If anything, posting about it helps me sort out my own thoughts. So here goes.
As I've posted about before, I am interested in getting back on the track. I may end up selling the connie for financial reasons. Therefore, the bike I get must be a good track AND a good street bike. The best bikes in my mind that do this are the naked sport bike class. Among the ones I've been looking at are: Aprilia Tuono v4r, 1290 super duke, BMW s1000r, Ducati Monster 1200s. I also have been interested in the 690 duke but its obviously in a completely different class. I really like watching the videos of the FIM 690 Cup series in Europe. I checked one out at a local KTM dealer and they one of the techs there let me take his for a quick spin (he just bought one, had about 250 miles on it, 2013 model).
First impressions is that it is very small and light. After getting used to my connie, it feels very small (obviously); but at the same time you sit very up right and it has a pretty high seat (almost making awkward ergos). So you can really feel the short wheel base and smaller tires I guess. This translates for me that the chassis has a very nervous, twitchy feeling. There is something to be said about a planted, stable feeling that heavier bikes deliver. One thing that did not help the matter was that the suspension felt very soft. I thought this may be a setting issue, until I figured out that the forks are NON-ADJUSTABLE! Not sure about the rear but I think it was simply inadequate, especially for what I want. When you were a kid, did you ever play on one of those horse rocker toys that was mounted on springs? The riding position and soft suspension while accelerating and stopping reminded me of how it felt to rock back and forth on these old toys. I did note that they sell an R model in Europe that has upgraded forks and rear shock. Brakes were good.
The engine was strong! I'm sure it was more of a perception thing but it definitely had no lack of go. It had plenty to push me back in the seat and made me hesitant to give much throttle in first gear. At higher speeds in higher gears though, the little single did not like rolling on the throttle with out down shifting. Doing so would result in lots of vibration and not much go. It bogged down similar to how my old dirt bike would do.
Overall, it does feel like a small $7k motorcycle. But its $9k retail. I wish that we had the option for the R model here in the states. It was a fun bike, but not as fun as I thought it would be, and definitely not worth 9,000 bucks. It does not have good enough manners for good street duty (especially on the highway) and I would have to spend at least $2300-2500 just in suspension to make it even a possibility for the track. Interesting and fun bike, but its definitely off my list.
