The nimble feel is due to spending quite a bit of engineering time to give the Ridgeback proper trail for such a long fork. As long as you keep in mind the bike is 107 inches long, it's a great bike for slicing through traffic. Hard corners are not a good idea, but a gentle backroad is plenty of fun on the Ridgeback. Brake power is typical Performance Machine - strong and predictable - and with the skinny 21-incher riding so far out front, you are going to have to use both brakes to make quick stops.
Out on the freeway, the six-speed and 107 allowed us to get more than 80 mph quickly. In fact, we often found the bike pushing just shy of 90 as we blasted down our local freeways, yet the composure of the Dog makes riders feel like they are traveling much closer to the speed limit. The riding position sits one low enough that the wind isn't too bad, and surprisingly, the chassis flexes enough to make burning a tank of fuel pretty easy. And we plan on doing quite a bit of that, since we will be doing a long-term test of the new Ridgeback. Check back in the next few issues as we tell you how the Dog handles our commands.