payneib
Member
I got a short test ride on the 800RR today at Motorcycle Live. It was very restricted, we had outriders and were on best behaviour, so I can't really comment on performance outside of very sensible road riding.
Looks:
It's gorgeous. Straight up, no quibbles, gorgeous. I'm not accepting any "subjective" arguments on that, lol. Single sided swingarm, that triple slash exhaust by your right foot, USD forks, that sculpted tank, the teardrop headlight and that BEAST of an engine.
Riding position :
Was weird. The seat gives you one place, and that's with your gentleman (or lady) parts right up against the tank, there is no scope in the saddle for moving your bottom anywhere else. The pegs are back, and coupled with the forward seating position, puts your feet far behind you, with your toes pointing almost straight down. The bars are completely flat, but here's the weird part. It's an incredibly short bike, and I'm sure the length has been taken off the front, so your upper body is forced upright as your hands are relatively close in to your hips.
The best way I can describe it is, if you put your weight on your hands, on the edge of a desk, then balance on your toes with your legs behind you. Obviously it's not as extreme as that, but you get the description.
There is a pillion seat. I don't know anyone with a small enough bottom to use it.
The ride:
Like I said, we were being very sensible. No more than 50mph. I got her in to 4th, but immediately regretted it and went back down to 3rd.
At low speed, that riding position made turning in to roundabouts particularly, very difficult as I struggled to counter steer properly with my weight so far forward. Couple that with the abrupt nature of the clutch, made slow speed manoeuvring difficult.
The engine did not want to behave. It wanted to launch, every time. It wasn't happy that it wasn't allowed to kill me. Open it up and it was sweet as a nut, but partially closed it was difficult. The quick shifter took some getting used to, but was great once I'd settled in. I don't know if it did down shifts too: I didn't want to try it and get it horribly wrong as I've never used one before. Upshifts were short sharp flicks of the toe, but down shifts seemed like a long throw of the lever for some reason.
Back to the riding position - on the road, you can't see the clocks, at all. Which, again, made low speed, speed limit watching difficult. The mirrors are good though.
The noise was amazing. I've never been intimidated by a loud bike before. But this was a growling, snarling, beast of a machine. A guy I'd been nattering with in the queue ended up 7 bikes back. He said at the end, all he could hear was the MV.
Summery:
It's epic. I imagine it's a bit like having a highly strung Italian supermodel for a girlfriend who thinks you've cheated on her. She'll slap you round the face then snog you half to death. Would I buy one? Much like an Italian supermodel girlfriend, that's a hard shout. I like my fuel gauge, my big fuel tank, my comfort, my ability to move about in the saddle. But I really want an Italian supermodel girlfriend. It's now made a potential bike purchase for next year a very difficult choice.
Pros:
Looks, engine, noise, quick shifter, did I mention looks? And the looks.
Cons:
Not entirely practical, the indicator switch was under the horn (stupid place to put it, but I suppose Italians use their horns first, and don't know what indicators are), not easy to ride, no view of dash, strange long downshifts.
Looks:
It's gorgeous. Straight up, no quibbles, gorgeous. I'm not accepting any "subjective" arguments on that, lol. Single sided swingarm, that triple slash exhaust by your right foot, USD forks, that sculpted tank, the teardrop headlight and that BEAST of an engine.
Riding position :
Was weird. The seat gives you one place, and that's with your gentleman (or lady) parts right up against the tank, there is no scope in the saddle for moving your bottom anywhere else. The pegs are back, and coupled with the forward seating position, puts your feet far behind you, with your toes pointing almost straight down. The bars are completely flat, but here's the weird part. It's an incredibly short bike, and I'm sure the length has been taken off the front, so your upper body is forced upright as your hands are relatively close in to your hips.
The best way I can describe it is, if you put your weight on your hands, on the edge of a desk, then balance on your toes with your legs behind you. Obviously it's not as extreme as that, but you get the description.
There is a pillion seat. I don't know anyone with a small enough bottom to use it.
The ride:
Like I said, we were being very sensible. No more than 50mph. I got her in to 4th, but immediately regretted it and went back down to 3rd.
At low speed, that riding position made turning in to roundabouts particularly, very difficult as I struggled to counter steer properly with my weight so far forward. Couple that with the abrupt nature of the clutch, made slow speed manoeuvring difficult.
The engine did not want to behave. It wanted to launch, every time. It wasn't happy that it wasn't allowed to kill me. Open it up and it was sweet as a nut, but partially closed it was difficult. The quick shifter took some getting used to, but was great once I'd settled in. I don't know if it did down shifts too: I didn't want to try it and get it horribly wrong as I've never used one before. Upshifts were short sharp flicks of the toe, but down shifts seemed like a long throw of the lever for some reason.
Back to the riding position - on the road, you can't see the clocks, at all. Which, again, made low speed, speed limit watching difficult. The mirrors are good though.
The noise was amazing. I've never been intimidated by a loud bike before. But this was a growling, snarling, beast of a machine. A guy I'd been nattering with in the queue ended up 7 bikes back. He said at the end, all he could hear was the MV.
Summery:
It's epic. I imagine it's a bit like having a highly strung Italian supermodel for a girlfriend who thinks you've cheated on her. She'll slap you round the face then snog you half to death. Would I buy one? Much like an Italian supermodel girlfriend, that's a hard shout. I like my fuel gauge, my big fuel tank, my comfort, my ability to move about in the saddle. But I really want an Italian supermodel girlfriend. It's now made a potential bike purchase for next year a very difficult choice.
Pros:
Looks, engine, noise, quick shifter, did I mention looks? And the looks.
Cons:
Not entirely practical, the indicator switch was under the horn (stupid place to put it, but I suppose Italians use their horns first, and don't know what indicators are), not easy to ride, no view of dash, strange long downshifts.
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