This bike is a gem. I put 30K miles on it: track days, lots of street, and a couple of 6 hour days. I consistently find that owners know and love this bike and the "experts" don't recommend it. It's not a dedicated race/track bike--of course. It took me 30K miles to grow out of it and upgrade to...
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This bike is a gem. I put 30K miles on it: track days, lots of street, and a couple of 6 hour days. I consistently find that owners know and love this bike and the "experts" don't recommend it. It's not a dedicated race/track bike--of course. It took me 30K miles to grow out of it and upgrade to slightly better forks. I frequently blew away all brands: Ducati/Japanese/etc. I also received a lot of flack from other "riders" some talented, most not. Completely reliable enough to instill a ton of confidence from the rider. The only short-coming I see is the brakes: just add steel-braided on front ($65) and engine stalls after stoppies: reroute fuel lines.
Biggest and goofiest myths: "Small tank and a gas guzzler" I won't even address gas mileage: it's a bike - enough said.
Tank: I could go a whole track day on one tank.
Touring: after 2 hours doesn't someone in the group need to fill up or use the restroom? I guess not.
Other myths: "It's a girl's bike" (?) Yes, in a way it's a good entry level performance bike with someone with some experience.
Strengths: cheap! Pick a used one up with all the bells and whistles for nothing: just pay for tires and you're good to go! You can't break this thing. Totally flickable bike, carbs are incredibly smooth, comfortable, solid, tons of power, power band allows for a lot of ease in accelerating/deccelerating, etc.
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