My wife convinced me to get rid of my Sportster 1200C two years ago as it was not comfortable enough to tour on. I have now convinced her to let me have another bike but it needs to comfy. I am interested in the Yamaha range and I do like the look of the 950 but is it powerful enough for two up touring when fully kitted out?

How does the 950 compare against the 1200 Harley or is more comparable to the 883?

Nothing compares to a Harley.

However, I never found a Harley I liked, so good choice with Yamaha!!

950 - Not so sure, personally. Other owners will chime in.

But for touring, the 1100 Dragstar does very nicely. Even the 650 is good enough for a 2-up weekend away. The 950 is somewhere between and by all accounts it is a dream... I'd get one myself if they'd do it in Custom styling!!

The whole Star range is very well suited to touring, mainly because they are all low and looooooong. Whack on a backrest and load up.

I've only had a short test ride on a 1200 sportster, but I'd say it'd be a good compromise.

The sportster is probably a bit more fun, but the midnight star would definitely cope better with touring.

The 950 has plenty of grunt and doesn't flinch at two up with full panniers (the dragstar 650 had a noticeable loss of acceleration/handling)

That's not to say the midnight ain't fun - nothing like grinding the pegs to liven up the morning commute and I've picked up my first points for speeding, so it ain't no slouch (I was racing a gsxr 600 srad at the time lol).

I don't think you'll go far wrong with the 950.