[PhuongLe]

My dream comes true with Red Icon. In the first week, I just take some short rides (around 10 km) in my area with empty streets. It must say these rides are joyful and have nothing to complaint.

Today, the ODO reaches 500 km and I decide to try a long ride in rural areas with 200 km trip. The bike is OK too, except some stuttering clutch at low speed and/or low rev (I mean < 3000 rpm). My hands are nearly stiff because of the numbness due to keep clutch continuously. Maximal speed I can reach is 85 kmh at 4500 rpm. I think it's acceptable for a new bike in run-in period.

But riding the Icon in crowded traffic is miserable experience. Beside extremely hot engine, I just run the bike at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears with average speed at 20 kmh. Very bad on "smoothness" feelings, stuttering clutch and always using hard forces to keep clutch and throtte.

Will this condition improve after first service? Or the Scrambler is the bike for long ride with high speed only?

Feel confusion and need advises of other bikers, who are more experience than a newbie.

Any ideas would be highly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

 

[mtb2104]

I don't think traffic here in Singapore is as bad as Vietnam (based on those documentary), but it can be quite bad too sometimes

Engine does smooth out a little more after 1st service, and personally I find the heat to be less too (maybe my nerves are already roasted.. )

If you find lugging the bike in low RPM to be very rough, I may suggest you to check your chain tension as it helped me in terms of overall smoothness

Clutch is already lighter than my previous Jap bike (MT09), but maybe you can adjust the lever to have wee bit more of slack... also, tilting the levers slightly down might help (based on my own riding preference)

It's definitely much easier to commute in my scooter, but it is more fun and much safer to do that with my Scrambler

good luck!

 

[Brantman1]

I have to agree with you that it's just not the best bike for riding in city traffic. I live and commute in Los Angeles and I've had a similar experience as you. It's hard to find the right speed/gear combination for riding in the city, I'm constantly shifting gears. I have 1300 miles on my bike and while the engine has definitely smoothed out it still doesn't like anything lower than 3000rpm's so I'm usually in one gear lower than I'd like to keep the revs around 4000. Also, the difference in gas mileage from riding in the city to riding on the highway or backroads is huge compared to other bikes I've owned. I get 15-17mpg less in my calculated city commuting than I do in pushing it hard in winding canyon roads.

Some other members have suggested changing the rear sprocket so that you're not constantly searching for the right gear combination but I haven't taken that step yet.

 

[PhuongLe]

I don't think traffic here in Singapore is as bad as Vietnam (based on those documentary), but it can be quite bad too sometimes

It's definitely much easier to commute in my scooter, but it is more fun and much safer to do that with my Scrambler

good luck!

Absolute agree from Vespa GTS owner
Anw, thank you for your advises. I did them already :-(

 

[Phil Harris]

It will improve with mileage but for the specific riding in traffic issue, I think a throttle tamer is the best solution.

A fuel injected twin with a lightish flywheel is always going to be a little touchy on the gas at small throttle openings. The standard throttle has a perfectly round action which is fine once moving but means it can be very sensitive at low speed, practice will improve things but you can improve it with a more progressive throttle cam.

G2 Street Tamer Throttle Tube - G2 Ergonomics

I fitted one of those and it makes a huge difference in low speed control-ability. I tried their '500' cam which came with it as standard and recently changed it to the '300' cam which I find to be the sweet spot.

What it actually means is that you have a few degrees more throttle to play with when trickling in low gear, which will help prevent the 1st gear too high 2nd gear too low problem. I have found that I can ride through traffic much easier in 2nd or 3rd with a lot less clutch feathering or gear changing.

 

[Firebird]

My dream comes true with Red Icon. In the first week, I just take some short rides (around 10 km) in my area with empty streets. It must say these rides are joyful and have nothing to complaint.

Today, the ODO reaches 500 km and I decide to try a long ride in rural areas with 200 km trip. The bike is OK too, except some stuttering clutch at low speed and/or low rev (I mean < 3000 rpm). My hands are nearly stiff because of the numbness due to keep clutch continuously. Maximal speed I can reach is 85 kmh at 4500 rpm. I think it's acceptable for a new bike in run-in period.

But riding the Icon in crowded traffic is miserable experience. Beside extremely hot engine, I just run the bike at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears with average speed at 20 kmh. Very bad on "smoothness" feelings, stuttering clutch and always using hard forces to keep clutch and throtte.

Will this condition improve after first service? Or the Scrambler is the bike for long ride with high speed only?

Feel confusion and need advises of other bikers, who are more experience than a newbie.

Any ideas would be highly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

Yes, the throttle was very touchy on mine too when in 1st and 2nd gear. When I upgraded to the Termignoni (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTAb17MuF9s) and with the included DDS map-key, the throttle response is significantly improved.