SteveD
Grey Hound
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2011
- Messages
- 5,810
- Reaction score
- 22
- Location
- It’s complicated....
- Bike
- BMW G650 X-challenge
I am nuts about rallye. Not riding them, with my lack of riding ability that could be classified as a suicide attempt, but I follow them religiously. I volunteered to help with Amageza last year, from behind a keyboard and on this forum. I am a designer, and at some point I mentioned that the KTM 450RR was, in my opinion, a design masterpiece. One day when I grow up (which my wife says will never happen), it was my dream to ride one. One day, maybe, a guy can dream, after all....
Then I get a PM from Mark, who I had tracked while he rode his 450RR at Amageza, inviting me to come for a ride. Mark does not know me from a bar of soap, neither having met me nor seen my riding skill, or lack thereof. I thanked him for the offer but explained that maybe I need a bit more skill before I climb on his rather expensive machine. Mark would have nothing of it. "Come and ride, we'll take it easy" So I found myself heading off this morning with some trepidation to ride the very expensive bike of a guy I had never met. Oh boy......
I met Mark, his beautiful family and humongous Great Danes, and got to check out his 450RR from up close.
I know the 450RR fairly well, but mainly from pictures. In the flesh it is even more impressive. And tall. I am 5 10' and have pretty short legs. I had to lower the suspension on my X-Challenge before I could ride it comfortably. The 450RR is even taller than my X-Challenge was before I lowered it. This was going to be interesting. Mark gave a brief overview of the ride that he had planned - "Some sand road, then some rocky bits, over the mountain, you'll be fine". I tried to give him an easy way out, that if he felt uncomfortable at any stage about what I was doing on his bike, that he should just let me know and he could have his bike back. He wouldn't hear of it - "You'll be fine, it'll be a lekker ride".
We rode a short tar section to the start of the dirt, and Mark casually got off that beautiful machine of his and handed it over to me. Phew...
I swung my leg over my dream bike and realised that getting the sidestand up was going to be simply impossible. My left leg was just way, way too short. At least I didn't drop the bike, even if Mark had to kick the sidestand up for me. I pressed the happy button and the music started. A throaty purr, kitty was awake. ;D
I've ridden a few bikes, but never any racing machines. I'm ridden lots of horses though, from psycho racing maniacs to carthorses. Some of the best horses that I have ridden were actually quite easy to ride, others felt like sitting on a barrel of gunpowder playing with matches. I wasn't sure how this bike would react when I twisted the throttle. Keep the front wheel on the ground, that would be a good start. My trepidation was completely unfounded. I pulled away smoothly, no issues whatsoever, and my dream ride had started.
The bike just felt "planted". Difficult to explain, but it felt like it knew exactly what it was doing, and all I had to do was point it and try not to interfere. I am not a confident rider, so for me to feel that is something special. I am comfortable at around 80km/h on dirt roads, and not so comfortable going faster than that. The first time I looked down I was doing 95km/h, and it felt great. I slowed down a bit, no point overdoing it...
Although the road was flat and easy, there were little pieces which were less smooth. On my X-Challenge, I approach these gently and kind of ease through them. On this bike, bumps in the road were complete non-issues. The suspension is out of this world, and I found myself accelerating into the rougher bits. Nothing would phase the bike, nothing! It felt great.
The road gradually got worse, until we passed a sign "Road in bad condition. Proceed at own risk". Right....
Some 4x4s came crawling past us, and my stomach started crawling up my throat. We started up a slope which was gradually getting more and more rocky. On the 1200GS, I would have turned around. On the X-Challenge, I might have ridden up really slowly. On the 450RR, I was pointing the bike at the rocky bits, rolling a bit of throttle and just arriving at the other side. It was a weird feeling. Generally I pick my line to be the smoothest one. Here I was picking it to be the most interesting, and it felt great. This is one incredible bike.
Near the top, there was a half-buried pipe. I tried to lighten the front wheel and accelerate over it, but I made a complete mess of it and the back wheel hit the pipe hard, and kicked up high. I was on a bike way above my pay grade, with my arse in the air, and in deep shit - or was I? The back wheel hit the ground, bit, and without so much as a shake we were off again. No problem. I was so relieved that I didn’t notice the patch of sand in the corner, and the next I knew I was sliding sideways. Shit, I'm going to drop it! Look up, weight outside, smooth throttle, and don’t tense up. The back wheel swung in behind me, no snaking at all, and we were around the corner. My heart rate was probably above 200, I was shaking in my boots, but the bike just absorbed my questionable skills and kept going.
Enough gushing, I am sure you get the idea. The bike is incredible, way better than anything I have ever ridden. It inspires confidence, and soaks up whatever you throw at it. I rode it really gently, so she just purred along. In a few places I revved her up a bit, and the purring kitty woke up pretty quickly and showed her claws. The resultant roar sounds and feels brilliant, but I was not so stupid as to think that I could hang on to that monster, so I took her back to a gentle purr.
So my opinions:
- I kept missing gears, which is probably a combination of my build being vastly different to Mark, and the gear lever being further in than on my other bikes.
- The brakes bite very, very quickly.
- The suspension is better than on anything I have ever ridden.
- The bike feels incredibly light and well balanced, although it is not that light.
- The bike is quite narrow in front, despite the huge fuel tanks.
- The seat is terrible! I have even more respect for the Dakar riders doing 800km days on that tiny plank.
- I've said this a few times, but the bike inspires confidence. It is incredibly forgiving, which results in a really low rider workload. Just point it and don't interfere, the bike will sort it out.
