Demo Days

[patw]

I managed to find the secret locations where they hold the legendary Demo Days at for both Yamaha and Suzuki this year. Surprisingly it was just a few blocks from my house... sneaky vendors!

If you're interested in trying out new bikes without dropping any cash or getting a hard sell, I highly recommend trying the find the ones in your area. In Ontario, they require an M2 licenses to ride anything and a full M for some of the crazy(er) bikes. If that doesn't make any sense to you, it's related to graduated licensing, feel free to ignore

Yamaha had a pretty small showing with only 7 bikes, and none of them super-sports, but it didn't stop me from trying the FZ6R, the WR250X and the FZ1 (... I'm in love with this bike!). They had more cruisers than anything, and I didn't get a chance to try theirs.

Suzuki had a better organized demo day with a transport trailer full of bikes (I think 16+) with cruisers, standards and real super sports! I got to ride the Gixxer 600 and 750, the Boulevard M50 and the GSF1250A (The new Bandit). The Gixxer 1000 and the Busa were off limits until I could show a full M license.

My advice for attending these kinds of events: Show up early and be aggressive. There's too many people trying to get on too many bikes so you have to be first in line to try the stuff you want. Also, be sure to try out a little of everything, you never know what you might enjoy...trust me on this, the 600 you're lusting for right now might not measure up once you try it for 30 miles.

It was a great experience, and I feel like I have a much better idea of what I enjoy in a bike, and in no way took anything away from the Ninja 250, if anything it made me appreciate it's engineering/price point more!

[ScraitT]

You left out one part....what did you think of the bikes you rode?

[patw]

Originally Posted by ScraitT

You left out one part....what did you think of the bikes you rode?

Good point. I left it out at first to keep it short, and I think this might rile some people up here. <flame suit on> Here goes:

FZ6R:

I picked this one first because it was the logical next power level up from our Bike. I've never been on an I4 engine bike, so the sound of the engine was pretty shocking at first. It sounded like the snowmobiles I used to ride when I was living up north. I was expecting a 600 to feel heavy, but if it had a big weight difference from the N250, I couldn't feel it. At low speed it handled well, and the power was interesting for about 5 minutes. After that initial "moar POWER!" smile, the bad stuff started showing. It was really buzzy at certain RPM's (more than 1!). I could not, for the life of me, get this thing to shift smooth, and the throttle felt really snatchy no matter what gear I was in. The best I could say for the bike was, it was comfortable, it was a nice upright standard like our bike. I walked away from the demo a bit let down, feeling like this was not a machine I'd consider a replacement for the N250. It wasn't a huge power bump, it didn't handle any better, and it didn't really feel smooth (my fault maybe). So I decided maybe it was the style of bike...

WR250X:

Holy ape crap was this bike fun! It's a super motard or something... can't remember the marketing name. Basically it's a dirt bike with street tires and huge suspension travel and insane torque for a 250cc. It's really tall, and you can't flat foot it easily but it's very light so it's easy to put the left foot down at stops. Speaking of stops, I sat at every stop bouncing off the seat, playing with the suspension like it was a pogo stick! I also hard braked *every* single time I could just to let it nose dive, and I'd crack the throttle off every stop to feel the rear go down. Completely different experience compared to a regular street bike, but I think that's what made it so compelling. The only reason I couldn't consider a bike like this is my commutes and long trips. It's not much of a highway bike. I didn't grow up on dirt bikes, so some of this may sound same-old "Duh, all dirt bikes are like that!"... well suck it, it was my first time and I loved it! With only cruisers and some crazy-a$$ed Litre bike left, I was ready to leave...

FZ1:

