Well, was that a completely different experience.
It really made me see the strong and weak points of the MT-07.
Ok, the comparison makes absolutely no sense as these are completely different bikes, but still it was an eye opening experience.
First of all the seat height on the BMW is MUCH higher than on the MT, I almost flatfoot both feet on the MT, on the BMW I was on my toes.
The BMW is a lot heavier, and maneuvering it on my tippy toes was hard work.
Then I got going, and the pegs are so high up my hip actually cramped a bit as I took off, fortunately that wore off after a minute or so.
I got "comfy" and started off down the road, taking it easy and entering my first corner at about 60kph I almost drove straight out, this thing is heavy, and you actually have to really push it down in the corners, took me a few corners to get familiar with this.
That said it is much more stable and provides much more feedback in the corners.
Then I kissed the inside of my helmet, because this thing is a rocket.......
And the brakes, oh man were they good, and no nose dive what so ever, just felt so confident.
So a quick conclusion.
The MT is lighter, lower, handling is much more nimble, seating position and the engines are so different you can't really compare them.
I did get confirmation on what I suspected about the MT, the suspension is utterly crap, and the brakes are mediocre at best.
So this makes me wonder, should I upgrade the MT, or swap it for a better bike?
I'll be test riding a -15 Honda VFR 800 soon, and the Kawa Z1000SX, maybe I can try a GSX-R 1000 too.
If those bikes yield the same kind of result and I find the riding position good enough my MT might be up for sale sooner than expected.
It really made me see the strong and weak points of the MT-07.
Ok, the comparison makes absolutely no sense as these are completely different bikes, but still it was an eye opening experience.
First of all the seat height on the BMW is MUCH higher than on the MT, I almost flatfoot both feet on the MT, on the BMW I was on my toes.
The BMW is a lot heavier, and maneuvering it on my tippy toes was hard work.
Then I got going, and the pegs are so high up my hip actually cramped a bit as I took off, fortunately that wore off after a minute or so.
I got "comfy" and started off down the road, taking it easy and entering my first corner at about 60kph I almost drove straight out, this thing is heavy, and you actually have to really push it down in the corners, took me a few corners to get familiar with this.
That said it is much more stable and provides much more feedback in the corners.
Then I kissed the inside of my helmet, because this thing is a rocket.......
And the brakes, oh man were they good, and no nose dive what so ever, just felt so confident.
So a quick conclusion.
The MT is lighter, lower, handling is much more nimble, seating position and the engines are so different you can't really compare them.
I did get confirmation on what I suspected about the MT, the suspension is utterly crap, and the brakes are mediocre at best.
So this makes me wonder, should I upgrade the MT, or swap it for a better bike?
I'll be test riding a -15 Honda VFR 800 soon, and the Kawa Z1000SX, maybe I can try a GSX-R 1000 too.
If those bikes yield the same kind of result and I find the riding position good enough my MT might be up for sale sooner than expected.