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Saturday, 07 September 2002 |
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Page 3 of 4
| Cheap Car Versus Cheaper Bike |
| It's not all glitz and glamour you know. Everyone always says how great it must be to test-ride bikes for a living. The fact of the matter is, they're right. Riding the latest and greatest from all the world's bike manufacturers can get tedious but someone has to do it, might as well be me, right. Those same people weren't envying this assignment and that's just silly. |
| One thing that sets us Journo's apart is that we'll ride anything and like it. Hard core cruiser types turn their noses up at the latest open class sport bikes, they are really missing out on the most advanced best handling bikes ever made for road use. Conversely most of the hard core sporty types know nothing of the pleasure of taking an all day road trip on a big touring bike and still being a fully functioning human being when you arrive at your destination. If you are the sort that would never ride a 125 street bike then you're missing out on the whole bag of fun that that sector of motorcycling provides. |
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Imagine jumping on your bike, warm it up, then going full throttle down your driveway, sliding into your street and then railing through "turn one" never rolling off the throttle. All while not breaking the law, killing yourself or the neighbor's dog. Sounds like fun doesn't it. Now imagine 3 of your best buddies have some 125s too, now we're getting somewhere.
It used to be that riding a 125 meant not being able to keep up with traffic and generally being in the way and running a real risk of being run over. These bikes however are more than capable of hanging with traffic on all but interstate highways (which these bikes weren't made for anyway). I even found myself able to pass whenever I needed to. I really liked how I could draft vans and large trucks, it added some fun to my daily commute. |
| Both of these bikes had excellent brakes. Although after riding these bikes for a while you learn to dole out the brakes judiciously. If there's one thing these bikes will teach you, it is to keep up your corner speed since these things slow down much faster than they speed up. So slowing down as little as possible is all part of the game. Of course if you are a 16 year old kid that weighs in at 130lbs I'm sure the bike has more thrust than when you're a 210lb old fatty like some of us here and I'm not naming any names. |
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With a dyno shredding 12.8hp making it to the rear wheel you're in no danger of setting any land speed records. Yet makes beginning riders feel right at home, not worrying that twisting the throttle too far will spit the bike right out from underneath them. Anyone could learn to ride on of these. If I had more time with it I'd have my grandmother out doing "Madmax" style burnouts on it in short order. Since newbies to biking always place a high priority on being able to have both feet planted on terra firma the RT is better suited to the vertically challenged. Where as the height endowed among us will appreciate the roominess of the SM.
Which one you choose will be based solely on style and fitment. Both bikes use the same engine, brakes and frame so no real performance advantage exists between the bikes. |
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