[Empire_State_Scrambler]

Picked up my Scrambler Classic from Hudson Valley Motorcycles today. Really great dealer!

I have been on the wait list since January, so it's been a long time coming! Have been watching every review on YouTube and gobbling up everyone's pics in the meantime. So here are mine, finally

Impressions: I absolutely love it. It's so great. Lots of power on tap. I'm coming up from a Honda CBR250R, so to me it's not so much chill as one part chill and one part hooligan.

I was able to ride a Scrambler (Icon) for the first time just a few weeks ago, during a "Ducati Demo Days" event. I liked it, but found the seat somewhat uncomfortable, and the high handle bars really uncomfortable (I'm used to a gentle lean on the Honda). They had an Icon on the showroom floor fitted with the Full Throttle handlebars, and it felt just right, so I asked them to fit mine with the low bars, too, when t came in. I can confirm -- today on the road, it is 100% perfect. I also think that the Scrambler Classic seat, while not as comfortable as my Honda's, is more comfortable than the Icon's. Plus it's gorgeous, so I would never switch.

Brakes are awesome. Tons of acceleration. Really confidence inspiring while cornering. Like others have reported, the throttle is overly sensitive below ~4,000 RPM but smoothes out nicely beyond that. It's really not a big deal.

Fit and finish, paint... all that is really great. I will have the evap can removed at first service.

 

[fastwoman]

Congratulations, that's where I took my Icon for its first service, they seemed fine. And I think I recognize your great photo, it's from Bear Mountain Pass overlooking the Hudson, right? Not quite Tail of the Dragon, but one of my favorite twisties in the Hudson Valley.

 

[John]

Cool bike!

 

[El Toro]

Best Flavour :upyeah:

 

[Empire_State_Scrambler]

G

Congratulations, that's where I took my Icon for its first service, they seemed fine. And I think I recognize your great photo, it's from Bear Mountain Pass overlooking the Hudson, right? Not quite Tail of the Dragon, but one of my favorite twisties in the Hudson Valley.

LOL, yeah not quite Tail of the Dragon, but cool enough. You are exactly right as to location. I've also found in our area Route 218 in Storm King State Park (detour from 9W on way north toward the Catskills from Bear Mountain) to be really nice. Great cliffs overlooking the Hudson amidst twisties. It's just that it only lasts 5-10 minutes whereas you want it to go on for hours. But, for those 5 minutes, you can pretend it's the Pacific Coast Highway.

 

[mugwump]

Great makes me feel a bit better been waiting since 24 April

Enjoy

 

[ELVISTO]

Congratulation Empire, Enjoy and a very warm welcome to the forum

 

[greer]

Beautiful bike, and thanks for the pictures, too!

Sarah

 

[450Jupiter]

I did the lowered bar thing on my classic and it is a good choice.

 

[ladyeclectic]

That looks so good! I'm hoping to get my Classic this week and simply canNOT wait. :blob8:

I too only test rode an Icon so it's nice to hear the Classic seat might feel better, since the Icon was uncomfortable after fifteen minutes. Might try to finagle an Airhawk from the dealership, we'll see what they say.

 

[vishk]

Great looking bike. How are the FT handles on classic. Do they give a little lean while riding, did not like Icon handles that much when I test drove. Only thing is I am not a fan of black handles.

 

[Empire_State_Scrambler]

Great looking bike. How are the FT handles on classic. Do they give a little lean while riding, did not like Icon handles that much when I test drove. Only thing is I am not a fan of black handles.

The FT handles on the Scrambler are fantastic. They do give a little lean. Not as much lean as on my Honda CBR250R, but still a little. I feel like the difference in the lean of either bike is not superior or inferior, and that I am slightly more comfortable with the greater lean of the Honda only because that's what I'm more used to. I understand that different bikes have different riding positions. But I have rented other bikes before with very upright riding positions, like the BMW F800 GT and BMW G650 GT, and I did not have the comfort problem that I had on the Icon in my demo ride. While I prefer a gentle lean, I don't mind being upright -- I think it had something to do with the combination of the wideness and the height and the uprightness. Throw in the pretty uncomfortable Icon seat (the Classic seat is more comfortable, but still not as comfortable as it should be) and I was actually a little disappointed with my demo ride after 9 months of anticipation and drueling (problem may have been complainer know that I'd just come off of a Monster 821 which had the lean characteristics I was used to and given it was cold and wet and rainy). With the FT bars, though, it's 100% better (for me; others are obviously free to like whatever they like) and I am so in love with the bike. There's no other bike I'd rather be on at the moment.

