Right out of the traps we will all concede that no bike / scooter is perfect? For my purposes I think the DTX will come pretty close, but let’s get my personal cons out of the way before I tackle the much longer list of pros.
Mirrors: not great. They look good and give a clear view … of my elbows! I really have to twist my body to see what is going on behind me!
Ambient temperature reading: there isn’t one. Boo. I liked that on my X-Town.
And that’s it so far. I’ll come back and edit this if more rear their heads, but for now they’re the only two niggles.
Edit: A further significant con has raised its head after a 170+ mile day this week and it is the seat! At about 65 miles in one hit my rear end was crying “uncle”! Conclusion, as stock this seat is just not built for touring. Should be a relatively inexpensive (about £150) job to have it modified to insert gel pads into the memory foam. Maybe a project for winter when I can let the seat go off to the reupholstery expert for a week or two?
What is good / improved over my previous ride then? Firstly power, it’s noticeably better on the DTX even at running in speeds, more oomph and I like it. Visibility of the dash information is very old codger-friendly! No excuses if I collect a ticket, the digital speedo digits are mahoosive! Clock is also readable without the need for glasses- for me at least. In fact, all the dash is easily legible.
Handling is as good as my XT and bear in mind that benefited from YSS shocks. Semi knobbly tyres* grip well in the dry, no experience in the wet yet. Wider handlebars may not be to everyone’s taste, but I like them. Low speed manoeuvres are a doddle.
Further ride due today and I’ll report back and upload photos later.
* Manufacturer CST. Unless things change, they'll be gone when I need to change as they are utterly unavailable here! Happy enough to slap on Michelin CG2s or Pirelli Rossos though.
