Some doubts about Scrambler

[CarLess]

Hi, I'm CarLess from Barcelona (Spain) I had several trail bikes and now i'm riding a BMW 1150 GS Adventure, but some days ago a went a dealer Triumph and i saw an amazing new Scrambler (matt kakhi ):eeek: from that moment i can't get out of my mind!!:cheer:... but i had some doubts about it and maybe some "scram-experts" of this forum can help me:

A)It's a fun bike for a twisty road or is just for relaxed run? (57hp is not so much power..)
B) It's a bike for a trail/off road ride? What should i change for better offroad riding?
C) Someone from UK can tell me the price of the bike in UK? (In Spain cost about 10.000€ (9.000 GBP)

Well, thank's a lot and i'll keep learning from you in this forum

Vssss,

 

[dave1068]

As a former Scrambler owner, I can add the following.

Very fun bike to ride around town, on the twisties and short freeway rides. Dont let the reduced HP deter you as it has more low end torque. for most people, its not a true off road bike as its too heavy. Some people have dumped lots of money into it for more off road use.

For fire roads and dirt roads its great. Not the most comfortable bike for long rides as the shocks and seat are are poor.

Most people will tell you to replace the seat and shocks in time, tires too.
I liked my scrambler but i had no legal place to ride other than a dirt road that took 10 min to do so I opted for a more street only bike.

Cool looking and fun bike but not really made for true off road riding or touring.

Lots of reviews of the bike on line, read some of them and divide the story in half for the truth...

Dave-

 

[tribear]

Dave nailed it.
Some additions: I installed YSS shocks on the rear, incredible difference. The engine can really come alive with some minor to advanced modifications to air intake and exhaust, upping the HP and more importantly the Torque. It's a torquey motor any way but you can get a lot more out of it by getting her to breathe. Tires are easy. Loads of options obviously, I have the Metz. Tourances, love them. Check out Roadie's bike (member on this site). That there Scram will go anywhere, and it will get there FAST.
Have fun, not "if" but "when" you get your new Scrambler!
TB

 

[Iceseven]

Dave hits some good points concerning dirt roads/fire roads and the stock tires are not good at all. Just the opposite of Dave I traded in my Bonneville and a KLR650 for the Scrambler because I live up an old forest service road and the Scrambler handles it fine but you do feel the weight.

I use mine for occasional touring and with a windscreen it handles a week long trip fine but I used to tour on a 1974 Triumph so the Scrambler feels Cadillac to me.

Just comes down to how you feel about the bike, being used to the GS then the Scram may seem lightweight to you. For me it is the perfect blend of bikes and for others it isn't.

 

[CarLess]

Thank's Dave1068, tribear and Iceseven for your opinions..It seams that changing shocks, tyres and exhaust can be a faster and more efficient bike. I'm not sure about to change the BMW GS for the scram, for one side my GS is to hight and to heavy for an off road and urban ride, and i think with the Scrambler i could ride with more confidence..(it's lower and lighter) by the other hand GS is a great bike for travel and also can go very fast on twisty roads..uff.. what to do, what to do..If i could have both! i'm gonna do the lottery..you never know!

Thank's!

 

[trustme]

You will love it on tight twisty roads once you have made the mods outlined to the bike & you have to modify your riding to minimise braking & carry more corner speed, it is very likely that after a while you find yourself riding the straight bits slower than you used to but are quicker through a series of bends.
Try one first if you can, it may be too much of a change from the Beemer.It's a good change but it sure is different.

 

[GuyM]

The Scrambler is a lot of fun, and easy to ride. It handles moderate dirt roads as well as twisty pavement just fine too. You're right, there's not a lot of power on the stock bikes - and even after the usual intake & exhaust mods there still isn't overwhelming power - but it's nice, steady, power that sounds great! These were all taken recently, here in Washington State:

Common mods like Metzler Tourances and aftermarket pipes (these are Norman Hyde) do help quite a bit. These tires are excellent!

 

[KingBear]

I like the style and rugged good looks of the bike, but at the end of the day it's a "street scrambler", not a real off-road bike.

 

[CarLess]

Wow! it looks great GuyM!..i like that exhaust so "retro"...I also have the Tourance on my GS and i agree with you, they are excelents..how about as a touring bike, i think it has not to mutch options for luggage... I also read that after one hour or so riding it hurts and is not very comfortable, it's that right? is the single seat more comfortable? i seat on a Scram in the bike shop and it seamed to me very wide, wich is not so good for to ride standing up on a pedals on a dirt road..
Well as you say: it's nice and sounds great!

 

[CarLess]

You will love it on tight twisty roads once you have made the mods outlined to the bike & you have to modify your riding to minimise braking & carry more corner speed, it is very likely that after a while you find yourself riding the straight bits slower than you used to but are quicker through a series of bends.
Try one first if you can, it may be too much of a change from the Beemer.It's a good change but it sure is different.

I got a friends with BMW 100GS and 80GS and i tried sometime one of these..maybe the riding sensations are quiet similar than a scrambler... with a better breaks

 

[Iceseven]

Great pics Guy! While King is right it is not a true dirt bike it is what I think as a great all around bike, quite capable of handling fire roads and the like.

