first ride

WOW. Just picked up my SD on Thursday, it's like riding a rocket. Never had a bike this powerful, and I probably have less general riding experience than everyone else on the board, so I didn't really push it. I suppose I couldn't have anyway, with the break-in period and the new tyres... I can see the learning curve is going to be a bit steeper than I'd thought, just so much power. I was pleasantly surprised by the comfortable ergonomics, I'm a lanky 6'2" and was sure that I'd want to move the bars forward as soon as I got it, but it fits just right. My right arm was getting a wee bit fatigued, I think because I couldn't really put any weight on the throttle hand, like I could my previous bike (Nighthawk). The SD is either speeding up or slowing down, there's no middle ground, so I was leaning forward, but was not able to 'rest' my arm on the throttle side. Also, I did briefly hit 7100 rpm, accidentally, so I hope that will not affect the engine life or performance down the road (?), it was really only a couple of seconds. Will definitely be interested in a taller screen, anyone have a nice 3/4 front view pic of the SD with the KTM touring screen? Thanks.

Had my first ever ride on the SDR today, just to try it out. 5 mins later, freezing my you know what's off I got home and couldn't stop smiling! This bike is amazing. The power took me a little by surprise to start with and the noise from the induction of the Motohooligan air box and the Termis was awesome I can't wait for some half decent weather and give her a good run.

I preferred Stalker Basher....

Look forward to trying it out soon

good sport old bean

Nice one Dan, always game for a laugh

So took my superduke out for its first ride in my ownership today. To put some context to this, most of my riding these days is done on track riding an 05 ZX10R. My last road bike was an 05 Z750.

Well the first thing to say is what a fiesty little minx the bike is. It was so much fun to ride in a way that the ZX10 isn't. I loved the way you can really pin it without the constant threat of it getting all a bit to squirrelly.

LOVES

The lumpy power delivery and the wonderful popping on the overrun

The fact it steers quicker than most push bikes

How light it feels

The brakes are plenty for the road with instant bite

NOT SO GREATS

Snatchy throttle response at low revs (needs sorting)

Riding position, needs footrests moving back and up and bars dropped slightly

Tank range ( I'll learn to live with it)

Head bearings loose ( job for the evening)

So All in all, I think this is going to be a keeper.

Sounds about right.

Lots of fun, plenty on here to address the negatives you mention...