Wow, after paying what most woukd consider an extreme amount of money for what is supposed to be a quality motorcycle & then having to strip the engine to repair something that should be basic quality control from the outset. Does my head in !
Apart from different acceptable levels of vibration for different people, different models and therefore riding positions and different types of usage, it appears that the hand built nature has led to different inherent vibration across individual bikes!
Agreed , BUT Bushman had a bad counterbalancer drive side bearing . His vibration must have been awful .
Wow, after paying what most woukd consider an extreme amount of money for what is supposed to be a quality motorcycle & then having to strip the engine to do something that should be basic quality control from the outset
Yep, Kawasaki 900RS (retro special) great all round bike, looks fantastic in jaffa colours, good at scratching, comfortable, ok two up and tuned with a fantastic mid range. Love it.
Well I went for the test ride today, 1st impression was -- it looked great from every angle but there were numerous parts that would look far better if they were polished alloy instead of that ugly grey colour + the top of the engine is not pretty. Ugly looking cooling fins that could look so much better if it was designed with a bit more thought. Once riding my 2nd impression was -- I don't know what my mate was talking about, because the vibration is no where near as bad as he described, it didn't bother me at any revs and was actually less than I expected. 3rd impression was -- the riding position was ok & not the uncomfortable stretch to the bars others were saying it is & I am not 6ft. I rode for about 25 minutes & only had slight discomfort in my wrists, but I don't have a bike with clip ons at the moment so I would obviously get used to it. 4th impression was -- it didn't inspire confidence in the few twisty roads I had to play with, not bad handling but I just felt somewhat disconnected from the bike because I wasnt getting any feedback from tyres or suspension. 5th impression was -- it just didn't make me feel glad to be riding it, very underpowered (which would improve a little with decent pipes etc but at a fairly hefty price) & it didn't have any of the character I was hoping to feel from a bike like this. I just couldn't find anything about it to give me that tingly excited feeling which makes you want to keep riding motorcycles that are special somehow. I tried to love it but came away feeling really disappointed & let down. While I was at the shop i thought i would test ride a Thruxton 1200 R & it left me wanting more, not because it had a lot more power, it just felt right & felt planted straight out of the box + it handled beautifully & I felt at home after 2 corners. The finish of the bike was also immaculate. The Norton is not for me, I wasnt expecting a refined motorcycle by any stretch of the imagination but I was expecting to feel as if I was riding something special & that just did not happen. Awsome bike to look at, but thats about it for me im afraid.
Yep, rode it for about 25 minutes, just long enough to get a decent feel for it.
Hi Steve, I was hoping you would call before I got there. My only connection with English bikes was with the early Bonnie I owned & loved for the character & handling it had. I actually thought my Pommy mate who test rode it would have loved it but he was far more negative than me. I suppose I was hoping the Norton would have, in some way, the same cool unique feeling the old Bonnie had, but better. I was dissapointed and although I wasn't expecting the bike to be powerfull in any way, I was hoping to ride a nicely tuned bike with good mid range, loads of character & nice handling. Unfortunately, it was none of the above. 3 out of 4 would have been ok. Maybe you are correct & if I spent money on pipes, tuning, handling etc, etc I might grow to like it more, and that would not be so bad if the bike gave me a good feeling when I test rode it, but it didn't. My way of thinking is that the Norton should have something very special about it to warrant the $38000 price tag & I think comparing the Triumph is fair because you are not paying the premium price of the Norton & I wasn't comparing hp or engine noise, just overall feel & pleasure of riding. To my mind, the Trumpy wins in every aspect. But, as you said, everyone is different, and the Norton is just not not for me.
You maybe right ?
No maybe about it...
If I had endless amounts of money to spare I definitely would, just to fill in the gap between the pool table & the dart board. The test ride certainly made me appreciate my 900RS a lot more.
