36654
New member
There was a bit of a back-up at the dealership shop and I arrived early for my state inspection appointment, so I decided to take the demo wethead RS out for a spin. Relative to ergonomics, the bike is good fit for me. I'm 6'-1" and ride an oilhead RS with a Sargent saddle in the middle or top position, the standard wethead seat is a hair low for me, but not overly cramped. However, I do like that the front of the wethead seat is narrower than the "spread eagle"pose of the Oilhead seat. I'm not sure I like the no-slip/high traction surface of the seat. The handlebars seem definitely wider than my standard issue Oilhead bars, but there's no adjustment for angle or fore-aft position. The driver foot pegs are well placed but the shift lever seems to be too far forward. I ride with the ball of my foot on the peg, so the tip of my shoe doesn't reach the wethead shift level unless I move my foot forward. Also, when shifting, my foot hits the side stand tab located between the foot peg and the shift lever. There's no vibration transmitted thru the grips or anywhere else. The stock windscreen provides decent protection, but a larger aftermarket screen would likely occur in the future.
In my world, the engine provides warp factor performance while being glass smooth relative to an oilhead. The chrome exhaust is definitely louder than my venerable oilhead. The transmission is completely different than any Airhead/Brick or oilhead I've ever ridden. My shifts weren't quiet, but they seemed smooth........within the confines of the rapid throttle response. Did I mention that I ride "Old School" with a throttle return screw for "Cruise control".
The suspension, I think, was set to Road with dynamic ESA. It seemed fine, but I could produce some fork dive. If I hadn't upgraded the shocks on my Oilhead last year, I would be very impressed by the wethead suspension. As is, I think the wethead suspension matches a good aftermarket upgrade on a Tele-Lever bike.
I'm not sure what the shift assist was supposed to do for me and the hill holding clutch/brake only serves to make you look like a fool at inconvenient times.
There's a speedometer and a data display showing a lot of nothing. I couldn't find the odometer and the tachometer sideways bar chart with the obscure placement of a numerical value was baffling. Oil and coolant temp would have been nice to see.
Switching between ride and suspension modes didn't seem to change anything, but then again, I was more involved with driving than fiddling with the playstation controller. I may have just run thru some menus and never changed anything. One or two toggle switches would have handled the job in a fairly direct manner. As is, I was fiddling with a video screen display while driving. I probably could have sent a text or two while I was at it.
What the heck is that spinning wheel thing on the inboard side of the left handle bar grip?
The handlebar switches are all nice, small and quite stylish. That's just what I want in motorcycle switch gear that I will operate wearing gloves. Returning to a small turn signal toggle switch is wonderfully retro in style and functionality.
In short, the wethead RS engine and seat/handlebar ergonomics are winners in my book. The switch gear and "data cluster" are a disappointment. The ride modes, ESA, shift assist and hill holder clutch / brake aren't intuitively functional to me.
But, I'm glad I had a chance to take the demo ride.....
In my world, the engine provides warp factor performance while being glass smooth relative to an oilhead. The chrome exhaust is definitely louder than my venerable oilhead. The transmission is completely different than any Airhead/Brick or oilhead I've ever ridden. My shifts weren't quiet, but they seemed smooth........within the confines of the rapid throttle response. Did I mention that I ride "Old School" with a throttle return screw for "Cruise control".
The suspension, I think, was set to Road with dynamic ESA. It seemed fine, but I could produce some fork dive. If I hadn't upgraded the shocks on my Oilhead last year, I would be very impressed by the wethead suspension. As is, I think the wethead suspension matches a good aftermarket upgrade on a Tele-Lever bike.
I'm not sure what the shift assist was supposed to do for me and the hill holding clutch/brake only serves to make you look like a fool at inconvenient times.
There's a speedometer and a data display showing a lot of nothing. I couldn't find the odometer and the tachometer sideways bar chart with the obscure placement of a numerical value was baffling. Oil and coolant temp would have been nice to see.
Switching between ride and suspension modes didn't seem to change anything, but then again, I was more involved with driving than fiddling with the playstation controller. I may have just run thru some menus and never changed anything. One or two toggle switches would have handled the job in a fairly direct manner. As is, I was fiddling with a video screen display while driving. I probably could have sent a text or two while I was at it.
What the heck is that spinning wheel thing on the inboard side of the left handle bar grip?
The handlebar switches are all nice, small and quite stylish. That's just what I want in motorcycle switch gear that I will operate wearing gloves. Returning to a small turn signal toggle switch is wonderfully retro in style and functionality.
In short, the wethead RS engine and seat/handlebar ergonomics are winners in my book. The switch gear and "data cluster" are a disappointment. The ride modes, ESA, shift assist and hill holder clutch / brake aren't intuitively functional to me.
But, I'm glad I had a chance to take the demo ride.....
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