Spider, since you asked so nicely
, my take on M1100 below.
After hearing about the taking of your bike, maybe there's a chance your next one could be a 1100? or even a Streetfighter?
But first, the rundown of the expo for me. Was smaller than last year.
Gotta say my highlight was not at the Duke stand (no white-coloured bikes on display); but no real highlights anywhere else at the expo.
Bimoto had the best bikes, Yamaha prolly had the best exhibit, only since they were really pushing the V-max and all its fancy tech, what with bike/engine cut-outs and such. MV's stand was surprisingly already on display in the same area as Harley/Buell.
Bikes of interest to me-- Husqvarna, BMW F800GS, Triumph Street Triple R, KTM SuperDuke 990R (wtf with the hard-moulded seat???), Rossi's Yamaha (just 2-thick pieces of neoprene for a seat!)
Couple of interesting new products in the smaller stalls, like Rescue Tape, and also my faves like Kriega and Andy Strapz.
But no Draggin, and no helmet stands.. Would have been nice to see Arai or Shoei or others pushing their products.
One other thing I did like though were the funky controls Aprilia had on their bikes.
Rather than having separate Flash and Low/High beam switches, they combined both to the same switch. Located same spot as the flash button-- pull in to flash, flick out to High-beam. Also the Menu navigation switch (needed on newer Dukes)-- same left/right/press-in usage as conventional Indicator switch. Nice. [Call me a sucker for good usability]. Here's hoping Ducati pick up on use of these buttons.
Was attracted to the Aprilia stand cos I heard about their Mana 850-- Semi-automatic gearbox, CVT engine, Tank under and behind you and Helmet bay where the tank should be.
M1100As far as the M1100 is concerned, I'm more interested in the use of the 1100 engine rather than the bike itself. I don't like the 696 design and likewise with this. SSS helps, but not enough.
I was having a close look at the differences between the 696 and 1100, and besides the obvious, there's not much to it. Noticed the standard 1100 had Sachs shocks, so can only assume the 1100S will have Ohlins-- AND yes. Ducati.com states this.
I'd be really eager to try the (1100 engine) out, I love the 1078cc on my HM, and I've read there's some impressive improvements on fuel consumption on this puppy. (Read on another thread some dude getting ~280km on 1 tank even on run-in!) Tried the 696 months back and came back unimpressed, but I think it only comes down to already having tasted dry clutch goodness and 992/1078 powah.
The riding stance of these new monsters is more sports-bike like, which I don't prefer, so it makes me more pleased with my choice of HM over these ones.
