I rode the RC8, SuperDuke 990 and the Buell 1125CR at the LB Bike show on Sunday. Here are my thoughts on them all:

RC8: Rock solid, comfortable, and just about as perfect as can be; Except for when putting along at low speed. The low speed fueling is just as twitchy and crazy as I read it was. The lightest touch lurches the bike forward. The front brakes are almost too good. It's geared pretty tall to boot, so going fast is really it's strong suit. It felt awesome accelerating up through the gears. I was only able to hit about 80MPH max on the demo ride though, and spent most of the time in 2nd. On the route I was taken we had some sweepers and a chicane. It seemed almost efortless to put it through the quick left right. It was so easy to flick, and the weight seemed perfectly balanced. It was poised and perfect through the sweepers too. I hit some uneven surfaces in a long sweeper and the bike jus skipped over the bumps in a nice solid mass, but not too stiff at all. Once they work out the low speed fueling I might just have to find a way to own one! Or maybe the forth comming Venom naked model. Now where did I leave the $20K laying around?

Super Duke 990: After riding the RC8 this seemed like a comfy lazy boy chair. Nice upright seating and wide bars. It was perfect for the low speed stuff. The balance and leverage was so good on the bike that I was able to keep my feet up on the pegs at stoplight for about a full minute with touching the ground; Just by twitching the front tire about. It just felt like a great comfortable bike to ride. everything seems to work as it should but it seems a tiny bit on the soft side. Could have been the setup? Overall though it seemed like it would be a great all around bike. Earlier this year I rode with a guy who had 990 Super Duke and he blasted the thing way ahead of me down Latigo Canyon Road. But he had spent a few $$$ on suspension work.

Buell 1125CR: I was excited to try the Rotax based Buell to see how the whole package worked. It had way less vibes than the Harley engine based Buell I breifly rode, and felt pretty good but a bit clunky and kind of unnatural. The engine kept makeing a weird clicking noise just off idle. Also the clutch on this bike had almost no play at all. It only engauged at the very last few milimeters. It did have really nice acceleration but did not feel that great to me in the corners. Also, somewhere along the way while riding it, the kick stand lost its spring and hung fully down and way out (they really go waaay out on this model) forcing me into having to stop and swap bikes with the one of the group monitors. The Harley based Buell I hopped on had way more vibes but seemed a bit better balanced than the 1125CR. Overall I did not like the 1125CR bike very much, but to be fair I think that bike had been thrashed at the track and put away wet. I noticed the tires were pretty snotty looking at the edges from track use. I did not get to try the regular 1125 to see if it was any better.

I wish I could have tried the Aprilla RSV and the Ducati Hypermotards they had for testing, but those bike were all booked up. The KTM's where nice but the ride home on my mostly stock VTR felt pretty damn good compared to all the big twins I rode. I just wish it was as solid feeling as the RC8 is. But what do you want for bike that has cost me less than $5K total including tires, chain sprockets, rotors and new clip ons. The VTR is such a great bike for the money!

Did anyone else do any demo rides at the LB show? I did not even make it into the show I just rode the demos outside.

 

I went to the show in AZ but did not demo any of the bikes. Didn't want to haul my gear out there. They charge extra for luggage on flights now. I've seen the show, so I'll spend the day doing all the demos I can when it comes to SC in Feb.