Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: Passengers on Sport Bikes, honda cbr f2, ninja zx6

Question
Hi Pat, I have an '86 Suzuki GS550 that I have ridden for several years and have taken several passengers on. I am looking to upgrade to a new bike, and am leaning towards a sport bike. However, from what I have seen it looks like passengers on sports bikes are rather uncomfortable, and it looks like as the rider, it would be much more difficult to have a passenger on a sport bike. Is this so? What differences would one experience when taking a passenger on a sport bike as opposed to a bike similar to what I currently ride? Lastly, of the 600cc sport bikes, is there on in particular that you know of that is a little more passenger friendly without sacrificing the sportiness of the bike? Thanks for the advice.

Answer
Passenger accommodations on sport bikes are scarce. The seats are generally small and the passenger has to lean quite a bit forward to hold on to the rider, and oftentimes this can crowd the rider.

Due to the relatively high center of gravity, a passenger will make a sport bike feel much less stable than it feels with only the rider on board--very top heavy.

I don't know if I'd say it makes it any more difficult to ride, but it certainly requires more work and the rider has to be much smoother at the controls.

I don't think any of the modern 600cc sport bikes are going to be very good for passengers. However, older 600s tend to have more room in the seat. Look at an older Ninja ZX6, Yamaha FZR or possibly YZF, or Honda CBR F2, 3, or 4, or possibly a Katana 600.

For better passenger comfort, you might want to consider getting into a sport-touring bike like the VFR 750 or 800, which is very passenger friendly. Others in that class are older BMW K bikes and newer R bikes, the Katana or RF 900, older Kawasaki ZX9s, and even the ZX-11.

I think the best all-around compromise is the VFR. It does everything a sport rider would want it to, but doesn't have quite the hard edge (or ultimate performance) of a true sport bike. It's great for long trips, and yes, passengers enjoy the ride.

I hope that helps!

Pat