re st ride frank marvin contex com frank perdicaro writes well i was wrong as i sat on the st both feet down all i could think was big then i put one foot up heavy came to mind very quickly with cindy on the back was she on the back hard to tell with seat three times as large as a hawk seat the bike seemed nearly out of control just idling on the side of the road it is heavy the is mid s dry that is the one major drawback of the st by rpm in second gear all the weight seemed to dissappear even can you say tourque monster the test drive sold me on the bike lot s of bite anywhere above in any gear on bike with miles on the odometer slippery new tires and pads that did you trythe abs tcs version cindy has no difficulty with speed rd gear th gear purring along in top gear this thing has less low rpm grunt that my hawk lane changes were a new experience a big heft is required to move this thing responds well though no wallowing or complaint behind the fairing it was fairly quiet but the helmet buffeting was after market fairing windshield for raises the bubble inches above most heads but hurts the looks of the bike non trivial top gear car passing at mph was nearly effortless smooth smooth smooth not sure what the v sound reminds me of but it is pleasant this is the essence of the bike move the throttle and itr accelerates any gear anywhere anytime i frequently find myself at the dod min during a casual passing maneuver the jump on to caused me to be less than impressed with the brakes its a down hill reversing camber twice reversing radius decreasing radius turn a real squeeze is needed on the front binder this is a function of the weight you have to be aggresive with the brake squeze actually as tested by cycle world and an expert rider the st stopped faster then the comparable models from bmw and yamaha even with the extra weight and gas the section of we were on was tight but too urban the st works ok in this section but it shows its weight we went by the clam shack you must countersteer the st for every turn and movement short of the classic pothole wiggle just forget ever leaning into a turn again it must be countersteered into every turn and then responds nicely about half way through the onramp i yanked cindy s wrist our singal for hold on tight head check left time to find redline second gear gives a good shove third too fourth sees dod speed with a short shift into top on the way to we saw no cops and very light traffic did not cross into dod zone because the bike was too new well now it had miles on it so it was ok tried some high effort lane changes some wide sweeping turns time to wick it up i went until the buffeting was threating to pull us off the seat and stayed there when i was comfortable with the wind and the steering i looked down to find an indicated mph not bad for up touring faster then i ve ever gone i d hate to buy this bike after your short break in period to thread the st through the cars to the edge of the concrete pad out front heavy it took way too much effort for cindy and i to put the thing on the center stand i am sure that if i used the side stand the st would have been on its side within a minute not true the side stand is well designed for the weight and will hold the bike nicely on dirt i am able to easily get the bike up on the center stand just step down on the stand instead of pulling up on the bike my demo opinion heavy put it on a diet smooth comfortable hardly notices the dod speed i d buy on for about less than list just like it is too much for the bike as it is keep looking the left overs if available are going for i love mine and i haven t found a better value then the st for remember you get years unlimited mileage warranty
