Hi guys, I took my bike out for the very first time earlier this evening. It still not registered yet and doesn't have a license plate either, so I used my Monster license plate I didn't ride far only about 14 km. I spent the first 10 minutes practicing riding the bike in an empty parking lot nearby, to familiarize myself with the bike. After the ride, my impression is the handling of this bike is awesome. Even though it's a tall bike, I find that the balance of the bike is really really good. It was effortless to balance the bike in a slow speed ride. Which was surprising cause I was expecting it to be quite a handful in slow moving traffic jam due to the height. Turns out, it's as easy as my monster to ride in traffic, I think it is even easier to ride than my monster. In slow traffic jam, it handles better than my monster. Filtering through traffic jam at slow speed was really easy. I found that during the ride there's no need to put any of my foot down at all. The only time I put my foot down was when I stopped to change the display to show the trip meter. I'm beginning to think that this bike can completely replace my Monster as a commuter.
Think you´ll find that the 630 is tops at filtering through heavy traffic and squeezing through to get to the front at red lights, and then pulling away. Hairy street racers may well pass you on long straights but the 630 will win in the long run. My only quibbles are that (a) it´s as heavy as a prize pig and (b) the steering lock makes it a tad unwieldy ... a bit like an ocean liner. If someone comes up with a tard that´s lighter, more agile, just as powerful and maintenance-free, I´d leave the Husky and jump ship. As things are, I´ve still got my old CCM 644 ... which still seems to be ideal (but a bit long in the tooth).
[Quote: 3590"] .... and (b) the steering lock makes it a tad unwieldy ... a bit like an ocean liner. .[/quote] On both my TE and SM I took a Dremel grinder to the sterering stops on the triple clamps. Trimmed the stops down a bit. The bikes can now turn on a dime.
On both my TE and SM I took a Dremel grinder to the sterering stops on the triple clamps. Trimmed the stops down a bit. The bikes can now turn on a dime.[/quote] +1 Same here...
That was what I thought before I rode the bike ... cause I read posts about grinding the steering stop... but compared to my Ducati Monster which has very limited steering "travel" (is that what it's called?) I find TE630 steering is really generous. It's also one of the surprises: "Whoa, I can turn the handlebar this far". But that's on the street and I'm a street rider who has no idea how other DS bike or trail bike is like, and I have no previous experience on other DS or trail bike.
