The ride is comfortable with a low seat height of 795mm and the bars offer a real T square feel, which invites you to tip it in. However, that invitation comes with provisos – more on that later. Where the Interceptor has 18-inch wheels front and rear, the Bear is equipped with a 17 at the rear and a 19 at the front, with a longer rear shock. Up front, Showa 43mm inverted forks are good, and work at absorbing bumps
well, and they give better ground clearance for cornering than the Interceptor- probably about 1cm. I liked the front end very much but on fast, twisty stuff out Riverhead way, found the rear pretty harsh and unforgiving on bumps, particularly in hard cornering. The twin-cylinder, 648cc engine produces 46.8bhp, and while that’ s quite a conservative number, the performance is more than adequate to the task. Well-mated with a good six-speed box, it is longlegged and highway touring is sweet. I found cornering very easy
54 KIWI RIDER