RaWarrior
Well-Known Member
One of my buddies knows the owner of the local Bombardier dealer, and he got us a demo on them. He took the new touring dresser one, I took a standard model with the manual transmission.
Gotta say, it's a real interesting ride. I thought it would be really strange, but I hopped on and felt completely comfortable with it within probably 5 minutes. The transmission was excellent....best I've ever kicked around. Super easy lever movement, perfect clutch, neutral was ultra easy to get, and it was smooth and slick like a sportbike. It also has push button reverse. Motor was good but not phenomenal. It's only a 1000cc v-twin, and while it does rev up to like 10k, I found the top end fairly weak. The meat of it's power in all in the midrange....like 5-7k. That gives a satisfying pull in the first three gears that's fun, but short lived. It brings you up to around 90 fairly quick, but as soon as you have to grab 5th, it really peters out. I suspect 5th is more intended for highway fuel economy, it's pretty tall. The dealer owner said he'd gotten one up to about 115 given a long stretch. Another 20-30hp in there would really liven it up. Which isn't to say it's pokey, not by any means, but even my stock Max with a Venture drive has waaaay more pull to it.
But the handling.....:biglaugh: that's the selling point of this thing. It is an absolute boatload of fun. You can be absolutely fearless with it regarding corners....all models have the whole traction and stability control, which also has full control over the throttle and individual wheel braking. It can't be switched off, so if you're a "purist", you probably won't like it. But you can really haul this thing into a corner (to the point you're straining to hold yourself on it from the force) with no lift or intervention from the throttle nanny. Of course I instantly got more daring, and after entering a 25mph marked corner at around 70, the inside wheel slightly lifted off the ground, and instantly I felt the motor cut and the outside wheel brake. So it's next to crash-proof...point it where you want to go and the computer will figure it out for you. One corner was a bit sandy, and when I goosed it coming out the rear end broke loose and I felt it just start to fishtail....the nanny stepped in and settled it down almost imperceptibly fast. While I'm not a big fan of the computerized bike, this one works. It's not like some car traction controls that "abruptly" cut in, and stay cut in until everything is totally in line. This one is extremely quick and only steps in if you're really being nutty...essentially, if it's cutting it, you'd probably be crashing otherwise. It's like a "soft" limiter that gently cuts back fueling and spark to limit speed, instead of a "hard" one that just stops speeding up the ignition. More gentle, more in the background, which is for the better.
While I'm not sure I'd trade it for my two-wheeler, it's definitely a ton of fun.
It also does highly satisfying burnouts, even with the flat rear tire. 6 grand, first gear, dump the clutch and it'll leave a trail of smoke through the intersection through second.
The dealer owner was riding the other one, which had the push button transmission. We swapped out so I could try that. The shifter mechanism reminded me of the one on my mountain bike...index finger pushes the back of the flipper for down, thumb pushes the front for up. From neutral, push the + side, it clunks into first, and then it's like a scooter....just roll on the gas to go. When you shift, it feels like an automotive automatic. No need to let off the gas, when you press the button the motor cuts for a split second for it to change, then comes back. Under light load it's virtually imperceptible, going WOT when pressing the button results in a noticeable lurch-clunk as it cuts the motor to shift. If you slow down below 2500rpm, it automatically downshifts for you. It won't do a burnout without holding the brake.
The good part is that because the computer detects you're "on the power" it doesn't send any braking to the rear wheel, just the front.
Oh yeah, they all have just one linked brake pedal. There's NOTHING on the right handlebar. The right footwell has a car-size brake pedal, the computer automatically splits the braking as it deems fit...so if you get on the brakes in a corner, it'll send it all to the outside wheel to prevent the inside from locking. And of course the pushbutton loses the clutch lever and the shifter as well, so 3 of your 4 limbs have nothing to do...all you got is the one brake pedal.
