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Do you want sporty looks or sporty performance? What is your minimum performance envelope? The BMW GS bikes can be run through a twisty canyon as fast or faster than any sport bike available today, providing you aren't riding on the street like its a racetrack. And an R1200GS doesn't do half bad as a track bike, either. Pillion comfort is second only to the moto-couches like the goldwing and K1200LT. I've done about 30,000 miles 2-up on a GS over the years, and my pillion loves it. Even better, there are some truly enormous sidecases available for it (http://www.jesse-luggage.com) which are sturdy for offroad use, and do a much better job of keeping weight low and close to the centerline than the stock bags, keeping their impact on handling to a minimum.
I keep wishing I could find a 2-up motorcycle that did the job even close to as well as a GS, so I could move away from the BMW marque (nearest dealer - 50 miles. nearest good dealer 150 miles), but nothing comes close. If you aren't going to be doing long trips but still want to ride a sporty machine for sunday day-rides with a pillion, you might look at a Yamaha FJR. The power and handling is all there, and the price is hard to beat, too. My pillion quite likes the back seat of the FJR, but we haven't done any serious miles on one.
You are always going to give up some performance for a comfy 2-up ride. The pegs will be lower, and the bars will be higher and closer, both of which compromise outright performance to some degree, in exchange for either rider or passenger comfort. My pillion is actually quite comfortable on the back of a full sport bike, because she can just lay on my back and use her hands to brace her against sliding forward or back. However, riding with all that weight on my back is murder after an hour or two. Hence the requirement for a more upright position.
There are other bikes in the class, though. The Duc Multistrada, Triumph Sprint ST, various BMWs. I haven't ridden one, but I'd look long and hard at a BMW K1200R or K1200S. You get serious sport riding performance, according to all the reviews, and a chassis long enough for comfort for 2, not to mention factory bags (even if they are small). The K1200R looks to me to be the best 2-up sport riding package out there right now, so long as you don't need to be able to tour 2-up. And ABS braking really is a nice to have item when riding 2-up in questionable traction conditions (rain). I can live without it in any other circumstance, but a rainy 2-up ride always makes me happy to have ABS.
--sam
I keep wishing I could find a 2-up motorcycle that did the job even close to as well as a GS, so I could move away from the BMW marque (nearest dealer - 50 miles. nearest good dealer 150 miles), but nothing comes close. If you aren't going to be doing long trips but still want to ride a sporty machine for sunday day-rides with a pillion, you might look at a Yamaha FJR. The power and handling is all there, and the price is hard to beat, too. My pillion quite likes the back seat of the FJR, but we haven't done any serious miles on one.
You are always going to give up some performance for a comfy 2-up ride. The pegs will be lower, and the bars will be higher and closer, both of which compromise outright performance to some degree, in exchange for either rider or passenger comfort. My pillion is actually quite comfortable on the back of a full sport bike, because she can just lay on my back and use her hands to brace her against sliding forward or back. However, riding with all that weight on my back is murder after an hour or two. Hence the requirement for a more upright position.
There are other bikes in the class, though. The Duc Multistrada, Triumph Sprint ST, various BMWs. I haven't ridden one, but I'd look long and hard at a BMW K1200R or K1200S. You get serious sport riding performance, according to all the reviews, and a chassis long enough for comfort for 2, not to mention factory bags (even if they are small). The K1200R looks to me to be the best 2-up sport riding package out there right now, so long as you don't need to be able to tour 2-up. And ABS braking really is a nice to have item when riding 2-up in questionable traction conditions (rain). I can live without it in any other circumstance, but a rainy 2-up ride always makes me happy to have ABS.
--sam