Thanks to forums like this and the CBR125R forums I've been instilled with a natural terror of Litre bikes. After expressing my disappointment with the FZ6R and my love (and understanding of the limitations) of the WR250X I was about to walk away. One of the sales guys looked at me with a grimace and asked "Try the FZ1, it's a bit much but it might be what you're looking for". I know why he had that grimace... it's the same reason he got me to play with the clutch engagement in 1st gear for a few min before he'd even let me leave the parking lot. This bike is epic. In all honesty, there should be songs sung about it. Despite the warnings from the fine folks here along the lines of "If you even look at a litre bike it will destroy your soul!" and "They have so much power that the streets themselves will rip to shreds and you will never be able to drive anything like this sanely." I know I'm exaggerating, but honestly that's how it feels sometimes on the small displacement boards. Here's the truth: The bike was as smooth as ice at any speed, it handled perfectly at any speed, the brakes were so much better than ours, and if you can believe it, it was *easier* to ride at lower speeds than our N250. The bike did not feel heavy. Ever. Period. I did not wreck it trying to do low speed in a parking lot. I cannot imagine a bike that would feel better (spoiler: this includes everything I got to ride at Suzi). Arguments of sport, super sport and sport touring aside (I still don't know what it is), my opinion is if you can ride your Ninja 250 smoothly at 10-12k rpm all the time, you won't have any trouble with throttles on Litre bikes. I don't think it's a newbie bike by any stretch (40km/hr before you let the clutch out fully) but... I would have never tried this bike if I listened to the voice-of-reason I see on this board and others like it. Less a review and more a rant, bottom line is I loved this bike so much.

This is getting long... I'll finish the Suzuki bikes in another posting. Sorry for the rant, I seem to be terrible at reviewing bikes so far

[ScraitT]

I think they are pretty damn good and accurate views as to what I would imagine the bikes as (since I have never ridden them).

Duh, all dirtbikes are like that! I grew up riding dirtbikes, and thats the exact reason I want one for the street someday. You just can't beat the fun factor you get when riding on. It's of course, as you said, horrible for highspeeds...but for stoplight to stoplight, they are a blast.
Even better perhaps isn't a full on motard, but a dualsport (only main difference I believe is the tires). You get the same riding experience, but the ability to go offroad when and where you choose as the tired will handle most trails decently.

[backinthesaddleagain]

I think the FZ1 is a sweet looking bike. Many call it a do it all bike. Insurance is less than a 600 SS, and way less than a 1000 SB. Here leftovers are under $8K. Never rode one though.

[Snake]

I had recieved an email from Kawasaki about their Demo days so I clicked on the link only to find out that the closest place was several hundred miles away. Uuuggg! Way too far to go and test ride some bikes!!

[patw]

...continued... Suzuki Bikes.


GSXR-600:

Suzuki put on a much more organized demo day, they had 16ish bikes so I decided to try this one first. This bike was pretty uncomfortable overall. The sport riding position wasn't too bad for relieving pressure on your lower back, but it introduces pressure on your neck and upper back. It's much much better to tuck on these machines than it is on our N250, due to the gas tank propping you up though. The engine was pretty responsive on this one, but not terribly exciting. Shifting, braking and acceleration were smoother than the FZ6R (I know, they're a bit difficult to compare). It had a power mode selector where you could choose A,B or C (full power, smooth power, rain mode) engine mapping modes. The demo guy tried to instil some fear or respect for the bike and told me to keep in C until I feel comfortable. I had the bike into A mode in about a block and I can't see why anyone owning one would want to keep it on A for any but the worst riding conditions. The best power regulator is in your right hand <controversy mode on> This bike felt really cheap to me. Materials and engine wise (vibration and odd noises were common), it feels like it was meant to cater to someone who didn't mind some discomfort for the promise of power (which wasn't really impressive). The MSRP difference between this and the GSXR-750 looked to be about $400, and I can't see any reason why anyone would grab this over the 750. Again, I walked away from a 600 very disappointed.

GSXR-750:

Ok this was much better. The 600 had great looks that promised a lot, this bike delivered on all of it. The 750 looks almost identical to the 600, to a point where I couldn't tell the difference by looking at them, however the 750 ergonomics seemed so much better. I still can't quantify why it felt better either, like I said they look identical. The power delivery on the 750 felt "polished", and less raw than the 600. It also had the silly mode selector (disabled this ride), and shifting and braking were very good. Easily the best bike I got to ride from Suzuki, 2nd best out of both demo days. It still loses out in comfort and "smoothness" compared to the FZ1. Thanks to some odd pacing on this ride, I managed to find the rev limiter and find out what 0-60 times are like on super sports (it's like 3 seconds if not less and it goes to 110km/hr in first gear).

