coleman1
03-27-2008, 08:16 PM
I went to AF1 during lunch today to check out the new Shiver. I walked in and saw 2 on the floor, a silver one and an orange one. They looked nice, the silver looked better.
Micah was at the counter and asked if I wanted to take a ride on the demo Shiver. I was a little hesitant (my boss was on my butt about a meeting I missed and wanted me back in San Antonio ASAP), but couldn't pass it up.
Micah started it up. This one had the Leo Vince pipes with the supressors in. "It makes more horsepower with them in" Micah told me. With that, I took off. Here are some notes from a rookie:
Style: When I first got on I thought I was on a mini B-King. The tank looks wide, the tail resembles the B-King slightly....especially with the stock pipes. The Leo Vince pipes round it off a bit. Overall a nice looking, aggresive bike.
riding position: wow, totally not what I expected. I was expecting something similar to the Tuono....but not so. The seat height is taller than on my 07 RSVR by about 1/2 inch. I could flat foot it...but my llegs were straight. On the RSVR my knees are bent slightly.
When you get on it forces you forward. It is very similar to the Hypermotard position. You feel like your almost on top of the handlebars at first. The seat slopes downward into the tank as well, so you have to hold yourself back from sliding forward on the seat.
The foot pegs are right under your butt like the RSVR. I think Micah explained it best....it's like a mixture of the RSVR and Tuono. A very agggresive position for a street bike.
No wind protection. When going 85, it felt like you were going 85. I now know what hurrican force winds feel like.
Display: In a good location. Easy to see. The tach was analog and all other info was on the digital display. The neutral light was too dim I thought. You could see it lit up, but it was dim. The temperature guage was on the electronic display, but it was a pictoral representation of a thermometer, not numeric...like I prefer.There was other info on there, but I didn;t pay attention too much as I wanted to ride.
Engine/throttle: Silky smooth. I was very impressed with how little vibration I felt....so smooth. The RBW was wierd. I didn't like it. It did not respond to minimal throttle adjustments. That made it difficult in traffic when you wanted to make the slight speed adjustments using the throttle. So you pull the throttle back more and it jerks forward. Toward the end of the ride I was getting the hang of it....but I still didn't like it. When on the highway or going faster i didn't really notice the RBW hardly at all. It did like to back fire when decelerating at low speeds.
When on the freeway giving it full throttle the power really didn't come until 6,000 RPM. It was a little sluggish, but when it hit 6,000 it really pulled hard. It surprised me for a 750 V-twin. I compare it to my wife's Moto Guzzi Nevada (750 V-twin).....it was night and day. The Shiver was very strong. I only went about 95, and it was still pulling hard....with the beautiful engine sound.
Transmission: It worked. I didn't really notice anything good or bad. I did take note that I could find neutral EVRY time I tried with little effort. It is geared lower than my RSVR (15T front sprocket). At 85mph it the engine was turning 6,000 RPM in 6th gear. At 85 MPH on the RSVR it the engine is turning 5,000 RPM in 6th gear.
Brakes: Rear brake was a little sluggish, but did work. Front brakes don't have as much initial bite as the RSVR, but when you need them they are very effective. Could be the pads used....if I got a Shiver I would try different pads up front to see if I could get etter initial bite. Overall they were much better than my wife's Moto Guzzi, but not quite as good as my RSVR. Are the Brembo or not??? I don't care...they did the job well....so does it really matter?
Ride: Bike felt very light to me. Very easy to flick around. Good acceleration. easy to manuver. At speed on the highway it felt "squirly". A lot of sideway movement. It was a windy day, so it would be interesting to take it out on a calm day. It didn't seem like it wanted to stay in a straight line when going over about 70 MPH. Not enough to scare, but enough to say..."whoa..let's go over here." Like I said wondering if it's the wind, or just me.
misc: The turn signal button thingy or what ever it's called is in the right/wrong place. It is above the horn....like all other bike manufacturers. It took a little gettting used to...I kept honking before I turned.
The bottom of the bike was more narrow than the top...or so it seemed. I kept positioning my feet on the outside of the footpegs, then when I would attempt to shift or use the rear brake I would totally miss the lever. Again, toward the end off the ride, I got used to it.
