I'm (still) waiting for delivery of the Icon I ordered several months ago. I currently have two bikes in my garage (Bonneville T-100 and FJR 1300) and ride about 12,00 to 15,000 miles a year. I'm a bit concerned about some of the early issues with the Scrambler I've read about on the forum -- abrupt throttle response, false neutrals, excessive engine heat, etc., which are giving me second thoughts about the bike. I initially ordered the Icon to be my "city" bike, a second bike for running around town on short jaunts when I don't want to pull out the FJR. I figured it would be more sporty than the sedate Bonneville. No offense to the new riders at all, but I'm interested in the overall impression of experienced riders who have or have had multiple bikes, and who have put enough miles on the Scrambler to give a considered opinion. Are you fully satisfied? It's not too late for me to pass on the bike -- I'm sure there is someone else waiting in line who would buy the one I ordered.
Scrambler riding impression - experienced riders
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
Joined
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214 Posts
Been riding over thirty years, so have some experience. I bought the Scrambler as an antidote to a lifetime of sports bikes, with some off roading thrown in for good measure.
First twin I've had on the road, so took a little learning to get the best out of it.
Throttle response. You need to use the clutch, as well as the throttle, and it's as smooth as you like. Little dip of the clutch here and there to pick up the drive, rather than just winding on the throttle at low speed.
False neutral. Yep I've found some, so will ask the dealer to give it a once over at the first service. But you can also minimise the effect, by applying a little pressure with your foot to the gear change before pulling in the clutch. Seems to help the gear engage better.
Heat from engine? Haven't had a problem.
The bike is not perfect, and for me will be better when I get time to fit my Termignoni and full throttle bars on my Icon.
In summary, I'm really enjoying the bike.
First twin I've had on the road, so took a little learning to get the best out of it.
Throttle response. You need to use the clutch, as well as the throttle, and it's as smooth as you like. Little dip of the clutch here and there to pick up the drive, rather than just winding on the throttle at low speed.
False neutral. Yep I've found some, so will ask the dealer to give it a once over at the first service. But you can also minimise the effect, by applying a little pressure with your foot to the gear change before pulling in the clutch. Seems to help the gear engage better.
Heat from engine? Haven't had a problem.
The bike is not perfect, and for me will be better when I get time to fit my Termignoni and full throttle bars on my Icon.
In summary, I'm really enjoying the bike.
Joined
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59 Posts
Don't. It's a really good fun bike. I've owned several bikes from a royal Enfield to the new LC BMW GS with a lot of bikes in between. I haven't done a lot of miles on my urban enduro as I only received it 10 days ago. The break in was by far the fastest and easiest - did it in 3 days. After the 1st service and as you put on more miles the bike sheds a lot of the break-in 'issues' and it gets a lot better if that's what you are worried about. The only time you might feel that it kind of underperforms is on highways doing over 150km/h and that's an easy fix with some wind protection. If it's a city bike you're looking for id say you made the right choice.
Have you test ridden one ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Have you test ridden one ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Joined
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62 Posts
I have only ridden mine 400 miles, mostly around town with just a little HWY work. I love it, the throttle is a little jerky, it takes some getting used to. The sound and performance are different (in a good way) than any bike I have owned. Can't wait to get some more miles on her so I can "let her run" so to speak. A lot of times it takes 2,000 miles or so to get the motor broken in/loosened up enough to get real a feel of the bike. Good luck with your new Scrambler.
Terry
Joined
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412 Posts
I have about 1700 miles on my Scrambler. To your points:
abrupt throttle response — yep, but that's mostly a 1st gear thing, and I'm quite used to it. As mentioned, good clutch work helps. If you are switching bikes back and forth, it might be trickier to get used to.
false neutrals — I've only had 3 or 4 total, and only on the down shift in a high gear, and only when I clearly didn't push the gear lever down hard enough
excessive engine heat — I haven't had this issue much, but it's an air cooled bike, so it'll get hot in stop and go traffic. Doesn't seem abnormal at all to me.
