rxv
08-19-2006, 03:19 AM
I took an SXV 500 for a blat yesterday. The RXV450 wasn't ready (still worried about electronics not being quite right ... maybe tomorrow, Saturday) so they gave me the sympathy vote and let me drive off the 500 motard for a little relaxation.
I kept it around 7000rpm (which turns out to be plenty for getting familiar) and the suspension wasn't ready for me at 230lb+ so I wasn't dragging the pegs or the bars. It is an impressively fast way to get from point A to point B and the factory tire selection means you can ride asphalt and dirt.
There's more vibration in the 550 through the bars (more like the Honda 600 "buzz") than I'd like and surely leads to arm pump. The seat is thick but uncomfortable and I was getting numb after just 30 minutes. The clutch is fine -- I don't know why there have been complaints. In traffic, it's a rocket and slides through any gap and makes "lane sharing" very easy regardless of those wide bars. Neutral is easy to find even though the green "N" indicator is slow to report the status. It's easy to stall and wants revs off the standstill. It's insanely easy to lift the front in 2nd powering out of a tight turn at 30mph and really tempts you to build up the skills to take advantage of a wide, wide power band and stiff, predictable frame that just doesn't seem to have any bad habits. Seriously. I didn't have one "oh sheet" moment despite some less than stellar riding on an unfamiliar machine.
For the last few miles I was getting silly and trying to get the rear wheel to move around but it was planted. There's a lot of rubber and the rear shock seems to hold it down. I did make some "excursions" beyond the "break in" rpm range. I didn't find the rear tire agreeing to move around. There's so much travel, I wasn't ready to get into it, but it was very quick in tight turns. The short wheelbase (compared to my usual, if infrequent ride on a 2001 996R) was a bit unstable and the wide bars were a bit fidgety (spelling?) plus the there's no good way (I could find) to grip the tank with your knees and it seemed like you'd have to reeeeally lean it to get a knee down (your elbow would probably hit the deck first) so anyway, it's a bit of a powerful handful. I was getting some adrenaline tingly fingers when I got off it. Can't complain about that!
I'm waiting for the RXV450. Groan. Should be ready today (Saturday.) What a bloody drama these new Aprilias have been.
I kept it around 7000rpm (which turns out to be plenty for getting familiar) and the suspension wasn't ready for me at 230lb+ so I wasn't dragging the pegs or the bars. It is an impressively fast way to get from point A to point B and the factory tire selection means you can ride asphalt and dirt.
There's more vibration in the 550 through the bars (more like the Honda 600 "buzz") than I'd like and surely leads to arm pump. The seat is thick but uncomfortable and I was getting numb after just 30 minutes. The clutch is fine -- I don't know why there have been complaints. In traffic, it's a rocket and slides through any gap and makes "lane sharing" very easy regardless of those wide bars. Neutral is easy to find even though the green "N" indicator is slow to report the status. It's easy to stall and wants revs off the standstill. It's insanely easy to lift the front in 2nd powering out of a tight turn at 30mph and really tempts you to build up the skills to take advantage of a wide, wide power band and stiff, predictable frame that just doesn't seem to have any bad habits. Seriously. I didn't have one "oh sheet" moment despite some less than stellar riding on an unfamiliar machine.
For the last few miles I was getting silly and trying to get the rear wheel to move around but it was planted. There's a lot of rubber and the rear shock seems to hold it down. I did make some "excursions" beyond the "break in" rpm range. I didn't find the rear tire agreeing to move around. There's so much travel, I wasn't ready to get into it, but it was very quick in tight turns. The short wheelbase (compared to my usual, if infrequent ride on a 2001 996R) was a bit unstable and the wide bars were a bit fidgety (spelling?) plus the there's no good way (I could find) to grip the tank with your knees and it seemed like you'd have to reeeeally lean it to get a knee down (your elbow would probably hit the deck first) so anyway, it's a bit of a powerful handful. I was getting some adrenaline tingly fingers when I got off it. Can't complain about that!
I'm waiting for the RXV450. Groan. Should be ready today (Saturday.) What a bloody drama these new Aprilias have been.