Well having just come back from a 1800 Km good mixed ride, I agree with what the guy experienced except, as with Mark, I think the guy suffered from a bit of "Drama queen"
I suppose I did not expect to have a smooth turbine engine with 200kw on tap, so I wasn't disappointed. What I was expecting was a bike that was not as sharp on the road but used that to advantage in the rough, which was exactly what pissed me off about the Strom. It was good on the road, got up an boogied when I wanted but at legal speeds and everyday riding and on dirt the thing was tiiring. I was thinking about going to a GSX1400 or something or a 650 Strom.
After the last 1800km mixed roads I arrived back after 28 Hours in the saddle over three days feeling way better than I thought I would. Just confirmed that it solved all the niggles that I had with the Strom. I am starting to respect that this bike can just be pointed down any road and will just do the job. One thing I will say though is the adrenalin pump for me is now the off road sections, the on road section is good in a "just eats it up" way. I have absolutely no chicken strips on the bike now but I can't remember exactly where I was using all the tread. It just did what I asked on or off road and got out of my way and let me do my thing.
That's why I love this bike. ::024::
I have absolutely no idea why he thinks the bike has a high forward COG. That is not my experience. I think he is inferring that from the way the steering is set up. The way the bike just leans way over in the shed without that sudden "oops too far" feeling I get with a friends RT and my Strom suggests something different to me and the way it reacts when thrown off line my a large stone is just really different than what I have been used to. The whole bike moves sideways not tips sideways. That is something that I was trying to figure out over the 110Km of dirt "sort of road" I was riding on Saturday.
But I think the guy deserves credit for this..[from the video preview section]
I find riding a 637lbs behemoth absolutely shit-my-pants terrifying.
And that I think is the reason that riders with dirt backgrounds tend to like it a lot more than riders with sports bike backgrounds. The dirt riders just feel like they are riding a nuclear powered dirt pig while the road riders are shitting themselves. Good on him for being honest.
Love this pic