Down to Davant Bikes again today to pick up the SR/F after having the chargers fiddled with once again (short version: Zero chap claimed to have replaced them both, but actually, didn't, and then fled
). While I was there I had a go on the DSR/X demonstrator, attractively liveried in Avocado Toilet Suite. Seriously Zero. Anyway, at least you don't have to look too much at the colour while you're riding it.
I went out for about an hour, covering about 35 miles perhaps, using about 25% of the battery, with a mix of roads between 20-70mph but no sustained motorway travel, mostly around town. So I guess that means a usefully increased range over my 14.4 SR/F, extrapolating to about 120 miles or so (I get ~100 on the SR/F in the same sort of riding). Unsurprisingly the 20% increase in range tallies almost exactly with the 20% increase in battery capacity. Why this sort of reasoning seems so difficult for other people to grasp is beyond me. Anyhoo...
Size and weight wise, feels rather like a GS Adventure. It ain't light but the weight is pretty low. It is surprisingly large. The seat is surprisingly low. The demo bike had an official large screen fitted but it simply generated big turbulent noise no matter what height I set it at. The hand adjuster is good and easy to operate, even on the move.
It's got the nice new dash that I got fitted under warranty to my SR/F, so that's nice. This one was fitted with aux lights, a metal topbox, and crashbars too. I think the handguards are standard, not sure, but all standard fare and well made. Fit and finish is very good, much better than the original crop of SR/Fs. Same crappy switchgear though.
The seat and ride is plush - really nice, vastly more comfy than the SR/F and the suspension seems to waft over bumps brilliantly unlike the SR/F which batters you. You can feel that it's more gangly than the dense and compact SR/F, and it rocks on its suspension more when you brake. The rear brake is a bit better than the risible effort on the SR/F. It rides a lot quieter than my bike too - less weird noises from the belt, more consistent spaceship sorts of sounds, and quieter. I liked it.
Speed wise, sport mode was oddly muted compared to my bike. My SR/F is genuinely scary in sport mode over 30mph - it actually makes me swear and back off. Not so the DSR/X, which whizzed about well enough, but felt muted, almost like street mode on the SR/F. It's still properly quick mind, just not scarily quick.
Didn't get to test headlight or pillion accommodation of course and I imagine the heated grips are just as good as mine.
All in all... I'd say yes. It's something I'd buy if I was looking right now and it was under £20k and had a charge tank in it. Unfortunately I want to get another 30k miles on the SR/F, and it costs £25k or something daft like that, and there are no charge tanks available yet
I'll write to Santa.
Cas