Little ride report from the YAMAHA Power trip day at the Equestrian centre Sydney NSW.
Pictures below.
OK, I finally gave in and signed up for a ride on the S10. :
Executive summary. Great bike, but everyone knew that already.
It was interesting jumping on a few other YAMAHA bikes just as a comparison.
Also ridden..
Strom DL1000 to the event (my bike)
TDM900 (30 minutes)
XJ6N (30 minutes)
Strom DL1000 from the event (my bike).
For the DL1000 owners. (comparisons are with my bike, standard motor, all nicely TB synched etc. Staintunes. Barkbusters).
On the way down I was thinking to myself that the Strom was running really smoothly this morning, must be worried.
Was wearing summer gloves for better Feel. Hands were a bit nippy when I got there.
First group was organised for a brief, general course, riding rules, legals etc etc.
The VMAX riders were sent over for a special brief and warnings RE cold air, cold pavement, cold tires and riding an expensive torque monster.
Me
179cm 83cm inseam with boots.
Leather pants without beak.
Bike.
1047.7 (or 10447). Anyway - run in
Bit scruffy on the rack and the seat otherwise no crash signs.
Tires good nick.
TC mode 2. Check.
D mode - Sport.
Windscreen was in High position.
Seat was set low I think.
Standing still. Both feet flat on the ground.
Felt lighter than the Strom standing still rocking side to side. Good angles up to about 25 Degress then the weight starts to appear which was easy to catch.
Air temperature was 7 Deg C.
So off we went.
Initial impressions. Easy.
Differences from the Strom..
Gearbox - Beautiful.
Engine - Smoother all over. Familiar sound and feeling but smoother.
Suspension Harder (more on that later)
Handling - No tip in, so I had to get used to not countering the steering in slow turns initially.
Brakes - had a servo feel, like a beemer initially, were very linear. Didn't have to think about them at all.
First section out on the road was just follow the (legal speed limited to 80km/h) leader. Had to keep backing off as I was catching people faster than I thought. First turn was at the nearest Servo. The XJ6N rider went down a few bikes in front of me. Much panic and brake lights. The S10 just washed off speed. No drama there. The R6 behind me manges some quick avoiding manourvers luckily.
XJ6 was extracted from the road and taken to the servo and off we went on some bumpy twisty back roads. I noticed a bit more through the bike on small undulations in the road than the Strom, like patches in the road surface. The steering was already natural for me. I backed off a bit and floored the bike in top at around 1200RPM. The engine pulses were noticable but it just went from there to 5K no fuss no drama. Then I had to brake hard to avoid running up the leaders back end. No fuss no Drama.
Some good corners came up with undulations and bumps. Just ate em up. So I went looking for potholes. This is where the suspension shines over the Strom. It just goes over them. I thought I had missed initially but I hit a good 1 footer and it just didn't notice. Big tick there. The Steering at speed is a bit slower than the Strom but the bike is more stable. I deliberately aimed for broken up patches mid corner, with very little effect other than the bike telling me I just hit some potholes, rocks bumps mid corner.
Soon we were at the freeway entry for a bit of high speed stuff. The gearbox works that well that changing gear is just a thought and it just happens, if you could even be bothered. At the freeway entry I just wound on the throttle and it just went. Straight up to 160. Moved over to a free lane, checked the mirrors and hauled on the anchors. The speed just washed of without effort, so while the initial impression was somewhat Stromish/BMWish in it's feel, they are powerful little f%^&kers. Well weighted. Not too sharp, just enough effort.
Didn't notice any buffeting and following cars had no effects that I noticed from turbulence from other vehicles other than the air around me shifting. Very stable at speed.
After that all too brief ride it was back onto the main road. Did some off/on throttle looking for drive line snatch and not anything to report there either.
So my summary. The kind of bike that will is well sorted, nothing stands out as needing special attention. If you want a bike that challenges you to get the revs just right and the right gear just the right amount of brake and the right road with the right temperature it's not for you.
It is a thinking bike, You just think about doing things and it just does it. No fuss, drama, surprises, annoyances.
