Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/377698
2015 EBR 1190SX FIRST RIDE P62 experience of just how much fun this bike is to ride hard when con- ditions allow). But it's a hang-up of the system that you can't change TC settings on the go - I'd be barreling along a grippy, flinty section of road in what passes for hills in southeast Wisconsin, before rounding a turn to find a shiny, slippery rib- bon of glistening wet brand new tarmac stretching ahead of me. And I'd have to stop to dial up more TC, rather than just change it on the fly as on most other bikes. Having to come to a halt to alter the setting is a pain in the neck, as is the fact there are no handlebar-mounted switches to do so: You have to reach forward to the dash to alter the setting via the buttons to the left of the color screen of the TFT/thin film transistor dash's display that's extremely easy to read. This is apparently already plumbed elec- tronically for the powershifter this bike should come with, so that'll be available as an option, same as the set of shifter lights for which the dash similarly contains the software to provide this – but I do think both should be includ- ed as stock. The transformation of the RX to the SX entailed deleting the fair- ing and moving the same super- effective headlight closer to the steering head, moving the igni- tion key to the left of the dash, which is also moved closer to the rider and is now mounted to the upper triple-clamp, so it turns with the steering. The well-shaped one-piece handlebar now fitted delivers an extremely comfortable riding position for someone of my 5' 9" height, with my knees fitting snugly into the slightly sculpted flanks of the monocoque chas- sis. And the grippy, knurled foot- pegs with adjustable toe levers were also positioned just right for me – though there's an optional lower setting for those who wish. It's a good place to be – you feel at one with the bike in spite of the fairly upright stance, and flicking it from side to side in a series of tight turns is very easy thanks to the tight 22.4-degree rake/96.5mm trail steering geom- etry, plus the fact that the 72-de- gree cylinder vee and mono- coque fuel tank have centralized the mass in the short 58.6-inch wheelbase which makes the EBR turn tightly and hold a line well un- der power. It's a streetfighter that lives up to its name. A key factor in that is the flaw- less mapping of the V-twin mo- tor's fueling at part throttle and/ or low revs, which allows the 1190SX to hug a tight line in slower bends. And it's flickable We rode the new 1190SX in both wet and dry conditions.