(09-12-2014 07:39 PM)ClassicVW Wrote: I respectfully disagree. The CB is waaay more fun to ride than the Deauville in many ways, but if I was taking a trip for a couple of days, I probably wouldn't choose the CB. The Deauville would be plenty comfortable and the wind wouldn't be pushing me backward in the seat, and I'd also have storage for things like clothes and a toothbrush.
I prefer my CB to anything else for touring, because: (a) it keeps me on interesting back roads with lower speeds, better corners, and more to see (and off the freeway), and (b) throwing on a $100 set of soft saddlebags (and maybe strapping a tent and sleeping bag on the passenger seat) means clothes and toothbrush have a place to go. Granted, I have less room for stuff, and I have to watch for rain. The plastic rain covers work for a drizzle, but not full-on downpour. But who wants to ride in a full-on downpour? Touring on a CB to me means I'm connected to my surroundings and the weather in a very intimate way. It means less mileage per day, but way more fun.
OTOH, if I had somewhere far away to get to, and needed to burn some miles and state-lines pronto, a touring bike is nice. We live in a big country, with a really fast Interstate system -- it's just a really fast, BORING Interstate system.
On the original post: in 2000 I rode a CB400 all over England, Wales, Scotland when I was in the UK for school. The engine looked like the pictured bike, but the rest of the bike looked somewhat modern (~ NT650 Hawk styling). It was a zippy motor, but...the whole time I yearned for the grunt of my long-suffering '79 CB650 that was home in Portland waiting for me. I can't get over how much I like our CB1100 motors -- torquey, zippy, sedate or howling. I feel really lucky to have the CB, and all 1100 of her cc's!