So, I went and rode it, and I must say I was quite impressed. It was big, and it was heavy. I know I didn't like a giant clown a little bike riding it. I was a little concerned about how the low speed maneuvering would be, but it wasn't bad at all. I took it through all the gears, and it shifted up and down just fine. The salesman said it can be tough to find neutral at stops, but I didn't have any trouble with that either, although I only did it twice. I was quite pleased to have the opportunity to take it on the freeway for a couple miles, and holy cow!!! My frame of reference for comparison are a 2004 HD Road Glide, a 2001 Yamaha V Star 1100, and Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic, and there really was no comparison. If I pushed my HD hard, I could have it at ~80mph by the time I was on the freeway, but it was working hard, and you felt like you were going fast. The R3T was effortlessly at 80mph before I knew it, and it didn't feel like it was even breaking a sweat. It was natural and smooth, and it felt like I was just calmly rolling along. A quick flick of the wrist, and it was pushing 95, again with almost effortless ease. Seriously, why are there not more of these on the road, and why are they so affordable when compared to any other "big" cruiser?
Anyway, I showed up in my cage, because I cant stand to ride my current bike the one hour to the dealership, so I couldn't have it properly evaluated for trade. With a site unseen low ball trade offer, we couldn't quite come together on price. So I left...
Anyway, they called me today, and asked if I had thought anymore about the bike. The truth... almost hourly. What I told them, was I thought we were too far apart on price, and I wasn;t seeing any give on their part. So, they said, if i can ride my trade to them, so they know it's ride-able, they will accept my offer/terms. Well, the bad news is they close too early for me to get there today, my son has his first little league baseball game tomorrow, and Wednesday is rain, and the wife's church woman's group meeting. So, Thursday I go get it, so long as no one else shows up at the dealer with cash...