When I decided after five years of being motorcycle-less to seriously start looking at bikes again, I found three that more or less stood out to me as, well...standouts. Amidst a sea of plastic clad machines, I began to notice that I was being drawn in a new direction. Being a previous owner of a V-twin cruiser and having ridden several 600cc and liter bikes, I started early on with a pretty clear idea of what I was going to want out of a motorcycle.
For me, the thing I always hated about the cruiser is that it's just no fun if you like to be aggressive. On the flip side of things, a 1000cc sport bike will have you grinning from ear to ear as it's inline four cyclinder engine slingshots it's way through it's torque curve gladly assisting you past speeds that would have an average citizen checking their pants for dampness. However, if you've ever ridden a sport bike for several hundred miles, you quickly lose interest in riding the speed limit and just want to get off the damn thing once your wrists and arms start to feel like their going to snap off. Imagine holding your upper body up as you would when doing a pushup. Now imagine doing that for three hours and you'll soon realize why I chose a different path.
After doing my research, the bike at the top of my list was the Buell Lightning Ss. It seemed like a good fit. I liked Eric Buell's design ideas and the tech innovations. Plus it had the added benefit of needing no valve adjustments. Ya, I know, it had a Harley engine and everybody says that's crap but I was really drawn to a V-twin setup because of the low end power. Besides, I already knew I wasn't going to be racing the thing. However, Harley-Davidson crushed my dreams when they chose to shutter production on all Buell motorcycles thus ending my quest to obtain one.
Next up were the only two left on the short-er list. The Ducati Monster 1100s and the KTM Superduke 990. Both are beautiful motorcycles in their own way with the Monster actually being quite a classic beauty while the KTM looks like it eats children's dreams for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After reading what seemed to be thousands of reviews, I still could not make up my mind and knew it was going to come down to a test ride. Now I have to say, the whole time I was looking and trying to decide what I wanted, a friend of mine was trying really hard to convince me to get a sport touring bike. I just wasn't sold on the idea but took his Yamaha FJR out for a leisurely jaunt anyway. Before I knew it, I was happily cruising down the road at 85mph. It really is a nice bike but, when I'm riding 85mph, I really want to feel like it and all the plastic this and that on that type of bike really makes highway speed feel more like grandpa's walker on a nice sunny day with a mild breeze. Needless to say, I was not convinced.
As fate would have it, I found a used Superduke and a Monster 1100s at the same shop about 70 miles from home and drug the wife unit along for some unknown reason to watch me twiddle my fingers and pace around while the shop got both bikes fueled and ready for business. The moment was upon me and I was anxious beyond all reason as I waited...and waited for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally they wheeled out the Superduke. I have to give my wife props here because she saw a Superduke in person only a year earlier and really liked it a lot which is what led me to test ride it first. You know, grease the wheels a little, so to speak. Throwing my leg over the really tall seat was a good feeling for a guy my height. At just about 6'2", a lot of bikes tend to feel cramped to me but the Superduke didn't feel that way at all. In fact it was downright comfortable. Turning the key and hitting the starter brought the beast to life and the roar of it's twin cylinders through the Akrapovic exhaust system was like music to my ears. I'm not a huge death metal fan but that was immediately what came to mind as I twisted the throttle. Where's that little old lady I was going to run down earlier? Okay, that's a bit much but that's a little how you feel on this bike. You're a warrior, ready to kick some serious donkey (kid friendly version).
Heading out, I was instantly in love, that is until the first turn. Throttling out of it was a bit awkward. I soon realized the throttle has a bit of an on or off approach to things. Not something I was used to for sure. However, by the time we were headed back (they had a sales guy follow me), I had more or less become accustomed to it's twitchy behavior. The power was instantaneous and brutally awesome in every gear and at nearly every speed. Fantastic I thought to myself. This is exactly what I was looking for. I had a huge grin on my face as we returned to the shop. I also had a lot more time to wait before they had the Monster ready.
After many more miles of pacing, they wheeled out the Monster. What a stunningly beautiful motorcycle. It's graceful, it's red, and it's Italian. What more could you ask for right? I'll tell you. Actually, how about some mirrors that anyone other than a midget (little person?) could use. I mean these things are seriously useless as anything other than bug smashers. I will say this, even though it generates several ponies less than the Superduke, you'd never know it while riding. It was splendid in every way. Very civilized and the fueling was spot on. There was no throttle twitch that I could detect and the whole ride was very smooth. But finding my way back to the shop I began to notice two things about the Ducati that I knew I wasn't going to like long term. It was a somewhat cloudy day hovering near 68 degrees farenheit and yet I was feeling a lot of heat crawling up my inner thighs from that rear cylinder. Knowing I would be fighting triple digit summer temperatures, that was not very inspiring to say the least. The other thing was the riding position. The Monster is physically a smaller bike. It is quite noticeable up next to the Superduke. So not only were my legs a bit more cramped, my torso was canted forward just a bit more than I liked and could already feel the pressure on my wrists. The Superduke's riding position was so much better that even while riding the super smooth Monster, I found myself thinking back to how much better the KTM felt. By the time I pulled up in the shop's parking lot, my mind was made up.
I walked back in, filled out my paperwork and rode home that evening on the Superduke. It has it's quirks but for me, that's what makes it a bit more fun. In the long run, isn't that why most people ride anyway? When you ride, it's not just about the journey, it's also about what got you through it. For me...right now, that's going to be a KTM Superduke. It's a beast of a machine and a real head turner. And even if you don't like it, everyone agrees, it's pretty unique.
Ride safe.
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