The previous one #7
Big old beast and a pain to work on as everything is hidden under its twin, side, fuel tanks, but the road test was fun!
This came in as a PX with nearly 40k miles commuting miles on it and was in need of a lot of TLC. One problem was the battery which sits at the lowest point in front of the engine along with various other electrical stuff and it was all corroded and trashed having never been looked at...
The fuel tanks hanging each side come off relatively easily once you know how, important as you can't even do an oil change without taking them off. Well, you can with a few tips off the internet - You normally have to remove the left fuel tank to get to the oil tank which lurks beneath, but there are ways round.
Ironically the most difficult part was putting the tanks and crash bars back on, over time the plastic tanks had changed shape slightly so the mounting holes didn't line up with the frame properly and the crash bars, though not obviously bent, definitely didn't line up with anything!
The crash bars use the same bolts as the tanks so everything had to line up - it took two of us accompanied with a lot of swearing. Not something you want to be doing out on the road...
It was interesting comparing this to the Nuda 900, which is a very different bike but similar claimed horsepower. The Nuda is small, light(er) and feels a lot faster being geared for rapid acceleration. The 990 is BIG but clearly capable of doing some off-road. On the road it picks up briskly and feels like a proper touring bike with stability and comfort and very relaxed at 70+.
A very capable machine if you want something with car-like motorway cruising that can also cope with some modest off-roading. But just cos you can go off-road on such a machine doesn't mean to say you should, as you would have a lot more fun on a smaller bike....
The next one #9
