2007 Saxon Motorcycle's Firestorm

As with many fat-tire bikes these days, Saxon has opted to go with a right-side-drive final-belt setup. This frees up the chain-drive primary to be mounted to the motor and Road Max six-speed transmission without the need for additional spacers. Stashed inside the primary is a 32-amp charging system designed to keep the 550 CCA battery topped off.

Sheetmetal on the Firestorm consists of a 5-gallon, one-piece fuel tank (the largest of all Saxon's '06s), standard under-seat oilbag, and a pair of steel fenders that carry a V-theme cut into them. The front is a smallish piece sans fender spacers, while the rear is complete with hidden struts. Rider amenities consist of standard DOT hand controls and billet forward controls with rubber-banded, spiked footpegs designed to match the hand grips and passenger pegs.

Utilizing some solid-state circuitry, Saxon has a well-designed, good-looking speedometer tucked nicely between the handlebars. Functions include a tachometer, speedometer, trip meter, and indicators for turn signals, high-beams, oil, and Neutral. Firestorms come with a solo seat with the option to upgrade to a two-up model, which our test bike had ($395).

All Saxon bikes come standard with a monochromatic paint scheme and matching powdercoated frames. Upgrades are available as Level One, Two, and Three, and include items such as simple flames (Level One, $1,000) crossover flames and skulls (Level Two, $1,500), and custom airbrush (Level Three, $2,900). Our test bike was decked out with black-cherry paint and a Level Two graphic consisting of a beveled real fire scheme.

So what did we think of the bike? To begin with, our hats are off to Saxon for going about this endeavor. We like the passion its founders have, not just for their own products but also for motorcycling as a whole. Our general feelings about the bike were favorable. The bike delivers what Saxon has promised. Beginning with good looks, which parlay into performance and good manners, we believe Saxon has struck a balance between many variables and has delivered an affordable motorcycle to the marketplace.

Even with the 96-inch mill, the bike has plenty of power. It showed no signs of cold-bloodedness or hesitation under acceleration. Since it weighs just 621 lbs, a quick twist of the throttle is all that's needed to motivate the bike down the road. Does that mean we're not interested in the 111-inch motor? To the contrary-this is what we do for a living, so we can never get enough power. That being said, for a lot of folks out there the standard motor should satisfy them just fine. The solid-mount motor ran smoothly and did not exhibit any excessive vibrations we could feel through the chassis, although we did notice a distinct vibration that made its way through the handlebars in the 2-3K rpm range.

Shifting the Road Max six-speed is smooth and predictable, gear changes are solid and sure, Neutral is easy to find, and we liked the fact that the Saxon included a sixth gear instead of going with just a five-speed gearbox.

The Firestorm handled quite well in a variety of situations and conditions. The frontend is well-balanced and shows no signs of flopping from side to side. Slow-speed maneuvering is a snap, as the bike turns equally well to the right and the left. Once you get the bike up to speed, the feeling is neutral, with very little input needed to toss the it through turns to either side. Once it's in a turn, the bike wants to stay there without too much coaxing. We did notice, however, that the bike touches down far too soon on both sides, because of the pipes on the right and the kickstand on the left. The bike we had was outfitted with a pair of turned-out pipes; a pair of slash-cuts would go a long way in giving a few more degrees of lean angle. We would not be surprised to see a modified kickstand design coming soon.

When we first rode the Firestorm and grabbed the front brake, we were surprised by how much pressure was needed on the lever to bring the bike to a stop. After checking the line for air and making sure the master cylinder was topped off, we gave the company a call. We were informed that some bikes have exhibited the same condition. The fix? A trip to a dealer/service center for an inspection, cleaning, and reassembly. We did ride another one of Saxon's bikes and did not find the same situation with the front brake.

Ergonomics on the bike are good; the layout of the seat and controls have a good relationship to one another. If you are out of the norm-either very short or tall-don't stress-Saxon has components available to move the forward controls as well as an optional seat designed for shorter riders.

As with so many other facets of the motorcycle industry, time will tell how things will go in the future. Based on what we've seen in a short period of time from Saxon, it looks like the company has set itself up for success. We can't wait to see what's in store for '07.