I had an absolute blast at the show. I got there at about 10am, figuring I would stay until noon-ish, and roll out. I took my time checking out the various vendors who were selling things in which I am interested: heated gear, better moto batteries, and suspension upgrades. While mulling-over some of the data, I strolled over to the second room, where the bikes were staged. Here's my take on the various displays:
Ducati: Some really good eye candy, as always. The bikes were decent, as well. I have sat on the Multi 1200 a billion times, but had to do it again. That is one badass bike. The Diavel is something that I still don't understand, but whatever. I was looking for the 800 Hyper, but somehow must have missed it.
Honda: I was excited to check out a few of the Hondas. The 500 looks like a cool little scoot, for sure. I am not a fan of the new 1000 RR paint scheme. I really wanted to sit on the CRF250L, as I have been considering that as a possible contender in my lightweight adventure bike upgrade. It was an immediate thumbs-down. The seat height was too low, causing the legs to be a bit cramped, making for an uncomfortable riding position. Worse yet, the suspension felt terrible. Sure, I'm a fat bastard, but it felt really cheap. No wonder it's so much cheaper than the WR250R. I had seen the NC700x before, and it would be a bike I would definitely consider as a commuter, were it not for the fact that I already have a wee-strom.
Suzuki: I'm probably one of the few people who is happy that the DR650 is still a low-tech, air cooled bike. They have added an oil cooler, which is odd. If you're going to add an oil cooler, you may as well add a radiator and liquid cool the motor. If I were to buy the newer DR650, I would probably build in a bypass for the oil cooler, with valves to omit the cooler. That way when I dropped it out in the boonies and busted the oil cooler, I wouldn't be totally boned. I was disappointed to see that the DRZ 400 still does not have FI or a sixth gear (or a 450 motor). The Suzuki rep with whom I spoke admitted that he just bought a WR450F insteal of an RMX/RMZ, as it was a better bike. This is in spite of his Suzuki discount. Disappointing, for sure.
Husqvarna/BMW: I was REALLY stoked to see the TE310 and TE449 there. I would LOVE to have either one of those, and would actually prefer the 310. Really solid bikes with top notch components. The new 650 twin "adventure" bike (the Terra) was a bit disappointing in person. I wanted to like it, but just couldn't. I'm also bummed that the TE610/630 line is no more. Replaced by a bike that is 100 pounds heavier with an extra cylinder. Ugh. Oh well, the TE310 and 449 put a huge smile on my face. I wish I could have both!
Yamaha: The WR250R is a serious piece of kit for a street legal dualsport. Great suspension, FI, good gearbox. What's not to love? The XT250 is pretty cool, as well. It's funny: I was expecting the Honda CRF250L to be comparable to the WR250R, but it is really much more similar to the XT250. Bummer. Anyway, that WR250R is SWEET! Another one for the list.
Harley: I really didn't look at them. Not my thing.
Kawasaki: I poked around a bit, but didn't see anything that interested me. Why did they have 3-4 KLRs there? Seemed odd. Oh well.
LOOOOOONG story, coming to a close. I ended up getting some heated glove liners, a few RAM mount bits, a couple of big hugs from BARFer hotties (Sal and Connie :love)
I had a great day, and ended up staying until after 2pm. I will be going back next year, and I hope to be able to spend more than I did this year. The more value that the vendors see in attending these shows, the more vendor variety we will get.
/warandpeace
