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I think the real answer, for you in particular, lies in what you want to do with it. If you tour, commute, use it as a daily-driver, it's probably one of the best choices you can make. If you want a weekend bike to run with the boys, wild-arsing wheelies and knee-down canyon carving, it is a poor choice. If you need to combine both of those functions, it's a toss-up, depending on which aspects you value more...
As the others pointed out, it's hyper-reliable. It really is.
It was also listed as the best commuter bike in a recent article in Bike [UK] magazine, with a combination of hyper-reliability, great fairing protection, utterly simple maintenance and good real-world speeds both on the highways and the city roads. And in that capacity, it excels.
But what it isn't is a race-replica bike -- and was never intended to be. It's 30 to 60% down on horsepower compared to race-rep bike like an GSXR or R6/R1, and 50 to 100 lbs heavier wet (loaded with fuel, oil). It'll top out around 135 where your buds will hit 150 - 170. It won't keep up with them off the line if they know how to ride, and you won't be grinding your shoulder on the pavement through the turns (you can drag a knee if you want and if you are that proficient). Compared to the Blast, it will be positively beastly heavy and slow to turn, but it will have more uumph and you'll feel like you stepped out of a ford fiesta into a Caddy...
On the other hand, it's heavier weight improves the unsprung to sprung weight ratio, meaning it will soak up bumps and bad roads far smoother than theirs will. The Kat is also generally more comfortable for most riders (more comfy than any race bike I've ever ridden and that's a lot of 'em), which translates into being able to lay back serious miles without pain. It puts a ton of light to the ground compared to most bikes (those huge headlights work), the mirrors are rock stable, and there is underseat storage capacity race-bike riders can only envy. It also has the highest cargo weight capacity (480 lbs) on the road aside from the BossHog, rated to carry more than even a GoldWing.
For more info, you might want to read the first dozen paragraphs of this:
Kat profiling & upgrades.
Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet
As the others pointed out, it's hyper-reliable. It really is.
It was also listed as the best commuter bike in a recent article in Bike [UK] magazine, with a combination of hyper-reliability, great fairing protection, utterly simple maintenance and good real-world speeds both on the highways and the city roads. And in that capacity, it excels.
But what it isn't is a race-replica bike -- and was never intended to be. It's 30 to 60% down on horsepower compared to race-rep bike like an GSXR or R6/R1, and 50 to 100 lbs heavier wet (loaded with fuel, oil). It'll top out around 135 where your buds will hit 150 - 170. It won't keep up with them off the line if they know how to ride, and you won't be grinding your shoulder on the pavement through the turns (you can drag a knee if you want and if you are that proficient). Compared to the Blast, it will be positively beastly heavy and slow to turn, but it will have more uumph and you'll feel like you stepped out of a ford fiesta into a Caddy...
On the other hand, it's heavier weight improves the unsprung to sprung weight ratio, meaning it will soak up bumps and bad roads far smoother than theirs will. The Kat is also generally more comfortable for most riders (more comfy than any race bike I've ever ridden and that's a lot of 'em), which translates into being able to lay back serious miles without pain. It puts a ton of light to the ground compared to most bikes (those huge headlights work), the mirrors are rock stable, and there is underseat storage capacity race-bike riders can only envy. It also has the highest cargo weight capacity (480 lbs) on the road aside from the BossHog, rated to carry more than even a GoldWing.
For more info, you might want to read the first dozen paragraphs of this:
Kat profiling & upgrades.
Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from Bad Judgement :smt084
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