I had an eight hour ride on a courtesy bike, provided by Bacon’s in Newbury Park.
Good things:
It’s a small, light bike.
It is relatively cheap; good value, in fact.
It is nicely put together and looks the part.
It goes OK for a 45 bhp bike. Like any low bhp bike, you have to tune your head to the thing, That being said it will cruise OK at around 75 mph and I saw an indicated 100 and a bit along a stretch of the A12. The low down torque is where it’s all at, really. Overtakes are fine; not sports bike quick but certainly quick enough.
The frame and handling are really very good, meaning you can hop down the smaller country roads in Essex and Suffolk with no problems.
The two basic instrument clocks are fine and clear to read.
The brakes are OK.
The suspension is OK to good’ ish but, I if owned the bike, I’d probably get it tweaked.
The CEAT ‘Zoom Cruz F’ tyres will probably last a while…. The jury is still out on these; they are probably OK.
The not so good things:
The engine kicks out a fair degree of heat. There is a guard to stop the rider’s knee (in my case, the left) coming into contact with the cylinder head. I ride on the balls of my toes, which maybe shoves my knees more forward, perhaps?
When I had both feet on the floor, the clutch actuator arm, sometimes prodded into my right calf.
The mirrors vibrate, though to be fair I might have been able to twiddle them a bit to help to cure that. I think the bar end mirrors option might look better anyway.
I was not convinced by the angle of the clip-on style handlebars. Some aftermarket bars might well sort that out.
The fuel cap comes right off, lifting as one piece It really should be hinged.
As with my Himalayan, I find it too easy when getting off (or maybe it’s when I get on) to knock the kill switch. It needs stiffening up a bit.
I don’t have particularly large hands but I found the handlebar grips quite a narrow diameter.
It’s a bit like my old 400-4. In fact looking at the stat’s it really is very similar. Because you want to rag the thing, the fuel economy suffers a bit.
It’s definitely not an outright sports bike. My HP4, FireBlade and CBR 600RR were both more comfortable ergonomically, the HP4 and ‘Blade possibly because they were physically much bigger. I think I could still load some luggage on a FireBlade or an HP4 and ride it to the Alps; I’m not convinced I could do it quite so comfortably on the GT.
Conclusion
It’s a fun enough bike for the money.
It’s not as relaxing to ride as my Himalayan, for exactly the same reasons as I preferred the Himalayan over the Scram. You want to rag the Scram and the Continental GT, which I guess is the purpose of them. To this, the limited power and the very good handling makes them both easy to rag around on. I find it much easier to just accept the Himalayan for what it is and enjoy it.
If I wanted a bike to ride for 50 miles on Sunday and be back in time for lunch, it would be fine. For anything more, I’m not sold on the thing; which rather puts me at odds with the bulk of the reviews I have watched and read.
I will though try its sister bike, the Interceptor, on a similar eight hour ride down the same roads.
Good things:
It’s a small, light bike.
It is relatively cheap; good value, in fact.
It is nicely put together and looks the part.
It goes OK for a 45 bhp bike. Like any low bhp bike, you have to tune your head to the thing, That being said it will cruise OK at around 75 mph and I saw an indicated 100 and a bit along a stretch of the A12. The low down torque is where it’s all at, really. Overtakes are fine; not sports bike quick but certainly quick enough.
The frame and handling are really very good, meaning you can hop down the smaller country roads in Essex and Suffolk with no problems.
The two basic instrument clocks are fine and clear to read.
The brakes are OK.
The suspension is OK to good’ ish but, I if owned the bike, I’d probably get it tweaked.
The CEAT ‘Zoom Cruz F’ tyres will probably last a while…. The jury is still out on these; they are probably OK.
The not so good things:
The engine kicks out a fair degree of heat. There is a guard to stop the rider’s knee (in my case, the left) coming into contact with the cylinder head. I ride on the balls of my toes, which maybe shoves my knees more forward, perhaps?
When I had both feet on the floor, the clutch actuator arm, sometimes prodded into my right calf.
The mirrors vibrate, though to be fair I might have been able to twiddle them a bit to help to cure that. I think the bar end mirrors option might look better anyway.
I was not convinced by the angle of the clip-on style handlebars. Some aftermarket bars might well sort that out.
The fuel cap comes right off, lifting as one piece It really should be hinged.
As with my Himalayan, I find it too easy when getting off (or maybe it’s when I get on) to knock the kill switch. It needs stiffening up a bit.
I don’t have particularly large hands but I found the handlebar grips quite a narrow diameter.
It’s a bit like my old 400-4. In fact looking at the stat’s it really is very similar. Because you want to rag the thing, the fuel economy suffers a bit.
It’s definitely not an outright sports bike. My HP4, FireBlade and CBR 600RR were both more comfortable ergonomically, the HP4 and ‘Blade possibly because they were physically much bigger. I think I could still load some luggage on a FireBlade or an HP4 and ride it to the Alps; I’m not convinced I could do it quite so comfortably on the GT.
Conclusion
It’s a fun enough bike for the money.
It’s not as relaxing to ride as my Himalayan, for exactly the same reasons as I preferred the Himalayan over the Scram. You want to rag the Scram and the Continental GT, which I guess is the purpose of them. To this, the limited power and the very good handling makes them both easy to rag around on. I find it much easier to just accept the Himalayan for what it is and enjoy it.
If I wanted a bike to ride for 50 miles on Sunday and be back in time for lunch, it would be fine. For anything more, I’m not sold on the thing; which rather puts me at odds with the bulk of the reviews I have watched and read.
I will though try its sister bike, the Interceptor, on a similar eight hour ride down the same roads.
