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First Impressions of the DN-01 - Review

A

ABScooterClub

New member
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
2
Location
Millet, Alberta
Well,

I picked up the DN-01 last Saturday the first weekend in April (2009)). It was 1Celius out so I layered up. I live 40 km south from the Honda dealership in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), so I had some highway miles to start my break-in period. My first impression was pure satisfaction. I am used to riding my AN650 Burgman, so the first thing I noticed was the DN was smoother when slowing down to a stop. I find the Burgy to have a pretty harsh engine breaking. The DN has a nice roll to a stop at traffic lights. I am 6`1`` so the contoured fuel tank seemed a bit intrusive, but within 20km I noticed the seat start to break nicely and low and behold, I gained an inch so my knees fit well in the curves of the tank. So it is no longer an issue. I noticed that the first time I turned the DN off, sat for about 20 minutes, it restarted a bit hard. Subsequent starts showed no repeat of this issue. I guess it may have just been me.

The lack of a windscreen is an issue. The wind hit me square of the chest and face, but hell, it looks so good, I think I`ll just enjoy the real bike experience. The GIVI shield seems a bit garrish for my taste so I will wait until other offers appear.

Acceleration was good, but since I am in the break-in period I did not open it up. Also I can`t make a judgment on fuel economy for the same reason. The fuel seemed to suck out pretty fast on the first run.

I found the seating position and overall rider posture superior for a cruiser. The DN is a real comfortable ride.

If I have one bitch is that in Canada (as well as other countries) the DN`s price tag was steep. I had expected it to come in at 14,000-15,000 (Canadian) when I put my name on one back in Oct of 2008. But, it came in at 17,900 and with taxes I paid over 19,000. I was emotionally committed to the `Dream New Concept`bike for a couple of years, so I held my breath and ponied up. I can say that after a whole 65 km riding in cold weather today with some snow and ice all around, I have no regrets.

The last cruiser I owned and rode was my 1981 Honda CB750 which I truly loved. Put many miles on it. But I can say that for comfort, there is no comparison. The DN is far superior a ride. I own a AN650 Suzuki Burgman and I truly love that machine. My wife will be taking the Burgy, so I will miss having the under seat storage.

The only thing I have to do is.... give my new baby a name!

Brian K. Hahn
Alberta Scooter Club - Home
Millet, Alberta (Canada)
 


I wonder if the OP named his bike.

I've been wondering what to name mine when I do get it and yes, I am 100% on board with this. I will get one!

Does everyone name their bikes/cars? My little CM450 is named "Andoh" I played with 'honda' and came up with that. ;)

Thanks for the review.
 

Well Brian, finally got off the Silverwing as I can now swing my leg over a seat again. Picked my DN-01 up in May 2010. 1 st impression was absolute delight. It hasn't gone away. I put almost 9000 KM's this summer. @011 is going to see lots more rides. Hope we can hook up.
Stephen - Edmonton
 

Here's my impression after my first week on my new DN-01:

1) Can't wait for the new Givi windshield to come in. Above 55mph it need to have a death grip to avoid being blown off the bike. This is worse with the 30lb backpack of equipment I wear. At 80mph it feels like I could blow off at any minute! Hopefully this new windshield directs air up and over me instead of into my chest and into my helmet!
2) First fillup was at 155 miles and 3.395 gallons (to the bottom of the filler neck). I went 15 miles after the blinking bar started. Total MPG = 45.65. I hope it gets better with the new windshield when I'm am not the biggest source of air resistance!
3) I love the throaty sound of the bike!
4) Still can't wait for my 3 Givi cases (2 side, 1 top) so that I don't have to haul everything around with me when I get off the bike.
5) Handled being snowed on for a few hours just fine :)
6) Much easier going over curbs than my Honda silverwing scooter (my driveway entrance is basically an angled curb - not very sloped).
7) I got clearbra installed all the way around the key area down to the gas door and down the sides to the valley - works great for preventing key scratches and all for $20!
8) ABS handles superbly (found out today when the guy in front of me slammed on his brakes - thank God I keep a 2 second following distance!).
9) The bike did not come with a pin spanner (rrrr!) to adjust the rear shock spring tension (my scooter did!).
10) My 5'2" wife loves being able to put her feet flat on the ground!
11) The speedometer shows I'm going 1pm slower than I actually am.

