So I was looking at the schedule for the races, and it seems that the demo rides this year will be expanded. "Demo rides by motorcycle manufacturers, including Kawasaki, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Harley Davidson Buell." http://www.searspoint.com/news_flash/home_1/410031.html Whoah. One of the big four giving demo rides! (sigh) If only the other three would join in. It's cool that Guzzi is showing up. I wanna try a Sport out. Looks like I'll be taking that friday off! -- Michael
Bring a valid driver's licence - with mc endorsement - and gear and you should be good to go. Each vendor manages their own demos. Usually there are multiple sessions during the day and a sign up sheet. Get there early to make sure you get to ride the bike you want. -- Michael
Quick report based on my experiences today @ Infineon... No Kawasaki demo bikes. Kwak rep said he had heard nothing about it. So, SOL. The did have a large static display, with something like 6 or so ZX10s. Aprilia & Guzzi. Demo signup was at 2pm today. Three sessions: 3, 4, and 5PM. They probably had ~20 bikes ( both Aprilia & MG ), but group size was limited to 8 or so riders per session. The ride sheet filled up fast! I managed to blag a ride on a Tuono. Fun bike! The word is that the signup sheet will be available at 9AM Sat, with rides starting at 10. The Aprilia reps expect heavy traffic tomorrow, so get there early if you want a ride. Personally, if I wanted to demo tomorrow, I'd be there at 8. <shrug> Buell. Lots of demo bikes and staff. I wandered over to their tent after signing up for the Tuono, and they were more than happy to take me and another guy out immediately for a spin. I got to play with an XB12S. The seating position is a bit cramped for me, but the bike is undeniably fun. It seemed to really want to wheelie in first. Both demo loops followed the same route. Each was around a half hour long, and I got to try the bikes out on both the freeway and the twisties. -- Michael
Yeah, big dissapointment. Aprilia apparenetly wasn't going to do demo rides today, but so many people asked that they rounded up a 1/2 crew (thus the 8 people + 2 staff (10 bikes) per hour, rather than 2 rides per hour). Agreed. I'll have my riding impressions up in the next couple of days: I tried the XB12S and 12R, suprisingly different actually, the Tuono, and all of 4 miles on a RSV-R (just call it a Mille, damnit!) I definatly like the Tuono best. Both the Tuono and the XBs are "raw" bikes, but the XBs are raw beef (and the engine/transmission has been left in the sun too long and has gone manky). The Tuono is Fugu...
Not only that, the Buell engine was absolutely DEAD at 2.5-3k, so this thing actually had a very narrow rev-range for uber-lazy riding even. Not to mention the clunky transmission. The "peaky" aprilia engine was actually easier on the shifting for the superlazy, as it can actually work between 3k and 10.5k RPM, so each gear can work over a larger range.
