The Honda Sports Tourer grows up - The ST1300
In 2001/2 the Genesis (unofficial title) or ST1100 became ten years old and the ST1300 was devleoped as its replacement though many would say the ST1100 was then and remains still, irreplaceable
Honda decided it was the right time to evolve and redesign their 1100 Sports Tourer marque and set about building a lighter, more powerful ST machine with still greater range and which was easier to handle than the Genesis ST1100 model
By replacing the carbon steel rear swinging arm with an alloy one; lowering the engine; increasing its engine displacement to 1261cc and its power output to about 120bhp; using an all stainless steel exhaust system; shortening the wheelbase; redesigning the plastic bodywork or 'tupperware' (which by the way is now utterly, drop-dead gorgeous) and by employing a mainly alloy chassis of which the engine is an integral and structural part Honda achieved the goals they set themselves to international and critical acclaim
The rake angle of the forks is steeper than usual on a machine of this sort, the tank you see now is the tank itself rather than a plastic cover, there is a second and even further range extending fuel tank buried in the chassis and the pillion seat sits quite low behind and is sheltered by the rider whose seat is three way height adjustable
The Anti Lock Braking System (ABS), Combined Dual Braking System (CDBS), Programmed Fuel Injection system (PFI) with automatic choke and the electrically powered height adjustable windscreen combine with the capacious hard luggage fitted as standard (with even more space available in a fully matching oem topbox) to afford levels of utility and 'tourability' previously unknown by the average motorcyclist
With a range quoted often as being as much as 300 miles between refills of standard petrol the machine has very deservedly gained the epithet - 'The Mile Muncher'
At the time of writing in mid-ish 2011, the ST1300 is still available though there are many questions and mysteries about the next stage in the evolution of the Honda Sports Tourer Marque which is due probably in 2012 - awaited
This is a link to the Wiki site for the ST1300
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_ST1300
Honda decided it was the right time to evolve and redesign their 1100 Sports Tourer marque and set about building a lighter, more powerful ST machine with still greater range and which was easier to handle than the Genesis ST1100 model
By replacing the carbon steel rear swinging arm with an alloy one; lowering the engine; increasing its engine displacement to 1261cc and its power output to about 120bhp; using an all stainless steel exhaust system; shortening the wheelbase; redesigning the plastic bodywork or 'tupperware' (which by the way is now utterly, drop-dead gorgeous) and by employing a mainly alloy chassis of which the engine is an integral and structural part Honda achieved the goals they set themselves to international and critical acclaim
The rake angle of the forks is steeper than usual on a machine of this sort, the tank you see now is the tank itself rather than a plastic cover, there is a second and even further range extending fuel tank buried in the chassis and the pillion seat sits quite low behind and is sheltered by the rider whose seat is three way height adjustable
The Anti Lock Braking System (ABS), Combined Dual Braking System (CDBS), Programmed Fuel Injection system (PFI) with automatic choke and the electrically powered height adjustable windscreen combine with the capacious hard luggage fitted as standard (with even more space available in a fully matching oem topbox) to afford levels of utility and 'tourability' previously unknown by the average motorcyclist
With a range quoted often as being as much as 300 miles between refills of standard petrol the machine has very deservedly gained the epithet - 'The Mile Muncher'
At the time of writing in mid-ish 2011, the ST1300 is still available though there are many questions and mysteries about the next stage in the evolution of the Honda Sports Tourer Marque which is due probably in 2012 - awaited
This is a link to the Wiki site for the ST1300
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_ST1300