cont.
"That's all well and good Bob but about actual riding impressions?" Here goes.
As a 6'2" 200lbs male with an above average torso length and below average arm length, the reach to the bars felt similar to the FJR. Seat to peg distance also felt similiar. Throttle, clutch, shifter, rear brake, pegs and ancillary controls are all M/C normal. No front bake lever though, it's all integrated through the rear brake. Shifter was 1 down, 4 up with neutral between 1 & 2. Reverse (a real reverse gear not the starter motor) is accessed in a weird way by shifting one DOWN from 1st while holding back a lever on the left handle with your right hand. Once engaged you can let go of your right hand and go back to using the throttle. Reverse is low geared, very much a creeper gear. Also throttle limited, no reverse rolling burnouts.
Instrument cluster has speed, tach, signals, gas, reverse, dual trips, outside temp. No gear indicator. Looked good, very similar to new gen Ski-Doos.
A word about storage. Both the seat (reverse hinged on a strut) and the front trunk (44 liters, reverse hinged, tall cube shaped) are opened by the ignition key WHILE it's in the ignition. On the ignition lock are the usual positions plus two additional spots that unlock either of the storage area. Under the seat is the gas cap, battery and engine control access. Not much room for anything else, maybe some very flat things like maps. Front does indeed hold an XL helmet, or two typical larges. Tank, saddle and tail bags (soft) are already available, as is a rack.
As for the driving, I can say that if you have used sleds or hi-po ATVS, you are most of the way there. You will want to lean inside for "spirited" driving but otherwise you can just sit on the saddle. Power steering means it is MUCH easier to handle at low speeds on pavement than ATVs. Acceleration is M/C similar. My test driver drove a new Mean Streak of all things and it was no problem keeping up anywhere 0-90. While the leaning in corners is different, it wasn't as big a deal as I thought it would be. What really blows your mind are the brakes and what I can only call the Antisuicide factor. The brakes are STUNNING. Always wanted to know what that GSX-1000 would stop like if it had no possibility of stoppies and lets say about 8 front tires on the ground? Well now the world has an answer. Brakes like that can make your arms sore. Made me wish I had a harness. As for the Antisuicide factor, that comes from all the safety electronics. It has a lot of these nannies (though it will allow 1st and 2nd gear burnouts, hehe) but what's amazing is their high threshold coupled with their smooth application.
Despite running at extra legal speeds most of the demo I never noticed the electronics. The machine allows you to do stupid crap like dumping the throttle in tight turns, pinning the throttle in tight turns, changing gears in tight turns, slamming on the brakes in tight turns, etc. No tire slippage, no wheels lifting NOTHING. It just does what you want it to do. If they can get enough people who are scared about doing something dumb on a M/C a demo on one, they will have a success on their hands. It honestly takes out the worries some folks have about killing themselves in a panic moment on a bike. In that aspect it is simply brilliant. If you get the chance to demo one do it. Then ride it like a teenager.
Final thoughts. Unfortunately while most of the machine is nicely contemporary, the front end/hood looks a bit too 90's-ish. It's a bit blah. If it is ever going to be a smash, that will have to be addressed. That being said all the holiday weekend drivers gawked at the thing. In addition to reports in some articles stating a touring version may be forthcoming, the salesman I spoke with confirmed they are also working on a sport version to get the engine (it's the same Rotax v-twin Aprilia uses) back up to Mille tune. Currently it's only about 105 hp due to the concern for a conservative state of tune at launch as well as issues with the electronics integration. But no doubt familiarity with time will lead to more output. I'm putting one on my list of likely future purchases.