Overall: Very fun bike. If I were in the market, I would really consider this bike. THere's a lot of character and an intoxicating engine note.
Micah was at the counter and asked if I wanted to take a ride on the demo Shiver. I was a little hesitant (my boss was on my butt about a meeting I missed and wanted me back in San Antonio ASAP), but couldn't pass it up.
Micah started it up. This one had the Leo Vince pipes with the supressors in. "It makes more horsepower with them in" Micah told me. With that, I took off. Here are some notes from a rookie:
Style: When I first got on I thought I was on a mini B-King. The tank looks wide, the tail resembles the B-King slightly....especially with the stock pipes. The Leo Vince pipes round it off a bit. Overall a nice looking, aggresive bike.
riding position: wow, totally not what I expected. I was expecting something similar to the Tuono....but not so. The seat height is taller than on my 07 RSVR by about 1/2 inch. I could flat foot it...but my llegs were straight. On the RSVR my knees are bent slightly.
When you get on it forces you forward. It is very similar to the Hypermotard position. You feel like your almost on top of the handlebars at first. The seat slopes downward into the tank as well, so you have to hold yourself back from sliding forward on the seat.
The foot pegs are right under your butt like the RSVR. I think Micah explained it best....it's like a mixture of the RSVR and Tuono. A very agggresive position for a street bike.
No wind protection. When going 85, it felt like you were going 85. I now know what hurrican force winds feel like.
Display: In a good location. Easy to see. The tach was analog and all other info was on the digital display. The neutral light was too dim I thought. You could see it lit up, but it was dim. The temperature guage was on the electronic display, but it was a pictoral representation of a thermometer, not numeric...like I prefer.There was other info on there, but I didn;t pay attention too much as I wanted to ride.
Engine/throttle: Silky smooth. I was very impressed with how little vibration I felt....so smooth. The RBW was wierd. I didn't like it. It did not respond to minimal throttle adjustments. That made it difficult in traffic when you wanted to make the slight speed adjustments using the throttle. So you pull the throttle back more and it jerks forward. Toward the end of the ride I was getting the hang of it....but I still didn't like it. When on the highway or going faster i didn't really notice the RBW hardly at all. It did like to back fire when decelerating at low speeds.
When on the freeway giving it full throttle the power really didn't come until 6,000 RPM. It was a little sluggish, but when it hit 6,000 it really pulled hard. It surprised me for a 750 V-twin. I compare it to my wife's Moto Guzzi Nevada (750 V-twin).....it was night and day. The Shiver was very strong. I only went about 95, and it was still pulling hard....with the beautiful engine sound.
Transmission: It worked. I didn't really notice anything good or bad. I did take note that I could find neutral EVRY time I tried with little effort. It is geared lower than my RSVR (15T front sprocket). At 85mph it the engine was turning 6,000 RPM in 6th gear. At 85 MPH on the RSVR it the engine is turning 5,000 RPM in 6th gear.
Brakes: Rear brake was a little sluggish, but did work. Front brakes don't have as much initial bite as the RSVR, but when you need them they are very effective. Could be the pads used....if I got a Shiver I would try different pads up front to see if I could get etter initial bite. Overall they were much better than my wife's Moto Guzzi, but not quite as good as my RSVR. Are the Brembo or not??? I don't care...they did the job well....so does it really matter?
Ride: Bike felt very light to me. Very easy to flick around. Good acceleration. easy to manuver. At speed on the highway it felt "squirly". A lot of sideway movement. It was a windy day, so it would be interesting to take it out on a calm day. It didn't seem like it wanted to stay in a straight line when going over about 70 MPH. Not enough to scare, but enough to say..."whoa..let's go over here." Like I said wondering if it's the wind, or just me.
misc: The turn signal button thingy or what ever it's called is in the right/wrong place. It is above the horn....like all other bike manufacturers. It took a little gettting used to...I kept honking before I turned.
The bottom of the bike was more narrow than the top...or so it seemed. I kept positioning my feet on the outside of the footpegs, then when I would attempt to shift or use the rear brake I would totally miss the lever. Again, toward the end off the ride, I got used to it.
Overall: Very fun bike. If I were in the market, I would really consider this bike. THere's a lot of character and an intoxicating engine note.