less knowledgeable about the XS650 have the usual refrains about the lack of power and the vibrations...
Yeah....my other bike is a huge "battlestar" type sport tourer and while the XS650 certainly doesn't have the "
kick in the goolies"
go-go-RIGHT-NOW moxie of a big litre bike, it absolutely is no slouch (
it is certainly quicker than just about any car in daily traffic).
Anywhere under 50-60 MPH, it is just fine - thanks very much. For a 70+ MPH freeway run, the XS650 is not likely the ideal ride. The bike
will certainly go that fast and make a good run down the slab, but in my view, you are using the wrong tool for the job.
As for day to day riding - it is the
best and for the VYR, it is totally ideal as most of the roads there are under 50 MPH much of the time, so more weight and power and less cornering clearance are definitely
NOT assets. I have actually never ridden my ST1300 on those types of super-twisty roads, but I would put good money on the XS650 being able to blow the doors off it on the Dragon -
ANYtime - even though the ST produces nearly
three times as much horsepower and has far superior brakes and a very stiff frame.
Its the same reasoning that prompted the USN to use the little 1950s, subsonic/no-afterburner Douglas A4 Skyhawk attack aircraft as a "Soviet" adversary at the
Top Gun fighter school. The big powerful F14 Tomcats could eat the A4 alive
anytime in a straight line or a climb contest, and they weren't bad in the curves either, but the A4 was so light and agile that in a basically horizontal turning contest, the lack of power simply didn't matter much and the Skyhawks often won those engagements.
