Seems like I might need to now? Got any tips?You haven't driven a Fiat Panda have you
No doubt about the Ltwin thing, I had 3 v stroms in a row and then a Buell. The sound is a massive part of it. Love th x plane IL4 sound tho too!
Japanese bikes
- Thread starter Gimlet
- Start date
Medical insurance, make sure it's up to date and covers dangerous sports
Bikes having a "soul" is just a figure of speech. I think of it as personality and I'm sure we all understand what is meant by that.
Every bike I've ever owned (and car, come to that) has had some sort of mechanical personality. It's not just about engine configuration and how it sounds/thumps/vibrates or doesn't etc, although that plays a big part. It's also how it rides, how it encourages (or doesn't ) its owner to ride, how it makes you feel in terms of mood when you ride it and what it's like to live with - ie. is it reliable and dependable; is it demanding of your time and wallet; is it easy to work on and do you actually like the look of the thing. What does it say to you when you throw open the garage door and catch sight of it.
My SF certainly has a personality but it's a demanding one. It's a prima donna that calls the shots, we're not a partnership.
The bike I've most gelled with and that felt like a second skin when riding it was my KTM 990 SMT. The 1190 is close but it's a bit more grown up than I am. Me and the SMT were on the same level. I liked everything about it: the sound of it, the power delivery, the sublime handling (eventually - it took a hell of a lot of setting up to get it right and I nearly gave up on it) and it's dependability and mechanical simplicity. I knew that bike inside out and was confident I could pretty much take the whole thing apart and put it back together again on the side of the road just with the tool kit under the seat.
I'm still figuring out the Rocket. It definitely has a distinct personality but I'm still getting to know it.
Japanese bikes have personality as well and I'm sure I'd tune in to it if I bought one, it's just that none of the current line-up make me want to buy them,either on paper or in the metal, and I don't know why.
It's not the I/L four thing. I can live with an I/L four, I just don't much like them that much. Yes they're smooth but so is a triple and I rather have one of those. But I could have a four and the one I like the most is Japanese: the cross-plane Yam. And the one I like least is BMW's S1000. I don't know how an engine can be obscenely fast and very boring at the same time but BMW have managed to build one.
I think it's the current generation of Jap bikes that really leaves me cold. Combination of plastickiness and transformer styling. Though saying that KTM and Ducati aren't much better in that respect.
Every bike I've ever owned (and car, come to that) has had some sort of mechanical personality. It's not just about engine configuration and how it sounds/thumps/vibrates or doesn't etc, although that plays a big part. It's also how it rides, how it encourages (or doesn't ) its owner to ride, how it makes you feel in terms of mood when you ride it and what it's like to live with - ie. is it reliable and dependable; is it demanding of your time and wallet; is it easy to work on and do you actually like the look of the thing. What does it say to you when you throw open the garage door and catch sight of it.
My SF certainly has a personality but it's a demanding one. It's a prima donna that calls the shots, we're not a partnership.
The bike I've most gelled with and that felt like a second skin when riding it was my KTM 990 SMT. The 1190 is close but it's a bit more grown up than I am. Me and the SMT were on the same level. I liked everything about it: the sound of it, the power delivery, the sublime handling (eventually - it took a hell of a lot of setting up to get it right and I nearly gave up on it) and it's dependability and mechanical simplicity. I knew that bike inside out and was confident I could pretty much take the whole thing apart and put it back together again on the side of the road just with the tool kit under the seat.
I'm still figuring out the Rocket. It definitely has a distinct personality but I'm still getting to know it.
Japanese bikes have personality as well and I'm sure I'd tune in to it if I bought one, it's just that none of the current line-up make me want to buy them,either on paper or in the metal, and I don't know why.
It's not the I/L four thing. I can live with an I/L four, I just don't much like them that much. Yes they're smooth but so is a triple and I rather have one of those. But I could have a four and the one I like the most is Japanese: the cross-plane Yam. And the one I like least is BMW's S1000. I don't know how an engine can be obscenely fast and very boring at the same time but BMW have managed to build one.
I think it's the current generation of Jap bikes that really leaves me cold. Combination of plastickiness and transformer styling. Though saying that KTM and Ducati aren't much better in that respect.
AnonymousUser1
Elite Member
Doesn't "soul" mean "always needing work"?
Out of interest, why don't you still have the SMT? I quite fancy one of the 890 SMT's subject a test ride.
Also, the BMW S1000...that engine can be exciting but you've got to keep the revs high which (on the S1000RR at least) can be a problem because it does over 100mph in first. That bike came into it's own over 120mph.
Not necessarily.
I bought the SMT as a tourer. I wanted a proper adventure bike, but at the time (2014 I think) that really meant a Multistrada, a KTM 1190 or a GS. They were all too much money so I bought the SMT as a sort of pretend adventure bike on the cheap. I test rode a 990 Adventure but it was too off-road focused for what I wanted.
But the SMT isn't an adventure bike, it's a giant supermoto. It wasn't that comfortable for distance riding, there wasn't much room on it and the engine begged to be ragged all the time so it felt busy. I sold it to buy an 1190 a couple of years later when used prices had come down. Ideally I'd have kept them both but that wasn't an option at the time.
The SMT was a superb back lane scratcher and that's really what it's for. And unlike most adventure bikes it had 17" wheels both ends so it could be shod in proper sports tyres. The WP suspension on that generation of KTMs was top-notch. As good as factory Ohlins and better than subsequent WP units on later KTMs (the same suspension shop rebuilt and set up the suspension on both the SMT and the 1290 Superduke I bought later and he commented on how much cheaper and nastier the SDR's units were compared to the SMT).
KTM's suspension is back up to scratch now. I think they just did a bit of cost-cutting with the gen 1 Superduke. I doubt you'd have any complaint with the latest models. If the 890 SMT is half the bike that the old V-twin was it will be a corker. The original was heavier but it had more power and torque once remapped. After uncorking mine with a DNA airbox Leo-Vinci cans, binning all the emission control gubbins and getting it custom mapped, I was getting 120 bhp and 78 ft/lb of torque. It was punchy as hell.
Personally I can't feel the love for the parallel twin KTMs. They just don't have the character (that word again) and instant punch of the LC8 V-twins. Worth a test ride though. A long one ideally.
As to BMW's four, I test rode an S1000XR years ago and nearly hit an oncoming car when I had to pull out to pass a vehicle on the side of the road. A car appeared round a bend, I hit the gas at around 5000 rpm to squirt clear and get back onto my side of the road and absolutely nothing happened. I had to knock it down two gears to find any propulsion. Admittedly my bike at the time was a 1050 Speed Triple which had much more midrange torque, so my mindset was still in triple mode. No doubt if I'd ridden the XR for longer I'd have adapted my riding style to the power delivery, but I didn't like the engine. It felt like I was thrashing the guts out of it all the time to the point of abusing it. 7000 rpm felt and sounded like 12,000. Some people like that but it wasn't for me. It was very buzzy as well.
I think that's a peculiarity of the BMW four. Not all I/L fours are like that. The cross-plane Yam and the Honda Fireblade feel far less over-worked to me.
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If a passenger of foot obstacles your passage I should think you would tootle with vigour.
Are they as gay as Bimota owners...?Let's be fucking honest we all knew Honda riders are fruity
Nearly...
