The bike is huge to look at – you are immediately drawn to the huge tank when you look at it from the front, and then those huge exhausts when looking at it from the rear. I have to say that having had the bike for an extended period I have rather grown to like the looks. When you sit on the bike and put the side stand up you feel some of the weight and bulk of the bike but even at standstill it is nicely balanced and the only time I really felt the weight of it was when I was actually pushing it around outside the dealership. Having got back on my Triumph Sprint tonight, it feels like a dinky toy by comparison!!! The dash is quite straightforward, the tacho is nicely centred and your eye falls to it easily, not like the digital speed readout which is offset to the right and the numbers are not very big and when you consider that you are riding a bike with a claimed 168 bhp I would like an easier view of my speed!! For all those who wonder about the size of the tank, yes its physically huge but don’t get any idea’s about putting a tank bag on it as this is where the ignition is situated along with the mode A and mode B buttons for the different fuel maps. The engine is silky smooth at tickover as well as on the move and with rising revs. Having said that this bike was with me to be run-in and as a result it want taken over 5,000 rpm in the time it was with me. Having said that, that is good enough for 100mph in top gear, of which there are 6. All the time I had the bike it remained in mode A, this being due to the fact that I didn’t encounter any rain and also the fact that I didn’t go over 5,000 rpm. Having said that there is plenty of usable power even up to that amount of revs. While on a twisty A road with varying speed limits, I found that I only really needed 3rd and 4th gear and I feel that if the bike was fully run-in and all revs were available then 3rd gear would have been fine. Having said that if you are feeling particularly lazy then put it in 6th and treat is as an auto!! The power delivery is turbine smooth and you can feel the torque twisting its way to the rear wheel. There are no noticeable steps in power, it felt like one linear delivery of power and torque. My useage of the bike varied between town filtering and open A and B roads with twist and turns as well as fast sweeping bends. The suspension works well and soaks everything up nicely. It was all on factory stock settings and I didn’t change it at all but both the front and rear are infinitely adjustable. The brakes are good and crisp and there was plenty of feedback from them, not just dead lever with no idea as to what was happening. The clutch is hydraulic and its action is light enough for 2 finger operation despite the fact that the engine is over 1300cc. The gearbox was slick and smooth right from the off and improved no end in the time I had it. Upchanges and downchanges took no effort whatsoever. What really surprised me was the handling. Bearing in mind that it is a heavy bike and essentially a ‘busa without a fairing I wasn’t expecting the level of handling that I got. It was quick and easy to flick into the tight bends and it also sat nice and planted on the faster sweepers. I have deliberately used this bike on some of the roads that I use socially when out with the lads as these roads are often traffic free as well as the fact that I can compare how the bike handled compared to other bikes I have ridden. The bars are nice and wide but a little set back so you are slightly sat up rather than crouching down GSXR style. This gives good leverage of the bike through the bends without too much effort, mind you, you need to pay attention with the bends especially with how fast you approach them. You may find your entry speed is a little higher than normal. Even though the bike is unfaired there is a degree of wind protection and when you couple that with the smoothness and quietness of the engine, its all too easy to go fast!!!
Once the bike is fully run-in and full power is available then it will be interesting to ride it again and use the power modes to see what the subtle differences are. I would also be interested to see how long the rear tyre lasts when full power is available as even on restricted throttle there is already evidence of the rear tyre getting chewed up. I don’t think this was down to bad suspension set up, more like the power that’s being put through a contact patch of rubber that is the size of a credit card!!
Obviously the question you are asking now is: would I buy one?? Difficult one to answer really. As a bike its really nice to ride as well as being very easy to ride despite its size, but those exhausts!!!!!! I know that there are aftermarket exhausts available along with a tail tidy to sort out the back end totally, the demo bike that I have just given back to the dealer is likely to have these mods done by the dealer to gauge interest. I will try and get the bike again when this is done so I can update the pictures.
I have attached some pics as many people say – this thread is useless without pictures.
Enjoy!!!
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