I think I hate my bike :)

M

MoeZambeek

fast rider
Joined
Oct 20, 2020
Messages
75
Location
Outside
I’ve come to the realisation I really don’t like my Vitpilen.

The seat is terrible.
The bars are too low.
The clocks are unreliable and look crap.
The fuel gauge doesn’t work.
The mirrors are terrible.
The clutch lever is too short.
The gearbox doesn’t like the 5th-6th shift.
The clutch failed at 600 miles.
The tank failed at 600 miles.
The battery died at 300 miles.
The front disk is warped.
The bike sounds like someone shaking a metal bucket full of spanners.
It’s remarkably boring feeling for a big single. My old (tuned) MZ Baghira was more fun to ride.
If it rains your back gets covered in crap.
Can’t even find a dealer who wants it in trade in for a new bike.

Happy days :)
 
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And yet I’m still on the BW list for a clock update and the possible SC exhaust with dB killer they may be making available soon.

:-/
 
MoeZambeek, I share some of your thoughts and pain, you missed out,

The crap harsh ride from the quality rear shock, and wrongly set up forks.

The Vit is sooo unique I have never seen another.

I am interested in the SC exhaust with DB killer, any info on that yet.?
The Titanium one Badwinners show on the pages looks the best of any exhausts I have yet to see, in my eyes, though the other day, I went looked at a KTM 690 Duke R, 2017 MY, and it had a Akrapovic Ti can which was shorter than the Husky one, and looked/sounded perfect, but dunno that they will fit our Vit... HAPPY DAYS :ROFLMAO:
 
MoeZambeek said:
I’ve come to the realisation I really don’t like my Vitpilen.

The seat is terrible.
The bars are too low.
The clocks are unreliable and look crap.
The fuel gauge doesn’t work.
The mirrors are terrible.
The clutch lever is too short.
The gearbox doesn’t like the 5th-6th shift.
The clutch failed at 600 miles.
The tank failed at 600 miles.
The battery died at 300 miles.
The front disk is warped.
The bike sounds like someone shaking a metal bucket full of spanners.
It’s remarkably boring feeling for a big single. My old (tuned) MZ Baghira was more fun to ride.
If it rains your back gets covered in crap.
Can’t even find a dealer who wants it in trade in for a new bike.

Happy days :)
Click to expand...
Sounds like you should have bought a Svartpilen instead. ;)
 
The dB killers are new for BW, waiting to hear how they get on with them.

Ref buying a Svart - in comfort terms that’s probably true, but I don’t like the side plate (removable though) and I think the headlight shroud is hideous, and the yokes look odd, but mainly I didn’t want the 18” front.
What I should have bought was a Supermoto, the reason I didn’t is because ‘dirt bikes’ are the target of choice for the bike thieves around here and I could never have left that outside the office even with a ship anchor chain...however as it happens we’ve been locked down for almost a year off and on and I’ve been working from home the whole time!
 
MoeZambeek said:
I’ve come to the realisation I really don’t like my Vitpilen.

[...]

Happy days :)
Click to expand...


Observations from a weekend canyon warrior:

The seat is terrible. => oh, is it?
The bars are too low. => Gilles is your friend
The clocks are unreliable and look crap. => They look crap and I can hardly see them, but ugh, I don't look at them much either.
The fuel gauge doesn’t work. => That's odd, should be fixed. Very accurate it is not...
The mirrors are terrible. => CRG lanesplitters to the rescue
The clutch lever is too short. => Agreed, it pinches your finger, but easily replaced with a long Magura lever.
The gearbox doesn’t like the 5th-6th shift. => Easily fixed with a stiffer return spring
The clutch failed at 600 miles. => Slave cylinder, or the whole clutch?
The tank failed at 600 miles. => Recall to the rescue
The battery died at 300 miles. => Bike's been standing in the showroom for a long time? (warranty fix I guess?)
The front disk is warped. => Sure about that? All I know stock Brembo pads often foul the rotor, making it feel like it's warped (had that on three bikes), all fixed by using EBC HH or Brembo SC pads.
The bike sounds like someone shaking a metal bucket full of spanners. => Not much you can change about that, it's a paint shaker in disguise
It’s remarkably boring feeling for a big single. My old (tuned) MZ Baghira was more fun to ride. => Stock gearing still? switching to 15-42 makes a huge difference
If it rains your back gets covered in crap. => Noblesse oblige
Can’t even find a dealer who wants it in trade in for a new bike. => That will scare any Vit/Svart owner at some point...


On another note, anyone tried the RS660 yet?
 
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I have so far fitted Motobike Bregenz bar raisers, which kind of helps, an Oberon slave (as the husky parts were on backorder) and might try a 15 tooth front sprocket at next service. The pads could be binding on the disk, that’s definitely true. I fitted the rear bags for carrying my work gear and then immediately went into lockdown!

