KIWI RIDER 06 2018 VOL.2 | Page 84

“ A new innovation on the Speedster is the one-touch cruise control offering which comes as standard. Atop the new rubber-gaitered forks sits the new black headlight with a chrome nacelle down the side. Little touches, but stylish. There’s only one clock, but it does everything well, odometer, rev counter, gear position indicator, range to empty, fuel, consumption, clock, trips, TTC and more, and I like that the unit’s tilt angle can be adjusted for readability. A new innovation on the Speedster is the one-touch cruise control offering which comes as standard. This is simplicity itself to use, and obviates the need for fiddling about that previous iterations, and other makers, previously delivered. 84 KIWI RIDER One push on, one push set speed, one push off. Safe, simple and great. The 12-litre fuel tank is about the right size, offering around 270km of range – and more than enough for most NZ tours. The bike comes with a comfort seat and a pillion ‘pad’ - that’s about as much as I can say about it, no self- respecting friend could sit on it for more than a blast to the dairy. However, the comfort seat itself is pretty plush, and, unlike the Bobber's iteration, stays comfortable for quite long periods of riding, and does not suffer from the Bob’s rear suspension travel limit smacking the seat over sharp bumps. At a seat height of 705mm, anyone could climb aboard this, and even with my long legs and short top half it was surprisingly comfortable. Standard, the pegs are delivered forward - a highway peg if you will, and this can fool you for a minute or two when first aboard. I waved my feet about a few times looking for the pegs on the initial rides. >