Was a 45 degree day here in the Great Northwest this afternoon. First decent day for riding since I bought the beast in December.
I began with a gingerly pace to warm the tires a bit. Not that I expected them to heat up on such a chilly day, but warm is a relative term. I tested the roll on in 1st gear and she does a very nice job of gently lifting the front tire as the RPM reaches 6K. SWEET, I say. Lift her up about knee high and shift to 2nd and keep her up slightly until the RPM reaches about 9500 and as the torque bleeds off the front tire settles back to earth. Now I've got this big ****-eatin-grin on my face from ear to ear. This thing shifts soooooooooo smooth. Even though I do need to adjust the shifter a bit.
After a little fun with the new toy straight up and down, I head off to one of my favorite twisty back roads. The roads were nice and dry but too cold to really rock and roll. But I did get her over enough to touch a knee a few times even though I know better on cold pavement.
What really got my attention was the amount of midrange torque this beast posesses. Two MM to much throttle would spin up the rear on corner exits leaving a nice little darky for some thirty feet or so. If it didn't break the tire loose it wanted to lift the front. If you've ever had the front in the air while still in a 20 degree lean on a two lane road it makes you run really wide. Head shake on touch down comes with the turf. She seem to shake it off every time and never once got squirrelly.
I have not touched the suspension and I found it to be fairly pleasing in it's factory form. Far superior to the first generation. She seem to enjoy the corners as all it took was looking through the corner, thinking about turning and she fell in like a thousand dollar prostitute on a warm summer night. How much sweeter can it get?
Well, it does get sweeter. On my way back home I had to test the big girls wheelie skills. With a bump of the clutch in 1st gear, the front tire came smoothly up to 10:30, a quick shift into 2nd with a little added throttle she did her thing flawlessly and balanced on the BTO15 like a seal at the circus balancing a beach ball. I was quickly running out of straight road so I sat her down gently with a little additional throttle. I squeezed the tank with my knees and applied the SBS Sinter Grip Race pads, with help from the Galfer steel lines, lifted the family jewels up on the tank with a thrust of my thighs as I felt the forks bottom out with all entent of lofting the rear tire up high enough to mount a shetland pony (Here's were the fun ended) the rear tire remained planted and the front tire locked up tight. She squeeled like a stuck pig and the front tried to tuck. A very quick release of the brake kept us from testing her rash ability. I was dumb enough to give her another couple tries with the same results. She just wasn't the least bit interested in lifting the rear tire on such a chilly day. To her credit, I had 34 psi cold in both tires and that was a bit much on such a chilly ride.
When I got her safely tucked into her warm cozy garage, got out of my leathers, poured a glass of wine and looked at her with a mesmerized look on my face and thought to myself, what a fantastic piece of technology we have here. This may indeed be the very best all around motorbike ever built? I think I'm in love!
For you fellas who have not had the chance to take your new toy out on the back road twisties yet, this beast is a hand full if you ride agressively. Throttle when accompanied with lean angle can get hairy quick. This big girl was definately not designed with beginners in mind. Treat her with respect or she will put your arse in the bushes
I began with a gingerly pace to warm the tires a bit. Not that I expected them to heat up on such a chilly day, but warm is a relative term. I tested the roll on in 1st gear and she does a very nice job of gently lifting the front tire as the RPM reaches 6K. SWEET, I say. Lift her up about knee high and shift to 2nd and keep her up slightly until the RPM reaches about 9500 and as the torque bleeds off the front tire settles back to earth. Now I've got this big ****-eatin-grin on my face from ear to ear. This thing shifts soooooooooo smooth. Even though I do need to adjust the shifter a bit.
After a little fun with the new toy straight up and down, I head off to one of my favorite twisty back roads. The roads were nice and dry but too cold to really rock and roll. But I did get her over enough to touch a knee a few times even though I know better on cold pavement.
What really got my attention was the amount of midrange torque this beast posesses. Two MM to much throttle would spin up the rear on corner exits leaving a nice little darky for some thirty feet or so. If it didn't break the tire loose it wanted to lift the front. If you've ever had the front in the air while still in a 20 degree lean on a two lane road it makes you run really wide. Head shake on touch down comes with the turf. She seem to shake it off every time and never once got squirrelly.
I have not touched the suspension and I found it to be fairly pleasing in it's factory form. Far superior to the first generation. She seem to enjoy the corners as all it took was looking through the corner, thinking about turning and she fell in like a thousand dollar prostitute on a warm summer night. How much sweeter can it get?
Well, it does get sweeter. On my way back home I had to test the big girls wheelie skills. With a bump of the clutch in 1st gear, the front tire came smoothly up to 10:30, a quick shift into 2nd with a little added throttle she did her thing flawlessly and balanced on the BTO15 like a seal at the circus balancing a beach ball. I was quickly running out of straight road so I sat her down gently with a little additional throttle. I squeezed the tank with my knees and applied the SBS Sinter Grip Race pads, with help from the Galfer steel lines, lifted the family jewels up on the tank with a thrust of my thighs as I felt the forks bottom out with all entent of lofting the rear tire up high enough to mount a shetland pony (Here's were the fun ended) the rear tire remained planted and the front tire locked up tight. She squeeled like a stuck pig and the front tried to tuck. A very quick release of the brake kept us from testing her rash ability. I was dumb enough to give her another couple tries with the same results. She just wasn't the least bit interested in lifting the rear tire on such a chilly day. To her credit, I had 34 psi cold in both tires and that was a bit much on such a chilly ride.
When I got her safely tucked into her warm cozy garage, got out of my leathers, poured a glass of wine and looked at her with a mesmerized look on my face and thought to myself, what a fantastic piece of technology we have here. This may indeed be the very best all around motorbike ever built? I think I'm in love!
For you fellas who have not had the chance to take your new toy out on the back road twisties yet, this beast is a hand full if you ride agressively. Throttle when accompanied with lean angle can get hairy quick. This big girl was definately not designed with beginners in mind. Treat her with respect or she will put your arse in the bushes