So with that out of the way I waited for some "unloved" bikes. If you waited around you could ride a bike that had no takers.
Next bike was the TDM900. I was interested in this bike for the engine, wondering what a 900cc version of that 1200 would be like.
Short story. Great motor. Smooth powerful enough and a little gem, like the 650cc Suzuki V-twin. Gearbox was not as smooth as the S10. The brakes were digital at the front. They were hard to get used to because the initial bite, was way too over the top. They worked at speed no better than the S10 but were a bit of a pain to get used to. The bike is not a bad thing but it is not as seamless as the S10. It just appears to be a bit disjointed. Not an easy bike to get used to straight away, but the engine is a beauty. Highlight of that ride was an S10 rider who decided to pass on the grass past a few scooters. I thought it was another accident about to happen but he was just sneaking a little off road experience. Bit stupid but the bike just did it. Luckily.
Next "unloved" bike was the FJ6N. The same one that went down. This is a well sorted little beasty in a rev me harder frenetic kind of way. It's a fun thing that is very entertaining in a "I feel like I am really going gang busters here when I am not really" way. This was bought home constantly by the S10 that was following me. I gave the thing lot's of curry, doing my best SKWID impersonation, revving the crap out of it, RRRacing around corners, juddering away on the rough stuff and every time I looked in the rear view mirror there was the S10, the rider checking out the scenery with that "have you shifted out of second yet" look on his face. Could have been reading his email as far as I could tell. On the freeway entry I gave the FJ6 huge stick and the S10 idled passed without even noticing how god damn fast I was. DAMN IT!
After all that it was back on the Strom for the trip home. It's always more telling going back than forward..
OH DEAR. :huh
Umm this bike has sooooo much character. umm... yeah.
I will leave it at that.
Most unloved bikes for the day, Cruisers.
Most loved bike. Hard to tell but the VMAX seemed like it was in most demand.
Bikes always out. Most of them except scooters and cruisers.
Some pics from the day..
Nice and quiet early on.
Bikes all ready
"my" bike
Fiddling with the settings...
My brother in law..Too much grunt is never enough..
Just before I left.. Getting really busy..
Cheers
Graham
Pictures below.
OK, I finally gave in and signed up for a ride on the S10. :
Executive summary. Great bike, but everyone knew that already.
It was interesting jumping on a few other YAMAHA bikes just as a comparison.
Also ridden..
Strom DL1000 to the event (my bike)
TDM900 (30 minutes)
XJ6N (30 minutes)
Strom DL1000 from the event (my bike).
For the DL1000 owners. (comparisons are with my bike, standard motor, all nicely TB synched etc. Staintunes. Barkbusters).
On the way down I was thinking to myself that the Strom was running really smoothly this morning, must be worried.
Was wearing summer gloves for better Feel. Hands were a bit nippy when I got there.
First group was organised for a brief, general course, riding rules, legals etc etc.
The VMAX riders were sent over for a special brief and warnings RE cold air, cold pavement, cold tires and riding an expensive torque monster.
Me
179cm 83cm inseam with boots.
Leather pants without beak.
Bike.
1047.7 (or 10447). Anyway - run in
Bit scruffy on the rack and the seat otherwise no crash signs.
Tires good nick.
TC mode 2. Check.
D mode - Sport.
Windscreen was in High position.
Seat was set low I think.
Standing still. Both feet flat on the ground.
Felt lighter than the Strom standing still rocking side to side. Good angles up to about 25 Degress then the weight starts to appear which was easy to catch.
Air temperature was 7 Deg C.
So off we went.
Initial impressions. Easy.
Differences from the Strom..
Gearbox - Beautiful.
Engine - Smoother all over. Familiar sound and feeling but smoother.
Suspension Harder (more on that later)
Handling - No tip in, so I had to get used to not countering the steering in slow turns initially.
Brakes - had a servo feel, like a beemer initially, were very linear. Didn't have to think about them at all.
First section out on the road was just follow the (legal speed limited to 80km/h) leader. Had to keep backing off as I was catching people faster than I thought. First turn was at the nearest Servo. The XJ6N rider went down a few bikes in front of me. Much panic and brake lights. The S10 just washed off speed. No drama there. The R6 behind me manges some quick avoiding manourvers luckily.
