Disclaimer: I've been to Scotch tasting tonight so this might not be a totally coherent "R" report.
OK, it's not Italian or German or English. Today's "R" demo was the Austrian beast, a Super Duke 1290 R with 1 mile on it.
That's my GS in the background with the new 2015 SDR in the foreground. They have a great deal right now were the bike is deeply discounted and they're throwing in the Akra silencer. I'm going to talk about the bike but first I have to say that B&E Motorsports in Easton Maryland is exactly the kind of motorcycle dealer I grew up knowing. Bob, the owner, answers the phones, sells bikes, works behind the parts counter, works on bikes, and oh, he campaigns an RC8 race bike and a RC390 race bike. It's not the big premium experience I'm used to at Bob's BMW where I feel like part of the family. It's a small shop owned and operated by a different Bob that I could see being a great track day buddy. And if I need my bike worked on, Bob will come and get it and haul it over to his dealership and bring it back for me. As much as I enjoy the experience at BMW Bob's, I'm hoping this could be the start of a fun relationship if I buy this bike (and other KTMs on my radar for playing in the dirt).
Back to the bike - did I mention that it comes with the Akra thrown in? The one that has a single set screw to remove the db killer. Bwaaahaha.
This thing just screams "I'm a hooligan!" It looks like it's doing burn outs just sitting there. The first thing I noticed about it is that owing to the V-twin bolted in there, it's about as wide as a bicycle when you look at it from the back. Sitting on it, it feels like the short wheelbase that it is and I can't help thinking that I'm sitting on a 180 HP Grom.
Like the Monster R, when it's running you can feel every high combustion stroke but when I pulled away on it, I had to negotiate through a crowded gas station and then follow a little old lady a few blocks to some clear road. That was enough to know that the fueling off idle and loping around was flawless and this bike can easily be ridden slow like a starter bike - and it felt a little like one too it's so light and small feeling. The gearing is tall but because of the massive low end it doesn't feel like it except that you can ride it like a scooter with little shifting. Bob encouraged me to ride it off in "sport" mode - the most dynamic throttle, traction, and abs map but said "New tires, better leave the TC on for a few miles before you turn it off to ride any wheelies." Like I said - my kind of dealer. The little old lady turned right and the road opened up and MOTHER Frracker! the beast got out. I came to a stop about a mile later and was just speechless. In any gear up through 4th at any rpm above about 3K it would pull like mad hovering the front tire. No wringing its neck at 12,000 rpm. Just twist and go.
There was no traffic anywhere in the back country farm roads on Maryland's Eastern Shore and Bob mentioned "See you later" when I left to I just kept going for a while. I found some twisty road, some good pavement, some not so good, and again felt like I was riding a quick handling bike about a 1000cc's smaller. I mention that the gearing seems very tall and 6th gear is virtually unusable at anything less than 85 mph. I've read that some people drop down a tooth on the countershaft and that would seem to make sense after my short ride. Eventually, when it looked like I'd looped back to near the shop, I rolled off through a couple of neighborhood streets and hit several stops just to hear it pull away from idle. No one looked at me like I was there to plunder and pillage. In fact, hardly anyone noticed me loping by. Hooligan stealth mode - check.
$16k out the door including the Akra, delivery to me 40 miles away, and my first service included if I buy the oil from him.
I came back home by the Triumph shop intending to ride the Speed Triple. I kinda expected them to be picky about the R model as they'd said they are hard to find but they had told me to come back with my gear and I'd get a hop on a normal Speed Triple. Nope. Someone must have misspoke says the sales guy there. No demo rides on Speed Triples. I guess when you have a showroom full of Bonnevilles and Indian Scouts, a Speed Triple looks like mischief to them. I explain to the guy that he's making it pretty hard to give any consideration to his product and that this week I've ridden the Monster R, S1000R, and I just rode the SDR without so much as signing a waiver or a credit card on file. Nope. Guess not.
I'm off to ride the GS off-road this weekend up in some state parks in PA and I'll decide on Monday.