2006 Pan European Mini Review

Honda NL have got a few Pan Europeans they'd like to have tested out by some
Dutch people. It's the brand spanking new 2006 model. You can rent it for 99
euros (about 65 quid) for the weekend, Saturday morning till Tuesday
morning. No extra costs.

So I did.

Pro:

- Flickability
- Electric screen
- Very low center of gravity
- Info on the dash, apart from speed, there's: temperature, km/l (live and
average), two tripmeters, clock. Speedometer is analog, which is nice.
- Good seating position, although my knees started acking, possibly a
getting used to issue
- Looks nice
- Plenty of storage space
- It wheelies !!!
- While riding you don't notice the weight ..... at all.
- How much torque? Kinnel....

Neg:
- Glove compartment covers different material to the compartment itself.
- Small fairing service covers different (slightly) colour compared to the
fairing
- Hero blobs, they ground to fast
- When the screen is in the top postition, it (possibly) gives more
downforce at the front, resulting in a feeling that the backwheel doesn't
have as much grip as I would have wanted. But this was at about 100 mph
(private roads of course, ahem)
- How much??? (20 000 euros)

In short, did 1200 km in about three days and loved every minute of it. I
rented one as did a friend of mine. Got plenty of looks, possibly due to the
fact of two huge bikes, plus the fact that Honda saw it fit to put some
stickers on it saying: Honda test riders

I bet there's one person who is not going to mention his ride-out on
saturday. We were stood at some lights, waiting for it to turn green, when a
red VFR800 filtered to the front, one car in between. The rider looked at us
with *that* look, blipped the throttle a few times, Lights turn green, We
set off. I easily managed to follw him, but my friend put the guy at shame,
doing a massive wheelie, and this on a Pan. This rental deal is until the
end of August, so I may go to another dealer and give it another go, this
time I see a ride to the Ardennes...

I may put some pictures up at some point.

 

<tempted>

What was the paperwork like?

Nurburgring? ;o)


--
Dnc

B1200 - +30bhp ~|~ ZZR1100 - faster when upright
V2300 - flat cap and rug ~|~ A6 2.5TDi V6 Quattro Sport

MIB#26 two#54(soiled) UKRMMA#26 BOTAFOT#153 X-FOT#003

 

Bring drivers-license and passport, sign and leave.

Own risk 750 eurios? Yeah, why not