Muahahahaha! Ducati Hyper Truck Demos!

[smileyman]

Tomorrow i am heading to the Ducati dealership in Little Rock to see the "Ducati Hyper Truck" and demo a Hyper Motard. They also have a 1098 demo so if you see some news coverage of a wild 5 state "Smokey and the Bandit" type police chase, you can just about figure they have pushed this stressed out, middle aged, country boy too far!


I will post up my riding impressions Monday as I will have a 6 hour round trip ride in order to experience V twin heaven first hand...And I doubt I will head straight home as the Ozarks have a twisty or two on the way...Carpe Dieme!

[Captain Morgan]

Sweet, have fun. I went to a Harley Demo Days today and road 3 hogs. The lead rider and the tail rider were both off duty cops, with their pistols on their sides. I would expect a Ducati demo to have the same scenario. I'm not giving a ride report on the Harleys. They were Harleys. Have fun on the Ducs.

[Mr Lefty]

awesome! have fun man... lets just hope no bike shows or car shows are happening...

[6doublefive321]

I myself will be headed to a KTM demo. I plan on throwing a leg over a Super Duke and leg humping an RC8.

Linky here...
http://www.promotosports.com/DemoFlyer.jpg

[marko138]

Originally Posted by Captain Morgan

Sweet, have fun. I went to a Harley Demo Days today and road 3 hogs. The lead rider and the tail rider were both off duty cops, with their pistols on their sides. I would expect a Ducati demo to have the same scenario. I'm not giving a ride report on the Harleys. They were Harleys. Have fun on the Ducs.

I'd like to hear your honest opinion on the HD's.

[Captain Morgan]

Originally Posted by marko138

I'd like to hear your honest opinion on the HD's.

Ok. Keep in mind that I only got to ride 3 bikes and it was for a whopping 8 miles on the demo ride. The ride went through some of the city streets, then out into part of the country on a road with about 3 nice curves, then back into the city. There were a couple of long straights where the cops who were leading actually got up to some decent speeds (hit over 70 in a 30).

The first bike I rode was the Street Bob. This was the overall best bike for city riding and handled okay on the curves. It had the standard foot controls, so it wasn't the most comfortable for cruising on the longer stretches, but it wasn't bad. Acceleration was so, so.

The next bike I road was the Rocker. It had forward foot controls and was a bitch to get use to, especially after only really riding sport bikes. However, those forward foot controls were very comfortable for cruising. The rocker felt like it couldn't turn to save it's life. That was NOT fun. Acceleration was quite nice, but I couldn't get use to the horrible handling and wide turns. Maybe I would have with more time.

The third bike was the VRod Muscle. It had forward foot controls and nearly had drag bars. The riding position was somewhat awkward, at least after riding the Rocker where you felt like you were kicked back. On the VRod Muscle, your legs are forward, as are your arms. While the riding position wasn't the most comfortable, the bike was definitely the most fun. Acceleration and handling were both great. The bike leaned into the corners smoothly and quickly. It certainly wouldn't be great for long highway rides, but would be fine for the city and for corner carving. One big downfall of this bike was the amount of heat it put out while sitting at a light. I felt like my legs were going to melt. The Vrod also had the heaviest clutch, so it really wasn't the greatest for city riding.

Also, both the Rocker and the Vrod seemed a bit wide in the saddle, at least for a small guy like me. It was definitely NOT fun sitting at lights for very long, as it felt like it was starting to cut off circulation in my legs.

I really don't know which one of those three I'd pick if I HAD to pick a Harley. Personally, I prefer sportbikes, so I'd probably take the Vrod cause it was the most fun on the corners. For a city bike, I think the Street Bob would be my choice. For kicked back cruising, the Rocker was nice, but damn, that thing did not like to turn. I don't know how the hell Gas Man rides that damn chopper.

[jeeps84]

Originally Posted by smileyman

Tomorrow i am heading to the Ducati dealership in Little Rock to see the "Ducati Hyper Truck" and demo a Hyper Motard. They also have a 1098 demo so if you see some news coverage of a wild 5 state "Smokey and the Bandit" type police chase, you can just about figure they have pushed this stressed out, middle aged, country boy too far!


I will post up my riding impressions Monday as I will have a 6 hour round trip ride in order to experience V twin heaven first hand...And I doubt I will head straight home as the Ozarks have a twisty or two on the way...Carpe Dieme!

I got to ride a Demo @ my local Duc dealer (Translating to giving me a key and sending me off un escorted)but I ride with both the owner and other employees.

