cliffa
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- Joined
- May 26, 2013
- Messages
- 4,126
I’ve been lucky enough to ride both, and you are correct, not really a lot of difference. For me it was only the brakes which seemed to have more feel.I may be wrong Tony, often am, but my guess is that they would be very similar to ride - especially if the GEM (thanks BT) was wearing shorts and may have been fettled.
Blighty is amongst the very few to be seriously touring on a Donnie 961. It always struck me that due to their hand built nature, poor QC (and varying build states), there has always been a degree of ‘pot luck’ with the Donnie bikes whether you got a good’un or one likely to give you grief throughout its life. The impact on ownership of the latter being directly proportional to the owners ability with a spanner.
Less risk with a Solihull machine; with warranty, dealer and spares access I think. Noting that any effort needed to fettle the Donnie bike to reliability may cost (significant) money. In the end though, you’re getting the same machine - a riding/ownership experience well worth the price of admission whichever way ya go!
Maybe a riding comparison between a sorted 961 (old or new) and a sorted 850 (back to back) would be useful also.