2023 RT Limited - First Observations/Comparison to 2015 RT-S

[Fjrwillie]

Picked up my new RT Limited from iMotorsport on Wed 7/10 and drove it home to Uxbridge MA. Took 3 days to Geneva OH. Stayed in Geneva until Monday morning, taking 4 days to get to Uxbridge. Total miles ridden were 1677, halfway there for the 3000 mile oil change. Toughest part of the journey was varying the MPH for the first 600 miles. Rerouted the first 3 days of riding to totally avoid any interstates so that I was not tempted.

I am quite pleased with the 2023. It has shown the flaws that developed over the 91,000+ miles on my 2015. That is to be expected and generally the 2023 is much smoother, more and likely due to the suspension wear on the 2015.

The 2023 seems to be a bit longer than my 2015, evidenced by more room in the driver cockpit, and it just looks longer. Someday, I will verify this by looking at the specs.

The 2015 seems to be sportier than the 2023. The get up and go is quicker.

Coupling these two observations, I would equate the 2015 to a small, quick sportscar, and the 2023 a more luxurious sportscar. Neither is better than the other, just different.

The brake pedal seems to be more forward than the 2015. I have a bad ankle that requires me to lift my food to brake on the 2015. The 2023 is more relaxing and preferable to my condition. I can rest my foot on the heel and still control the brake. The break-in on the brakes was weird to me, but it is just perfect.

I have not come to a conclusion on the hand placement differences between to two, but I had no issues adapting to the 2023 motorcycle-like handlebars.

The rear trunk is heaven. I could only just fit my 2 cameras in the 2015, now I will be looking for something to prevent them moving around in the 2023 trunk.

Frunk might be a tad smaller, but it accommodated what I put in it for long multi-day trips.

Side bags also might be a tad shorter, but again, they fit everything I carry on multi-day trips.

I run multiple GPS's when traveling; mounting them on the handlebars was a snap, thanks to Ram Mounts. My whole set up took me less than 15 minutes to mount onto the handlebars.

Floorboards are huge compared to the 2015, and a welcomed improvement.

I enjoy not having to wait for that screen to come up before one is able to start the bike.

I don't use the sound system; all music and phone calls are routed to the helmet via Bluetooth.

I finally figured out how to use that that toggle on the left handle grip... purely by accident, I actually set the clock.

I have adapted to the moving of the parking brake to the handgrip.

The trip from Chicago to Uxbridge:



The GPS Set up:



The 2023 RT Limited in action:



Willie

 

[safecracker]

COngrats on your new ride. My 2011 RTS was a great ride, my 2021 is a more refined ride. Bruce

 

[blacklightning]

Congrats on the new scoot. I went from a 2014 RT to the F3T, and now have a 2021 RTL (a couple of others in between). I find a lot of things that you stated to be true.
But, I have found that the saddle bags and frunk are indeed about the same size. I was able to fit the same interior luggage from the 2014 into the 2021. Yes, the rear trunk is a God sent when conpared to the shape and lack of function on the 2010-2019 models. Although the older model with the 1330 seemed to have more grunt off the line, the newer tune seems to have a smoother power band once you get started. I was able to make up for the lack of off the line power by installing a pedal (or power) commander. The bad that I have found is the quality of some of the parts. The biggest one that comes to mind is the latches for the saddle bags. I have had one replaced under warranty (handle broke), and this past sunday the other one opened while going down the road. After reaching back to shut it, it will now not open and I am pretty sure the handle will break again. I hate to say, but I use the frunk and trunk mainly to not have to deal with the poor saddle bag handle quality.