I’m not that impressed by the release of the Hill Hold so rarely, if ever, use it solo/no luggage. However, laden for touring in the Pyrenees, it has its uses. Andy
Hill start is a godsend for me. Ive just got myself a K1600Gt. I can get one or other of my feet flat on the floor. Not both at the same time At junctions the camber of the road, more often than not, dictates it's my right foot on the floor.
From what I read on here about non-existant Multistrada rear brakes, I'm surprised that anyone has functioning hill-hold!
Hill hold is useful if the camber falls away to the left and you can't get your left foot down with ease. But that's a once-a-year sort of problem, unless you live in a mountainous area. It's also quite pleasant if you just want to stretch your legs at some lights on a gentle gradient. Probably a once-a-month usage. I definitely wouldn't pay for it, but then again I have gangly legs.
My first proper bike that I passed my test on was an Ariel Arrow Super Sport just like that. It wisna a bike that I took to.
When I pull into my drive I use hill hold to stop the bike rolling no back whilst I fiddle around taking my gloves off and getting the garage door remote out of my pocket. Also on a steep junction with a lot of camber if you are pulling out into traffic. It’s one of those things you don’t ‘need’ but it is helpful on occasion (a bit like heated grips which I never thought I needed either).
It fairly nipped on that Golden Arrow with excellent handling as befits a box section frame but the front brake ? Never mind second class more akin to smoke signals or semaphore for the lever to hub connection. Passed my test in 1966 on a 350 BSA with 250 over painted on the side panels, my mate and I bought it from the AA patrolman for 15/- (75p) each. We went scrambling with it around a local quarry but, unbeknown to us, the fuel tank split and when parked up for the night the dripping petrol fired up and partially obliterated Ronnie's dad's stick shed complete with the coming winter's wood supply. The expletives flying aboot next day would have kept the house warm for mony a week ! Great days Derek.
I'm with you on heated grips. I thought they were for girl's blouses til I got my Rocket 3 and discovered the pleasure of warm hands and short summer gloves. Wish the Diavel had them.
I mind the brakes fine. The front was almost non-existant and the back one would lock up at anything more than a light touch. Mine had an interesting failure. As you'll ken, the crankshaft is in 2 separate halves, one for each cylinder, Held the gither wi' a taper and a key. One day I started it up but it wis only runnin' on the ae cylinder wi' clouds o' reek and flames spewing out o' the RH exhaust. It turned out that the taper had slipped and the RH cylinder was about 45º retarded so it wisna firing, jist pumping burning fuel into the exhaust. The crank taper was buggered but I picked up another engine and swapped the Sport cylinder heads onto it to get the higher compression. Was your 350 a B31 or a pre-war job?
I'd like to have a go on bike with all the gizmos, not even experienced A.B.S on old nails I've owned!
This is the year me and the V4S bond or decouple. I love racing my 748R in CRMC and taking the 1199 (R) to euro tracks, but the V4S takes a lot of learning to exploit the software. I am surprised Ducati doesn’t assist as I know no one will ever explore those electronics on the road. So she goes to Portimao/Jerez/Aragon/Valencia in September for the showdown.