I'd say go for it. It's an incredibly fun bike. It's been my commuter bike and I love it.
abrupt throttle response — yep, but that's mostly a 1st gear thing, and I'm quite used to it. As mentioned, good clutch work helps. If you are switching bikes back and forth, it might be trickier to get used to.
false neutrals — I've only had 3 or 4 total, and only on the down shift in a high gear, and only when I clearly didn't push the gear lever down hard enough
excessive engine heat — I haven't had this issue much, but it's an air cooled bike, so it'll get hot in stop and go traffic. Doesn't seem abnormal at all to me.
I'd say go for it. It's an incredibly fun bike. It's been my commuter bike and I love it.
Joined
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107 Posts
To be honest I don't think there is anyone on this forum who owns the bike that will tell you anything other than its a great bike regardless of its idiosyncrasies and I can certainly vouch for it.
Great fun and so easy to ride you will not be disappointed.
I hope you take the order and tell us all about it. Good luck.
Great fun and so easy to ride you will not be disappointed.
I hope you take the order and tell us all about it. Good luck.
Joined
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39 Posts
just got mine yesterday, 118 on the clock, no false neutrals and 2 stalls with quick throttling, like it popped and shut off. not liking that. I been riding about 25 years and a few hundred thousand miles and never had this issue. all in all I am happy with the bike so far but time will tell
Joined
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979 Posts
I have owned mostly crappy old twin shock vintage bikes. I stopped counting after owning 30 motorcycles. I still own a W650 and a BMW R90/6. I don't have any experience owning sport bikes. I had a Speed Triple for a while, but sold it because I couldn't stay out of trouble.
Last Friday I rode with one of my friends who has a 2009 fuel injected Bonneville black with 17" sport wheels. It's my favorite of the four Bonnevilles (regular T100, Thruxton, and Scrambler) because it's the best handling and fastest to get up to speed.
That said, the Ducati just feels much smoother, faster, modern, lighter, better handling by far. The Bonneville is awesome, but the Ducati is better than it in every way. The only area I'd give the Bonnevile a better rating is using it on the interstate since it weighs more than 100 pounds more than the Ducati. That makes it more stable on a windy day at high speed.
The throttle thing is an issue which would be bad for a lot of people, but I've become smooth with it and I mostly ride around the city. It's totally a non-issue and now that I'm used to it, the bike actually feels a bit slow to me. Probably not a good thing for the health of my driver's license, but I have tamed the Ducati and am becoming one with it. Hopping on that Bonneville and trying to keep up with my friend once I was on it, he was taking corners faster and accelerating faster than me when I was riding the Triumph.
Don't sweat it. Unless you're too tall, I think you'll love the bike. The first week I had mine it was killing my ass and back, but I swear the seat and suspension have both gotten softer and I just cleared 620 miles tonight. I'm totally one handing it through town and back into the same riding style I have when I'm on my W650.. Total leisurely riding and gawking at people walking on the sidewalks, etc... The bike is great. The best way to describe it is having a bigwheel (like from childhood) again. It feels sporty enough, it handles amazingly, like a BMX bicycle, and it's super easy to ride. I am totally done thinking about buying a throttle tamer.
From last Friday. That's the bike I swapped for the night behind my Scrambler.
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Last Friday I rode with one of my friends who has a 2009 fuel injected Bonneville black with 17" sport wheels. It's my favorite of the four Bonnevilles (regular T100, Thruxton, and Scrambler) because it's the best handling and fastest to get up to speed.
That said, the Ducati just feels much smoother, faster, modern, lighter, better handling by far. The Bonneville is awesome, but the Ducati is better than it in every way. The only area I'd give the Bonnevile a better rating is using it on the interstate since it weighs more than 100 pounds more than the Ducati. That makes it more stable on a windy day at high speed.
