Now bear in mind I'm no journo like Mawsley, and I have zero mechanical knowledge.....so all I can go on is how I felt on it.
First off, just because it's only 500CC it's quite capable of picking up a bit of pace when you get the revs up. If anybody gets left behind on one of these under normal riding environments it ain't down to the bike. There's no power band, the power delivery is very linear......and it pulls well even from a standing start. It's physically small, and feels lighter than the 650GS even though it's a couple of kgs heavier.
Like @Tango said, I'm not too convinced with these Dunlop tyres. They seem a bit vague to me and the turn in seems to be slow. They'll be replaced with Tourance when their time's up. Brakes are decent enough, suspension is fine, and it's very comfortable. Perfect fit for me really.
Now the engine......it's fucking brilliant. I've never known such a smooth and quiet engine.....it just sort of burbles away and I never encountered any vibration. And the clutch and gearbox is even better! Apparently it's got a slipper clutch and there's literally no effort needed on the clutch lever. You don't even feel any jerk or loss of momentum as you switch between gears either. It's incredible.
But it ain't for everybody! If you're used to big bikes with a lot of grunt then this is not for you. For the riding I do, and the roads I ride on it's perfect. And I also did a few miles at 120kph and it was showing around 5750 revs. It was no struggle, and I've no doubt that it could maintain it all day. No vibration and no buffeting from the screen either.
Apparently they're amazing on fuel as well.....but I'll find that out as time goes on.
To sum up, and as you can probably tell.....I think this bike is superb. It's far exceeded my expectations. By a very long way!
Here's a short vid and a couple of pics in a few different riding environments!