Fang
04-28-2004, 08:09 PM
Just came back from a great test drive on an R1200CLC; very interesting and informative - learned a lot. I'm just getting back into motorcycling, after a hiatus of many years, and there are so many changes that it's just like starting from scratch!
So, I test-drove a brand new 2004 CLC; bike had nine miles on it, and I was the first "sales prospect" type rider; the other miles had been accumulated by shop personnel who assembled the bike and did a few minor tweaks, prior to putting the bike into service.
Observations and general impressions:
1) Bike's power is more than adequate for its touring/cruising design missions.
2) Bike vibrates! Sweet spot between 3500-4000 RPM; otherwise, lots of vibes in grips and a few in seat, which can be cumulatively fatiguing, taken collectively. I've read often that this problem goes away by itself after a few thousand miles, but I can neither confirm nor deny; it's very real on a new bike, however.
3) This model likes to roll! 85-90 MPH is the bike's sweet spot, and it feels firmly planted at those speeds. It may not have the world's highest top speed in the cruiser kingdom, but it will maintain outrageously high speeds all day long without breaking a sweat. Sa-weeeeeet!!
4) Dislikes: Exhaust note is surprisingly loud for a stone-stock bike, and sounds, well......peculiar. Not good, not bad, just different. Dealer swears pipes are box-stock and standard issue.
(B) Slow-speed maneuvering (walking speeds and just above) is absolutely terrifying! It ought to be illegal, IMO, to produce a bike that is so poorly ballasted! Performing parking lot maneuvers engenders a "pendulum effect" that scared the bejeezus out of me, more especially since this bike didn't have roll bars on it. It's so bad that when I finally brought the bike back to the dealer's, I just parked it about 50 feet away from the building, without even trying to ride the bike up near the door. It's only a matter of time before every new purchaser dumps his CLC; one must have a lot of experience to overcome this, and even then...... Instead of riding the bike around in tight circles until you dump it, and maybe break your ever-lovin' neck in the process, my advice would be to sit on the bike and gently "duck walk" it around. Don't be too proud to ask a couple of the locals at the shop to act as spotters/helpers, either. Remember, pride goeth be fore a fall! Snicker..... OK, bad joke, I admit it - but that doesn't make it untrue!! (C) First gear is geared "high" and necessitates slipping the clutch a little to get rolling, no biggie, but remember this is a 709 lb pig, wet, before rider. (D) Brakes are power-assisted, and very sensitive. You WILL come to a few jerky stops and nearly spill the bike while stopping, more than once. That's OK, IMO, just don't be too surprised when (not IF but WHEN) it happens. And if you drop the bike, it's unlikely you'll be able to pick it back up by yourself. Most embarrassing, I would imagine.
Apart from the foregoing, much of which is due to my atrophied, geriatric riding skills, the bike absolutely exudes class, breeding and upscale engineering, with expensive, classy materials and finishes used throughout. The bike radiates competence at high speeds, and just loves to run. It's amazing what truly innovative, avant-garde engineering can accomplish with relatively little horsepower (61 hp). At very low speeds, well.....there oughta be a law........and you may quote me at will! And/or fire at will!
And at his kid brother, Sam! Oops, did it again - sorry, bad joke!
Now I'm gonna rent a couple of Harleys, to wit: the new, factory-lowered Road Glide w/fixed fairing and a relative dearth of chrome, and a Softail classic, w/very low seat, footboards, whitewall tires and, it is said, a very easy riding style. We shall see. I'm going to do a "tear and compare" test concentrating on parking lot maneuvers, backing and filling, and making tight turns both left and right at walking speeds. We'll see how the CLC fares against these two, then I'm gonna BUY something....! Like maybe a new set of hiking shoes, I dunno......... .
So, I test-drove a brand new 2004 CLC; bike had nine miles on it, and I was the first "sales prospect" type rider; the other miles had been accumulated by shop personnel who assembled the bike and did a few minor tweaks, prior to putting the bike into service.
Observations and general impressions:
1) Bike's power is more than adequate for its touring/cruising design missions.
2) Bike vibrates! Sweet spot between 3500-4000 RPM; otherwise, lots of vibes in grips and a few in seat, which can be cumulatively fatiguing, taken collectively. I've read often that this problem goes away by itself after a few thousand miles, but I can neither confirm nor deny; it's very real on a new bike, however.
3) This model likes to roll! 85-90 MPH is the bike's sweet spot, and it feels firmly planted at those speeds. It may not have the world's highest top speed in the cruiser kingdom, but it will maintain outrageously high speeds all day long without breaking a sweat. Sa-weeeeeet!!
4) Dislikes: Exhaust note is surprisingly loud for a stone-stock bike, and sounds, well......peculiar. Not good, not bad, just different. Dealer swears pipes are box-stock and standard issue.
(B) Slow-speed maneuvering (walking speeds and just above) is absolutely terrifying! It ought to be illegal, IMO, to produce a bike that is so poorly ballasted! Performing parking lot maneuvers engenders a "pendulum effect" that scared the bejeezus out of me, more especially since this bike didn't have roll bars on it. It's so bad that when I finally brought the bike back to the dealer's, I just parked it about 50 feet away from the building, without even trying to ride the bike up near the door. It's only a matter of time before every new purchaser dumps his CLC; one must have a lot of experience to overcome this, and even then...... Instead of riding the bike around in tight circles until you dump it, and maybe break your ever-lovin' neck in the process, my advice would be to sit on the bike and gently "duck walk" it around. Don't be too proud to ask a couple of the locals at the shop to act as spotters/helpers, either. Remember, pride goeth be fore a fall! Snicker..... OK, bad joke, I admit it - but that doesn't make it untrue!! (C) First gear is geared "high" and necessitates slipping the clutch a little to get rolling, no biggie, but remember this is a 709 lb pig, wet, before rider. (D) Brakes are power-assisted, and very sensitive. You WILL come to a few jerky stops and nearly spill the bike while stopping, more than once. That's OK, IMO, just don't be too surprised when (not IF but WHEN) it happens. And if you drop the bike, it's unlikely you'll be able to pick it back up by yourself. Most embarrassing, I would imagine.
Apart from the foregoing, much of which is due to my atrophied, geriatric riding skills, the bike absolutely exudes class, breeding and upscale engineering, with expensive, classy materials and finishes used throughout. The bike radiates competence at high speeds, and just loves to run. It's amazing what truly innovative, avant-garde engineering can accomplish with relatively little horsepower (61 hp). At very low speeds, well.....there oughta be a law........and you may quote me at will! And/or fire at will!
And at his kid brother, Sam! Oops, did it again - sorry, bad joke!
Now I'm gonna rent a couple of Harleys, to wit: the new, factory-lowered Road Glide w/fixed fairing and a relative dearth of chrome, and a Softail classic, w/very low seat, footboards, whitewall tires and, it is said, a very easy riding style. We shall see. I'm going to do a "tear and compare" test concentrating on parking lot maneuvers, backing and filling, and making tight turns both left and right at walking speeds. We'll see how the CLC fares against these two, then I'm gonna BUY something....! Like maybe a new set of hiking shoes, I dunno......... .