Voge DS900X – Straight Out Of The Box

Thanks to the folks at Moto GB, the Voge DS900X arrived yesterday. Other than sitting on it in the garage and drinking tea while studying the fit and finish, the Voge is a stranger to me.

It’s now 6:30 am, dark and raining, and I’m about to venture out on the DS900X. Not exactly the best of conditions to get to know a new motorcycle, but what could possibly go wrong?

First Impressions

It feels heavy as I back it out of the garage, but there’s a lot on the bike as standard, including the three-piece metal luggage. I don’t need the panniers today. I’ve packed everything into the top box, but I couldn’t work out how to remove the panniers, so they’re coming for the ride.

Since the panniers are coming along, perhaps I should have packed the contents of the top box into them to lower some of the weight. Approaching the first series of bends, the Voge DS900X feels eager to turn, perhaps even a little top-heavy. I don’t ride many motorcycles with 21-inch front wheels, so I’ll need to get a view from one of the regular Africa Twin riders. The turn-in is not unstable or unpredictable; the Voge is just keen to get on with it.

The bike is exactly as it was delivered. Other than ensuring there’s petrol in the tank, air in the tyres, and oil in the engine, I haven’t made any adjustments to the Voge. As I have full control of the suspension and different riding modes, there’s a lot to discover. This morning is all about getting to know each other and working out what I might want to change.

Let There Be Light

The headlights on some motorcycles I’ve ridden have been a criminal offence. Whoever at the factory thought the headlight they designed was acceptable needed to be dragged into the car park and made to apologise.

Voge has not made this mistake. The headlight is fantastic. It’s not just bright; the light has a highly effective pattern, ensuring the parts of the road you want to see are illuminated without blinding oncoming vehicles. The fog lights that come as standard add extra road presence and do a great job of filling in the areas closer to the bike.

It’s a well-thought-out arrangement that might be luck, but I think it’s more that someone in the factory stopped and thought about the rider’s needs. Whoever you are – nice job. Thanks.

Let There Be Heat

My regular routine on early morning rides in winter is to reach for the Keis heated gloves (the G901s are excellent), but this morning, to get the full effect of the Voge’s heated grips, I opted for the Weise Sirus 2.0 gloves.

The Weise gloves are good, and when coupled with the Voge’s heated grips at full power, my hands were hot. Not warm – hot. Turning the grips down to a medium setting gave me the perfect balance for the hour-long ride.

I’ve never had a heated seat before. It’s a pleasant, if strange, sensation and most welcome on a cold morning.

Let There Be Acceleration

Settling in for the miles on the dual carriageway, I started to appreciate some of the Voge’s other technology. The blind-spot radar is an excellent aid, although it can be slightly overprotective. The mirrors don’t blur but suffer from the usual “view of your elbows” and fancy shape issues common on many bikes. This is where the blind-spot radar comes in as a useful complement, but there is no excuse not to shoulder check.

But what do mirrors have to do with acceleration? I was looking in the near side mirror as I overtook a car in lane 1, which was closing on a truck doing 60 mph.

As the car on my inside started to accelerate so it could pull out in front of me into the rapidly closing gap, I spotted the car that wanted to be in front of everyone coming up fast behind me.

My choices were to risk the car on the inside, seeing that the gap was closing, and abandon the attempt to pull out, or slow down and get a car up my rear end.

I opted to exit forward and, to my delight, found that, at an indicated 70 mph in 6th gear, the Voge DS900X was sitting in the sweet spot of the torque curve and effortlessly took me past the truck and out of harm’s way.

Where to find …

Let There Be More

The Voge is impressive straight out of the box, but I’m not sure what I was expecting.

An unconscious bias toward Chinese manufacturing, driven by fear, uncertainty, and doubt—never facts and reasoned comparison—hangs over Chinese motorcycles.

It is the proverbial elephant in the room.

If I ignore the elephant, I’ve just ridden sixty miles on a good motorcycle and have no reason to think I won’t be riding the same motorcycle sixty miles back.

The Voge DS900X costs £9,000 and comes loaded with every imaginable extra as standard, except a rear-hugger.

To own one, you wouldn’t have to strap on a bloated PCP deal only to hand the bike back in three years and be left with nothing but less money in your bank account.

But would I get three years and 35,000 miles of problem-free riding from a Chinese motorcycle? It comes with a standard two-year warranty (same as Honda), and I’m hearing that there is an optional three-year extension, but I don’t have any details.

All very philosophical, but we need more facts. I’d better ride some more miles.