I've had a test ride booked for several weeks and rolled up to the dealers at 10am this morning for my long awaited appraisal of the new beast.
Having gone through the obligatory demonstration of the controls,the bike was fired up, and it sounds very nice, on I jumped and set off across the car park,immediately the bike felt much lighter than my present twin cam.
Having set off down the road I had to stop after about 200yds as my foot kept fouling on something as I tried to change gear,it turned out to be the arm that you use to put the side stand down,I don't have massive feet and wasn't wearing massive boots but it interfered with my gear change throughout the test,although once I knew what it was I was able to tuck my foot underneath it,but would have to address it if I where to buy one.
That sorted off we go, and dear me did we go!
This bike pulls like a train and feels very light,at first it all felt a little skittish with it's instant get up and go and it's light front end,but after a few miles I got used to the feel and really started to enjoy the bike.
As I've said it feels very light on the move and flicks through the bends like a bike half its size,sit behind any vehicle at anywhere down to 45 mph in top gear and when your ready to go just go,there's no hesitation,it most probabley accelerates from 45mph in top gear as quickly as mine does in 4th.
The brakes are beautifully balanced and I found it hard to upset the bike even breaking very hard before some very tight bends on the back roads.
If there's anywhere I didn't feel the WC felt as good as mine it was on those very tight gnarly back roads,it still felt a little skittish although putting the ESA into rain mode rectified much of this,plus it was on the new Tourances which may not be as suited to these kind of gravelly roads as the originals.
I spent around two hours on the bike and it felt very comfortable,the dash looked good and all the controls were easy to use,the screen was almost as effective as my adventure screen and winglets.
To be honest apart from a couple of little things that were purely personal it's a hard bike to fault and an easy bike to praise,if it's got a down side it's that it will bring the hooligan out in some folks,he was definitely starting to rear his head for the last 45mins of my little ride.
All in all I though it was a fantastic bit of kit.
I expected to get back on my bike and for it to feel dated and like a big lump of lard.
Strangely it didn't.
Steve.
Having gone through the obligatory demonstration of the controls,the bike was fired up, and it sounds very nice, on I jumped and set off across the car park,immediately the bike felt much lighter than my present twin cam.
Having set off down the road I had to stop after about 200yds as my foot kept fouling on something as I tried to change gear,it turned out to be the arm that you use to put the side stand down,I don't have massive feet and wasn't wearing massive boots but it interfered with my gear change throughout the test,although once I knew what it was I was able to tuck my foot underneath it,but would have to address it if I where to buy one.
That sorted off we go, and dear me did we go!
This bike pulls like a train and feels very light,at first it all felt a little skittish with it's instant get up and go and it's light front end,but after a few miles I got used to the feel and really started to enjoy the bike.
As I've said it feels very light on the move and flicks through the bends like a bike half its size,sit behind any vehicle at anywhere down to 45 mph in top gear and when your ready to go just go,there's no hesitation,it most probabley accelerates from 45mph in top gear as quickly as mine does in 4th.
The brakes are beautifully balanced and I found it hard to upset the bike even breaking very hard before some very tight bends on the back roads.
If there's anywhere I didn't feel the WC felt as good as mine it was on those very tight gnarly back roads,it still felt a little skittish although putting the ESA into rain mode rectified much of this,plus it was on the new Tourances which may not be as suited to these kind of gravelly roads as the originals.
I spent around two hours on the bike and it felt very comfortable,the dash looked good and all the controls were easy to use,the screen was almost as effective as my adventure screen and winglets.
To be honest apart from a couple of little things that were purely personal it's a hard bike to fault and an easy bike to praise,if it's got a down side it's that it will bring the hooligan out in some folks,he was definitely starting to rear his head for the last 45mins of my little ride.
All in all I though it was a fantastic bit of kit.
I expected to get back on my bike and for it to feel dated and like a big lump of lard.
Strangely it didn't.
Steve.