XJ6 was extracted from the road and taken to the servo and off we went on some bumpy twisty back roads. I noticed a bit more through the bike on small undulations in the road than the Strom, like patches in the road surface. The steering was already natural for me. I backed off a bit and floored the bike in top at around 1200RPM. The engine pulses were noticable but it just went from there to 5K no fuss no drama. Then I had to brake hard to avoid running up the leaders back end. No fuss no Drama.
Some good corners came up with undulations and bumps. Just ate em up. So I went looking for potholes. This is where the suspension shines over the Strom. It just goes over them. I thought I had missed initially but I hit a good 1 footer and it just didn't notice. Big tick there. The Steering at speed is a bit slower than the Strom but the bike is more stable. I deliberately aimed for broken up patches mid corner, with very little effect other than the bike telling me I just hit some potholes, rocks bumps mid corner.
Soon we were at the freeway entry for a bit of high speed stuff. The gearbox works that well that changing gear is just a thought and it just happens, if you could even be bothered. At the freeway entry I just wound on the throttle and it just went. Straight up to 160. Moved over to a free lane, checked the mirrors and hauled on the anchors. The speed just washed of without effort, so while the initial impression was somewhat Stromish/BMWish in it's feel, they are powerful little f%^&kers. Well weighted. Not too sharp, just enough effort.
Didn't notice any buffeting and following cars had no effects that I noticed from turbulence from other vehicles other than the air around me shifting. Very stable at speed.
After that all too brief ride it was back onto the main road. Did some off/on throttle looking for drive line snatch and not anything to report there either.
So my summary. The kind of bike that will is well sorted, nothing stands out as needing special attention. If you want a bike that challenges you to get the revs just right and the right gear just the right amount of brake and the right road with the right temperature it's not for you.
It is a thinking bike, You just think about doing things and it just does it. No fuss, drama, surprises, annoyances.
So with that out of the way I waited for some "unloved" bikes. If you waited around you could ride a bike that had no takers.
Next bike was the TDM900. I was interested in this bike for the engine, wondering what a 900cc version of that 1200 would be like.
Short story. Great motor. Smooth powerful enough and a little gem, like the 650cc Suzuki V-twin. Gearbox was not as smooth as the S10. The brakes were digital at the front. They were hard to get used to because the initial bite, was way too over the top. They worked at speed no better than the S10 but were a bit of a pain to get used to. The bike is not a bad thing but it is not as seamless as the S10. It just appears to be a bit disjointed. Not an easy bike to get used to straight away, but the engine is a beauty. Highlight of that ride was an S10 rider who decided to pass on the grass past a few scooters. I thought it was another accident about to happen but he was just sneaking a little off road experience. Bit stupid but the bike just did it. Luckily.
Next "unloved" bike was the FJ6N. The same one that went down. This is a well sorted little beasty in a rev me harder frenetic kind of way. It's a fun thing that is very entertaining in a "I feel like I am really going gang busters here when I am not really" way. This was bought home constantly by the S10 that was following me. I gave the thing lot's of curry, doing my best SKWID impersonation, revving the crap out of it, RRRacing around corners, juddering away on the rough stuff and every time I looked in the rear view mirror there was the S10, the rider checking out the scenery with that "have you shifted out of second yet" look on his face. Could have been reading his email as far as I could tell. On the freeway entry I gave the FJ6 huge stick and the S10 idled passed without even noticing how god damn fast I was. DAMN IT!
After all that it was back on the Strom for the trip home. It's always more telling going back than forward..
OH DEAR. :huh
Umm this bike has sooooo much character. umm... yeah.
I will leave it at that.
Most unloved bikes for the day, Cruisers.
Most loved bike. Hard to tell but the VMAX seemed like it was in most demand.
Bikes always out. Most of them except scooters and cruisers.
Some pics from the day..
Nice and quiet early on.
Bikes all ready
"my" bike
Fiddling with the settings...
My brother in law..Too much grunt is never enough..
Just before I left.. Getting really busy..
Cheers
Graham
