i'm more into dragracing it. most of the time it's lowered but i raise it up to stock and hit some curves once in a while. they are'nt very nimble like you said compared to a gixxer 1000 but not bad for the size bike it is. some guys even put gixxer 1000 swingarms on them to shorten the wheelbase and lighten it up for road racing. and i've been down that way on the dragon. been there...done that...bought the t-shirt. a buddy of mine about hit a bear on his new R1 when we were there