as the mighty 12 was in for its 12k service today, I was given an ER6-F courtesy bike for the day........
Well, having bagged its looks last year, its probably fair that I have now had a chance to take one for a short commute, and then a blast through one of my old favourite stretches, just to see how it went......
The model was the ER6-F, being the model with the 1/2 fairing.
First impressions :
* Great ergo's. Really really comfortable seating position;
* Seat was a bit hard, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a lambswool cover;
* Loved the auto fast-idle thingy;
Commuting - Good points
* Lane-splits with consumate ease;
* Very easy steering, hardly any effort required to change direction;
* Fantastic brakes for a commuter/semi sports bike;
* Handles small bumps, shitty surfaces with *ease*;
* Geared a *bit* short, but OK for city traffic;
* rev's really well, but not as *grunty* as I would expect
* Mirror's didn't vibrate much at all.
Bad points
* Funny vibration caused bodywork to *buzz* at low rpm's;
* Mirrors too far away to adjust *on the move*;
* Stalled a couple of times at the lights
after short *blip* on throttle...;
* Seat a bit hard;
* Needs to be revved >7k to really get moving;
* Stock pipe way too quiet - needs some *presence*
* You can still tell you are riding a parallel twin.....
Open Road Thrash - Good points
* Works best between 6k and 9k. Redlines at 11k
waste of time going there, most action is over by 9.5k;
* Handles very well for a commuter/semi sports bike. Solid and stable, really light steering, holds a line well even over big bumps and dips;
* Brakes are *fantastic* for this style of bike. I was really impressed with the front brakes, the rear had a bit much pedal travel, but still worked OK;
* Really good ergo's. Everything exactly where it should be. At *speed* the 1/2 fairing did a great job at keeping the bulk of the wind-blast off me;
* Very enjoyable at reasonable speeds, overtaking was no problem as long as you had the rev's up.
Bad Points
* Not enough presence - needs a Sports pipe;
* Have to peddle through the box to keep it boiling;
* Not much in the way of suspension adjustment available;
I was really surprised at how easy this bike was to ride, how responsive it was to rider input, how good the brakes were
, and overall, what a comfortable bike it was to sit on and ride. One of the mechanics at the dealers told me that this bike was actually designed and built *around* the human form, not built first, and then the human form adapts to suit the bike.....as is the case with most other bikes. This would explain why it has such comfortable ergo's..........and of course the 1-piece tube steel bars were something I was really comfortable with ........
If you are even remotely considering one of these as a commuter bike, don't hesitate to go for a test fang. You won't be dissapointed at all . I was more than a bit surprised at the whole package, and this bike truly is much more than just the sum of its parts.......
besides which, they are also mainly *european*, which brings with it another whole world of pain......spares, servicing etc...... 
