06 AE impressions.

[bikemonster]

Picked up the new AE today and put about 30 miles on it. Initial impression is it is way different driving than the old clutched bikes. Have to give real smooth easy throttle at takeoff or it lurches. Owners manual states to back off on throttle while up shifting. Found (in my lofty 30 miles) that keep the throttle rolled on and just shift seems to be the smoothest. Also found that to leave the bike in gear while off, you turn the key off with the bike in gear. Bike then will roll an alarming foot to foot and a half before transmission engages. Need to make a mental note of that when parking on an incline. My gut feeling is - I should have gone for the A- or just kept my k1200rs. It's a neat engineering exercise, and I hope I warm up to it. No more blipping the throttle at the stop light with the clutch pulled in or while down shifting. Not sure it's worth it to unlearn all the motorcycle things I spent years learning. Also, for you scooter phobes, a brake needs to be applied to start it with the gear secector in any position.

Don't mean to bum you AE waiters.

 

[Toecutter]

Bummer, dude. I'll take it off your hands for $9500, but just because it's the nicest looking scooter in the world.

Get back to us when you decide to pin the throttle and go through 'em near redline. :devil:

 

[FJRMGM]

sounds like I wouldn't like the clutchless model then.

 

[GreyGoose]

Bikemonster,

Give it time. Get used to it (1000 miles) before even thinking about making a determination if its the right bike. Alot of us are going through quite a bit of "herky jerky" stuff on the A model. Master / slave cylinder configuration was changed this year, causing the clutch to grab in a very small range. First and second gear slow speed takeoffs require much more effort to pull off smoothly. You may be experiencing the same type of stuff on the AE.

GreyGoose

 

[murf]

GreyGoose

What was changed on the master/slave cylinder?

 

[jjsC6]

Bikemonster,
Give it time. Get used to it (1000 miles) before even thinking about making a determination if its the right bike. Alot of us are going through quite a bit of "herky jerky" stuff on the A model. Master / slave cylinder configuration was changed this year, causing the clutch to grab in a very small range. First and second gear slow speed takeoffs require much more effort to pull off smoothly. You may be experiencing the same type of stuff on the AE.

GreyGoose

Not to get off the "AE" subject, but unhooking the center throttle spring and adjusting the slack in the throttle cable virtually eliminated the "herky jerky" problems on my bike. The difference in riding it is night and day.

I agree with the comments on the AE. Give it time to get the "new dog smell" off, and report back to us again. Thanks for posting!

 

[DN325Ci]

At least one of those AE magazine reviewers said it felt pretty foreign and not necessarily desireable for awhile, but he became pretty fond of it after some time to learn how to operate it smoothly. Probably just a learning curve thing.

Don