Most comfortable motorcycle?

I have back problems and I believe the Sportster made it worse.   What's the smoothest riding most comfortable bike you've had a decent amount of miles on?

Cruisers aren't comfortable, they're hard on your back and put weight on your tailbone instead of your sit bones. You want your feet underneath you.

My Goldwing was great but the most comfortable bike I've been on is my Moto Guzzi Stelvio. It's a mileage disposal unit.

Most comfortable was my 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050. My body does NOT like forward foot controls/pegs. Play around on cycle-ergo.com and you'll get a pretty good idea of what motorcycles to pursue.

The bike you need to look at is a standard.  No cruiser,  no sport bike, no cafe, no chopper. Type in "standard bike" in the Googles and see what appeals. Then go to the showroom and sit on one.

My comfortable might be your hell. Gotta try on the pants before you buy them.

I think you need to start with sitting on a variety of bikes to see what kind of seating position works for you. 

I find cruisers painful unless I put a backpack (or well endowed woman) on the back seat so I have something to lean against.

The vibrations and weight from the Harley baggers I've ridden made them unattractive to me.

I road an Indian bagger and that was quite comfortable and rode like a significantly lighter bike than it is.

My preferred mount is something in the sport tourer line up.  Slightly leaned forward, some wind protection, decent handling and lots of power.

Sport bikes make me ride like an idiot and hurt my hands and wrists at non-stupid speeds.

Ducati Multistrada and BMW XR1000R are both nice and comfortable. 

I have lower back problems (herniated disk) and I actually like a slight forward lean.  Not extreme super crotch rocket lean, but my 2000 VFR and 2005 ZZR600 were the two most comfortable bikes for me of the ten or so I've owned.  Most of the others were "standards" and the more upright upper body position was uncomfortable after a couple of hours.    

I'm a big fan of bikes that parade as ADV bikes, but don't actually have knobby tires or a lot of suspension travel. I have an old BMW F650 that's really quite comfortable. I'd have to imagine the newer F800s are even more comfortable. 

Don't be afraid to move the bars/pegs to fit your body better.

My 2006 VFR was pretty good but has a somewhat acute knee angle for those of us over six feet tall.  Wind management also becomes an issue for taller riders there.  I still want another VFR some day.  

If you don't care about wind, my Z900rs is quite comfortable.  I want to start playing with windshields again in the spring to make the bike more long-distance friendly.

They're not exactly pretty but the Yamaha FJ-09 nee Tracer 900 seems like an excellent option here.  I could also see playing with a BMW R1200GS and just pretending the money doesn't matter (because they are so not cheap).   OR the Moto Guzzi TT85.  That bike interests me.

You want a naked upright. FT07 something in that vein. Good on your back and still not so slow that its bad for you. Having said that if you can stand the pricing and the styling the GS850 is amazing at least in my limited experience with it. 

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

My 2006 VFR was pretty good but has a somewhat acute knee angle for those of us over six feet tall.  Wind management also becomes an issue for taller riders there. 

Not really issues for those of us who can only dream of "over six feet tall"...  ;)

I have limited experience but my Ducati is pretty comfortable for a few hundred miles at a shot-upright seating with pegs under my knees.  I test rode a BMW ADV RS/GS1200 thingy and while it wasn't something I was interested in the suspension travel and cushy seat were very nice for the short time I was on the bike.  

My old H-D bobber with forward controls, limited suspension travel, and steel pan with cow skin seat kills me in about 20 miles.  

For some of you, my apologies, I should have been more specific.  I've ridden 100s of bikes of all types, I'm looking for specific motorcycles like "I'm a 5 time Concourse owner and they've all been mile eaters"

Thanks for mentioning height, I should have said that too, that I'm 6 feet tall, wear almost and inch of boot and I've always preferred "standards" and what we used to call Enduros, KLR/Funduro/DR/XT/XR etc.   

I absolutely can not do forward controls, I must be able to stand or push my weight onto my feet at least.

Goodwing, klr have been the most comfortable bikes for me. Tbh any dual sport with a good seat and bar risers should suit you well. 

