| Author | Message | ||
     Etennuly |
Have you read the cover article in the Oct Cycle World? A big WTF to Cernicky who had such a hard time riding a Uly because it has a 34.3" seat height but in the adjoining article rides a KTM with a 34.6" seat height and calls it "my favorite of the bunch" with no mention of an inability to reach the ground? Maybe they had a milk crate for him to get on and off. Or maybe he didn't ride it in real world traffic. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Cernicky doesn't like Harleys. Nuff Said! | ||
| Jaimec |
The KTM is really really narrow, so it makes it easier to reach the ground despite being taller. That being said, the seat is also a TORTURE rack, and you just can't sit on it for long. Probably why you see people standing up when they ride that thing. | ||
| Spatten1 |
When Buell puts the money into developing an engine from scratch like the KTM or Rotax(light, small, powerful), the US magazines will rave about them. Until then, expect the same reviews. If you like our sporty engines, just enjoy the ride. However, you should not expect the other 95% of sport oriented riders to get excited about them. Just enjoy your great unique bike. You can bet that Guzzi would not do so well in a shootout either, but they have plenty of loyal fans. Try enjoying the feel of the engine on the other bikes when stuck behind slow traffic for 50 miles. You won't get that satisfying feeling your Buell will give you. The Buell is not so good of a performance shootout machine, but what it has is unique and special. The same magazine has a quote from Polaris (Victory) about building an American sport bike with help from KTM engineering. I say bring it on. I would love to see an American bike win a performance oriented shootout. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Sitting on a KTM seat is like having a 2X4 forcibly inserted into your butt crack. I'll take the Uly seat, thanks. | ||
| Etennuly |
Yeah, why would the test put a hypo dirt bike on the same ground as Ulysses. The only manufacturers that I've seen close to our Adventure class bike is Beemer and Zuki. I'd like to ride a 700 mile day on my Uly with those same bikes in the test, then attack some fire access roads, then run the Dragon in the same day. Bet I'd be riding alone because I'd be the only one not stopping every 40 miles for a "butt break" or gas. | ||
| Etennuly |
Oh, by the way, I'm VERY happy with my engine! | ||
| Etennuly |
The sad truth is that people read these articles and only those who actually ride the bikes know the difference. Nearly everyone that has shown serious interest in my Uly, people ready to buy, ask questions based directly on quotes from those articles. When the authors use facts, even if showing the weak points of a machine, that is fine and answerable. However, when they go to a blatant bias personal quote, that author discredits himself by not being consistent in his testing. Then we naturally go to a defensive posture and have to point out that the writer has become and AH, there by also discrediting anything good he might have said. So that makes him worthless. OK ...I'm done with this. | ||
| Diablobrian |
The most recent cycle wold praises BMW for keeping the R1200R alive and improving on it. They also say it "Hauls ass". They also say it has "lots of power, which the 1200r has in buckets. How about a claimed 109hp and 85 foot-pounds of grunt" and "claimed to weigh just 437 pounds dry" Isn't this the same magazine that harped on the fact that Buell was using a motor that was dated and weak when it has similar numbers in the XB12 way back in 2004? Talk about being two-faced! So much for journalistic integrity eh? | ||
| Reepicheep |
I thought the article was fine for what it was, it was kind of about "hooligan naked bikes". In that regard, that KTM really would be the best hooligan bike, with the speed triple coming in a close second. They said the Uly was the most versatile, which it really is. Again, I think a fair call. Personally, my beef is that the Uly should not have been in that shoot out, it should have been a 9sx or a 12s... probably the 9sx. Any lurkers (cough *steve* cough) want to comment on why the Uly was there instead of the 9sx? Probably just because the Uly is new... and the 9sx is old hat at this point. | ||
| Bumblebee |
A magazine article is one person's opinion. Unfortunately, by the vast majority it's taken as the undisputed truth about all things motorcycle. All too often the author has very little real world day in-day out motorcycle experience just like their readers. | ||
| Etennuly |
Reepicheep You're right, A City-X would have been the right machine for this group test. |
