Hi folks,
Just got back from the 'Thunder In The Glens' up in Aviemore, Scotland. First time I've been, and it lived up to my expectations - possibly the best rally I've ever attended, great people, great place, great fun. Didn't have my camera for the run-out though, so no pics of the bike out on the road this time! Here's a photo of the view from my bedroom window instead
-at least it's a nice view
- yes, I stayed at the resort hotel this time instead of camping.Anyway, getting to know the XR better now after riding all kinds of roads up to and in Scotland. For anyone who's interested, here's a few thoughts on the bike as it stands, which I've put down in three fairly obvious categories.
1) Things I Like
.The way it goes. Love the engine, it's starting to loosen up nicely now and the combination of low-down torque with the ability to rev as well make it excellent for blasting along in the most useful speed range on real roads, say between 40-80mph. I've seen 90 on the clock (effortlessly) but I haven't wanted to take it any faster while new so far.
The way it stops. The twin discs on the front work brilliantly, simple as that. Lots of feel, very progressive, and very powerful, enough to get me out of trouble once or twice when I overdid things on the A68 hairpins crossing the border into Scotland. What a road! I'll try and get some pics next time I'm up that way.
The way it handles. Not quite as impressive as the aforementioned engine/brakes, but good enough for my riding abilities for sure. If anything the combination of dinky little front wheel and big fat rear one (that's what it feels like) induce a degree of understeer, not a bad thing as when things get tight you can tuck the front of the bike in a little more, gives you some reserve as it were. True, the suspension gets upset if you hit corners and bumps at the same time - typical twin-shock behaviour, but it's as good as any similar setup that I can remember over the years.
2) Things I Don't Like
.The way it looks. OK, not sure about this. Up in Aviemore people were very complementary, but it was the kind of meeting where if I'd turned up on a camel with Harley written on the side, the folks would have been kind about it. For me there's too much rather cheap-looking plastic - check out the sidepanels, for example, when you see one. Maybe the bike would look better (to me anyway) with its bodywork stripped down, real cafe racer material perhaps.
The finish. The magazine articles I read that were critical about this were right. The finish is crap, no ifs or buts. I've already got some damage to the plastics on the bike after two rallies, one of them local, and I've been fairly careful too. There's even some discoloration on the aluminium powdercoat as well. Not good enough at all. Maybe even more of an argument for stripping the bodywork down to the frame...
The fuel tank. Looks fine, but a little more capacity would be good, maybe half or even a full gallon. I'm sure the Harley stylists could have designed it in without spoiling the lines. Yes, I know it's supposed to be a 'street' machine, but ironically this is a bike that would make a good tourer in the European style - lightly loaded, fast A-road riding kind of stuff.
3) Things I Hate
.Those damn pipes! Actually I don't mind the way they look - the matt silver matches the powdercoat (assuming it doesn't fall off...) - but they sound terrible. Absolutely terrible. Ducati's have a better V-twin beat - shit, even Suzuki's do. They're coming off!!! I'll probably wait until next year though, so as to see what's available. To be fair, I don't want to spoil the feel of the power delivery by buggering up the EFI, so I'll wait to see what the options are.
VERDICT SO FAR : Brilliant bike to ride, OK (-ish) to look at, bloody awful to listen to.
Ride Safe,
Ian
P.S. Can't resist adding some options I'd like to see HD build into the 'Mark Two' version -
1) How about monoshock rear suspension? Maybe not the Buell tubed stuff, just a decent rising-rate shock under the seat. Shouldn't be too difficult...
2) Ditch the plastic - lets have some good black metal bodywork instead.
3) ABOVE ALL - decent pipes!!! Some open straight-throughs would be nice. OK, so put some mufflers on (to pass the tests), we can soon take them off
P.P.S. If anyone's at the Ace Cafe 12th/13th September, might just bump into you. I'm taking the chance to visit a few friends in and around London, but I'll be around and about
,
rather than the output. Will give it some serious time. Have been looking at the exhaust though; pipes made by Kess Tech (with the adjustable noise baffles, beautiful gear too) might just do the trick. They don't produce kit for the XR yet, but being Europe (Germany) based they'll surely get round to it,