The throttle thing is an issue which would be bad for a lot of people, but I've become smooth with it and I mostly ride around the city. It's totally a non-issue and now that I'm used to it, the bike actually feels a bit slow to me. Probably not a good thing for the health of my driver's license, but I have tamed the Ducati and am becoming one with it. Hopping on that Bonneville and trying to keep up with my friend once I was on it, he was taking corners faster and accelerating faster than me when I was riding the Triumph.
Don't sweat it. Unless you're too tall, I think you'll love the bike. The first week I had mine it was killing my ass and back, but I swear the seat and suspension have both gotten softer and I just cleared 620 miles tonight. I'm totally one handing it through town and back into the same riding style I have when I'm on my W650.. Total leisurely riding and gawking at people walking on the sidewalks, etc... The bike is great. The best way to describe it is having a bigwheel (like from childhood) again. It feels sporty enough, it handles amazingly, like a BMX bicycle, and it's super easy to ride. I am totally done thinking about buying a throttle tamer.
From last Friday. That's the bike I swapped for the night behind my Scrambler.
Joined
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261 Posts
I have owned mostly crappy old twin shock vintage bikes. I stopped counting after owning 30 motorcycles. I still own a W650 and a BMW R90/6. I don't have any experience owning sport bikes. I had a Speed Triple for a while, but sold it because I couldn't stay out of trouble.
Last Friday I rode with one of my friends who has a 2009 fuel injected Bonneville black with 17" sport wheels. It's my favorite of the four Bonnevilles (regular T100, Thruxton, and Scrambler) because it's the best handling and fastest to get up to speed.
That said, the Ducati just feels much smoother, faster, modern, lighter, better handling by far. The Bonneville is awesome, but the Ducati is better than it in every way. The only area I'd give the Bonnevile a better rating is using it on the interstate since it weighs more than 100 pounds more than the Ducati. That makes it more stable on a windy day at high speed.
The throttle thing is an issue which would be bad for a lot of people, but I've become smooth with it and I mostly ride around the city. It's totally a non-issue and now that I'm used to it, the bike actually feels a bit slow to me. Probably not a good thing for the health of my driver's license, but I have tamed the Ducati and am becoming one with it. Hopping on that Bonneville and trying to keep up with my friend once I was on it, he was taking corners faster and accelerating faster than me when I was riding the Triumph.
Don't sweat it. Unless you're too tall, I think you'll love the bike. The first week I had mine it was killing my ass and back, but I swear the seat and suspension have both gotten softer and I just cleared 620 miles tonight. I'm totally one handing it through town and back into the same riding style I have when I'm on my W650.. Total leisurely riding and gawking at people walking on the sidewalks, etc... The bike is great. The best way to describe it is having a bigwheel (like from childhood) again. It feels sporty enough, it handles amazingly, like a BMX bicycle, and it's super easy to ride. I am totally done thinking about buying a throttle tamer.
From last Friday. That's the bike I swapped for the night behind my Scrambler.
![]()
Pretty much everything LUX said. Unless you are on the porky side or over 6'0, then the bike should be perfect for you. I have about 1300miles on mine. So far no issues! I hope it stays that way.
Joined
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264 Posts
Have no fear - BUY IT! I have about 1200 miles on mine since May 1st. I have been riding for almost 50 years and owned at least 20 bikes, from Harleys, to CBRs and this Duc is the most fun I've had on a bike bar none. Throttle is a little touchy in 1st gear, not so much after that but you'll adapt easily. False neutrals - I think I've experienced that perhaps on 3 -4 occasions. On a hot day and in heavy stop and go traffic it gets a tad warm under my right leg but it has not been a big issue. In all I'd go out and buy it again in an instant;
Thanks for all the responses -- makes me feel much better hearing from owners who have a great depth of experience. I'm going to stick with it and hopefully will get the bike within the next couple of weeks (according to the dealer it has been in transit for two weeks now).
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