Long distance on a Supersport -- Nuts or no?

[triangleforge]

I'm keeping my eyes open locally for a decent sport-tourer with a whole lot more orientation toward the sport end of things. Since the Duc ST of my dreams hasn't come along at a price I can stomach (though i've seen them trade for that in the past, so patience will eventually pay off), I'm wondering about other paths -- Triumph Sprints, VFRs, etc.

One bike that's long caught my eye is the late '90s Supersport, and I just spotted a 750ss locally for a great price that'd be a bit of a reassembly project, but a really fun one. The thing that's giving me pause -- given that I'm looking at so called "sport touring" bikes -- is that all the reviews I've seen rave about the bike ... up to about 100 miles. And even two consecutive days at that distance elicited complaints from one tester. The main complaints seem to be the seat, the bars (one review says they're designed to be torture riding a straight line) and the non-adjustable front suspension, which is set stiff w/ fast rebound for track-type riding. Fuel capacity is listed as 4.2 gallons so the range wouldn't be anything to write home about, if I'm guessing right at around 35-40 mpg.

Here's my question: would it be nuts to think of logging some decent mileage on this bike if I invest in a Corbin or Sergeant saddle & Helibars? A lot of that mileage would be with my partner who's laid claim to my -- scratch that -- our 2001 M600, so our distance might be a bit limited anyway.

Thanks!

[ducatiz]

I think the stock SS is easy to ride, but for long distance, you'd def want a more comfy seat.  The stock foam DOES wear out ,and a 10+ year old bike will not have a fresh seat.

It really depends on your shape for the ergos of long distance.  I like the riding position -- the tank holds my upper body weight just fine and the angle is fine for me (i'm 6'1", ymmv).

helibars are available and you can tweak it, but you'd need to go up AND back for it to work like that.  Just going up, you lose the stomach perch.

surely you can find an ST around, I see PLENTY for sale, esp well tended ST2's which would be cheaper to maintain than the -3 or -4.

[superjohn]

I'm 6' with '96 900SS and I agree, the seat would definitely need to be replaced. The footpegs are also fairly high and can lead to some cramped knees after a while, but I think there are some spacers to lower then that you can get.

The ST series would probably be a better choice, though I'm not sure what a used ST2/3/4 runs compared to a SS