I've been looking for TDM replacement as well and got stirred by Muddy's very well written essay "the essence of TDM".
TDM is a one of a kind sort of bike, could not say better.
My wife rides DL-650 K7 and althought it is nice and mellow and the engine revs very nicely when pushed.. it's mellow. It has less power than TDM and weighs the same. Also, I have heard that engineers increased "flywheel" inertia along with revised cams, so those go hand-in-hand and create the overall mellow package. I have also heard that TDM has unusually light "flywheel" inertia, so this explains the liveliness, not to mention more raw power. Wee-Strom is no match for TDM, but at the same time can be considered serious replacement if you can compromise a bit. For one thing it's throttle response is smooth as silk and it goes surprisingly well at low revs, probably because of both bigger engine inertia and cams. No experience with new (2012?) DL-650 yet, but I have some thousands of km riding both TDM850, 900 and DL-650. So much about DL-650 I maintain and occasionally ride as well..
I have gone down this "detuned biguns" path and am back in round one. I can only speak for big Bandit 1250, but I guess to be in very good position for comparison: spent last two years vacations on same roads and in same timeframe but with different bikes.
Bandit is no match for TDM, but if you love effortless overtaking and unstressed engine with massive torque you would like it. The engine is fine, bit of handlebar vibe but real weights took care of that and looked good as well. Missing twin rumble of course, but rumble does not ride. Much lower and good match to my height, was easier to push around even if it's heavier.
Now the bad points. Even to my small frame (I am 176cm tall, 68kg naked) riding posture was uncomfortable because of knee bend. Turning the original footrests 180 grade took care of that for me, but will not resolve it for bigger guys. Also had to rise the handlebars by using longer bolts and stacks of big washers. Now we're getting somewhere in the touring sense, but it has small "bubble" type windscreen, so almost no wind protection. Left it at stock because everybody in this forum knows ti's a long and very expensive battle. Good for warm days and no buffeting, and in the end I liked it, got my worth of naked riding over all those years again.
My main gripe was suspension, I could ride it on gravel but my guts were smashed around when riding on bad, paved backroads. It is also unsuitable for bad roads because of wide rims and low profile tyres by default, this is road bike for good roads. What is good and what's bad is of course open question, but rear rim went to straightening shop. I rode alone and lightly loaded with soft bags, no big loads on rear. For that reason my 9er rides on nonstandard, high profile bias-ply tyres and I have yet to see any nicks on rims.
To make matters worse, any less than standard tyre pressure meant wooden steering feel. Given that I loathed suspension and had to lower pressures because of that it was not nice to say the least. I had new front and almost new back tire, no guessing here.
So this pretty much sums it up: I loved the engine even if I missed the rumble, and liked it being lower. On the other hand I could not ride such bike comfortably where I like to go and need to compromise: bit lighter, lot higher, less power but at the same time comfortable. I need comfortable, reliable and economical bike to cover distances and ride the horrible backroads in third world countries. Heh, come to think of it, Estonia is as much a "third world" as Romania I have been lately :-)
Hope you did not fall asleep staring at this wordy mess.
Adding some more points for potential off-the-TDM itchers:
Forget DL-650 if you would like any performance while two-up. Althought pillion arrangements are very good, it barely goes while solo, so now you know what to expect.
Forget GSF1250 if you would like to have lasting friendship, love ties or other such kind of relations with your pillion. Pillion arrangements are terrible, this bike is practically usable only for solo rider.
I would also like to add that althought "rumble does not ride", it seems to be important thing in the mix for me. I am riding by hearing/feeling the engine, never look for tacho for gearshift or somesuch. Perhaps only to confirm that I am cruising on 6-th gear. I feel crippled on Bandit because I have no such feedback. All bikes have standard exhausts and are quiet ones, so I guess it it isn't so simple as to open up Bandit exhaust. I guess it is something more fundamental, owing to V2 or I2 vs I4 differences in vibration or something. I ride one-pot as well and feel just fine. In the end I can only guess that being raised riding on 1957 Russian-made Minsk-125, I am incompatible with I4 topology.
Edited by Kalts, 19 May 2014 - 12:37 pm.
