I spent just over a week wondering what it would be like to ride a silent, one speed direct drive bike, with no gearbox or clutch. As I went up and down the gearbox on the Monster on the way to the test, I pondered how I would judge the speed into a corner without the ritual down changes and blips. Would I be tempted to blip the throttle at a standstill and wheely off into a wall or on coming traffic? Would there be an engine brake? Or would I just roll merrily on after shutting the throttle?
Nathan talked me through the controls and the different modes that could be selected, either with a button on the handlebars of via a smartphone, there’s a huge menu with various degrees of traction control, power delivery and engine braking. Nathan selected “Beast mode” for me with everything turned up to eleven.. All the power and torque available un-metered.. We grinned at each other..