It's a neat toy....ride one if you get a chance. Get the standard. The auto works as well as can be expected but to me the manual was a lot better ride, especially since the manual is an awesome transmission.
Gotta say, it's a real interesting ride. I thought it would be really strange, but I hopped on and felt completely comfortable with it within probably 5 minutes. The transmission was excellent....best I've ever kicked around. Super easy lever movement, perfect clutch, neutral was ultra easy to get, and it was smooth and slick like a sportbike. It also has push button reverse. Motor was good but not phenomenal. It's only a 1000cc v-twin, and while it does rev up to like 10k, I found the top end fairly weak. The meat of it's power in all in the midrange....like 5-7k. That gives a satisfying pull in the first three gears that's fun, but short lived. It brings you up to around 90 fairly quick, but as soon as you have to grab 5th, it really peters out. I suspect 5th is more intended for highway fuel economy, it's pretty tall. The dealer owner said he'd gotten one up to about 115 given a long stretch. Another 20-30hp in there would really liven it up. Which isn't to say it's pokey, not by any means, but even my stock Max with a Venture drive has waaaay more pull to it.
But the handling.....:biglaugh: that's the selling point of this thing. It is an absolute boatload of fun. You can be absolutely fearless with it regarding corners....all models have the whole traction and stability control, which also has full control over the throttle and individual wheel braking. It can't be switched off, so if you're a "purist", you probably won't like it. But you can really haul this thing into a corner (to the point you're straining to hold yourself on it from the force) with no lift or intervention from the throttle nanny. Of course I instantly got more daring, and after entering a 25mph marked corner at around 70, the inside wheel slightly lifted off the ground, and instantly I felt the motor cut and the outside wheel brake. So it's next to crash-proof...point it where you want to go and the computer will figure it out for you. One corner was a bit sandy, and when I goosed it coming out the rear end broke loose and I felt it just start to fishtail....the nanny stepped in and settled it down almost imperceptibly fast. While I'm not a big fan of the computerized bike, this one works. It's not like some car traction controls that "abruptly" cut in, and stay cut in until everything is totally in line. This one is extremely quick and only steps in if you're really being nutty...essentially, if it's cutting it, you'd probably be crashing otherwise. It's like a "soft" limiter that gently cuts back fueling and spark to limit speed, instead of a "hard" one that just stops speeding up the ignition. More gentle, more in the background, which is for the better.
While I'm not sure I'd trade it for my two-wheeler, it's definitely a ton of fun.
It also does highly satisfying burnouts, even with the flat rear tire. 6 grand, first gear, dump the clutch and it'll leave a trail of smoke through the intersection through second.
The dealer owner was riding the other one, which had the push button transmission. We swapped out so I could try that. The shifter mechanism reminded me of the one on my mountain bike...index finger pushes the back of the flipper for down, thumb pushes the front for up. From neutral, push the + side, it clunks into first, and then it's like a scooter....just roll on the gas to go. When you shift, it feels like an automotive automatic. No need to let off the gas, when you press the button the motor cuts for a split second for it to change, then comes back. Under light load it's virtually imperceptible, going WOT when pressing the button results in a noticeable lurch-clunk as it cuts the motor to shift. If you slow down below 2500rpm, it automatically downshifts for you. It won't do a burnout without holding the brake.
The good part is that because the computer detects you're "on the power" it doesn't send any braking to the rear wheel, just the front. Oh yeah, they all have just one linked brake pedal. There's NOTHING on the right handlebar. The right footwell has a car-size brake pedal, the computer automatically splits the braking as it deems fit...so if you get on the brakes in a corner, it'll send it all to the outside wheel to prevent the inside from locking. And of course the pushbutton loses the clutch lever and the shifter as well, so 3 of your 4 limbs have nothing to do...all you got is the one brake pedal.
It's a neat toy....ride one if you get a chance. Get the standard. The auto works as well as can be expected but to me the manual was a lot better ride, especially since the manual is an awesome transmission.
