- Jul 3, 2003
- 74,544
- 924
- 126
Went to the dealership this morning because of a strange noise in the starter on my bike and since the warranty is up soon I wanted to have it looked at while it is still covered. I had to leave the bike because they can't look at in until next week so I asked if I could take a demo bike home and the owner smiled and said sure, what haven't you ridden yet? I wanted to ride the F3 but the battery was dead on their demo so he wheeled out the Brutale 1090 R for me to ride. I bought my bike here so they treat me well. 
The bike feels narrow and it is very smooth. The riding position is quite upright, moreso than my Ducati, the mirrors suck though, I couldn't get them adjusted enough to be useful. The seat is wide and flat and not very comfortable and I felt a little cramped with positioning of the pegs, they seem to be higher than I'm used to. The instrument panel is kind of large, like the headlight, and there are two buttons on the right side of the panel that don’t appear to do anything.
Engine is smooth and revs very quickly and holy crap is this thing fast. Gear changes were relatively smooth and I never had any difficulty selecting a gear. The brakes, chassis and suspension are excellent. The only thing I found awkward was the throttle. It just feels way too sensitive to every tiny movement and it results in either acceleration or deceleration. Low speed fueling is not good and it would be tiring to ride this around in traffic.
The engine makes 158hp so it is fast... very fast. I was on the freeway doing 80mph in 6th gear and got on it briefly and was going ridiculously fast in a matter of a few seconds (I'd mention what numbers I saw on the speedo but I'm a little embarrassed to say how fast I was going). Roll off the throttle and it backs down quickly to sane speeds. Can't imagine there are many cars that could keep up with this beast.
Anyway, it was a fun bike to ride, would make a great track weapon but it is the type of bike where you constantly want to explore the limits and that would get you in trouble with the law real quick. I was just happy to return it without any tickets.
The bike feels narrow and it is very smooth. The riding position is quite upright, moreso than my Ducati, the mirrors suck though, I couldn't get them adjusted enough to be useful. The seat is wide and flat and not very comfortable and I felt a little cramped with positioning of the pegs, they seem to be higher than I'm used to. The instrument panel is kind of large, like the headlight, and there are two buttons on the right side of the panel that don’t appear to do anything.
Engine is smooth and revs very quickly and holy crap is this thing fast. Gear changes were relatively smooth and I never had any difficulty selecting a gear. The brakes, chassis and suspension are excellent. The only thing I found awkward was the throttle. It just feels way too sensitive to every tiny movement and it results in either acceleration or deceleration. Low speed fueling is not good and it would be tiring to ride this around in traffic.
The engine makes 158hp so it is fast... very fast. I was on the freeway doing 80mph in 6th gear and got on it briefly and was going ridiculously fast in a matter of a few seconds (I'd mention what numbers I saw on the speedo but I'm a little embarrassed to say how fast I was going). Roll off the throttle and it backs down quickly to sane speeds. Can't imagine there are many cars that could keep up with this beast.
Anyway, it was a fun bike to ride, would make a great track weapon but it is the type of bike where you constantly want to explore the limits and that would get you in trouble with the law real quick. I was just happy to return it without any tickets.
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