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/510271
VOL. 52 ISSUE 19 MAY 12, 2015 P51 half an hour. Fellow staff tester Jason Abbot even said the buf- feting made his teeth rattle. You either need to be 4'10" or 7'2" to avoid the angle the screen sends the oncoming air into. If you're average height, it's full whack, into your burger. The issue here is two-fold. Not only do you feel like you're riding a tornado with an engine, you can't hear the stereo—which is a bloody shame because at around town speeds the stereo is clear and awesome with its 10 speakers screaming at the general public. Above 45 mph is about the threshold for the ste- reo to drown out legible singing and the buffeting to take over, which is right about the speed you want to be cranking the ste- reo, setting the cruise control and sucking up the miles. If you want music, I still don't think you can beat a good Bluetooth headset and a set of earplugs—minimal wind noise and maximum sound. That solution is not for everyone, especially those with open-faced helmets, so the stereo is defi- nitely a value-add for the X-1. Just only around town, it seems. Operating the stereo is done via the left swichblock, and with gloves on it's easy to use and navigate. However, I don't like the arrangement of the cruise control switches. Compared to the Indian Chief Vintage I rode a couple of weeks ago, the X-1's switchblock is bugly (bulky and ugly) and unwieldy to use at speed. What the Indian did in two switches takes six on the X-1. I get that the blocks for stereo and cruise have to be mounted in the same place left and right for overall design sym- metry, but in this case I'd rather have function over style. Function and style come in a double-whammy with the 1731cc V-twin motor. Initial power deliv- ery is a little abrupt and it doesn't really start to get going until 2000 rpm (rev range is only 6000 rpm), but from 2500 rpm the 50° V-twin stomps home nearly all of its torque, producing only a little less than its full pulling power, which comes about 2000 rpm later. We put the X-1 on the dyno to test this out, and at 65 mph with sixth gear selected, you're sitting right in the sweet spot of 2450 rpm, which is good news for highway overtakes. The motor is quite enjoyable in the twisty sections as you play with the 2-4000 rpm rev range and get solid, dependable drive every crack of the juice. It's a shame the gearbox is still a bit too clunky for my liking but it's not the worst cruiser 'box I've ever played with. The ratios are nice and wide and the sixth gear is a true overdrive, allowing the engine to settle down and just get on with chugging you up and down the motorways with minimal fuss. The 5.8-gallon gas tank mated to the 1731cc engine fed me an average of 54 mpg as we cruised the coastline from LA to Pismo Beach, not too bad for a big ol' beast, and on these high- way roads I was having a pretty good time. Sadly my wife was not. Like the Indian before, I think if you're going two up riding, buy something else. As a single rider the Magnum X-1 is well priced and if you can look past those criticisms it could be a great bike to own. The engine almost makes up for the problems (see sidebar for solutions), and the styling is an absolute cut above what many other bagger builders are offering on mass-production machines. But for me, sorry, the X-1's bark doesn't match the bite.