Went for a ride out last night,on the way home had a little blowing the cobwebs out session, i found the front end feel to be uncomfortably vague and light at high speed,is this normal on a adventure based bike ?autobahn of course
Try doing it on tyres that are more biased towards riding on shitty surfaces and you'll soon find that it's just par for the course. It's character forming if nothing else :smile:
Yes. Its a long way from bar to ground and the wind will make it worse. on a similar note, I found you can wheelie one (I didnt, just rode it out...) and it lifts on the power in second easy peasy when you snick a gear when driving ;-)
I have noticed the same thing. Personally wouldn't be comfortable past 120/130. It's as if the wind gets under that big beak!
Tall, upright, wide bars with small sails on each end and squishy(ish) suspension. No wonder it gets a bit of a wiggle on at speed. Makes me wonder what the new KTM AdvR is like on knobblies :biggrin:
I've got a 660 Tenere which I use for winter trips and if I'm running it on full knobblies because of snow it's near enough uncontrollable in windy conditions. One of my regular trips is to the Elefant Rally in Germany and once the bike's loaded for a week away camping 80mph with a side wind is most entertaining.
When loaded with panniers and a top box I found that it started to shimmy at the front above about 110, so backed off and it was solid at anything up to 100. With no luggage and solo both the 2010 and the 2013 models are good for 140 - 150 and feel very planted. Now is that kph or mph - you decide.
I found my bike amazingly stable at 145 on the autobahn. Both on the original Scorpions and on PR3s. Total contrast to my ST, the front wheel of which became very vague at 120+ - probably to do with the fact that I was acting as a bloody great sail as it had no screen to speak of. I reckon the design of the Multi fairing/nose cone forces the front wheel down far more effectively. On another safety note, this is my first bike with ABS and I will never own one without it again. I had to grab a massive handful when a silly cow in an Audi TT (yes I know!) did a U-turn out of a line of slow-moving traffic as I was overtaking it at about 40mph. In all seriousness, I was looking for a soft spot to land because I expected the wheels to lock as I slid into her wing. But the ABS kicked in and I stopped a metre short with absolutely no drama. Absolutely brilliant. Thanks Ducati - you saved me a grand plus and a couple of broken bones no doubt.
Seems to be varying opinions on this,planted at 130+ is certainly not what I felt,must be the marchesini making it extra light on the front lol
How tall/heavy are you? I'm 6ft 2in and 15 stones plus and my 2013 Touring feels great at that sort of speed - and even at 120 two up with panniers (yes I know it's not recommended!), a tank bag and heavy tail bag strapped to the rack.
There's the variance in people's expectations to account for, as well as individual setups. If you've come from something super stable and planted, and/or you're not used to any movement then it might be considered a little disconcerting. If you grew up on bad handling bikes, don't mind a bit of wiggle, then it's probably perfectly normal. Different sizes, different weights, different pressures and different setups means that everyone's experience will vary.
Mine gets a bit light and flighty about 120+ But I can live with it Not as bad as this old baby at 120 though!! Long sweepers are entertaining at 70 on this! Makes the Multi feel very planted!! :smile:
With Scorpions and before adjusting suspension 120-130 would see a gentle weave, enough to say no faster.... After PR3s and some fettling, I have been on a nice open German autobahn two up with luggage during my last Euro trip, 130 ish and its planted.
6ft,15.5stone(on a good day)2013 pp,full termi,sport mode,rider with luggage setting on skyhook,std scorpions,as stated by others 130 seems to be where it starts getting a bit to flighty for comfort, not sure i would want to push it much further,not in the habit of doing silly speeds to often,but you know you just cant resist once in a while:biggrin:,i think Doodle maybe spot on with his analysis.
On my Germany trip with a top box and and rollbag strapped to the seat I managed my first 150. It took 4 attempts as the handlebars were shaking quite violently and my bottle went ! Have done it a few times since with no luggage and thankfully no handlebar shake. Certainly blows the cobwebs away !
Mine moves around for the simple reason that I act like a parachute on top of it. 6'3, 140kg with a tall wide torso. The bike itself is fine and not the primary cause, the forces against my upper body move the bars involuntarily. Keep it pinned and push on through
Not gone past 120 as it hurts fuel economy. I think it very much depends on load out and suspension settings. My best ride so far has been fully loaded with 3-piece luggage. For my weight, I find for solo riding, I need to up the preload and soften the front (2013 Touring S) I would start with upping the preload first. On the old bike, I find it more stable in Sport vs Touring above 100 mainly because of the stiffer rear settling the front more.
