After a year of reading reviews and forum threads and a good deal of pondering, I decided that while the Terra might be an orphan there was enough 'foster parents' sharing their care to take a punt. After a couple of rides I'm pleased that I did. As one reviewer said 'it's more than the sum of it's parts'. I've taken it on 1.5 lane twisty blacktop and on fire trails in the Great Divide which is half an hour north of me. High points: * It's a great poky motor and for a big single amazingly smooth. * I find the ergos really good. Much better than my 1190 Adv. * It's agile in the rough (twin track anyway) but still acceptable at touring speeds. * The tiny 'screen' over the instrument cluster does a good job of cutting the wind but I'll whack on a clear windscreen anyway. * The rear brake is nicely progressive, reducing the chance of a lock up. Dumping the clutch for prompt compression braking is not however a good idea. * The gearing in first is low enough not to have to do much clutch slipping. * The clutch action is light. The vague front end at speed through the sweepers is taking a bit of getting used to. I guess that's the price of a narrow 21" wheel. I'd prefer a bit more brake bite at the front but there's a price you may pay for that. The dealer fitted Karoo 3's as new tyres were needed to pass the roadworthy. I wouldn't have chosen such dirt-oriented tyres but I'm learning to trust them leaning into the blacktop curves. There's a bit of a flightiness at speed but that could also be down to the aerodynamics. So, so far I'm really enjoying the orphan.
Its a great bike and smoother than anything else out there and now a classic! My OE front brakes needed a hard pull to get anything to happen so I asked my dealer and he gave me some SBS pads and its made a big difference....light braking there is a lot more bite, and under heavy braking its also better. He said there is another pad thats even better, but I'm very happy with the improvement, let me know if you want the part number and I will dig it up.
2nd impressions: In relative terms the clutch and throttle action are light which is great when you're carrying old injuries. The gear shift is light and positive. The narrow 'tank' and low CoG are a plus for standing riding. The instruments are supposed to show average fuel consumption? Can't see how you select this. And if you can, why didn't they add a fuel gauge?
i don't think you can display the average fuel consumption on the TR650. Might be a function on the Nuda which uses the same dash but happy to be corrected. What it does show is the amount of fuel used which essentially is your fuel gauge along with the warning light.
As mentioned above, the fuel consumption on the dash shows the amount of fuel consumed and is very accurate. Where did you buy the bike ? Judging from the big Husky logos on the panels looks like former owner might have been on cafehusky.
I thought it might have been his, but I coudn't see the giveaway red anodised folding brake pedal in your pics Enjoy the bike. The Terras are great fun. I got one of the first to be uncrated in Australia. I dont' think I've enjoyed any other bike i've owned as much as the Terra.
Cool. Yeah, and it's got the red rear brake master cylinder So far the Terra strikes me as a great all-rounder. In traffic it's a threat to my license!
...and a few other bits :-) Any details needed re: mods, fixes and bling on that bike... give me a hoy. I did most of them, incl. the PodMod/ changes to wiring/ most electrics/filler cap mod/ fresh bearings/ sprockets/chain and all sorts of other stuff. Had various "tester-runs" after the mods through Melbourne's eastern hills (tar+gravel)... it sure is a sweet one :-) Much/most of its history (+ original owner etc) are on austouring.com
Might take a decade or two! You know, I wonder what's happened to all those Terra spares that would've been made in that brief window of manufacturing. Presumably they went to Husky/KTM but my local Husky parts interpreter shakes his head whenever I mention parts.
The Terra continues to be a fun machine. I went chasing some Strada wheels for some motardry but the $$ are steep. Bought a whole Strada in mint condition instead! I had been reading about the Nuda too cos there's something pleasing about these hybrid bastards. Today I got a chance to test ride one for an hour and it isn't what I thought it would be. It's tricked out like a motard but the suspension is like a sportsbike and the front end is heavy (I stopped to see if the tyre was going soft). The engine is a pearl and this version had a very fruity exhaust. Great brakes - probably too much for this bike but better that than underdone. The vibes were remarkably modest for a big parallel twin. So there was a lot to like. Some kind of screen would be needed in cold weather. At highway speeds the wind blast started to be felt in my neck. The salesman called it the ultimate urban assault weapon and that's pretty good. I'll continue to trick out the Strada and put the Nuda on the maybe list. It's not enough of a motard for me. Maybe I should test ride a KTM 990 SMT.