Boulevard M50:

Like many of us, I know nothing about cruisers. I asked them what they'd recommend, and they signed me up for their beginner power cruiser. When asked if I wanted standard cruiser or power cruiser, why on earth would I have not picked power? I still find it strange that 800cc's is a beginner bike. It was really comfortable, so much so, I can finally see why people love this style of bike. Having your feet forward has it's downsides: 1) You feel less stable at low speed. 2) You get wind up your pants. I know it sounds odd, but it's really disturbing for the first few miles. The power delivery on these engines is also really strange. The bike had no tach... none. It had a speedo and some lights. When riding, you just pin the throttle and eventually it just stops moving you any faster. No warnings, no blinking lights, no screaming engine... it just gives up. You shift into 2nd and you do it again. I'm not sure if all cruisers are like that, but it doesn't feel natural. I really liked how well it handled. I could throw this thing into corners, it shifted very smoothly (when I could find the damn shifter), and throttle blipping was insanely easy... which makes me wonder why I never notice cruiser guys doing it. The brakes sucked, and felt really weak or spongy, possibly both. The final straw for me was the vibration coming through the seat. It was excessive at some RPM's and really became annoying. Sport bikes FTW, I guess.

GSF1250A:

I kept being told not to call it the Bandit. Suzuki has had the Bandit for quite a long time, and it's a pretty good sport touring bike (more touring, less sport). However, they seemed to really insist that this bike is not the Bandit, to a point where they seemed to be getting annoyed at anyone calling it that. This was my last bike of the day and I was getting pretty tired at this point. Out of all the bikes I got to try this weekend, this one was the only one I came close to dropping. It's really top heavy and a bit on the tall side, and I was starting to fade. I caught it before it got close to tipping, but it was enough to tell me I was done for the day. Once the bike is moving it's very stable and had lots of power (similar to the 750, but less than the FZ1), it was a smooth engine, good brakes excellent shifting. I think, in the end, the size and weight turned me off the bike. Any type of tight turning felt a bit unsteady. I also didn't find it comfortable enough to fit it's role (long distance touring). I know many people love these bikes, I'm sure there's something I'm missing here.


And that's all of it I guess. It was a great experience to try all these bikes, I highly recommend everyone do it. I spent 4 hours out on the N250 today and despite all those great demo bikes, I still had the best time riding so far this year. Our bike does a lot of things right, it balances and smooths out more things than I ever expected. If you're thinking of leaving the N250 behind for something new, make sure you get out to one of these demo days so you know exactly what you're getting into. The object of your lust might turn out to be much less than you expected. Dropping $8-10k to find out, tends to make you love it no matter what

Here's a video with terrible audio of all the bikes:

Link to original page on YouTube.

[lockie]

Pat....
Any idea where the info for those demo days is? I'm hoping they're making their way out east to New Brunswick by the summer so I can try them out. Is there a website?
Thanx

[patw]

Originally Posted by lockie

Pat....
Any idea where the info for those demo days is? I'm hoping they're making their way out east to New Brunswick by the summer so I can try them out. Is there a website?
Thanx

Suzuki said they had the demo day scheduling on their website, but I've never seen it, and I visit the website periodically. I found the demo days by talking to the local dealers in person. One of our local dealers, St. Onge Recreation had it posted on their website, but it was hidden under the Events calendar.

[Flashmonkey]

Nice write up Pat! That 750 is fabulous

[patw]

Originally Posted by Flashmonkey

Nice write up Pat! That 750 is fabulous

It looked great too, all in black. However, and I'm not sure if you can tell in the video, the rear right fairing has a huge gouge out of it. I guess they did that pulling it out of the trailer. The Suzuki bikes all had < 50km on them.

[sofo]

I've gone to one demo day this year, at a local BMW / Ducati dealer and in that case it was advertised with a sign up form so you could select up to two bikes for an hour each that day and be sure that you didn't have to elbow your way to a seat.

Other dealers in my area like Honda kept their recent demo days quiet and as such I've missed a couple, others took name / phone number and "would get back to you when the details were sorted out" which could mean one of many things.

So overall it seems to be a mixed bag depending on manufacturer, distributor, and dealer as to how public a demo day is. I suggest just calling any dealers about bikes you are interested in, talk a bit then ask about demo days - doing this early in the year - and while you may have to deflect a bit of sales drone communication, the chances of getting a legit demo seat are higher.

Back to the demo. I went on...

It was a BMW demo. and having an interest in the K1300S I got the first slot on one. Showing up about 1/2 hour at the dealer I got registered which gave me a name tag and entry into a draw for an S100RR (no I am not kidding) as well as a nice spread of breakfast fare and decent coffee.

