Today I test rode 2 Buell's and 3 Harley's making a total of 600hp. 1st up was the Buell 1125R which I loved the look of, it is all black with a nice looking fairing hiding the look of those HUGE scoops. 146hp is rather awesome however with a fairly flat spread it was never a problem. Only real downside for me was too much weight on the wrists (I'm not used to sports bikes) and a bit of buffeting from the screen.



Next up was the naked brother the Buell 1125CR. It was easier to ride however again for me too much weight on the wrists. Still great fun again with 146 full blooded horses I just love that Rotax motor. I rode several Buell's last year and my biggest dislike was the air cooled Harley motors



I had some spare time till my next ride so I decided to jump on anything that was free I picked the Harley CVO Ultra Classic (I had no idea which bike it was). For those that don't know it here it is



No that's not me riding it. Very heavy bike although once it was moving it was no problem, first time I have ridden a bike with a stereo I rode away with the radio blasting. It was also the first bike I have ridden with footboards, interesting to say the least.

After the full dress touring bike I had a go at the Night Rod, 125 galloping horses of liquid cooled V twin muscle and very menacing looking with huge pipes and nearly all black colouring, again I enjoyed the ride apart from the forward controls which were difficult for me to reach (short legs). I had some trouble trying to change gears, if it had foot pegs in the "normal" place I would have enjoyed it more. I really like Harley and Buell's liquid cooled motors a lot more than the air cooled engines.



Last but not least I had a go at the XR1200 Sportster which funnily enough I enjoyed the most. It had the most conventional control position and was easy to ride. Even though I have said I don't like the air cooled Harley motors this one seemed to be easy going and not blast my legs with hot air like the others I had riden, sure it still rock and rolls at idle, it has the least power of any of the bikes I rode and usable power is only from 3000 rpm to 7000 rpm but it just has an easy going nature which I liked.



Last photo is of someone bike that turned up to ride. It is a supercharged Harley with a customized paint job, just too awesome to not take a picture



I had a good day, the weather turned out great

Cheers

 

That's funny. You were surprised about the weather. This is Australia.
V twin muscle. Yeah baby!

 

It rained all day Friday and was looking suss Saturday morning

 

how did I miss all the kick a$$ pics????? lol....nice man.

 

Thanks man

 

nice was this a promo or something for harley there? The harley dealer here will not let you test ride a bike unless you put money down on one that your going to buy. I like the looks of the night rod that bike looks mean.

 

It was a ride day for Harley and Buell, I imagine Harley bought some bikes by and set them up at the local dealer for people to ride. Honda sometimes do it, I have been to a Gas Gas ride day, Kawasaki only seem to do it in 1 state (bloody mexicans(take no offense it's a state joke here)), Triumph have had at least one here.
I think it's mainly put on by the distributors at the local dealers to try to sell a few bikes.
I liked the Night Rod apart from the crazy position of the foot pegs, I was bent into the shape of a C trying to ride the damn thing and believe me I don't fit that shape well. I had trouble changing gears on it. Each to their own.

 

Thats cool!! we dont have ride days like that here.....If you go into the dealer, and get pre approval they will let you test ride a cruiser ( harley, honda, kawi etc ) but not a sportsbike.

 

You'all are lucky, they won't let anyone even sit on the bikes here... and if you touch one they come after you to make sure you didn't scratch'em.... At first.... But after buying/Trading up all 4 bikes at same dealer they let me sit on them now. They even sortoff fight over the customers when you act like you're ready to buy. I get a kick of trying to act like I am ready to buy. They all flock over and still can't get a test drive

 

I also test rode a brand new Versys the following day





loved it btw