IMS Progressive Motorcycle Show bikes

[1moreroad]

We spent the day riding different motorcycles. The trade space was small with vendors but the show had plenty of moto brands willing to let us try their bikes. Triumph, Harley, and Indian said, here, follow this loop on your own and have fun. Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Zero, and Royal Enfield all had guided (and mostly boring!) routes. Except for the Zero we got 15 to 20 miles on each of the bikes. We rode 150+ miles on demo bikes today. In no particular order:

Yamaha Tracer 9 GT: an incremental improvement over the FJ09. Windscreen better but still needs work. Throttle better but, except for the Indian FTR 1200, still the worst throttle I rode all day. Don't feel like I need to rush out and buy one. Mine is good enough. I could not fit my size medium modular helmet in the side bag. 

All of the Triumphs had good ergos and good to excellent seats. 

Triumph Speed Twin: biggest surprise of the day. What a fun bike. Clean air. Lots of acceleration below 100 mph. Good ergos but the pegs are a little high. I could see buying one in a few years if I could be ok with the foot peg height. So small, quick to turn, and easy to ride that I didn't realize it was a 1200. 

Triumph Scrambler 1200 tall: fine. Vague front end (21" wheel and 80/20 tires). Lazier than the Speed Twin even though it's the same engine. 

Triumph Speed Triple: maybe the biggest disappointment of the day. No low end torque. Hard to turn. Felt bigger than it was (not in a good way). My buddy has a Street Triple 765 and it's a much better street bike. 

Triumph Tiger 850 Sport: good ergos. Ok windscreen until I got on the highway and then almost as bad as the FJ. Didn't feel as nice as the FJ. TERRIBLE VIBRATIONS. Motor had pull but in minutes my hands were tingling. I could not own this bike. 

Triumph Tiger 900 (Sport?) GT: same ergo/windscreen comment. Vibrations tolerable but the FJ motor is just better. A little vague steering. Smooth suspension. Ergos good enough that you could comfortably ride sitting or standing.

 HD Pan America: seat height lowering at a stop is a killer app. The other vendor reps were jealous Harley thought of it 1st.  Liked the motor although my buddy said his kept surging at 4000 rpms. Shifter was stiff. Bike was fine. Electronic suspension was way too busy. Worst suspension of all the bikes we rode (except the Sportster rear). It had us vibrating and bouncing on a very good road. 

HD Sportster S:  terrible ergos. Forward controls and minimal seat and I felt like I would slide off the back at 70 mph. Handled decently well but it's the only bike that hurt my back and hip today at least in part to all hits to the rear tire going straight up the spine. Looking forward you see the giant front tire just ahead of the gauge. 

Zero SRF: 1st bike I rode today. Neat bike. If I still commuted in LA, I would consider it but it would mean giving up moto trips. Very nice to ride around under 60. Starts running out of power around 60 - accelerates but not as well right when most bikes we rode were pulling hard. Good, clean air. Good handling. Good ergos but pegs are a little high. It's as heavy as the FJ but feels lighter. 

Indian Challenger: Rode this while waiting for the FTR 1200 to be available. It's HUGE. AND IT'S SOOO NOISY. WHAT? I SAID NOISY. The base beats of the engine and the buffeting of the windscreen was so NOISY. Raising the windscreen didn't reduce the noise but cut off the little airflow I had. Solution - turn up the radio and make it NOISIER. And whatever settings someone used - the radio sounded bad. How does someone ride this cross country? The bike was heavy off the sidestand. The reach was too far to the handlebars. The back rest leaned back so far it gave no support. And It cost $32,000 as equipped. 

I was actually surprised at the handling - much better than expected, and I never touched the floor boards down. Engine didn't care what gear I was in because of all the torque, but shifting took effort and planning. 

Indian FTR 1200 Carbon: ok bike. Reminds me of a Honda 929 or a similarly aged liter bike, maybe? Relatively light weight but makes you work to turn it. Follows a line after you get it turned into the corner. More vibration than I'd like. Decent ergos. Fuel surging was bad - hold a steady throttle and the bike would make little accelerations. Each shift made the bike jump even with the clutch pulled fully in. It was at just under ¾ of a tank and showing 70 miles to empty on the fuel computer?! Nice gauge - as good as the Triumphs. 

And Americans have figured out to make dead stable, usable mirrors even when the rest of the bike is vibrating. 

[texscottyd]

Thanks for the write up and reviews @1moreroad!   I’ve been keeping an eye on the Speed Twin, and with the 2022 suspension & brake upgrades, it looks really appealing to me… nice to hear that your impressions are so positive.  

[jthayer09]

Great write up thanks for sharing!

Did they have a 2022 Indian Chief for demo? That's the first cruiser I've been interested in since Harley's old FXR series.

1 hour ago, 1moreroad said:

I could not fit my size medium modular helmet in the side bag. 

Seems like a lot of people are having trouble with this... even Zach Courts couldn't figure it out: helmet goes in the saddle-bag chinbar up (upside-down?). My XL HJC RPHA 70 ST fits fine including Bluetooth communicator attached.

[1moreroad]

16 hours ago, jthayer09 said:

Did they have a 2022 Indian Chief for demo?

They did. My buddy rode one before he rode the Challenger. He said similar to the Challenger but smaller dimensions (a good thing unless you're over 6'2) and better airflow. Engine were similar enough in regular riding as to not feel the difference. 

[maximo]

Great report! I love reading real world stuff. Nicely done. 

[texscottyd]

On 10/9/2021 at 9:33 PM, 1moreroad said:

Triumph Speed Twin: biggest surprise of the day. What a fun bike. Clean air. Lots of acceleration below 100 mph. Good ergos but the pegs are a little high. I could see buying one in a few years if I could be ok with the foot peg height. So small, quick to turn, and easy to ride that I didn't realize it was a 1200. 

And it's just so damn sexy...