I spent Thursday and Friday (with my Son) doing the demo ride thing at bikeweek.
My primary goal...the M109.
What a beast
. I rode v-rods, harleys, victorys, yamahas (I'll get to all those in a minute), and nothing pulled quite like the 109. Very impressive engine, tight and quick to rev, I believe it redlines at 9500 which is a lot for 109 cubes of V-twin. The thing just sits there and rumbles with power. My only nit pics are...being not that tall, foreward footpegs are not my first choice (I love floorboards) and personally I think that imitation chrome strip on top of the headlight reaks cheesy. First rate ride though, love the look and the fat back tire, were it not for the footpeg placement this would be my hands down cruiser of choice.
Surprise of the day(s)...The Victory.
First run on a victory for me and I was VERY impressed. Very tight engine/throttle response similar to the M109. That Victory 100 cubic motor kicks the sheat out of the Harley power plant. Smooth with a great sound and much more power. The Victory seems like a more refined machine and it out harleys the harleys in just about every catagory except maybe price.
Just so you don't think it was all V-twins...My Son went with me on Day 2 and "our" primary target was...
My Son on the ZX10R
We both rode the zx10, nice bike but...it's not a busa.
My first liter bike but I was surprised at the (imho) lack of low end power. Yeah, it would scoot but you have to get the rpms up there. Guess riding the torque monster daily kinda jades your opinion.
One side note...why is it the only manufacture with ballz, ballz to bring the big boyz is Kawi? Kawasaki threw down. They had zx10s and zx14s for group demos. Zuk, yamaha, etc...just the cruisers. Well, yama had the FZ1 but no R1s or R6 etc, and zuk just had the sv650 (oh be still my heart). Not to mention, the Kawi demo escort riders are insane...while most demo rides were very much on the side of super safety...the kawi guys hit a patch of open road and were gone
our guy would slow down far away from a curve, then hunker down, wheelie, gun it into the curve. We hit one curve passing the 35mph sign at about 90
, and I did hit tripple digits...that was a DEMO RIDE. Kawi gets 2 hats off, one for bringing the big toys and 2, for letting you really play on em.
I would have to say that tied for my "V-twin I'll probably buy" pick - Yamaha's Roadliner. 113 cubic inches
Although not as responsive or "tight" as the 109 or the Victory, an overall great bike. Nice power, very comfortable (love the floorboards
), good handling. Something you could ride from Florida to California and feel confident and comfy.
The Harleys -
Fat Boy (my favorite) Actually the only one I find tolerable. A great bike with outstanding looks. Not quite as powerful as the others but imho beats them in the asthetic area and is a nice ride. The 96 cube counter balanced motor is fairly smooth.
Dyna - Rode a couple of Dynas and...I hate them. You jiggle around at a stop light like they forgot to hook togather a couple of parts and I swear...the pegs vibrated so bad my feet almost went numb after a 10 mile ride. Where is the hurl icon?
V-rod
My boy on the nightrod special.
Nice bikes but...they're weird. I mean, they are not really a sport bike...and they are not a cruiser. Heck the engine is not even harley. If I was going to kick out that much money for a "sport bike" hello ducati 1098. Anyway, VERY nice powerplant and it is a fun ride.
Sportster - See Dyna only worse.
TURD OF THE DAY goes to Truimph.
My Son loves the 675 daytona and upon us going to demo it...you have to be 25 years old to ride there bikes (my son is 20). They take you out in a supervised ride (wtf is the difference) and it's not like people were tripping over themselves to ride there vast aray of "great" motorcycles. My reply was, "I guess you don't want him to buy one till he's 25 either than." Turning to my Son, "come on, lets go ride a Zx10R."
Overall an outstanding time truely and nothing beats the wealth of experience of actually riding the bikes and compairing.
Oh yeah, one more turd of the day award. I consider demo riding these bikes and extreme privilage. On doing a supervised V-rod ride, we happened along a pair of demo harley riders on the side of the road, one a-hole was attemting to burn all the tread off the rear tire, he had quite a cloud. It's abuse like that, that will screw it up for everybody. What an idiot.
My primary goal...the M109.
What a beast
Surprise of the day(s)...The Victory.
First run on a victory for me and I was VERY impressed. Very tight engine/throttle response similar to the M109. That Victory 100 cubic motor kicks the sheat out of the Harley power plant. Smooth with a great sound and much more power. The Victory seems like a more refined machine and it out harleys the harleys in just about every catagory except maybe price.
Just so you don't think it was all V-twins...My Son went with me on Day 2 and "our" primary target was...
My Son on the ZX10R
We both rode the zx10, nice bike but...it's not a busa.
My first liter bike but I was surprised at the (imho) lack of low end power. Yeah, it would scoot but you have to get the rpms up there. Guess riding the torque monster daily kinda jades your opinion.
One side note...why is it the only manufacture with ballz, ballz to bring the big boyz is Kawi? Kawasaki threw down. They had zx10s and zx14s for group demos. Zuk, yamaha, etc...just the cruisers. Well, yama had the FZ1 but no R1s or R6 etc, and zuk just had the sv650 (oh be still my heart). Not to mention, the Kawi demo escort riders are insane...while most demo rides were very much on the side of super safety...the kawi guys hit a patch of open road and were gone
I would have to say that tied for my "V-twin I'll probably buy" pick - Yamaha's Roadliner. 113 cubic inches
The Harleys -
Fat Boy (my favorite) Actually the only one I find tolerable. A great bike with outstanding looks. Not quite as powerful as the others but imho beats them in the asthetic area and is a nice ride. The 96 cube counter balanced motor is fairly smooth.
Dyna - Rode a couple of Dynas and...I hate them. You jiggle around at a stop light like they forgot to hook togather a couple of parts and I swear...the pegs vibrated so bad my feet almost went numb after a 10 mile ride. Where is the hurl icon?
V-rod
My boy on the nightrod special.
Nice bikes but...they're weird. I mean, they are not really a sport bike...and they are not a cruiser. Heck the engine is not even harley. If I was going to kick out that much money for a "sport bike" hello ducati 1098. Anyway, VERY nice powerplant and it is a fun ride.
Sportster - See Dyna only worse.
TURD OF THE DAY goes to Truimph.
My Son loves the 675 daytona and upon us going to demo it...you have to be 25 years old to ride there bikes (my son is 20). They take you out in a supervised ride (wtf is the difference) and it's not like people were tripping over themselves to ride there vast aray of "great" motorcycles. My reply was, "I guess you don't want him to buy one till he's 25 either than." Turning to my Son, "come on, lets go ride a Zx10R."
Overall an outstanding time truely and nothing beats the wealth of experience of actually riding the bikes and compairing.
Oh yeah, one more turd of the day award. I consider demo riding these bikes and extreme privilage. On doing a supervised V-rod ride, we happened along a pair of demo harley riders on the side of the road, one a-hole was attemting to burn all the tread off the rear tire, he had quite a cloud. It's abuse like that, that will screw it up for everybody. What an idiot.
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