I bought five bikes over the last year after not having any for about twenty years. My lower back has been sore constantly to some degree since '93 (10% VA disability). I have spent most of a day on my Yamaha XT 225 riding on back roads at 40 - 60 mph and felt pretty good. It is basically stock, but with a nice 'Seat Concepts' seat that I installed a few months ago. I often stand on it approaching an intersection or riding slow off road. For a light weight small displacement bike I am very happy with it. The Ninja 250 was surprisingly comfortable too. I don't think that the riding position is as low and bent forward as a lot of true 'sport bikes'. I'm planning to sell the BMW R75 and KLR 650, not terrible, but not as good as I expected. The BMW R60/5 I set up how I wanted it with a seat and handlebars and I still plan to eventually move the pegs and foot controls back a little for a comfortable forward lean with good support of my upper body with my arms and shoulders.

I think that like others have said, you really need to try and see for yourself. Riding style - what roads you are riding on and body proportions can make a big difference of what feels right and what will cause pain over time. For me I think that the weight of the bike itself makes a big difference. I expected that a heavy cruising type of bike would be better, but found the opposite is true for me.

I'd like to try a BMW F650 and Yamaha Tenere. They both look like they would work well for me as a more modern bike for a day-long ride.

In reply to Justjim75 :

Ducati multistrada, Triumph tiger, and Moto Guzzi should be looked at.

Funny, when my back is really out of whack, the "monkey screwing a football" position on my LeMans is pretty damn comfortable.

An advil every couple hours to keep my knees happy and I'm good.

Rearsets and clip-on bars are good for something.

I already got engine case guards for the Z900rs and plan to add highway pegs.  I find that swinging legs around, giving the knees a bend once in a while, really helps.  

Figure out a way to get bolt-on highway pegs onto a VFR800 to put on for trips and I'd be *all over* that.

My dad had an F650 GS and later an F800 GS that I also put a good few miles on. Both were very uncomfortable for the lower half of my body, being 6'4". Seat was too close to the pegs, and you were stuck where you were sitting and couldn't move forward or backwards because of the seat shape.

I came in here to say R1200/R1250GS. While I'm a KTM guy and love my 990 ADV as a hooligan bike doing stupid things, I've been very impressed with the big GS as a mile eater in terms of comfort, weather protection, and its relaxed demeanor. They are great bikes to explore back roads or knock down highway miles, much more than they are actually any good off road.

Cactus said:

I'm a big fan of bikes that parade as ADV bikes, but don't actually have knobby tires or a lot of suspension travel. I have an old BMW F650 that's really quite comfortable. I'd have to imagine the newer F800s are even more comfortable. 

I agree, ADV bikes, especially the bigger ones, are very comfortable with good riding positions. My V Strom 1000 is a great all around bike, touring cross country, riding in the mountains or down forest roads. I am under no illusion that it is a good dirt bike or even dual sport. It can go off road, just not a great choice for that. On road is very good, even handles the twisties quite well.

I've had back issues and knee issues since my teens, so cruiser type bikes and GoldWings don't work well for me either. The bikes that work best for me are the "European" touring bikes and Adventure bikes.

Sitting mostly upright with a slight forward lean, and ideally some slightly lowered pegs.

While my Triumph Tiger 800 covered most of that, I couldn't find a seat for it that worked for me for longer distances. What always works for me are BMW R1xx(x)RTs and R1xx(x)GS. Basically any of the Boxer tourers from the late 70s airheads to the late 2000s boxers. I would expect the newer ones to also work, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

The big Guzzis seem to have seating ergonomics that are fairly similar, but my Guzzi experience is close to 20 years ago.

https://cycle-ergo.com/

I generally prefer the upright seating position. My Tiger 800 has good ergos; I just wish the seat didn't suck and I could stretch my legs out. My Bonneville offers the ability to move around quite a bit thanks to the long, flat seat.

I don't think you can just say "all cruisers suck" because I generally dislike cruiser seating but find the Indian Scout to be almost a perfect ergonomic fit for me. Haven't yet found a H-D that felt like I belonged on it.

Ok, cycle-ergo is freakin awesome, thanks!

For me, so far, a BMW K75S. With a more standard bar instead of the super pull back bar it came with. I find a slight forward posture more comfortable. Just enough to get your posterior chain involved. When I sit dead upright, like on a Vespa, it hurts my lower back because all the shock comes straight through your spine. 

I have a V-Star 950 and it is a feet-forward cruiser. While I have done a lot of miles on her, it is not easy on the back. I am shopping for a standard.

If you check Cycle Trader for bikes with over 100,000 miles, you will see Goldwings, BMWs, FJRs and a few odd Harleys.