Anyone ridden the latest version of the Superduke? Considering riding one weekend after this one as well as the 890R.
Not ridden the Gen3, I’ve got a 2019 Gen2. It’s a hoot. Bung it in Sport mode and get hooning...watch the front though, it’ll reach for the sky with ease Seriously though, the power delivery and general feel is obviously completely different to the blade, might take a few minutes “to get your eye in” but the V Twin is soooo torquey it’s insane.
Not had a Blade for a while. Street, Speed, RSV4 at the moment. Dropped a message over arranging for both the 890R and SD a week Saturday weather being well.
Thinking about something else to go with. Notice though I'm saying "I'm thinking". Mrs may not be. You know how it goes. Started looking at the new Street Triple, then the 890R and whilst I was there I thought, oooh, Speed Triple & Superduke.
So I've got a potential deal on a Gen 3 SDR pending test ride, also pending the shitty weather improving at a weekend soon. @hitch what tank range are you getting out of the Gen 2? Just trying to gauge, as they've dropped 2L due to the new injectors.
I normally get about 140 miles 'ish ...that's in Sport mode all the time and riding like a dick most of the time
Just to confirm, I was out yesterday on half a tank; got to the petrol station half a mile from home and the fuel gauge just turned red with the trip on 142...I dont know how much "reserve" is left when the last square on the fuel gauge when it turns red, but not much I'd wager.
Don't know why but I've always had a thing for filling up whatever I've been on at around 120 miles. I think it comes from years of owning bikes without fuel gauges. Fuel gauge and air temp = new fangled stuff.
So The Beast 3.0 is in it's new home after literally 15 miles of motorway, motorway, A road, petrol station, garage. Heavy rain, dry, more rain and finally dry.
Mega that.... expecting a full on low down appraisal please my mate that was buying the Trump but bailed after being crabbed for weeks has his new V4 Tuono Factory delivered today! Exciting stuff..... Do you have any modifications planned? Take it you had the good bits unlocked?
Nearly went for the 2021 orange/blue, it's a really nice scheme in the flesh even though orange really isn't my thing. They had a 2020 in black with £800 off, free tech pack (so everything unlocked) and £199 for the Akra end can, that swung it in the end. Especially as there's only a minimal colour change and the Eruo 5 software update different. So the Arka went on along with the rear peg blanking plates and tank protector for collection. I've now stuck on the Evotech rad guard and fly screen protector thing on. Just ordering some ASV levers, as the hydraulic clutch biting point is at fingertip length at the moment. Then the pillion seat cover will be next on the list. I may even ride it if the weather ever clears up for a couple of hours.
So first 40 odd mile spin around some A and B roads last night. Ridiculous weather for the time of the year, after 20 miles my hands were cold in short winter gloves, so I left performance and track mode for another day. Compared to the Ape it feels tall, even though the seat height in the specs is lower. It must be down the the width of the seat pushing my little legs out wider. It took me about 15 mins or so to start adapt to the riding style, even though the RSV felt tall and like you sat on top of it, the Duke feels even more perched on top. The Ape also felt longer and more stable by comparison, sort of slower to tip in and roll onto its side. The Duke almost feels like it rear wheel steers, even though the wheelbase is supposed to be a couple of inches longer. At speed on some bumpy back roads it moved around more, but never got out of shape and always felt controlled. It actually felt far more involving on the roads I ride, but then I suppose that's the whole point of the bike. I was also pleasantly surprised the way it went round corners when I wound the wick up. The thing actually handles, stays on line and lets you wind the 100 or so fps of torque in nice and smoothly. I'm actually try to show some mechanical sympathy at the moment, even though the KTM tech told me to wring its neck after 100 miles. So I'm "trying" to stick to the 6500 rpm running in limit which seems to be where the engine starts to throw down some real stomp. From what I've read the WP suspenders have more travel and seemed to soak up the bumps better, passing on less shock on the shitty roads. I did have the RSV suspension setup, but I would really have needed to get it resprung for my weight. It doesn't feel like I need to do that on the Duke and it also has probably the comfiest seat I've ridden so far. So overall really looking forward to getting more miles on, first service done and famous last words, I think I've found what I'm looking for.
I'm thinking of one of these at some point so this is really useful...looking forward to more write ups as you go along Re the suspension being ok for you, what weights that roughly at
I'm a lightweight in all respects - 5.7" and 10 stone. I may take it down the road to have the suspension setup for fast road, but that should just be for my weight rather than anything drastic. One of the nice things is there are various suspension settings under the pillion seat. For me it definitely handles better than the 2019 Street RS and 2020 Speed RS. The the Street always felt too light on fast bumpy B roads. You felt like you concentrated more on keeping it on the right line. The Speed had the suspension setup, but coming off years on Blades, I was never really overly comfortable with the front end when really laying it down on the same roads. That combined with the weight and a bit of missing low down grunt. It's definitely worth a test ride, ideally for about a hour to get used to how it feels and behaves.
All sounds good so far WP a make some quality suspension! I remember ordering one at the NEC show for my 954 blade. Even back then it was assembled with the specifications of my weight etc.... Transformed it dramatically. They slip under the radar by today’s standards for some reason. So far so good then Pretty sure when it warms up and you get dialled in it will be a very effective tool
So 100 miler done today covering a bit of dual carriageway, but mostly country A and B roads. Surfaces ranged from ok to horrible rippled split tarmac and dry to greasy, wet and sometimes patches of mud or washed down gravel. I got home, could walk and feel my hands. I could have and nearly did, go back out and do it again. The engine's just so usable there'd be no hassle using it as a daily. It rumbled through villages at 30 in 3rd and then wound on into the nationals. Still trying to stick to the running in 6500 rev limit I could feel the anti-wheelie keeping the front down in 5th on a couple of the quicker A road stints. Although it was actually nice to ride at lower speed, take in the villages and watch the locals trying to figure out what on earth it is. Talking of which, it gets plenty of attention. Probably initially from the Akra bouncing the sound of 1301cc of v-twin off the buildings, but then what looked like plenty of "wtf is that" looks. So I'm now another 100 miles closer to the 1st service. Although next week's weather might spoil the fun for a while.
"I could feel the anti-wheelie keeping the front down in 5th" Hahaha....this Dukes are fekking awesome