Being the only person to ride in on a 250, not being a social butterfly, or perhaps discovering that what people say about BMW riders being elitist to be true I found most of the other riders cliqued up quickly to talk about who's GS had the best saddlebags or how long the S1000RR would last before being dropped.

Then once we got going it was a good group of people enjoying the bikes... and oh what bikes they were. I am not big on the pack-mule GS series but they can hustle, turn quick and got raves from people who rode them. I followed the S1000RR as a pretty blonde girl enjoyed as much of it as she could in our group - nearly getting a knee down in one corner, flying away from me (nearly) and being the only one to blip the throttle and wave at kids when stopped at a light.

Then there was the K1300S... what a beautiful machine. It's big, it's heavier than our 250s and being very new (less than 300km) was a little stiff at times but riding it over 40km/h was effortless and comfortable. I used to think them silly but on a chilly Vancouver morning with my tap-moto "race" gloves the heated grips are something I'd take any day.

The engine on this bike was less like a stick of dynamite and more like a turbine, power everywhere that surged from low down to redline. When we got to open it up I was easily into off to jail territory in third gear without going near the limiter. I think this would be an incredible bike for people wanting something sporty and comfortable for longer rides that could be taken around a track at high speed well enough to embarrass some supersports.

After, I had a snack, chatted with some folks (people were way more chatty after the ride), watched guys go up to the girl who got off the S1000RR expecting her to be scared to death only to receive "Amazing bike, I could get into a lot of trouble with that thing but I'll stick to my current supersport", and then drooled over the custom Ducati Paul Smart the dealer had on the floor... gawd.

Later, I got a single email from a sales guy asking me to contact him if I had any questions. Overall it was a great experience and I suggest anyone who is interesting in riding other bikes ping their local dealers to find out about demo days.

Now if I can only find out when that Triumph DD is so I can get on a Daytona 675 and Street Triple R.

[sofo]

Oh I forgot to mention that the people running the BMW demo were more than happy to go over everything on any bike for each rider before leaving, laid out the ride rules clearly before, and had lowered seats available to swap in for shorter riders as well as the wits to adjust levers and anything else adjustable to suit riders for each ride. That's pretty cool IMO.

...and "R" mode was *NOT* disabled on the S1000RR.

[Cedilla]

I'd love to do a demo day, but the only one around here that I know of was at the Harley dealer recently. I kinda wanted to ride a sportster, but apparently not bad enough to drag myself down there.

[patw]

Nice writeup Andrew, I'll have to find out if the local BMW dealers are doing demo days as well. The K1200S does look like a really great bike.

The Triumph dealer around here does not do demo days either

[tjkamper]

Great reviews and lots of info.

Thanks for taking the time to let us know how it went.

[Flashmonkey]

Ok so Honda had a demo day today and I got to plant my butt on the new 2010 CBF600.



It's ugly....or at least I think it's ugly....but it rides extremely well. It's got an impressive amount of low end grunt, good top end power, comfy seating position, and is very very nimble. My one complaint is that the throttle is a tad bit punchy, and when I'm gunning it I found that there wasn't anything to hold my butt from sliding backwards on the seat....but all in all this would make a fantastic commuter or sport touring bike.

It's supposedly Honda's "step up" bike for those that started on the CBR125R. Given how tiny that bike is...it's kind of ludicrous...but the bike is very easy to ride. It actually has a lot of similar mannerisms to the Ninja 250...except it was much roomier, and had a lot more grunt. It's quite docile and well behaved, but can scream and move when you want it to. Oh and it comes with ABS!

Competition for this bike is more than likely the Ninja 650, FZ6 and GSX650. I haven't ridden any of those other bikes...so I can't comment on it's performance vs the others....but I was quite impressed with the CBF. I recommend that those of you looking to step up to consider this bike as well.

[patw]

Honda hasn't called or emailed about their demo days yet. I guess I could have made the trip down there today but meh... maintenance day on the Ninja

I'll talk to them about this one, they were trying to get me to drive the CBR6.

[Flashmonkey]

Originally Posted by patw

Honda hasn't called or emailed about their demo days yet. I guess I could have made the trip down there today but meh... maintenance day on the Ninja

I'll talk to them about this one, they were trying to get me to drive the CBR6.

You'll only need an M2 for the 600rr. The new goldwing, VFR1200 and 1000rr require 5 years of riding experience.

Show up EARLY, though. Apparently the 600rr was booked up quick