Think of a touring motorcycle, and an age-old image will pop into your head. Perhaps you imagine a Gold Wing or a Harley-Davidson Grand American Tourer, being ridden by someone who prioritizes comfort over everything else. These bikes typically feature plenty of chrome, infotainment options, and a butter-smooth engine that’s all about refinement.
But what if we told you, today, tourers no longer stick to that stereotype. Some tourers are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a tourer, and there is one bike that leads the way here. It’s still a Grand American Tourer, but the way it handles its business when the road gets fun makes it good enough to be the ultimate performance bike for those who want to ride the same bike to a track and on it.
The World Of Performance Baggers That Make Highway Cruises Fun
The world of motorcycles has changed quite a bit today, and so has the touring segment. Sure, there are still the sensible, couch-like tourers for most touring enthusiasts, but a new breed of riders expects a bit more. Many riders these days want it all, and that includes comfort for long hauls as well as performance when the road gets fun. And to cater to them, manufacturers are bringing out touring motorcycles that bridge that gap.
This new generation of touring bikes combines long-distance comfort with genuinely bonkers performance, which is sometimes more handling-oriented than all-out speed. So, what used to be a segment catering to those who prefer to chill out is now transforming into a segment that can genuinely have fun on a twisty road or even a racetrack.
There are some seriously competent tourers and baggers here, some of which take the old-school route, whereas a select few bring cutting-edge tech to get the job done. A terrific example of the latter is the BMW R 1300 RT, a touring bike that comes with the available Dynamic Chassis Adaptation (DCA), which actively changes the chassis geometry to make the bike more dynamic. But at the forefront sits a bagger with a Bar and Shield logo: the Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST.
The Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST Is A Bagger With Performance Punch
The Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST is a race-inspired bagger that builds on top of what is already an amazing tourer, the standard Road Glide. Except, this one isn’t just about touring comfort, building on top of that with plenty of performance bits to make it feel like a custom track-ready bagger rather than a production motorcycle. And unlike other performance tourers, this one leans into the performance territory without alienating traditional buyers…