toward my final destination... My In-laws, a quiet home on small lake in the middle of the state which serves as winter storage for the 954. The ride there was a mixture of woods and farms with the occasional clump of buildings slightly resembling towns. The weather was more of the same, soupy with a stiff wind. Roads were straight for as far as the eye could see.

Back in Aug I did a 1400 mi trip from Chicago to the Ozark over 4 days. Started getting some bad tread wear so I changed route and came home a day early. Was like mid to upper 90s in the day but was still a lot of fun.
I credit card camped this particular trip, but my wife and I have tent camped off the back of the bikes when we both had Honda Shadows. I think next year I will try camping for real off the back of the 954. My wife still has her '99 ACE 750, my first bike, and it was an option for the trip. I just wanted to do it with the CBR, I knew I would regret not having her once I got into the twisties in Southern MO/Northern AR
Photo's from the trip
https://plus.google.com/photos/11138...CKWe7caN-K_Jag
Once I got home I got a set of Bridgestone Battleax BT-023's, sport touring tires.
I would definitely like to keep this thread going though! The 954 was hard on my legs, my knees in particularly but was much better on my back than the cruiser ever was. Plan on doing it again next year. Maybe Blue Ridge Parkways is in my future :)

Sounds like a very excellent trip, Buck83... I plan on doing more of these types of trips and the trip you took is on my list of areas to ride to... The 954 wasn't half as bad to ride for long distance as I thought and wasn't a third as bad as everyone told me it would be... Granted I got a Corbin saddle seat... I do have to agree with you on the legs being sore... Mostly from griping the tank with my thighs... I did pack my tank bag in such a way that I could belly up to it and not crush anything in there... I do wish that I had better weather to do the ride in as that would have made for decent pics and viewable GoPro footage, which I did both but the wet ruined my camera and the footage from the GoPro was a total wash... Literally... I did wrap all my stuff in plastic bags before putting them in my luggage bags as the insides of the bags were a bit damp on the inside even with the "rain covers"... I have been making a list of areas to ride to... They include the Anarondac Mountians, The Great Smokey Mountians, The Ozarks, The Grand Tetons and a few others... I would also like to make it to the AZ/CA area for some canyon carving... If anyone has any other great areas to ride, please chime in and I will add them to the list... I am sure that great riding can be found in every state... Maybe I will just have to start collecting State Line signs pics with the bike... But that is pretty ambitious... So for now I am happy to ride to areas...

@BadS1 - That bag set-up looks perfect for some trips I have planned with my sons this summer. Can you post who makes them and where you got yours?

I'm happy with my bags: Cortech Super 2.0 Saddlebags, from Revzilla (who I might add has awesome customer service & return policies)
Cortech Super 2.0 Saddlebags - RevZilla

Attachment 30404