New 09 570 owner - first ride!

Hey guys, just thought I'd share my first ride experiences on my 570.

I was in some badlands terrain in Saskatchewan, Canada. You can't tell from the pic but the whole area is steep, closely packed hills with a sandy, grassy bottom. Myself and friends were bombing them looking for opportunities to get airborne. It is truely the best place I've ever found for riding, miles and miles of kickers and tabletops formed naturally. One big terrain park!

I am 23 yr old, 5'11" and 185lbs without gear. Not sure what level of rider I am because I've never competed, just love to go fast and improve my skills. I've been riding since I could walk.

First of all, the cons I've found on the bike:
- The seat. When I first sat on it, I thought it was some sort of cruel joke. Needless to say, I'm going with a Guts racing foam ASAP.
- Flame outs. Nearly killed myself when it died in the air or when landing. Had to watch my clutch closely to be ready for the next one.
- Soft factory suspension. Very nice in the initial travel but bottoms easily. I also have a big rubber streak on my muffler as well from bottoming out, not sure how they missed that.
- Fuel consumption, EFI really doesn't save much fuel in this case.

The pros-
- EFI and electric start. It's no muss/no fuss easy and responds instantly to any throttle input.
- Handling. Very nice turn-in and feels nimble in the air for a 570.
- Power. Not mind blowing, but pleasant and plentiful. I am going to order the FMF 4.1 slip-on and try to get a little more top end hit because it's a little flat up top.
- Fit/Finish. After paying $9900 CDN, I was happy with how the bike was put together.
- Brakes. With stainless braided line and Brembo caliper, the front brake kicks.
- Styling. Makes the Japanese bikes look old. Looks like it was carved with a Viking's battle axe.

Other notes:
- You can feel the extra weight of the 70 degree laydown on the front tire. Doesn't want to wheelie as much as other bikes and sometimes lacks traction. But it does make it bite like crazy in the twisties.
- Everyone notices it. Whether that's good or bad, be prepared to answer questions from intrigued 450 owners.

Planned mods:
Suspension work for my riding style.
FMF 4.1 Titanium can and the ignition map switch.
Trailtech Eclipse HID headlight.
Most importantly - Guts racing foam.

Overall, I am happy with the bike. I had to take a link out of the chain and give her an oil change, and next weekend will be heading back out to my favorite riding area for more!

Thanks for the tip, I read in the manual that the idle was supposed to be 1600-1800rpm and you can tell it's more like 1000 or 1200 right now. I'll bump it up a little.

I also get the feeling that the dealer didn't do the 15 minute burn in, they didn't seem knowledgeable on the Bergs at all and had only sold a couple (and they're a huge Polaris/Victory/KTM/Kawasaki dealer). Not that I'm mad though, I don't want a new engine to idle 15 min under no load when it's brand new.

Great site you have here BTW.

Hey Fryguy, I currently live near Lloydminster on the Alberta side and bought the bike in Edmonton.

Unfortunately I'll be back to work during that weekend, but it sounds like fun.

Just found some other problem with the bike today, the thermostat is rubbing into the radiator so I'll have to figure something out there. Got the idle raised and no flame outs yet, thanks for the tip.

Is there anywhere in AB you recommend getting the suspension reworked?

Just thought I'd give a quick update, for the most part the bike is working awesome at 25 hours on the clock.

The only issue so far is a leaking sight glass on the side of the case. My dealer has been waiting on parts for 6 weeks!

I've set my mind on getting Factory Connection or someone else to stiffen up the suspension. Everytime I take the bike out I am blowing through the stroke, and I am not a heavy guy at 180lbs.

I was riding a local enduro style circuit last night for fun and went over a set of rolling hills at about 120km/h. I landed well into the flats and bottomed the fork so hard it bounced back in the air at that speed. It feels unstable when things like that happen but it never throws you off, it just feels like it will!

So far the best investment has been the FMF Ti pipe. The map switch is useless for me because the most aggressive setting seems about the same as factory, and the medium and soft settings make it sluggish. I haven't put my guts racing foam in yet because the factory foam is breaking in.

Looking forward to putting on the 2010 low fuel indicator kit and possibly the new header with the power chamber. And maybe the awesome looking black plastic with blue/chrome decals for a little flash.

With a suspension rework I am thinking of entering some enduros next year for fun. I have never competed in an official race of any kind, but this bike begs to be pushed hard and is so fast that I would love to see if I can keep up with serious riders.