R nineT Scrambler
Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2016 3:50 pm
I borrowed an R nineT Scrambler yesterday while my R12S was being serviced. This one had normal road tyres, rather than the knobbly ones, which I've read detract from the handling.
It's a very simple bike with a speedo and basic info displayed in a small panel set into the speedo. You need to scroll through it to see the different pieces of info; clock, trip, temperature etc. And no fuel gauge or gear indicator.
I didn't like the mirrors at all - they seemed to distort the view behind, so I found it strangely difficult to make sense of what I was seeing at first. The bike is a heavy lump to manhandle around, and with no obvious way of taking luggage on board, I'm not sure how practical it would be.
BUT - what a hoot I had on twisty A & B roads. The weight disappears as soon as you start moving. It handles very precisely and gives great confidence for pushing on through bends, and the engine delivers addictive go for easy, quick overtakes. The exhaust note is wonderful - the sort of noise that makes my wife say, "is that really necessary?" when really loud bikes go past and I have to pretend to disapprove too. I couldn't believe they were legal, especially when there was feedback from buildings and walls - lovely.
The gear change is slick and fuss-free, unlike the forklift-falling-over-in-a-hanger noise the R12S makes. Although it didn't always go into first without a bit of clutch out-in and try again till it works nonsense, which is embarrassing at traffic lights or when someone signals "you first" and you can't get into gear.
I had a load of fun on it and didn't want to hand it back at the end of the day. It's a fair bit less expensive that a standard R nineT, so it must be missing bells and whistles, but for hooning about on, it's brilliant.
It's a very simple bike with a speedo and basic info displayed in a small panel set into the speedo. You need to scroll through it to see the different pieces of info; clock, trip, temperature etc. And no fuel gauge or gear indicator.
I didn't like the mirrors at all - they seemed to distort the view behind, so I found it strangely difficult to make sense of what I was seeing at first. The bike is a heavy lump to manhandle around, and with no obvious way of taking luggage on board, I'm not sure how practical it would be.
BUT - what a hoot I had on twisty A & B roads. The weight disappears as soon as you start moving. It handles very precisely and gives great confidence for pushing on through bends, and the engine delivers addictive go for easy, quick overtakes. The exhaust note is wonderful - the sort of noise that makes my wife say, "is that really necessary?" when really loud bikes go past and I have to pretend to disapprove too. I couldn't believe they were legal, especially when there was feedback from buildings and walls - lovely.
The gear change is slick and fuss-free, unlike the forklift-falling-over-in-a-hanger noise the R12S makes. Although it didn't always go into first without a bit of clutch out-in and try again till it works nonsense, which is embarrassing at traffic lights or when someone signals "you first" and you can't get into gear.
I had a load of fun on it and didn't want to hand it back at the end of the day. It's a fair bit less expensive that a standard R nineT, so it must be missing bells and whistles, but for hooning about on, it's brilliant.
