Are Sport Tourers coming back in popularity?

[Grumpy Goat]

It was almost serendipitous that, after my last rant about BMW Motorrad not marketing the R 12xx RS sufficiently, I happened to some across a couple of videos on YouTube suggesting that perhaps sport touring is coming back. Not only that, but this South African "Bike Show" video released today from Spain asks the question "2022 BMW R 1250 RS, still the best the way to go sport touring?"



The video is quite balanced, I think, and makes the case that the RS sees pressure from other BMW stablemates such as the R 1250 GS and the S 1000 XR, when it comes to touring duties, and that the RS may perhaps be too specialized to allow for the "adventure" challenge posed by the GS, and not "sporty" enough to push back against the XR. The reviewer does take time to differentiate between the adventure-bike-style sporty tourer vs the genuine article, and also creates space between the RS and the big tourers like the K1600 family and the R 1250 RT.

Then there is this other video from MCN in the UK (which I respect a lot) which compares cheaper alternatives such as the 2022 Suzuki GSX-S1000GT and the 2022 Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX - both exciting and capable machines that are significantly cheaper than the RS. The do mention the RS in passing as a classic sport tourer as they continue with their comparison of these two bikes.



Meanwhile Big Red has seen fit to release its brand new NT 1100 which is well-received thus far even if a bit under-powered compared to the other bikes above.



Point is, discounting the adventure-bike-style bikes, sport touring appears to be coming back - at least in markets other than North America where motorcycling is viewed a bit differently than in Europe - thank you American cruiser. People who love the RS like a bike that is capable of all day touring with a bit of sport-bike thrown in. Not all of us can afford a bike for every mood, and those of us who like to actually go somewhere when they jump on the bike instead of pretending to be some sort of canyon-carving, MotoGP rider-wannabe, the powerful, technologically capable and comfortable sport tourer is a winner.

So, in the face of this resurgence by the competition, will BMW start telling people that it actually makes such a bike and that it invented the genre? Or will they just let it wither on the vine?