Several years ago, I rode Scotland’s NC500 on a Honda CBR650F. I came away from the experience both impressed with the bike and convinced that with some very basic modification – largely centered around the addition of accessories – it could make an excellent low-budget sport tourer.
Honda didn’t agree. The CBR650F was quietly pushed into retirement in 2018.
Fact is, that just wasn’t the right time for affordable sport tourers. Or expensive ones, for that matter. In the late 2010s the traditional sport tourer was all but dead and the definition of ‘sport tourer’ had transitioned to include – as it still does – adventure-style bikes like, say, the Yamaha Tracer 9. Up until Suzuki rolled out the GSX-S1000GT in 2021, the only traditional sport tourer out there was the stalwart Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX (formerly known as the Z1000SX, and now known as the Ninja 1100 SX).
Hitherto, however, we haven’t really seen an affordable middleweight traditional sport tourer. According to Motorcycle.com, that may soon change. Digging through records from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the team at MO spotted two new names: the GSX-8T and GSX-8TT.
CARB documents confirm these two new models alongside the GSX-8R sportbike, GSX-8S naked, and V-Strom 800/Touring adventure-touring models. Beyond that, the documents don’t share much information, other than the fact that the GSX-8R, GSX-8T, and GSX-8TT all share the same 776cc parallel-twin engine and that emissions are all the same as the 2025 GSX-8R.
So, one assumes no changes: it’s the same powerplant that journalists were praising in 2024 (when the GSX-8R came out), delivering 81.8 horsepower at 8,500 rpm, and 57.5 lb-ft of torque at 6,800 rpm.
What makes the GSX-8R, GSX-8T, and GSX-8TT different from one another? Unknown. But it’s pretty safe to assume the GSX-8T will be a touring model. Perhaps a less-powerful (and, one hopes, more affordable) version of the GSX-S1000GT. MO is guessing that the GSX-8TT will effectively be the T model but with more bling.
“The easiest answer would be if the double-T model featured more premium features such as standard luggage, or a taller windscreen,” observes MO’s Dennis Chung. “That’s what separates the ‘Plus’ version of the GSX-S1000GT and GSX-S1000GX from their respective base models offered in some markets.”
That all makes sense. MO points out that when Troy Siahaan rode the GSX-8R he called it an “all-day comfortable sportybike.” The usual caveats apply to sportbike riders describing sportbikes as “all-day comfortable,” but his is an opinion shared by many. All the UK press I read at the time praised the bike for its comfort all tractable nature. That’s a formula that seemingly lends itself well to a sport tourer.
I’d be willing to be that the T model is simply a case of ergonomic and cosmetic changes to the R, with the TT being a model that, as MO suggests, is equipped with luggage and heated grips and a pointless sat-nav mount.
When we’ll see these touring models is anyone’s guess. MO is betting on an EICMA reveal, which means waiting until November to get any more details.
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