The Big test

Miles ridden: 3481 Riders: John Westlake Tyres tried: Metzeler Karoostreet

Fuel used: 344 litres Chain lubed: 15times

dial in a twist of throttle and hold it there until you reach your desired speed – the acceleration is eerily seamless, with the engine note giving more indication of gear changes than any sensation through arms or arse.

Despite this civility, Drive mode didn’t see many of my 3500 miles though. As a party trick for pillions it’s great

– no head banging, ever – but I found it far too lazy for normal riding. Most annoying is the way it changes up to sixth before 40mph, usually doing it so smoothly you don’t notice until you either roll off and find you’ve got no engine braking, or accelerate and find you’ve got merely average acceleration. And it does it on the way down too, leaving it in top until 35mph when finally it drops a cog. Good for fuel economy no doubt, but what’s the point in riding a bike with a tasty midrange if half the time you’re not in it? Thankfully, there are options. Sport mode has three levels. The second was right for me, changing up and down roughly where I’d have done, except more smoothly. The changes are faster and at higher revs than in Drive mode, so you can notice them, but it’s still crazily slick, especially the downshifts under hard braking when the exhaust pops like a racer. And because the DCT is linked with the new Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), it holds gears if you’re in a corner because it knows you’re leant over. What a piece of kit. Uturns take some getting used to though. With no clutch to meter out power, the back brake is essential to keep the