Just took it for a first ride, its a sweet bike!! Heres my review and comparo with the SDR for anybody who gives a damn
The very first thing I noticed was the shifter and transmission. This thing is *smooth*, it clicks through gears with a nice positive engagement and very short stroke. It clicks into gears nice and tight, no clunking and no complaining. This is a stark difference to my SDR which is kind of clunky in the shifts. The shifter on the KTM travels a lot further and my 1st to 2nd shifts are sloppy at best compared to the Ducati. I get the clunk, a lot. If I could trade transmissions I'd do it without thinking twice, it really is that much better.
The second thing I noticed is that the engine feels lazy. Not slow, but lazy... as if the flywheel is twice the weight of the one on my SDR. It revs up slower and it sheds revs slower... and thus less engine braking as well. I was expecting the fueling to be rubbish kind of like the KTM, because Ducati owners have been complaining about it... but its not even close. I thought the throttle would be an on/off switch like the SDR but its really far far smoother. Im sure this has lots to do with the heavier (?) flywheel or whatever is making the motor rev less freely. Either way, again, its *smooooth*.
Alright so finally I made it out of my street and onto the main road. Clutch feels good, the front brakes feel really good. Not better than the KTM, maybe the same I guess? The SDR has superb brakes, thats a tough one to beat. What I did notice however is that the rear brake has absolutely NO feedback... I had no idea what it was doing, nor did I know when I locked the wheel up. The only thing that gave it away was the motor and transmission lugging. The brake is stiff, and doesn't have much power. I use my rear brakes a lot so this made an impression on me, but Im sure most other people wouldn't give a damn.
I made it to the highway ramps and let the thing dip into the turns... its more effort, it turns in much slower than the SDR. MUCH slower, again it feels lazy. Its not necessarily a bad thing though, because once committed to the turn it felt as if I could take my hands off the bars and it would continue along the line happily on its own. Its stable, really stable. I think this is a function of the longer wheelbase and less aggressive rake. Either way, again--- *smooth*.
I jaunted up the highway careful not to break 100mph because of our retarded speeding laws here, the power felt good. I couldn't tell if it was faster than the SDR (Im sure it is, but it didn't feel like it) because once again its so bloody smooth. It did feel like it had a little more pickup, as if it got to 100mph quicker on a roll-on. I took another 2 ramps to get off the highway and back on, again really stable through the constant turns but heavy to dip in.
In conclusion? If I have only one word to use to describe the Streetfighter, its smooth. If I have only one word to describe my SDR.. it'd definitely have to be wild. Would I get rid of the KTM? Not a chance in hell. The SDR turns in much faster, it revs up and down really quick, and it transitions through turns way way faster. The KTM also feels quicker on the street, maybe this is partly because of its 'rough' fueling, but it definitely feels wilder (but also less refined) than the Ducati. The Streetfighter is a far more refined bike though, no questions about it.
Did you read all that?