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I just thought I'd report on my experience riding other people's bikes during the last Tony's Track Days on October 2nd.
First off, I want to thank each rider for offering me a ride on their bike. I took out a 05 CBR600RR, (Tony's new bike), a Triumph 675, a Husky Motard (Joel) and a new BMW R1200S that Max brought from his shop.
The CBR is pure Honda, with smooth power delivery and predictable handling. The biggest change from Tony's 03 CBR is the upside down forks and the radial brakes. The brakes felt the same to me between the two model years, but the front forks felt better on the 05. The stock Dunlop tires offered decent grip, but little feedback on the cold track.
The Triumph 675 is a sweet machine with the sound being the most noticeable feature that got my attention. The 675 feels a lot like my 05 636 in almost every way, except the power is noticeably stronger, which means that you can be less fussy about which gear your in.
Joel's Husky motard was fun. I could see it being a blast on the street. On the track, it handled very well, up till 85% when it felt vague. Maybe it's the difference between street tires (Powers) and the Race tires I'm now used to or the rather soft suspension. Also, I kept looking for another gear near the end of the straight.
Finally, I rode the bright yellow BMW. This bike surprised me. Getting on it made it clear that it was a big bike, but once underway, it felt like a heavy middleweight. The Telelever front end was the best Tele front end I've ridden with good stability under braking and firm handling. I was able to get the bike moving pretty well after only a few laps. I expected to hear heads grinding on pavement, but that didn't happen. The one annoyance was the throttle response, which was smooth, but delayed. This means that I had to anticipate the throttle's response buy rolling on the throttle about a half a second before the location where I wanted drive. Also, the aftermarket pipe caused an intermittent flat spot around 6000 rpm. I rode the Beemer hard enough to make me nervous about the cost of repairs if I were to crash it, so after 6 or 7 laps, I pulled in.
Modern bikes are so competent these days that you can't really go wrong. Each one had it's merits.
I really liked the Triumph, but I certainly wouldn't trade my 636 for one with both being so similar.
The Husky is real fun, but lacks power and it could use some suspension fiddling (that doesn't stop Joel from going fast on it, though).
The BMW was surprisingly competent at moderately fast track speeds, which means it'd be tough to ever reach its potential on the street. Big bucks, though.
Tony's new CBR is a jewel with a much smoother engine than my Kawasaki. I like the 636 much better in the looks department.
Enough sharing. Carry on.
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