Thank you!

Drove up to Newcastle Motorcycles this morning, armed with my Zumo 660, at the suggestion of Paul so that we could try it out in the space in the middle of the handlebars.

We established that it was easily possible to mount the Garmin on the ball (as described before) in a way it wouldn't block the view of the dashboard.

For information: the medium-length RAM arm is the right one, the shortest not allowing the 5½" wide Garmin to sit that low down and the longest causing the thing to completely block the view of the dials and warning-lights.

Just had an interesting hour test riding a Forza 350 around Ipswich. First thoughts; very nimble bike. Much lighter than my Burger. the under seat space is impressive, probably as much as Burger. Keyless ignition? Nice but could be an expensive fix if it went wrong. Seat height? My little legs (28”inside) struggled. However during the ride the ability to get my bum shifted and “twist” my leg onto the ground grew as did my confidence. Also being lighter the shift in weight of the bike when tilting to accommodate the twist was quite easy.
Electric screen? Very practical and ease of use very good. Overall impressive, on test ride at motorway speed plenty of protection.
Controls? Mostly on the left side and, I thought, a little close to each other however I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to get the hang of them.
Overall looks? Very stylish and has a “presence” on the road. Quite impressive.
The ride itself? Very good actually. Quick power delivery and easily as quick on the uptake as my more powerful and larger engined Burger (which of course is heavier so that accounts for that). Nippy up to 70. Didn’t take it beyond that but have no doubt that the 3k revs spare at that speed would see the the Forza easily sit at 80 all day if required.
Very nimble round Town. Light, easy to filter and very manoeuvrable overall an impressive ride although I have to say I fell slightly more “vulnerable” than when on the Burger but of course the Suzuki is a much bigger lump. One trades off the other.

Would I get one? Yes. I’m almost certain this bike will replace the Burger in the next 12-18months.
An impressive motorcycle for the money and the tech built in (traction control too) is a big plus for those muddy Suffolk roads in winter.

Honda have a Maxi Muppet convert

My sentiments exactly except that I have longer legs so didn't have to have a system for putting my feet down.

I was not mistaken when I had my ride on the demonstrator.

Thanks for that.

Oh I forgot to add; as with Waldorfs review, the mirrors are not too good. I found them quite restrictive in view as he did. How do you overcome that?

I had something like these on my X9500 - they did the trick:

Thanks for that Waldorf. I had similar on an old Honda 750 years ago. It’s a pity, on a bike so we’ll put together like the Forza, that we’ll need them. Oh well.

That’s not 750 years ago. I’m not that old

Stibbs wrote: ↑Thu Sep 23, 2021 1:58 pm Oh I forgot to add; as with Waldorfs review, the mirrors are not too good. I found them quite restrictive in view as he did. How do you overcome that?

Yes they're a bit of a let-down after the X-Max's!
I'm not very wide so I find them tolerable if I adjust them 'in' a bit further than seems normal - a simple move of the elbows then gives a good view behind and I soon got used to that.

Those blind spot mirrors need to be on the *inside* of the mirror where all you can usually see is your elbow. Don't put them on the outside as it robs you of valuable visual area!