I found that Truck @ the VIR race this year. I Couldn't pass up a chance to ride again. Just not as much fun.

In short, Its a blast. Suspension was to soft. (something I never thought I would ever say bout a Duc) Bars wide enough to get response from and comfortable. (not a lot feedback tho) Pegs high enough. Seat hard. Power? well there is plenty of torque.

[6doublefive321]

I'll throw in my day at the KTM demo. First of all, the demo was deep in the North GA mountains at Suches. Suches is home to the TWO (Two Wheels Only) campground, which is exactly what the name implies. The area itself has some great roads, which made it a perfect place for a demo.

Arriving at the site, I was surprised at the number and variety of bikes available. There were 3 RC8's, 6 or 7 Super Dukes, 2 or 3 Adventures, a couple of LC8 supermotos, a 950 Super Enduro, 690 Super Enduro, and a couple of varieties of 690 SM's / Dukes. All in all, they had enough bikes for three groups of 7 riders at any one time.

The sign up process was easy, friendly, and no-nonsense. At no time was there any sales pressure. The RC8 was tempting, but I signed up for the Super Duke, as I may buy another bike next year. There was a two hour wait, which tells you how many people showed up for the demo. The wait was no problem, as there were plenty of folks to talk to and trade stories with.

At ride time, we received the safety briefing. Don't do wheelies, burnouts, no passing. In general, don't ride like an ass. The lead rider and trail rider were both riding Adventures, and we took off. What a great ride!! We went about 13 miles through twists and turns, and at a great clip. I was amazed at the pace the ride took. I hit 75 two or three times, and that is saying something given the nature of the twists and turns and switchbacks.

The Super Duke was amazing. The bike was smooth, but sharp. Agressive but stable. The v-twin engine purred like a kitten, but had plenty of snap. The ride was compliant, and the handling stable. I wasn't used to the whole setup, and missed a couple of downshifts going into turns, but the bike never complained. Just lean it over and keep going. The bike did require some effort in the switchbacks, but I attribute that to the fact that I'm used to my 320 pound SM.

All in all, a great day. KTM did a hell of a job organizing the event, and TWO did a great job as a host. The local law enforcement was great as well.

[Smittie61984]

Damn I didn't know about the Demo rides until later. I did hear someone went down on it though.

[marko138]

Originally Posted by Captain Morgan

Ok. Keep in mind that I only got to ride 3 bikes and it was for a whopping 8 miles on the demo ride. The ride went through some of the city streets, then out into part of the country on a road with about 3 nice curves, then back into the city. There were a couple of long straights where the cops who were leading actually got up to some decent speeds (hit over 70 in a 30).

The first bike I rode was the Street Bob. This was the overall best bike for city riding and handled okay on the curves. It had the standard foot controls, so it wasn't the most comfortable for cruising on the longer stretches, but it wasn't bad. Acceleration was so, so.

The next bike I road was the Rocker. It had forward foot controls and was a bitch to get use to, especially after only really riding sport bikes. However, those forward foot controls were very comfortable for cruising. The rocker felt like it couldn't turn to save it's life. That was NOT fun. Acceleration was quite nice, but I couldn't get use to the horrible handling and wide turns. Maybe I would have with more time.

The third bike was the VRod Muscle. It had forward foot controls and nearly had drag bars. The riding position was somewhat awkward, at least after riding the Rocker where you felt like you were kicked back. On the VRod Muscle, your legs are forward, as are your arms. While the riding position wasn't the most comfortable, the bike was definitely the most fun. Acceleration and handling were both great. The bike leaned into the corners smoothly and quickly. It certainly wouldn't be great for long highway rides, but would be fine for the city and for corner carving. One big downfall of this bike was the amount of heat it put out while sitting at a light. I felt like my legs were going to melt. The Vrod also had the heaviest clutch, so it really wasn't the greatest for city riding.

Also, both the Rocker and the Vrod seemed a bit wide in the saddle, at least for a small guy like me. It was definitely NOT fun sitting at lights for very long, as it felt like it was starting to cut off circulation in my legs.

I really don't know which one of those three I'd pick if I HAD to pick a Harley. Personally, I prefer sportbikes, so I'd probably take the Vrod cause it was the most fun on the corners. For a city bike, I think the Street Bob would be my choice. For kicked back cruising, the Rocker was nice, but damn, that thing did not like to turn. I don't know how the hell Gas Man rides that damn chopper.

I love the Vrod. I've never rode one. I'd like to. I also really like the XR1200...hopefully they bring that to the states soon.