Have you owned an FS570? If so, how does it compare?
I have ridden and FS570 and almost bought one about a decade ago when they were easily found. I kinda wish I did buy it.
The FS570 is just like the SMR bikes - very racy and light. I didn't really notice anything different having the piston angled the way it is, but the bike is very small/light. Reminds me of my SM510R
What makes the 701 great to me.
- No compromise - revs fast, and racy, but yet very long service intervals.
- 75 hp on a thumper?!
- At all speeds, especially highway speeds (80-95) there is practically no vibration. Feels smoother than my 1290 Super Adventure R. I would never guess this was a thumper.
- Stock suspenders have decent valving. Very good out of the box. Compliant, not stiff.
- Even at 320 lbs, the bike wears it's weight well. At speed, it's just as nimble as my SMR.
- Seat is surprisingly comfortable. I use a Seat Concepts seat as well, and swap between both.
- Perfect out of box fueling.
- incredible fuel range. 130 ~ miles before gas light came on. If you ride a racy tard, you'll know this is a god send. I used to have to plan my rides on my SXV carefully (70 miles per tank)
I think what makes this bike so popular is because there is finally a combination with racy tards feel (501, 500exc, SMR, etc..) and street level maintenance/practicality.
Again, I loved my SMR, but changing the oil after a few rides and checking valves every other ride became old. I also had a to do a top end at 9K.
When I first bought my 690 SMC, I seriously thought it would be the solution, but I quickly found out the stock suspension is really bad (I had my forks reworked too) and the bike just didn't have the light and nimble feeling. Since you have a WR450, you know exactly what I mean.
My cons for the 701 would be:
- kind of expensive
- wish it had a tach
- shock preload collar inaccessible unless you remove shock, no fork preload adjustment.
- Not so good brembo coffin master
- some questionable parts prices (plastics are cheap, but a blank key costs $100/2) ?!
- Tall stock gearing - don't even need to shift to 6th until 80.
Overall i'm really pleased with the bike. It's amazing to have that kind of performance/feel in a gas and go kind of bike. Like many of you, I wanted a race tard performance in a bike that you don't have to really do much to maintain. On top of that, it can cruise all day at 90 mph with no stress and many folks have converted them to rally bikes for distance riding.
I plan on buying the 2019 version the minute it hits the states.