If I keep it I’ll be doing this:
Seat rework with gel pads
ABM bar risers
15 tooth sprocket
Some kind of flyscreen
Some kind of exhaust
Maybe some kind of clock upgrade.

Or I might cut my losses and move on.

Might just be lockdown malaise of course.

I’ve been thinking what the last bike I truly loved was and it was probably my 950 adventure. Another bike blighted by Pierers iffy quality control and dubious part choices.
 
I didn't mean binding, I meant they leave an uneven deposit on the rotor surface, which makes the brake feel like it's warped. Like an uneven coefficient of friction around the rotor.

It's also winter, and winter makes for grumpy motorcycle riders...
 
Different strokes I guess. I'm currently staring at my bike. Wishing all this snow would go away. I used to own a bmw x moto. And my svart is better in every way you don't like about your bike.
 
When I think about it, they needed to have the Vitpilen 20 years ago so that the Angelina could get off it in that one scene from that one popular movie.

..then again they had a posse of Dukes in another movie not long ago, which ruined the vibe with their Japanese 4 cylinder engine noises...off topic.

The point I want to make, the Vitpilen is not meant to be a Honda Splash or whatever their called nowadays, its meant to have a specific attitude and its shortcomings do nothing but highlight that.
 
Max Kool said:
Observations from a weekend canyon warrior:

The seat is terrible. => oh, is it?
The bars are too low. => Gilles is your friend
The clocks are unreliable and look crap. => They look crap and I can hardly see them, but ugh, I don't look at them much either.
The fuel gauge doesn’t work. => That's odd, should be fixed. Very accurate it is not...
The mirrors are terrible. => CRG lanesplitters to the rescue
The clutch lever is too short. => Agreed, it pinches your finger, but easily replaced with a long Magura lever.
The gearbox doesn’t like the 5th-6th shift. => Easily fixed with a stiffer return spring
The clutch failed at 600 miles. => Slave cylinder, or the whole clutch?
The tank failed at 600 miles. => Recall to the rescue
The battery died at 300 miles. => Bike's been standing in the showroom for a long time? (warranty fix I guess?)
The front disk is warped. => Sure about that? All I know stock Brembo pads often foul the rotor, making it feel like it's warped (had that on three bikes), all fixed by using EBC HH or Brembo SC pads.
The bike sounds like someone shaking a metal bucket full of spanners. => Not much you can change about that, it's a paint shaker in disguise
It’s remarkably boring feeling for a big single. My old (tuned) MZ Baghira was more fun to ride. => Stock gearing still? switching to 15-42 makes a huge difference
If it rains your back gets covered in crap. => Noblesse oblige
Can’t even find a dealer who wants it in trade in for a new bike. => That will scare any Vit/Svart owner at some point...


On another note, anyone tried the RS660 yet?
Click to expand...
Right?! That RS 660 looks so sick! It's the ONLY bike that entices me to trade the Husky.
 
What I've seen so far says to me the price difference between the Tuono and the rs is not equal to the difference in equipment.
Tuono lacks the quickshifter and blipper, more basic forks, no IMU, and only 500 cheaper.
The Tuono does look better 🤔
 
Looking at the RS 660/Tuono 660 I just keep asking myself if it's going to be more fun than the Vit 701. Yes it has 25 more ponies, also weighs a good bit more and needs to rev quite a bit more too. You can get a fully fueled Vit down to 150kg with not much effort, the Aprilia is still over 180kg ready to ride.

I don't care much for electronic doodaahs, and not much for a fairing either...

So, keeping the Vit!
 
I agree Aprilia are making a mistake with the electronics on the Tuono versus the RS...I don’t care about the quick shifter but the cornering ABS seems like it should be included.

But it’s still tempting - a dash that doesn’t look like a yoghurt pot, more comfort, more weather protection (just!), more crud protection from the back wheel - and the local Aprilia dealer is very good too.
 
Interestingly, I don't give a dam about cornering ABS (serious, how many times did cornering ABS save your ass, and regular ABS did not?). A quickshifter though... yes please.
 
Living in a rainy country I’ll take any safety feature :) one day it might be useful and as it’s a case of flicking a switch in the software it just seems tight not to include it by default.

I’ve only had a QS on the Vit and it’s fine but every bike I’ve ever ridden you could bang it up through the box without the clutch anyway. With the QS I find myself nudging the gear lever with a boot and it’s like you’ve just dropped anchor :) I could happily live without it. I guess you could say the same about ABS but that’s something you want just in case you need it...
 
Point taken, yes. Hardly any rain here, except for today.

(cornering ABS is depending on the IMU, which apparently they took off, weird cost cutting imho)
 
I'm with Max, I'd happily sacrifice any sort of abs for a quickshifter.

It just seems to me they took of 1000 worth of equipment and only took 500 of the price.
 
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