thought “ This thing looks fast !”. Did I mention I was excited to ride it ...? I ’ m not gonna lie , this was mostly down to just how darn cool I thought I would look riding down the road as a restricted rider . Despite having test ridden dirt bikes for KR over the years , this was my first road test ride for the KR team , and I had no idea what to expect .
NIMBLE I have ridden and raced plenty of exceptional bikes , along with some absolute pigs , in my six years of track racing and road riding , so I can normally tell if a bike is any good or not . I was surprised it took me a good 45 minutes to start feeling comfortable on the R7 , which is quite a long time for me . Once I was getting in tune with it , and had the tyres up to temperature , I settled in to the ride and found myself really enjoying the winding back roads of SH22 , while keeping an eye out for damp patches under the trees . It didn ’ t take long to figure out the R7 has some of the same handling characteristics of the R6 , but in a more plush package – something that ’ s great for the road . It ’ s nimble too , and one of those bikes which goes where you want it to without any trouble . I have ridden my fair share of LAMS models and they often feel heavy and sluggish . Not so the R7 , which has a distinctly light feel that ’ s highly manoeuvrable – particularly noticeable going from side to side through quick change of direction corners . I think this has a bit to do with the inverted forks stiffening the front end – USD forks are something we haven ’ t seen on LAMS bikes until just recently . Things aren ’ t quite so good on the riding position side of things . Ripping through the back roads is great and all , but I found it very track oriented , with quite a forward lean . The ‘ pegs are high and the handlebars low , pitching my whole body forward . All of my weight felt like it was being put through my wrists ; not the most comfortable feeling . I ’ m quite used to riding with lots of weight on my hands on the bikes I race , but it just feels kinda awkward on the road . To make it more road friendly it could do with some bar risers or maybe some lower
KIWI RIDER 93