This is my new commuter bike. It doesn't look too bad, but it has a lot of issues. The fat multi-purpose tyres are ridiculous, and it steers like a barge. The sport suspension is quite stiff and also a total mismatch with the tyres. At least I can swap them out for some road tyres later and should help a lot. The LED dash is complete rubbish; the only time you can see anything is at night or if you are riding through a forest. Being a 155cc of course it is completely gutless, so I can't complain about that, but it has a nice little bit of torque from low which is good. The footpegs feel like rearsets, but I will give it time to see if I can live with that. The bars feel weird, like they are too wide or some such. So overall, my initial impression is exactly what I expected for the new generation of fashion bikes that are made for people who want to look cool as opposed to ride motorcycles. Having said that, it is far better than a step through, and with a bit of tweaking it should be okay. What really surprised me is how terrible it felt on the first ride compared to my Honda MC22 which was in appalling condition. The Honda felt planted and like it could be ridden fast safely. This thing feels like it is bump steering because of the stupid tyres. I don't mind the appearance but a normal rear guard, grabrail and seat (yes of course you can get the original version in **** brown if you want) would be nice. It has a front guard, I suppose I should be grateful. It makes me keen to get the Honda back on the road so I can ride something that just works even though it is 30 years old.
Interesting thing to say the least .... but definately better than the "Asian scooter" thing ... been there done that
They're made to appeal to the hipster crowd - it looks 'cool' and appears to feature high quality components, but as you've discovered, riding them is a whole different story. I can't understand the fascination with tyres that look like they're dual purpose, but will never, ever see a dirt road. Or people putting knobbies on their road bikes - seen it on KTM 390 Dukes a lot - the mind boggles. Would be very interested to see what's inside those forks, not much I'm betting.