So far so good!

--Russ
 

Update after 2+ weeks of riding

Hi all!

I thought I'd give you an update after 2-ish weeks of riding. Here are some new observations:

1) I found that since the wind shear is so bad above 55mph (especially at 80mph!) that if you lean over the bike (as opposed to sitting upright) it really helps. The stock windshield is definitely nothing of the sort. Nor is it a bug-deflector as they always hit me right in the center of my visor....

2) That being said, I just got my new Givi D316S windshield on today. It's dark smoke in color. It helps tremendously! Instead of the wind hitting me square in the chest and being forced into my full-face helmet, it just now bobbles my head around and sounds very loud. But at least I don't feel like I'm going to be thrown off the bike! Woo hoo! The only bad thing about the windshield is that it says you shouldn't park the bike where the sun will shine inside the windshield or it can cause some sort of warping or bubbling. You should just let it shine on the outside of the windshield which pretty much means parking facing south where I live. Ugh.

3) I also got the two Givi V35 side cases installed. They are very sleek looking and easy to use. They have straps in the middle to hold things "in" (like a suit case does). The disappointment though....is that my full face helmet (HJC FS-15 Carbon - size L) does not fit in them. My wife's does though but it is an Arai RX-Q size XS. Guess I'll have to wait till my rear case (Givi E55 TECH) comes in. It's supposed to fit two full sized helmets side-by-side. At least the side cases will be good for groceries or whatever I pick up on the way home.

4) The good news is tha tmy 2nd tank of gas yielded 48.97 mpg! However, the bike still starts blinking the last bar at 150 miles.

5) I did get clear bra installed all around the key area and it really helps with the scuffs. I paid $20. It has a 5 year warranty. I also got clear bra on the gas cap and on the part below the gas cap all the way to the seat as our crotches were causing a few scratches upon mounting. Those last two were done for $20 also.

6) The fun thing is that everyone says it looks like the Batcycle (I have the all-black verson).

7) When I get to 45-50 mph, I switch to manual mode and shift to 6th gear. This happens automatically around 50-52mph, but if I'm cruising in a 50mph zone I do this to help save gas. Apparaently it works given my 2nd take mpg.

More to come!

--Russ
 

Thanks for the updates and review Russ. Please keep us updated!

Any chance you could provide me where you purchased all your accessories/addons?

I am on the fence of buying the Givi shield because of the looks. I think the OEM windshield looks good no the bike, but not effective in blocking the wind. Any way you could post pictures of your bike on here?
 

I bought all my accessories at Sun Honda in Thornton Colorado. They just did the first service on my bike and I had them put in the official Honda synthetic blend oil too. They installed everything as well. I believe they had to order all the accessories from Givi (they do carry some in stock though).

I finally got my E55 TECH back case installed. It will definitely fit two large helmets side by side. The only downside is that the keys for my V35 side cases do not fit the E55. No problem though as Givi sells a set of 3 tumblers with 6 six keys that all match. Took me about an hour to figure out how to replace them all, but now I just have one key!

On other bad thing about the V35 side cases. There are two rubber? "straps" holding the lid to the case so that when it opens it stops at 90 degrees. Two of the four screws popped out when opening it and my wifes helmet actually fell out! She was supporting the case and so it was a slow fall from only about a foot. So I called Givi and they said it is a known problem. They have called Italy about it several times and they havent changed it yet. Once those screws get loose (2-3 turns only), they fall out. They said if I sent it in for a warranty claim, they'd simply put longer screws in it (4mm long for a total length of 18mm). I got some new ones at Lowes (Size 4 - 3/4" in length) and they worked perfectly!

