The demo ride consisted of me signing numerous waivers but they let you out on your own, unsupervised. They had a course mapped out with red arrows at intersections telling you which way to go. This particular course went around Lake Elsinore. I should note I "accidently" ended up on the famous mountain road, Ortega (hwy 74), and felt the need to urgently attack the apexes to find a nice turn around at the top so I could get back on the very mundane route they mapped out and return the bike within an hour.
The dirt course was a joke... it was literally a gravel parking lot with some cones. I chose not to use it and again "accidently" went off pavement on my route. Man, those red arrows they lay out sure are hard to see
What I liked:
Looks better in person.
The motor was great. Typical power you'd expect in this class and it's available anywhere in the rev range. Differences between ride modes are obvious.
Clutch pull is very light.
Brakes worked well.
Suspension worked well (semi-active) with noticeable changes in plushness between ride modes.
Transmission is good (no quickshifter/autoblipper).
Seating position is very neutral, mostly typical ADV ergonomics.
Dash was great - nice and clear with lots of info if you desire.
It wears its weight well and is easy to maneuver.
The idea of no valve checks ever has a very strong appeal.
Neutral areas:
The elevator (adaptive ride height) was not needed for my 6'0" stature but worked almost seamlessly. If you brake very abruptly to a stop, you can feel it lower about an inch or so. May be great for the vertically impaired, or may be an expensive failure point down the line.
There was wind buffeting at speed in both manually-operated windscreen positions. Easy to bolt up a new one, though.
Kickstand is not typical. I tried to push down the center stand while seated nearly every time but suppose you get used to it.
There are little fairings that block the wind on your legs with a vent in them. It was a warm day so I would have wanted more airflow, but it might be appreciated on colder rides.
No quick ABS/TC turn-off switch. BUT, apparently you can make a custom ride mode with these off and switch on the fly. I just don't know what is involved to make those changes.
Dislikes:
The vibes. The bars weren't bad but I did feel it in my feet. I'm not sure how it would go with a long day in the saddle.
No quickshifter/autoblipper. Total letdown on a current top-shelf bike.
The exhaust is routed by your right leg/foot. I get why it's mounted there but again, not sure how a long hot day would go.
No heated seats...I got made fun of for this, but at this level of bike and pricepoint, I think it should be included.
Should you buy it?
If you are in the market for a big ADV bike, I think it should definitely be on your comparison list. I think HD hit the design brief spot-on and will likely entice a lot of riders new to the brand.
Would I buy it?
No, not yet. At least not at the $20k+ MSRP they had listed onsite. No quickshifter, no heated seats, and maybe I'm not a two-cylinder guy but so far the Tiger has the edge in the motor department. As with everything, YMMV.
Other things to note:
According to the dash the front tire was inflated to 40PSI and the rear to 47PSI. Also, the tires are more of the 50/50 varietal. While on Ortega, I felt it more difficult to hold a line compared to my Tiger, but I'm guessing different rubber or even playing with the pressures may cure that.
The dash syncs with your phone and you can operate just about everything through the handlebar controls. I would be curious to see what the aftermarket comes out with for GPS mounts, but it appears HD made the bike with the assumption you'd stream phone GPS to the dash -- while definitely a great feature, I want an actual GPS since I'm often out of cell-range.
Also, as expected, the HD folks you talk to are not ADV guys. They did not know how to disable ABS/TC and did not understand why I would want to do it. I withheld some of my other inquiries after that.