They were all on Continental TKC 80's, which we were told are to be phased out, and that the replacement, the one we had on one of the bikes, was not performing as well. They had tried a tyre from Mitas, which they reckoned was better than the TKC, but supply had dried up, and they have to wait until th eorinal fit tyres had worn out.

or go on a weekday?

Guess it depends on the dealer, my local one gave me two hours on a Saturday morning without having to ask.

Interesting review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwketqH8NDo

Has that bloke saved me a lot of money? Maybe I should be looking for a bargain air-cooled

Interesting, i've heard that not what happened at all and there definately was a witness, several in fact.

But maybe we've been told what they want us to hear....

I'd hazard a guess it's along the lines of those unexplained tank-slappers. Bike obviously did some subsequent testing in their latest issue, but they had that one at the launch where it broke the lock-stop and there was an American magazine who reported the same problem.

No mention of the Bullsh*t "stability issues" here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...

The other question is if this purported stability issue exists, underwhat conditions can it manifest?
I would suspect, especialy knowingthe terrain they rode in SA durng the test, IF the issue exists, it may only occur during off road riding. Perhaps at a certain speed, and on a certain surface a resonant frequency is established that causes the front to oscillate in a positive feedback loop to failure/crash. If this were caused or initiated by the new electronic suspension reacting in a perculiar way on a certan surface then it's going to be a pretty unique event, thn it's going to be a tough one to determine.
Re Kevin Ash, there's stil a great dal of confusion surrounding the events of his accident, so i wouldn't dismiss a problem with the bike just yet.
For example, there's a particular feature of the gravel roads over here, and thats the 'washboard' surface. The road becomes rippled due to the solid axle pick up trucks etc hammering along them and creating this horrible surface. Like tiny speedbumps a couple of inches high peak to trough and maybea foot apart. Hit that at the right speed and it knocks your teeth out.....
However, I doubt such a condition if it exists could be replicated on a normal dealer test ride.

If you're standin up the CoG is probably morerearwards. If that is combined with a dodgy surface then maybethe front gets away, especialy if this new eletronic suspension is trying to modulate itself. Might stiffen up and slide off the ripples and start to bounce the front, causing a slapper.