1. No, I thought it would be but it's no worse than the R1 that I had. I put 130 miles on it the first day riding it home from the dealer and I was comfortable. The seat feels hard when you first get on it but it never gets uncomfortable.

2. No, the motor is certainly stronger. What could be decieving is the way it is geared, very tall. At the same speed in the same gear the RC51 is running at lower revs than the SH so rolling on the throttle you are starting at a lower r.p.m. At least than my SH, I went up 2 teeth on the rear. In 6th gear at 70 mph it is only pulling 3500 rpm so rolling on the throttle won't impress anyone with acceleration.
The tall gearing will be cured shortly.

3. Pretty much, the low fuel light came on at 125 miles. Filled it up at the first gas station and it has the same 1.2 gallon reserve. The fuel mileage sucks, 34.6. It might improve some when broken in but I'm not counting on iit.

4. YES!!

5. Yes. I've had other bikes that handle good but this one has a very solid, planted feel. Mid corner bumps that would upset other bikes and throw them off line have no affect on this one. That was one of the things that I watched for on the ride home besause I know all the roads and where the bad spots in the corners are to watch for. A few times I deliberetely hit bumps in corners to see what it would do. It absorbed them with no ill affects and kept tracking right where it was pointed.

The handling is very impressive.

I have already talked to Dynojet and they said the havea map for the stock bike that will significantly improve the low end and midrange. They said the fuel mapping at high rpm's is good but the low and mid is all over the place. Some rpm's too rich some too lean, so I may get a power commander with this map to start with.