I've got Mick's Strom for the weekend.  

First impression.... she's a big sucker!

Going for a ride to Onion's place at Caveat with Pat tomorrow.  Report more then.

You should call Frankie he has just got a new KTM 1050, hook up for a ride Im sure he would allow you to try it

Serge C wrote:
Do you always have to take a pillion with you, so you can get a boost up onto it? 

I had Frankston Yamahas F800R for a couple of hours on Thursday.

First impressions were it's bigger than the Kato but feels Ok to move around and get it out of the showroom. Thats probably the first test for would be test riders, get to the door in one piece and off you go.

Second impressions were mixed. As I approached 80kph for the first time the LH mirror rotated towards me just as a warning light started flashing on the dash. Bloody clever those Germans me thinks.

Back at the shop and they apologised for the mirror and the fact that the front tyre was under inflated which was the warning light. Oh dear. You will check the rear for me won't you and can you take some of that free play out of the throttle cable.

Off we go again and all held together down the Pen Link towards Arthurs Seat. Comfortable, nearly totally smooth, controls in the right place but way too quiet.

Arthurs seat was enjoyable with the beemer easy to roll into the corners but still too much play in the throttle making some of the corner exits a bit jerky. Coming down was grouse with those big Brembos doing it easy.

The bike comes with 3 electronic settings for the suspension, soft - normal - sport, and I could feel the difference even on the little bumps of the freeway. I rode up and down the seat twice on normal which felt good at sensible speeds. Also included in the $13,000 asking price are a carrier, heated grips, centre stand, ABS, traction control, lots of info on the dash and - er - oh yes, tyre pressure monitoring.

It was a nice bike to ride but there was no WOW factor.

Next test is a Yamaha Tracer (MT09 decked out for touring) hopefully next week.

It's a funny thing but as I get the RZ ready to sell towards something more modern, it is starting to look really good as the bits go back on - Hmmmm

nathanstott wrote:
You are Hi-lar-e-ous!

Kenneth,

I assume that's second-hand for that price!

I wasn't even game to sit in the 800 (in the showroom).  It was daunting enough getting the Strom off the footpath and across Whitehorse Road traffic on a Saturday morning!

That's a demonstrator bike price, very low mileage. For a brand spankers it's $14,000 which is still a very good price for a road bike with all those gizmos and I could get my feet flat on the floor. Like I said it's easy to move around and ride with a low COG having the fuel under the seat.

So, the plan was to meet Onion and Pat at Whittlesea maccas, which we did, en route to Caveat.  

Onion lead (in his car) and Pat and I followed on the bikes.  We took the Whittlesea - Yea road, through the twisties through Flowerdale, and I must say the big girl handled them well.  The power out-put on the Strom was impressive, silky smooth and responsive.  The gearbox too, was very smooth and easy to use.  The Zook climbed easily to 140k (not that I went that fast), with narry a vibration in site.  It was tricky to keep it under/around 60ks, as she wanted to gallop on, so 3rd and 4th got a hiding.  We had a piss stop at Yea and then took the climb to Onion's place.

After lunch, Onion rode the Strom back down, as he's also in the market for an 'adventure' bike.  At the bottom, we compared notes and came to the same conclusion, - the Strom is a great bike, easy to ride, comfortable and quiet....... but BIG!  Leaning across that tank (for me) was a bit of a stretch and my arms started to ache very early in the ride.  And (believe it or not) it was a stretch to bet my foot (one only) to the ground.  Consequently, maneuvering the beast was more like hand-to-hand combat!  Mick has a lowering link on his bike, but it made no difference to me.  I'd have to have it chopped and a low seat to get it to a stage i was comfortable, and I'd still have the issue with fitting in the top end.  So I think the V-strom is off the list and we're back to the GS650's (like we had in Iceland).  A bit smaller, a bit lighter and considerably lower.

But that's my thinking today, after 300ks in the saddle!

Hey mate, you should have a ride on a 1050 KTM, I went into Marriotts KTM in Leongatha to buy some parts for my KTM 300, I thought I would ride my 06 cbr Fireblade 1000rr over there & save some money on fuel , while I was riding those bumpy roads at the speed limit was very uncomfortable, you have to go fast on those sports bikes to enjoy the ride, now at my age I have out grown the sports bike, so I was thinking, seeing that I'm going to the KTM shop, why not have a look at a adventure bike, when I got there Adam the sales man was telling me all about those bikes, no big sales pitch, if he did that I would have walked away, he was telling me that he had a 1190 s/h only 6,000 K's lot of extras like heated grips, heated seat, crash bars, center stand & a few other things, he said that there is a fella out test riding it, when he came back he was very impressed, he said that he would buy it if Adam came up with a good deal, he was trading in a 990 Kato, Adam asked that bloke if it was alright if Frank had a ride on it, he said that was ok,they went inside to work out a deal while I was out there having a test ride, I was sold as soon as I went around the first corner, that thing was so good to ride, heaps of power, abs brakes which is really good if you have a pillion there is no nose dive when ya use the brakes, so the person on the back doesn't push their weight onto you, but if it's a female maybe it's not such a good idea  there's mapping for sport, street, rain,& off road, anyway I'm buying it if that bloke is not buying it, it turned out he bought it, ok, I'll have the 1050 then, they feel the same as the 1190 up to 6,000 revs, the 1190 puts out 150 H/P, the 1050 has 100 H/P more then enough, the funny thing is, that bloke took his 990 in for a service because he is going to Tassie for 3 weeks leaving tomorrow, ended up buying a new s/h bike, & I went in there to get a couple of parts, & ended up buying a new bike, I am very happy I bought the 1050, really great to ride, I've done 694 K/M since picking it up on Friday arvo.

Yeah, I looked at that (on line).

It's as big as the Strom, as heavy as the Strom, more engine than I need and a seat height higher than the Strom.

I don't know if you remember, but I'm on the shorter end of tall, and big bikes are my nemisis!