CJ Ball DCT day. Norfolk

[Steve_M]

22nd July, CJ Ball will be giving people chance to try out bikes with DCT. Here’s a chance to see what bikes with DCT are like to ride. Also an opportunity to ride bikes that you would normally not consider. EG. I’ve ridden an X-ADV and a CTX1300 on previous CJ Ball events. 

[Gerontious]

I do sometimes wonder if, had I test ridden one before I bought one. would I have chosen a DCT?

 

I read comments all the time that are highly negative from people who have tested one of these bikes... and there is a constant theme to the comments. which can be summed up in one word. DULL.

 

And yes.. its totally appropriate.

 

To get past that you have to read the manual. READ THE MANUAL. and who does that before a test ride? You might, if you are lucky be introduced to the bike by someone at the dealership who is familiar with the bike and get it explained to you. But how many people can absorb all of that in just a few minutes? And how many people can remember what they have been told when confronted by something so totally weird. No clutch lever. No gear pedal. and on the newest models - a control layout that looks like this:

 

 

It will be interesting to see how this try-out day pans out.

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, Gerontious said:

I do sometimes wonder if, had I test ridden one before I bought one. would I have chosen a DCT?

 

I read comments all the time that are highly negative from people who have tested one of these bikes... and there is a constant theme to the comments. which can be summed up in one word. DULL.

 

And yes.. its totally appropriate.

 

To get past that you have to read the manual. READ THE MANUAL. and who does that before a test ride? You might, if you are lucky be introduced to the bike by someone at the dealership who is familiar with the bike and get it explained to you. But how many people can absorb all of that in just a few minutes? And how many people can remember what they have been told when confronted by something so totally weird. No clutch lever. No gear pedal. and on the newest models - a control layout that looks like this:

 

 

It will be interesting to see how this try-out day pans out.

I still haven’t read the manual for my GS, and I’ve owned that over four years now. 
 

My brief experience of DCT on an X-ADV (interesting little bike)  and a Crosstourer (disappointing with conventional gearbox) was that, left to it’s own devices, the gear changes didn’t always take place where I would expect them to happen, but easily dealt with by manually overriding. This was, though, about five years ago and I understand the system has been refined.

 

[Gerontious]

4 minutes ago, Steve_M said:

I still haven’t read the manual for my GS, and I’ve owned that over four years now. 

 

 

And this is where people go wrong. but.. I'm not talking about a GS. Im talking about a tech heavy bike that's beyond 'normal' - reading the manual is actually crucial to understanding. And this isn't something that people do before a test ride. I had zero explanation when I collected my bike as the guy who dealt with the handover was from the car side of the dealership and had no idea. fortunately I had done a lot of research and downloaded the manual. read it and watched a shed load of videos. even so.. it took a couple of days to get past the weirdness and almost a week to 'get it'. Its not really intuitive as most bikes are.

 

This is why people say its a dull bike. because its only with experience and reading the manual, that you get an understanding of how to use the various riding modes. Thats the important bit. none of this is obvious from the get-go.

[Steve_M]

12 minutes ago, Gerontious said:

 

And this is where people go wrong. but.. I'm not talking about a GS. Im talking about a tech heavy bike that's beyond 'normal' - reading the manual is actually crucial to understanding. And this isn't something that people do before a test ride. I had zero explanation when I collected my bike as the guy who dealt with the handover was from the car side of the dealership and had no idea. fortunately I had done a lot of research and downloaded the manual. read it and watched a shed load of videos. even so.. it took a couple of days to get past the weirdness and almost a week to 'get it'. Its not really intuitive as most bikes are.

 

This is why people say its a dull bike. because it’s  take it that you haven’t ridden a GS WIT only with experience and reading the manual, that you get an understanding of how to use the various riding modes. Thats the important bit. none of this is obvious from the get-go.

I think you’ll find that the GS is quite tech heavy with its ride modes and ESA. 
 

I get your point that new technology needs familiarisation (I may have noticed this rolling out new software while working in IT for 30 years) but if it’s to be adopted as a popular feature than it really needs to be reasonably intuitive to use. Or, at least, the basic features should be. The likelihood is that any of the esoteric features (and this applies to most software) will rarely be used… even if the manual is avidly devoured by the end user. 

 

[Bender]

I've ridden a friend's x ADV and didn't read the manual, I did find sport more sporty than rain so it seemed pretty intuitive to me, I didn't alter his settings for the user setting as no doubt  he spent many hours reading the manual and debating what to set to maximum and what to turn off, actually I can guess it took him about 5min and power is set to high eb to high and anything to intervene set to off.

 

 

[Gerontious]

15 minutes ago, Bender said:

I've ridden a friend's x ADV and didn't read the manual, I did find sport more sporty than rain so it seemed to pretty intuitive to me, I didn't alter his settings for the user setting as no doubt  he spent many hours reading the manual and debating what to set to maximum and what to turn off, actually I can guess it took him about 5min and power is set to high eb to high and anything to intervene set to off.

 

 

This level of common sense seems to have vanished on the Africa Twin Groups. Where it’s best to keep a low profile and only talk about unnecessary accessories. And stickers.

[bonio]

I test rode the AT and yes found it a bit dull. So now I'll read the manual so if I ever get another chance I'll know what to do.

[Gerontious]

14 minutes ago, bonio said:

I test rode the AT and yes found it a bit dull. So now I'll read the manual so if I ever get another chance I'll know what to do.

 
it’s no longer this years bike for the fashion conscious biker on a mission. Now the must have bike is the multistrada. Ask Jack.

[bonio]

Jack's got a Multistrada???

[Gerontious]

22 minutes ago, bonio said:

Jack's got a Multistrada???

 

No. But he did notice and remarked upon it the changes since the last time we (or he) was in Europe. The change is quite remarkable if you’re the type that pays attention. From almost zero Ducatis. To shedloads of them everywhere. Mostly the same model and in the same colour way. It became a bit of a game “spot the multistrada!!” At the tunnel. On the train. And from then on everywhere. From zero to 100s in the space of a couple of years. Quite incredible. Not in the same numbers as the GS. But not far off. Definitely more than the Africa Twin, which is a bike I tend to notice as they are so recognisable to me , for some odd reason. The Swiss and French in particular seem to like them and unsurprisingly (to me) the Italians still ignore them completely, saving all their enthusiasm for anything out of Hinckley and god help you if the bike is from Meriden!! I’m sure they would be on their knees licking it if they could.