An interesting experience, not least as I have never so much as looked at an ‘automatic’ motorbike before.
The initial pulling away was odd, with no clutch and indeed, no gear lever. I had thought got used to it before I had gone just a few yards to the very busy Chiswick roundabout.
The bike pulls away well in Tour mode, however rain and the odd ‘economy’ mode are a bit like treacle. The ‘Sports’ mode gives it a bit more umph, but nowhere near the shove you get from BMW’s 1600. In ‘Tour’ the bike seemed to be in a rush to get into 4th gear around town but no great problem there. I like the auto ‘stop start’ and suffered no delays in the engine restarting. The reverse gear is good and I liked that you can drive the bike forward in the same way. The manual mode, where you use a button to shift up and down the gears. Not least, it was the only way I could find to make the bike ‘kick down’ reliably, but that might just be me being unused to an ‘automatic’.
Ergonomically, it was easy to get used to the buttons and switches, all of which are pretty intuitive, without having to plough through an owner’s manual. What I wasn’t so keep on was the chrome highlight bits on the switches. They are switches, not ornaments.
It is amusing to watch the suspension tops, bobbing up and down, a little bit like bellows. The bike is certainly all day comfortable and, like any well designed bike, hides its not inconsiderable weight well. It sits lower than my 1600 but the seat is wider. With a 31” inside leg, it was probably more stable at rest, not least as I now have a very dodgy right knee. Staying on the comfort theme, the heated seat and grips were very good. The fully adjustable electric screen worked well but once it was extended much above 2/3rds, I ended up looking through it rather than over. That I didn’t like.
I am not sold on the large topbox / pillion armrest combination. That is probably the bike harking to its PanClan / Wing Riders fan base. It’s really not my thing.
I really liked the big TFT navigation screen but didn’t get a chance to try it linked to my phone. As it supports Apple Car Play, I am sure it will be excellent on decent length tours, running bespoke routes. I also liked the ‘old fashioned’ conventional speed and rev counter, with the smaller LCD giving just enough info on the other functions. Also quite neat was the little blue pinpoints on the clocks, to mark the graduations.’Best of all, was the the very simple time display at the top of the TFT screen, but that probably says no more than I am easily pleased.
The main thing that struck me is that it is a very ‘relaxed’ motorcycle, the DCT making the rider a bit lazy. That might change when I try the bike for a 48 hour trial.
Key downside? The full blown DCT Tour variant is feckin’ expensive! You’d need to do some serous jaunts to justify it.
