Adjusted the bracketry on the Gas Gas’s handlebars because while dicking about doing walking pace wheelies yesterday, I realised that the clutch lever adjustment bolt was clipping the switchgear housing, making the operation of the clutch notchy/jerky. Inevitably, moving one bracket meant that others also had to be moved and so I ended up having to do a wholesale reshuffle. All sorted now though.
Had a bit of a jolly around the local area where we are staying, on the Versys, did a bit of shopping, got most of it in the panniers/topbox
Paid for a KTech ‘Tracker’ front fork cartridge kit, 7.0N springs (sold separately), Öhlins DU505 rear shock and an homologated Termignoni end can for my Scrambler Icon. To spread the financial pain, installation and assembly will take place in September Andy
I just sent this to Andy on a PM, then thought now I’ve put this into words I should post it here. Yesterday I test rode the 2025 V4 Pikes Peak. Interesting. 1st mile, I thought, wow, tight, easy to ride. 5 miles, feels nimble and light despite its weight. 10 miles, smooth engine and suspension a definite improvement on my model, definite, no doubt. 15 miles, you know what, it doesn’t accelerate like my 1200 does with the mods I’ve done. Linear but not the madness I have with the full Akrapovic system and Rapidbike Evo. It’s got less torque and I can feel it. 20 miles, meh, maybe too smooth and lacks the character of my modded DVT. 25 miles, maybe it does it all so easily and smoothly I don’t realise it’s going so fast. Meh. 30, miles, Strangely but really strongly I didn’t want to take it back, which in itself was very interesting. I didn’t want to go back to the dealership, so I didn’t, I rode past. 35 miles, I loved the up n down quickshifter, felt no problem with the front end. Thought I’d better take it back. Overall, it was good but not hands down balls out better than what I’ve turned mine into. Is it 20-25 grands worth of better than what I have? I can afford it, but I don’t think so. I’m still in two minds! Oh for fks sake! The fact is the V2s have got grunt. The V4s are all very interesting and definitely smooth but the new emissions rules are strangling them. I’m never going to use all the horsepower but I can feel it’s missing the torque of the DVT. Heat from the engine, no problem yesterday but I was never in traffic. Saddle, never even thought about it until today. Easy to ride, very easy to ride. Conclusion, inconclusive, I need another test ride
100 and some odd miles on the V4 Pikes Peak to scrub in the new Dunlop Roadsmart tyres. Did a factory reset to go back to the default settings on the electronic suspension before heading out, re-input the settings I was given when I bought the bike and it’s a different bike. I can only conclude, all those miles I thought there was an issue, it was FW operator error …. what a dumb arse Andy
