BIKE TEST BRAAAP MERCURY

ALL THE LATEST FROM MERCURY WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS THE BEAR

Braaap Motorcycles and Sol Invictus Motorcycle Co., in partnership, have turned out the Mercury. A motorcycle that is true to the hipster culture of café racers and a bike that can be customised easily to make it your own.

We took one for a ride to see what the Braaap Mercury is all about.

I went to Gasoline Motor Co., who were then in Darlinghurst, NSW and have since moved shop to Alexandria, (www. gasoline.com.au). They had a brand spanking new Mercury in shiny red for me to ride.

As on most zero kilometre motorcycles, the engine was a bit tight to start off with and I was thinking this was a 125cc rather than the 250cc it actually is. The engine quickly loosened up after 10 or so kilometres and the true power levels started to be released, and by the end of my ride on the Mercury I was quite happy with the amount of power it has – ideal for the café racer (inner city) scene.

If you want more power, you can get the bike upgraded to a 450cc kit – now that would be fun!

The Mercury has a reinforced frame and handling is extremely light. Any experience level of rider will feel at ease with a motorcycle this easy to ride.

The suspension itself is very soft, but once again for inner city speeds (up to 60km/h) it is fine.

The braking is adequate at lower speeds, but once you get up over 60km/h it does lack a bit of power. This is probably not going to be a big deal in the overall scheme of things.

Braaap is so confident in the product, that the Mercury is offered with a lifetime warranty (for $250) – the only motorcycle manufacturer to do this. Covering all parts, including moving parts, it means that you can have that extra bit of confidence and for a bike price of $4249 (+orc), that is a lot of added value for not so much moolah.

If you don’t want to take the lifetime warranty, you of course get a standard warranty, and the total purchase price is $3999 (+orc).

The riding position is neutral with a just forward, nicely weighted bar position for your hands. It is a relatively small motorcycle, but it seems to me that will fit almost all size riders. I was even okay at my giraffe 195cm height!

What we consider to be a big part of buying the Mercury (for many riders) are the personalisation kits, which include aftermarket handlebars, seats, tanks and pipes for those who like to customise their ride and want that bit of individuality in their motorcycle. If you check out the Braaap website (www. braaapmotorcycles.com) you’ll see a Mercury Tracker, which not only looks great, but would be fairly easy to create from the standard Mercury.

The Braaap Mercury looks nice and is a bit of fun to ride. As a base to customise into just how you’d like a cafe racer to look, it’s hard to go past for the price.

SPECS BRAAAP MERCURY

PRICE: $3999 (plus on-road charges)
WARRANTY: Lifetime warranty ($250 extra)
SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 6000km or 12 months
ENGINE: Air-cooled single cylinder, 4-stroke, SOHC
BORE x STROKE: N/A
DISPLACEMENT: 230cc
COMPRESSION: 9.0:1
POWER: 12kW @ 7500rpm
TORQUE: 17Nm @ 6000rpm
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed, wet multi-plate clutch, chain final drive
SUSPENSION: Front, inverted fork, non-adjustable. Rear, twin-shock, adjustable preload.
DIMENSIONS: Seat height 760mm, weight 115kg (wet), fuel capacity 12 litres, wheelbase 1255mm
TYRES: Front, 110/70/17.Rear, 130/70/17
FRAME: Tubular steel
BRAKES: Front, single disc with twin-piston caliper. Rear, disc with single-piston caliper.
FUEL CONSUMPTION: N/A
THEORETICAL RANGE: N/A
COLOURS: Red, Gloss Black, Matt Black
VERDICT: START RIGHT HERE

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