Harley , and the engineers at Milwaukee deserve a big thumbs up .
RIDING While it lacks a little of the familiar Harley bellow , it will hurl you up a long , steep , curving incline like a rocket on take-off . It ’ s lively , fun , with a great assist-clutch and , although I found the gear lever awkward as sin to use , the gearbox itself is mated like a star-crossed lover . I had to raise my whole left leg to get between 1st and 2nd gears , as there is a distinct gap where neutral is , but I discovered to my joy , that the box is almost effortless when used clutchless . Downward shifting clutchless , with a light blip , was terrific , and up , with a firm toe pressure held on the lever as one rolled off , produced an instantaneous snick into second and beyond , with no problem at all . The exhaust config of two-into-one-into-two , I think owes more to the stylings of various famed scramblers , and while it looks cool it also does a very good job of not burning your right leg off ; something others could certainly learn from . That said , the rear pot head does get quite warmish on the leg at times . So what did I think of the machine on the road ? Well , here ’ s where it gets a bit tricky . Ben Wilkins , the editor of this fine publication , reckoned I ’ d “ be a good fit for the bike , you ’ ve had decades of experience , ridden everything , and own a sports-bike , and could give a fairly learned verdict on the move by Harley into the Sports bike arena ”. I agreed , simply because Ben couldn ’ t actually make it to Auckland . So all puffery aside , I got the gig . First mistake ? Well I assumed that by sportsbike they meant like a Triumph Speed Triple , a Ducati V4S , BMW S1000RR or a Honda Fireblade , but we know what assumption is the mother of , so I had to revise my opinions quite quickly . It took recognising the sort of thinking that led those Stateside to believe that a Hummer was just a US take on Land Rover .
38 KIWI RIDER