Fast; light and nimble; mould-breaker
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder;
uncompromising
Given the weather opportunity on the
Saturday morning, I joined an eager bunch
of experienced bikers riding very quick café
conversions of BMWs, a Yamaha MT-09, a
sport race Harley, a Tiger Sport and more, and
we headed through the best of the winding
winter roads from Taupaki into the Waitakere
ranges, and down Lone Kauri Road in some of
the tightest and fastest corners to be had near
Auckland.
The exclamations of delight at the look of
the bike soon gave way to sincere appraisal
and admiration as no-one got near it. Fast?
Yes. Look, it wont rip your arms off like an
Aprilia litre bike, but it keeps up with damn
near anyone, and in the corners it is pure
untrammelled genius seemingly wedded to
black arts sorcery. The Brembos are going
to get a work out, but with that little weight
they too are near ‘water-walking’ miraculous.
On nasty corrugations, a damp road and
under tight cornering, the front end stayed
terrifically focused, and solid confidence was
the reward for those efforts to find limits. The
riding position allows for easy weight shifting,
both forward and back, and side-to-side, and
50 KIWI RIDER
although the seat material grips, it is oddly
comfortable. Like a futon, it looks like it’s
going to offer rocklike support, but instead is
delightful in use, and as I say weight shifting
pays back minimal effort with astonishing
ability.
I rode for over three hours and never gave
the seat more than a moment’s thought.
However, perhaps the greatest magic in this
bike comes from the slipper clutch and the
gearbox with the easy shift. Taking cues from
bigger road bikes, a clutchless change, when
underway, is just that, easy. Also seamless,
and lightning quick. Moving between every
gear there is no need even for rolling off the
throttle. The hand stays in the groove and a
flick of the lever instantly zips into the next
gear – up or down. It is the best auto-shift
system I have used, and to find this level of
delivery reinforces the fact that the future
of motorcycling has arrived, and Husqvarna
has laid down a challenge to every other
manufacturer out there, and this, more than
anything, reinforces my excitement for the
positive future of motorcycling.