With only the classic motor available I got to choose between the Sixty-5 or Vince's own Military model. I chose the former. I got "lost" on the ride and put 12 miles on the '06 Sixty-5, about doubling its total. Here are some thoughts:
The great:- Wonderful riding bike with the solo seat. Great seating position with hand and feet all very correct. I could have ridden all day long and kept smiling the whole time. Oh yeah, this is what the "single" life is all about.
The good:- The shifting was pretty good. Only a couple false neutrals and pretty quickly I could find the correct neutral at stop signs.
- Keeping it at 40 or less per instructions, the pick up power was decent.
- Handling the roundabouts was great with the quick handling.
- Vibrations were not an issue. I wonder if the solo seat is the main cure.
The quirky:- The ammeter doesn't know how to stay still. It kept jiggling the whole time.
- Upon start up,
oil smoke poured out of the exhaust for a good minute. Vince said (as I read here recently) that the piston needs to held at TDC when parked or else oil leaks into the chamber. What a polluting mess! He said it hasn't been ridden in a while.
The bad:- New drum brakes are pretty useless. I hear they seat in and eventually are okay, but I doubt if they ever are as good as disc brakes.
- The green neutral indicator light is useless in the sun.
The decision:Vince offered the bike, with solo seat, OTD (out the door) for a decent price. I could probably talk him down a little but he has to eat too. I have until Saturday to decide. The fact that it is an '06 model allowed him to take about $200 more off of the price compared to the '07 models. But I have to get a pickup truck or pay his mechanics' wages for the time to deliver it and get back, about 125 miles in total.
I plan to test-ride an '06 Electra at another dealer about the same distance away in the other direction. This is the dealer who claims the MSRP is $5995 for the Electra-X. I should take a printed copy of the webpage showing it as $4995.
So, when do the '08 models show up? What is different?
Finally, it was great meeting Birdmove (Jon in Puyallup) on the way home in Tacoma. Too bad he works for Harley-Davidson.