went to the Inernational Motorcycle show in Washington DC, here is my synopsis.
Panagale, stunning and pretty reasonable when you consider what is included. $17,000 for the base model which is loaded. $23,000 for the R, Ohlins, some extra stuff. beautiful bike and seemed to have most attention around it.
the Ducati chicks were awesome as usual. man, the economy has really taken its toll. i remember a few years back when the Hypermotard and the Desmosedicci (sic) was released, Ducati had a huge display, huge! this year the Panigale was sitting on a little riser and there were 4 other Ducs on stands, and a little podium. cold have fit the whole display in my living room.
Motus. very cool. love the bike, company, concept, made in the USA. only bad thing is the price... $32,000. sigh...
the Buell bike was there, and while it was indeed a nice looking bike, it pales with some of the other stuff there. i sat on it, light, aggressive.... eh
there was an F3 there as well. did nothing for me, light, looks like every other SS bike out there.
they say its tiny like a 250 but i felt none of that, could have been a 600RR as far as i could tell.
they have hyped this bike for sooo long that when i saw it... zzzzzzzzzz...
suzuki, whatever.... i am soooo jaded!
Kawasaki... zx14: heavy, ugly... ZX10, no emotive response at all...
BMW probably the best looking literbike. no, that would go in this order for me. RSV4, RC8, 1000RR, Panagale, Buell
Honda, pretty much the same. the new (new, really?) 1000RR left me with no feeling at all, although the paint scheme on the 600RR was cool, white wheels, pretty retro 90s school.
Har...e.... ly... i have nothing really, although its always fun and i always watch the "how to pick up a Sportster" routine, mainly because i like seeing them drop it in the first place! ha!!
Triumph, there was a hot chick in their area and she wasnt even with Triumph, other than that...
that was about it. in conclusion do you know what i found to be the most comfortable of all the performance bikes there (i did not sit on the Panagale, they wouldnt let you...)? this has nothing (nothing) to do with loyalty either.
the KTM RC8. there was only one there and it wasnt even a KTM booth (gee really, thats a shocker... ), it was for a performance parts company. it was so comfortable. this was the full spec track bike, i got off of it and looked at the rearsets thinking it was in the least aggressive setting and it was set up in the middle, you could have made it softer! if only you could put hard bags on it....
Panagale, stunning and pretty reasonable when you consider what is included. $17,000 for the base model which is loaded. $23,000 for the R, Ohlins, some extra stuff. beautiful bike and seemed to have most attention around it.
the Ducati chicks were awesome as usual. man, the economy has really taken its toll. i remember a few years back when the Hypermotard and the Desmosedicci (sic) was released, Ducati had a huge display, huge! this year the Panigale was sitting on a little riser and there were 4 other Ducs on stands, and a little podium. cold have fit the whole display in my living room.
Motus. very cool. love the bike, company, concept, made in the USA. only bad thing is the price... $32,000. sigh...
the Buell bike was there, and while it was indeed a nice looking bike, it pales with some of the other stuff there. i sat on it, light, aggressive.... eh
there was an F3 there as well. did nothing for me, light, looks like every other SS bike out there.
they say its tiny like a 250 but i felt none of that, could have been a 600RR as far as i could tell.
they have hyped this bike for sooo long that when i saw it... zzzzzzzzzz...
suzuki, whatever.... i am soooo jaded!
Kawasaki... zx14: heavy, ugly... ZX10, no emotive response at all...
BMW probably the best looking literbike. no, that would go in this order for me. RSV4, RC8, 1000RR, Panagale, Buell
Honda, pretty much the same. the new (new, really?) 1000RR left me with no feeling at all, although the paint scheme on the 600RR was cool, white wheels, pretty retro 90s school.
Har...e.... ly... i have nothing really, although its always fun and i always watch the "how to pick up a Sportster" routine, mainly because i like seeing them drop it in the first place! ha!!
Triumph, there was a hot chick in their area and she wasnt even with Triumph, other than that...
that was about it. in conclusion do you know what i found to be the most comfortable of all the performance bikes there (i did not sit on the Panagale, they wouldnt let you...)? this has nothing (nothing) to do with loyalty either.
the KTM RC8. there was only one there and it wasnt even a KTM booth (gee really, thats a shocker... ), it was for a performance parts company. it was so comfortable. this was the full spec track bike, i got off of it and looked at the rearsets thinking it was in the least aggressive setting and it was set up in the middle, you could have made it softer! if only you could put hard bags on it....