First let me say thanks to Suzuki!!! Not only did they pay for admission both days, but lunch both days, dyno run, t-shirt, and parking in the infield. Way to take care of Suzuki owners!!
First I demo rode the Aprilla Mille. Didn't like it much. Entering corners while throttle at idle was a lot of work and not comfortable for me. Once I was back on the gas, then the bike just falls over effortlessly. For an expensive bike that doesn't offer the HP other liter bikes have, its cornering just didn't impress me enough to consider buying one.
Second was the BMW 1200S. I was surprised. Still wouldn't buy one, but it was better than I expected. The acceleration isn't linear nor is the engine braking, but it isn't bad either. Doesn't have the Busas power, but didn't expect it to. Its advantages are the extras; heated grips, adjustable suspension on the fly, more comfortable riding position, and no chain maintenance(driveshaft). As for cornering. It will corner, actually liked it better than the mille when entering the corners, but since its swingarm is 3 inches longer than the busa it does take a little more effort. The suspension also has a very different "feel". The 1200 doesn't have the same suspension as Jap bikes. Not necessarilly worse, just different. But most impressive was the ABS. They laid gravel about 2' wide and 15' long on the pavement and did 2 runs one at 45mph and the other at 65mph. The tires didn't lock up on the gravel, and as soon as it hit the clean pavement the bike came to a stop quickly. With the different suspension the bike's frame stays close to level versus our bike in which the front nose dives. Plus the front brake lever also uses rear brake and the rear brake lever uses front brake. So it doesn't matter which one you use. The computer adjusts the amount of braking power to each wheel based on the load(traction) of each wheel. I was very impressed, but due to the nonlinear accel and deccel plus the extra effort for cornering, this bike isn't for me either.
Guess I'll just have to keep the Busa
<!--EDIT|Charlesbusa
Reason for Edit: None given...|1115216389 -->
First I demo rode the Aprilla Mille. Didn't like it much. Entering corners while throttle at idle was a lot of work and not comfortable for me. Once I was back on the gas, then the bike just falls over effortlessly. For an expensive bike that doesn't offer the HP other liter bikes have, its cornering just didn't impress me enough to consider buying one.
Second was the BMW 1200S. I was surprised. Still wouldn't buy one, but it was better than I expected. The acceleration isn't linear nor is the engine braking, but it isn't bad either. Doesn't have the Busas power, but didn't expect it to. Its advantages are the extras; heated grips, adjustable suspension on the fly, more comfortable riding position, and no chain maintenance(driveshaft). As for cornering. It will corner, actually liked it better than the mille when entering the corners, but since its swingarm is 3 inches longer than the busa it does take a little more effort. The suspension also has a very different "feel". The 1200 doesn't have the same suspension as Jap bikes. Not necessarilly worse, just different. But most impressive was the ABS. They laid gravel about 2' wide and 15' long on the pavement and did 2 runs one at 45mph and the other at 65mph. The tires didn't lock up on the gravel, and as soon as it hit the clean pavement the bike came to a stop quickly. With the different suspension the bike's frame stays close to level versus our bike in which the front nose dives. Plus the front brake lever also uses rear brake and the rear brake lever uses front brake. So it doesn't matter which one you use. The computer adjusts the amount of braking power to each wheel based on the load(traction) of each wheel. I was very impressed, but due to the nonlinear accel and deccel plus the extra effort for cornering, this bike isn't for me either.
Guess I'll just have to keep the Busa
<!--EDIT|Charlesbusa
Reason for Edit: None given...|1115216389 -->
