Wellllll I really shouldn't- OKAY
I picked mine up here in Michigan on May 16th - two days before leaving on a week long business trip overseas = torture! Rode it twice before I left.
The bike sounds OK with the stock exhaust, nothing special. It has a nice bit of rumble to it but overall still sounds a bit muffled to me. Especially being so used to the Pani. This is a big reason I went with the aftermarket exhaust, which I'll get to in a hot minute.
First impressions: sitting on the bike is great! Exactly what I was looking for in my next street bike. It's comfortable, upright seat position and perfectly placed rearset controls (at least for me) make riding it long distances a breeze. The dash is easy to see, and the mirrors are placed just about perfect to see behind me (though I tried to adjust one the other day while riding and couldn't....still have to figure that out lol) and my girlfriend riding on the back loves the ride much more than on the Pani. Less leaned over, less effort to make sure she doesn't fly into me under braking. Bike is a tad bit taller than the Pani, and I already couldn't put both heels down on the Pani. Now I can't put either heel down unless I lean the bike a bit more to one side
but totally worth it and I don't mind! FYI I'm 5'8 150lbs.
Riding impressions: Holy wow......if the Pani has torque, then we need to invent a new unit to describe what's coming out of this engine, especially at low RPM's. I think the only reason I haven't ruined a pair of pants yet is because I have yet to turn off the traction control. The bike feels light on it's feet, flicks very nicely. Granted it's pretty light for such a huge engine naked bike! Now if only I can get a solid solution for GP shift besides the Power Parts rearsets. I don't even care if I have a QS right away, I just want to be shifting the same way on the street and while racing so I don't have to remember how to shift every time I switch lol
I've made very few changes to the bike so far. I've added reservoir socks to the front brake and clutch reservoirs. I've got a sweet carbon fiber tank protector arriving today. I replaced the dull looking headlight with a whiter H4, aaaaaaaaand I put the Austin Racing GP3 V3 de-cat exhaust on the bike.
The exhaust sounds AWESOME! It's at least as loud as the Pani at idle, and louder at pretty much any rev. Plus, since it removes the cat and I still have the SAS on it, it pops a good amount and every once in a while spits a flame out the back
I've now moved from the fear of getting pulled over for speed, to the fear of getting pulled over for loud noises! I wish I could let you all hear it in person because we all know that videos never do sound justice. I'll let ttkarp hear it sometime and he'll vouch for me!
Which brings me to my next point: part of the reason I wanted this bike was because it's too easy for me to get in trouble on a sports bike, especially on the highway. The Pani was built to go fast, and unless you're on the twisties or punching it on the highway, it becomes a relatively boring bike on the street that is constantly prodding you to risk your license. I thought a naked bike would help at least alleviate this problem, and it has. The lack of a windshield makes 80mph about the limit before life really begins to suck. On top of that, the more relaxed seating position makes cruising around town at non-offensive speeds much less frustrating than it was on the Pani. Do I still punch it from time to time to get that adrenaline rush? Do I still take curves and corners without really touching the brakes or slowing down? Absolutely, but the massive down low torque makes it much easier to enjoy without reaching the higher speeds.
Last but not least (at least before any questions), is the suspension. Non-adjustable front preload is a bit of a downer, but I'm not racing the bike and it hasn't been a huge setback thus far. I'm sure eventually I'll throw Ohlins on both front and rear but for now the suspension is adequate. In fact I haven't even touched it, I'm not sure which stock setting it's currently on. It's still on my "to investigate" list. It's obviously pretty soft compared to the Pani, but smooth lines and fast curves/turns have felt pretty good on the bike so far! If I was racing the suspension would need work, but for street riding I'm not complaining.
Feel free to throw out any questions about this awesome bike! Here's some pictures since I have the black one and not the orange like everyone else!