Regarding the aesthetics of the bar, the dealer was saying everyone so far was requesting them to paint the FT bars silver with a powder coat or to paint the clamp black to match the bars (which is what they recommended for me and what the service guy had done for his own wife's Icon, which kind of seemed like it had become his Icon and whose customization he was taking very seriously). They seemed to imply I might not be happy with the look of the bars if they were silver and the clamp black. But I have no idea why, because if you look at the bike, there's black and silver everywhere. If that had been the OEM spec, no one would have thought anything about it. Honestly, I think it looks perfect. Add to that that the black he painted his wife's clamp did not 100% match the black of the bar (and I suspect the silver powder coat on the handlebars would be even further off of the silver of the aluminum tank side panels, etc.), and I was even happier to take it as it was.

I could check my actual invoice, but I think I was charged $139 for the FT bars and they did not charge me anything for labor (which I was prepared to pay). I think this is because in watching some of the unboxings on YouTube, the handlebars come disconnected anyhow, and so it's not that much extra work for them. I also think they are putting the FT bars on a huge percent of Icons & Classics, and that some people are making that a condition of the purchase / negotiation (not that anyone has much room to negotiate, given the big demand for the bike). I let him keep the original bars to sell because I'd Ubered there and didn't care to come back for them, but that's also something you can use to offset the cost of the switch if the dealer doesn't give you a break on labor, etc.

 

[greer]

Thank you for that detailed comparison and write-up, so good to hear you are enjoying the bike.

Sarah

 

[vishk]

The FT handles on the Scrambler are fantastic. They do give a little lean. Not as much lean as on my Honda CBR250R, but still a little. I feel like the difference in the lean of either bike is not superior or inferior, and that I am slightly more comfortable with the greater lean of the Honda only because that's what I'm more used to. I understand that different bikes have different riding positions. But I have rented other bikes before with very upright riding positions, like the BMW F800 GT and BMW G650 GT, and I did not have the comfort problem that I had on the Icon in my demo ride. While I prefer a gentle lean, I don't mind being upright -- I think it had something to do with the combination of the wideness and the height and the uprightness. Throw in the pretty uncomfortable Icon seat (the Classic seat is more comfortable, but still not as comfortable as it should be) and I was actually a little disappointed with my demo ride after 9 months of anticipation and drueling (problem may have been complainer know that I'd just come off of a Monster 821 which had the lean characteristics I was used to and given it was cold and wet and rainy). With the FT bars, though, it's 100% better (for me; others are obviously free to like whatever they like) and I am so in love with the bike. There's no other bike I'd rather be on at the moment.

Regarding the aesthetics of the bar, the dealer was saying everyone so far was requesting them to paint the FT bars silver with a powder coat or to paint the clamp black to match the bars (which is what they recommended for me and what the service guy had done for his own wife's Icon, which kind of seemed like it had become his Icon and whose customization he was taking very seriously). They seemed to imply I might not be happy with the look of the bars if they were silver and the clamp black. But I have no idea why, because if you look at the bike, there's black and silver everywhere. If that had been the OEM spec, no one would have thought anything about it. Honestly, I think it looks perfect. Add to that that the black he painted his wife's clamp did not 100% match the black of the bar (and I suspect the silver powder coat on the handlebars would be even further off of the silver of the aluminum tank side panels, etc.), and I was even happier to take it as it was.

I could check my actual invoice, but I think I was charged $139 for the FT bars and they did not charge me anything for labor (which I was prepared to pay). I think this is because in watching some of the unboxings on YouTube, the handlebars come disconnected anyhow, and so it's not that much extra work for them. I also think they are putting the FT bars on a huge percent of Icons & Classics, and that some people are making that a condition of the purchase / negotiation (not that anyone has much room to negotiate, given the big demand for the bike). I let him keep the original bars to sell because I'd Ubered there and didn't care to come back for them, but that's also something you can use to offset the cost of the switch if the dealer doesn't give you a break on labor, etc.

Thats a thoughtful and detailed observation. Very well put. Thanks. I probably will order FT bars when my order is finalized.

Thanks, Vishnu

 

[Basa]

I did the FT bars as well.... better by light years!