I also decided to try to run the bike out of gas to see how far I could go (since the last bar consistently blinks at 150 miles). So I had my wife drive behind me with some gas in the van. It stopped cold at 196.6 miles (with all the new accessories installed). This ended up being 49.15 mpg. Not bad! At least I know how far I can actually go now. There was no warning before it stalled (and I means ZERO!). No sputtering, "missing out", etc.... I was at a stoplight and when it turned green and I started to turn left, I got halfway through before it lost all power. Thankfully I had enough momentum to get to the shoulder on the next road.

--Russ
 

russcarver said:
Hi all!

2) That being said, I just got my new Givi D316S windshield on today. It's dark smoke in color. It helps tremendously! Instead of the wind hitting me square in the chest and being forced into my full-face helmet, it just now bobbles my head around and sounds very loud.
--Russ
Click to expand...

Hi Russ,

How tall are you? What is your posture riding? (I'm trying to decide what to do about a windscreen. I'm 5' 9".) By the way, some folks have trimmed off some of the top of the Givi to move the wind blast down and off the head. I'm not sure I'd do it 'though...

Thanks.
 


tlyons said:
Hi Russ,

How tall are you? What is your posture riding? (I'm trying to decide what to do about a windscreen. I'm 5' 9".) By the way, some folks have trimmed off some of the top of the Givi to move the wind blast down and off the head. I'm not sure I'd do it 'though...

Thanks.
Click to expand...

My height is 175 cm, glass Givi very helpful for me, 150 km/per hour to drive without problems.
 

Hei all,

as a second owner of Dino it had 15+km only on it, but stock Dino in my opinion is good only for shows.

As disain of whole bike is somewhere in the middle of Sport bike and Harley cruiser.
When with low windshield you are like somekind of muppet behind the bike, 0 protection and disain of the bike will blow you from the seat!
At this point Givi windshield helped me out + handguards.

Sitting position I would say best of many other bikes, especially with automatic transmission like Dino has.
Low enough and comfortable for long rides, in fact I added more soft material into seat so instead of 2cm it has now 4cm of foam.
At some point would be good to have also backrest for long rides.

As it is long bike, not all so curves are smooth like lets say with super bike riders.

So when you go into curve you wait engine to start with braking and then you smoothly take curve and when 60% done also slowly adding speed at same point.
Not easy for the beginners definitely.

I absolutely hate the handlebar, all covered with plastic, so I was forced to saw 10-11cm off to be able to fit GPS etc, as if you go with Honda disain you simply will pay for metal tube 600usd + GPS, for me its insane!

As 0 storage space, I added to my bike amplifier under seat for stereo.
So really 0 :) So I went with Givi brackets and Kappa boxes 2 side and 1 top box, as I saw many order GIVI ones, but actually I like Kappa ones more and you can add Kappa boxes to GIVI brackets just check online what model.

So conclusion:
Its a good bike for show, but for the market it has been done with one purpose, you receive bike shell (LEGO) and you will need to add a lot of extras to get it really bike you would use every day.

On the photo no handelbar gadgets: voltmeter, speakers, handlebar mount, GPS holder:

uus kohvrid.webp
 
Last edited:



Gallo

Never owned any Bike, about 50 now, that I haven't had to add/modify screens/seats/luggage to suit.
 

not 50, but nearly 40 bikes under my a**, and like it is some like girls, some like moms, some like them both, same here.
One bike for mass production, cannot be liked by all.
 

Gallo said:
not 50, but nearly 40 bikes under my a**, and like it is some like girls, some like moms, some like them both, same here.
One bike for mass production, cannot be liked by all.
Click to expand...


True ... IF there was only one bike, we would only have one available! That is why motorcycles come in all shapes and sizes with numerous "creature features" right from the factory.
 

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