I've been riding for 1.5 years, started at ripe age 48, this is my 7th bike. Previous was BMW G650GS. I have a habit of test riding lots of bikes, as long as dealers don't mind - I am being very upfront. I was really skeptical about Street Twin, but left $500 deposit so I could test ride it when it arrives first. I test rode it, 2012 Bonnie, 2016 Moto Guzzi V7II, and 2015 Ducati Scrambler in a close succession, to have a good basis for comparison. Street Twin won hands down, and now is at my garage. After a day of riding around town, those are my impressions.
First, the things I don't like:
1. Mirrors don't have enough reach to show what's behind me. Will look for bar-ends.
2. Not having tachometer is weird, but mostly psychologically - I shift by feeling anyway.
3. I wish the bike would remember that I want the digital display to show the clock, not the mileage. It forgets after every shutdown.
Things that I like:
1. Subjectively, it just feels amazingly "right". Nothing is off, nothing is distracting, but the bike doesn't disappear either. Perfect compromise between smooth and rough.
2. Torque is amazing. Nothing like Harley, though - it is not jolting you at start, but rather it's everywhere.
It won’t stall. It will pull you away immediately if you ask. It won’t betray you if you don’t ask.
You can ride the city end to end in the second gear. I just did The way it takes on Seattle hills is nothing short of amazing. Just challenging enough to feel like riding a fine stallion. Not a raging bull, not a docile donkey.
3. Fueling is very good. No snatchy throttle of the previous year Bonneville, or Scrambled Duc. Very smooth start, very quick buildup, no stalling, and no surprises.
4. Suspension is good. It's not world class, but it's very good for city riding. No complains yet.
5. Handling is very good. Very easy to drop into a turn, very stable in the turn. I stopped thinking about it after 15 minutes, and the rest of the day was just riding telepathically. Really, it feels like it reads my mind. The only other bike that felt the same was Ninja 250, a very different tween.
6. The quality is amazing. It just feels like an expensive machine. However, it also feels quite businesslike, not like a garage diva or a parade queen. Very British. Yeah, I know it's built in Taiwan. So what.
7. Gear switching is very satisfactory – not clunky, but reassuringly clicky. Slipper clutch works very well on downshifting, but I still blip the throttle most of the time, it feels gooooood
8. The sound. Oh, the sound. So throaty, so blurpy, but not loud at all. Very impressive engineering here. If I can find the way to ditch the cat converter but keep the stock silencer, I will.
9. Little nice things – for the rare cases when I forget which gear I am in or how much fuel I have left, it’s there. Mysteriously absent tachometer is mysterious.
10. Wheels feel… light? And very solid. I would not want to go back to spoke wheels.
11. Stock tires are very good.
12. Finally, the seat opens with a key! Welcome to the 21st century!
All in all, I am one happy rider.
First, the things I don't like:
1. Mirrors don't have enough reach to show what's behind me. Will look for bar-ends.
2. Not having tachometer is weird, but mostly psychologically - I shift by feeling anyway.
3. I wish the bike would remember that I want the digital display to show the clock, not the mileage. It forgets after every shutdown.
Things that I like:
1. Subjectively, it just feels amazingly "right". Nothing is off, nothing is distracting, but the bike doesn't disappear either. Perfect compromise between smooth and rough.
2. Torque is amazing. Nothing like Harley, though - it is not jolting you at start, but rather it's everywhere.
It won’t stall. It will pull you away immediately if you ask. It won’t betray you if you don’t ask.
You can ride the city end to end in the second gear. I just did The way it takes on Seattle hills is nothing short of amazing. Just challenging enough to feel like riding a fine stallion. Not a raging bull, not a docile donkey.
3. Fueling is very good. No snatchy throttle of the previous year Bonneville, or Scrambled Duc. Very smooth start, very quick buildup, no stalling, and no surprises.
4. Suspension is good. It's not world class, but it's very good for city riding. No complains yet.
5. Handling is very good. Very easy to drop into a turn, very stable in the turn. I stopped thinking about it after 15 minutes, and the rest of the day was just riding telepathically. Really, it feels like it reads my mind. The only other bike that felt the same was Ninja 250, a very different tween.
6. The quality is amazing. It just feels like an expensive machine. However, it also feels quite businesslike, not like a garage diva or a parade queen. Very British. Yeah, I know it's built in Taiwan. So what.
7. Gear switching is very satisfactory – not clunky, but reassuringly clicky. Slipper clutch works very well on downshifting, but I still blip the throttle most of the time, it feels gooooood
8. The sound. Oh, the sound. So throaty, so blurpy, but not loud at all. Very impressive engineering here. If I can find the way to ditch the cat converter but keep the stock silencer, I will.
9. Little nice things – for the rare cases when I forget which gear I am in or how much fuel I have left, it’s there. Mysteriously absent tachometer is mysterious.
10. Wheels feel… light? And very solid. I would not want to go back to spoke wheels.
11. Stock tires are very good.
12. Finally, the seat opens with a key! Welcome to the 21st century!
All in all, I am one happy rider.