Touring wise it does fine for me. 400 mile days do wear my butt but are doable. Last year I did a 2000 mile solo trip from Colorado through the southwest and if I had more time I would have kept going to California, the bike just does great, but that is my very biased towards the Scrambler opinion.

 

[Threewheelbonni]

I like the style and rugged good looks of the bike, but at the end of the day it's a "street scrambler", not a real off-road bike.

So how many times did you fall off when you tried and it failed? What defeated it?

I set off in 2004 to turn a standard 790 Bonneville into an R80GS alternative that wasn't 20 years old and didn't have a dodgy gearbox. Basic start was knobblyish tyres at which point I found out it'll go prettymuch anywhere the ground clearance allows (logs across the track are a PITA). It's no MX bike, but it always gets there. It does anything quite well. Now part Uralised but details here:

https://sites.google.com/site/threewheelbonnie/Home

I've had BM oilheads (and F650's) and find them too heavy, too complicated and complete overkill for a world that averages about 40 mph and tops out at under 100 unless you are lucky enough to avoid both the crowd and the law. For the odd times I need to do 600 miles in a day I do occasionally miss my Bavarian Tractor, but then I remember the FI surge and the twelve button indicator set up and the dealer and....

My questions would be:

If you don't like the weight of a BM in town could you get on with a 400cc trail bike?

If the answer is yes in town and on the soft stuff, could you still live with it on the motorway or would you miss your screen and eight-hour seat?

If your answer is yes again a Scrambler gives some of the best of both worlds but won't outdo either of the above in their own enviroment, it'll always finish second. In other words, if you want a 400cc trail bike that'll cruise 600 miles in six hours, good luck, you need two bikes!

All Bonnevilles BTW have fuel tanks about 50% short of what the rest of the bike will do! If the Beemers 250 mile range gets used, go look at the new Tenere too, it ticks some subtely different boxes.

Andy

 

[CarLess]

I like the style and rugged good looks of the bike, but at the end of the day it's a "street scrambler", not a real off-road bike.

For me the big trail bikes aren't also a real off road bikes, in fact the tendency in trail market is more asphaltic than dirt bikes..Anyway the best thing to do would be to try one, but unfortunetly i don't find a test one..

 

[CarLess]

If your answer is yes again a Scrambler gives some of the best of both worlds but won't outdo either of the above in their own enviroment, it'll always finish second. In other words, if you want a 400cc trail bike that'll cruise 600 miles in six hours, good luck, you need two bikes!

Andy

I agree Andy, one perfect bike for all doesn't exist, so you have to give priority to your needs and look for the bike wich meets them...or win the lottery and buy one for each ride...

 

[GuyM]

"how about as a touring bike, i think it has not to mutch options for luggage... I also read that after one hour or so riding it hurts and is not very comfortable, it's that right?"

Luggage options are a bit limited, but like Iceseven - I toured on mine. He covered the Southwest, I hit the Pacific Northwest. My luggage consisted of a tank bag and the Ventura pack. It would be easy to fit a single side bag, and some folks have added a bag to each side, but that does make the bike pretty wide.

The seat is pretty basic, but I'm okay on it all day. I just shift around as needed. I think that with the Scrambler, it just takes the attitude that "less is more" to make it work.

I go everywhere my buddy goes on his KTM 990, even with half the horsepower and half the suspension travel. The KTM is undeniably more modern, and much faster. I just slow down for the big bumps! Rode a KTM earlier today, wow... talk about power and suspension... wow....

I just followed Mista Vern's advice about luggage for the Scram!

Regards, Guy

 

[Threewheelbonni]

Don't Metal Mule do a set of racks? When I was solo I ran in turn Triumph loop thingys that mount to the pillion pegs and top suspension mount (wouldn't fit a Scrambler but might bend to shape?) with soft bags, the MM rack with soft bags and then the MM rack with Touratech boxes. The MM stuff is way overpriced, but there is an element of getting what you pay for with the racks.

Andy

 

[ScramblerWarsaw]

amazing vehicle!
something like my vespa LXV and Ducati Sport Classic 1000 S

 

[trustme]

Packed with more than enough gear for 4 days away. Ventura pack & water proof gear bag.
Like Guy I ride a lot with a 990 Adv . I can keep up until he really ups the pace & it starts to get stupidly fast. This photo was taken at the end of a trip that involved a lot of dirt roads & 2 days of solid rain. The Scram made it to the end in the company of a lot of far higher spcification bikes & was certainly not disgraced. The tougher the conditions got the more the 650 singles stood out, the really big bikes became a handful on really wet unsealed roads

 

[DIRK]

jam on where are the "dirty" photos, or did ya keep soapin it up in the rain?

 

[trustme]

Sorry mate , there are no more. The last 200km were in pouring rain on tarseal so the worst of the mud was washed off, it only stopped raining when I got into AK ,hence the wet ground in the photo.
I'll try to work out how to put a link to the Advrider ride report tonight, but it was so wet & miserable there are very few photos in it.
Can't wait to do the same run this year.