- The bike is way, way more than I can handle, but is mild mannered enough to be rideable by somebody like me.
- It is undoubtedly the best bike that I have ever ridden.
And I will be forever grateful to Mark for letting me ride it. Thank you sir, it was great. :notworthy: I'll probably stop smiling by September.
Then I get a PM from Mark, who I had tracked while he rode his 450RR at Amageza, inviting me to come for a ride. Mark does not know me from a bar of soap, neither having met me nor seen my riding skill, or lack thereof. I thanked him for the offer but explained that maybe I need a bit more skill before I climb on his rather expensive machine. Mark would have nothing of it. "Come and ride, we'll take it easy" So I found myself heading off this morning with some trepidation to ride the very expensive bike of a guy I had never met. Oh boy......
I met Mark, his beautiful family and humongous Great Danes, and got to check out his 450RR from up close.
I know the 450RR fairly well, but mainly from pictures. In the flesh it is even more impressive. And tall. I am 5 10' and have pretty short legs. I had to lower the suspension on my X-Challenge before I could ride it comfortably. The 450RR is even taller than my X-Challenge was before I lowered it. This was going to be interesting. Mark gave a brief overview of the ride that he had planned - "Some sand road, then some rocky bits, over the mountain, you'll be fine". I tried to give him an easy way out, that if he felt uncomfortable at any stage about what I was doing on his bike, that he should just let me know and he could have his bike back. He wouldn't hear of it - "You'll be fine, it'll be a lekker ride".
We rode a short tar section to the start of the dirt, and Mark casually got off that beautiful machine of his and handed it over to me. Phew...
I swung my leg over my dream bike and realised that getting the sidestand up was going to be simply impossible. My left leg was just way, way too short. At least I didn't drop the bike, even if Mark had to kick the sidestand up for me. I pressed the happy button and the music started. A throaty purr, kitty was awake. ;D
I've ridden a few bikes, but never any racing machines. I'm ridden lots of horses though, from psycho racing maniacs to carthorses. Some of the best horses that I have ridden were actually quite easy to ride, others felt like sitting on a barrel of gunpowder playing with matches. I wasn't sure how this bike would react when I twisted the throttle. Keep the front wheel on the ground, that would be a good start. My trepidation was completely unfounded. I pulled away smoothly, no issues whatsoever, and my dream ride had started.
The bike just felt "planted". Difficult to explain, but it felt like it knew exactly what it was doing, and all I had to do was point it and try not to interfere. I am not a confident rider, so for me to feel that is something special. I am comfortable at around 80km/h on dirt roads, and not so comfortable going faster than that. The first time I looked down I was doing 95km/h, and it felt great. I slowed down a bit, no point overdoing it...
Although the road was flat and easy, there were little pieces which were less smooth. On my X-Challenge, I approach these gently and kind of ease through them. On this bike, bumps in the road were complete non-issues. The suspension is out of this world, and I found myself accelerating into the rougher bits. Nothing would phase the bike, nothing! It felt great.
The road gradually got worse, until we passed a sign "Road in bad condition. Proceed at own risk". Right....
Some 4x4s came crawling past us, and my stomach started crawling up my throat. We started up a slope which was gradually getting more and more rocky. On the 1200GS, I would have turned around. On the X-Challenge, I might have ridden up really slowly. On the 450RR, I was pointing the bike at the rocky bits, rolling a bit of throttle and just arriving at the other side. It was a weird feeling. Generally I pick my line to be the smoothest one. Here I was picking it to be the most interesting, and it felt great. This is one incredible bike.
Near the top, there was a half-buried pipe. I tried to lighten the front wheel and accelerate over it, but I made a complete mess of it and the back wheel hit the pipe hard, and kicked up high. I was on a bike way above my pay grade, with my arse in the air, and in deep shit - or was I? The back wheel hit the ground, bit, and without so much as a shake we were off again. No problem. I was so relieved that I didn’t notice the patch of sand in the corner, and the next I knew I was sliding sideways. Shit, I'm going to drop it! Look up, weight outside, smooth throttle, and don’t tense up. The back wheel swung in behind me, no snaking at all, and we were around the corner. My heart rate was probably above 200, I was shaking in my boots, but the bike just absorbed my questionable skills and kept going.
Enough gushing, I am sure you get the idea. The bike is incredible, way better than anything I have ever ridden. It inspires confidence, and soaks up whatever you throw at it. I rode it really gently, so she just purred along. In a few places I revved her up a bit, and the purring kitty woke up pretty quickly and showed her claws. The resultant roar sounds and feels brilliant, but I was not so stupid as to think that I could hang on to that monster, so I took her back to a gentle purr.
So my opinions:
- I kept missing gears, which is probably a combination of my build being vastly different to Mark, and the gear lever being further in than on my other bikes.
- The brakes bite very, very quickly.
- The suspension is better than on anything I have ever ridden.
- The bike feels incredibly light and well balanced, although it is not that light.
- The bike is quite narrow in front, despite the huge fuel tanks.
- The seat is terrible! I have even more respect for the Dakar riders doing 800km days on that tiny plank.
- I've said this a few times, but the bike inspires confidence. It is incredibly forgiving, which results in a really low rider workload. Just point it and don't interfere, the bike will sort it out.
- The bike is way, way more than I can handle, but is mild mannered enough to be rideable by somebody like me.
- It is undoubtedly the best bike that I have ever ridden.
And I will be forever grateful to Mark for letting me ride it. Thank you sir, it was great. :notworthy: I'll probably stop smiling by September.
![N[]vA](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/39fc70600d70a0afa40b682c3a695dc0?s=96){kind=avatar}
!
