Hello,
So not much to update today.
Did not get much time on the bike last week, just too busy with work and other things. I think I managed a lunch ride or two, and did take it out for a bit of a ride on Saturday to visit a friend and over to the car show on Sunday.
I did have a little excitement on the bike on Saturday. The friend I visited has a very steep driveway, and when I pulled into the drive I slowed for the slight bump up, but forgot to downshift into 1st so was still in 2nd. The steepness and slow rate of speed bogged the bike down, so I quickly downshifted into 1st, but as I was already starting to lose balance I gave it a bit too much throttle and the bike lurched forward, squealed the rear tire (and left about a 1 foot long black streak on the driveway) and I felt most of the weight come off the front wheel!!!
Thankfully my years of mountain biking already had me leaning forward for going up a steep hill and the bike quickly settled back and I was able to stay vertical and make it to the top of the hill! Still a bit freaky, not really into wheelies and this was a close one!
Rest of the riding was pretty much normal. Finally to the point that I can ride with one hand briefly if I need too (had a few times I needed to adjust the shoulder bag I use when the wind blows it around off my back). Bit scary the first few times, but at slower speeds it seems okay now, though still not sure I would want to try this at higher rates of speed.
I never got out on the the highway so still not yet gone much faster, and the winds lately have been really blowing hard, so not sure I want to try right now.
I may end up riding it to work next week as the part I am waiting for should be in by then and I can take the bike in to have it installed. So that will require doing at least 10 miles on the 4 lane divided highway until I get into another part of town, and from there I can either continue on the 8 lane freeway around to my office and the bike dealer, or I can take a shorter route through town on the main surface roads, but have far more stop lights. Will see what I feel like when the day arrives!
Not much riding will occur this weekend as I will be busy with another event and unable to ride, and not going to take the bike to the event as it is out of town. But since the weekend is a holiday, I will get Monday to play around, so perhaps will do some new experiences then.
Till the next update
Chris
Another week, more miles.
Hello,
So not much new in the last week. Bike now has just shy of 100 miles on it. Took it for longest ride yesterday, not sure of mileage, but was on the bike for at least 45 minutes without stopping. Even took it onto some gravel roads and parking areas which were a bit rough and a little freaky to ride on. Definitely a different experience then riding a mountain bike on same terrain!
I did finally receive the license plate for the bike, so looks a bit better without the huge temporary tag fluttering in the wind. :)
Hoping my center stand arrives this week, so I can get bike in next week to install, will make parking it in the garage much easier.
Plan for this coming weekend will be to take it out on the nearby highway for a roughly 10 mile ride up to a nice exit with a bridge to cross over with, and then back. Goal is to push bike up to about 70 mph, which will be the highest speed I will have ridden on a bike (not sure I have ever been on a bike going faster...probably not).
Will also get a little experience with the faster moving traffic. Just hoping the winds are a bit less so I do not have to work against them. That was another thing on yesterdays ride, very strong winds out of the south which made a few sections of road a bit difficult and when riding into the wind really could feel its attempts to move bike around (as well as made a huge amount of noise!)
Been shopping around for helmets and think I have it narrowed down to a few brands/models that offer the features I am looking for. They are not cheap, about 30% more than I was hoping to spend, but in the end will just do what I need to get what I want. Will make up my mind this week and then likely order online where I can get a better price even with the shipping costs.
Well, guess that is it for now, till the next update!
So not much new in the last week. Bike now has just shy of 100 miles on it. Took it for longest ride yesterday, not sure of mileage, but was on the bike for at least 45 minutes without stopping. Even took it onto some gravel roads and parking areas which were a bit rough and a little freaky to ride on. Definitely a different experience then riding a mountain bike on same terrain!
I did finally receive the license plate for the bike, so looks a bit better without the huge temporary tag fluttering in the wind. :)
Hoping my center stand arrives this week, so I can get bike in next week to install, will make parking it in the garage much easier.
Plan for this coming weekend will be to take it out on the nearby highway for a roughly 10 mile ride up to a nice exit with a bridge to cross over with, and then back. Goal is to push bike up to about 70 mph, which will be the highest speed I will have ridden on a bike (not sure I have ever been on a bike going faster...probably not).
Will also get a little experience with the faster moving traffic. Just hoping the winds are a bit less so I do not have to work against them. That was another thing on yesterdays ride, very strong winds out of the south which made a few sections of road a bit difficult and when riding into the wind really could feel its attempts to move bike around (as well as made a huge amount of noise!)
Been shopping around for helmets and think I have it narrowed down to a few brands/models that offer the features I am looking for. They are not cheap, about 30% more than I was hoping to spend, but in the end will just do what I need to get what I want. Will make up my mind this week and then likely order online where I can get a better price even with the shipping costs.
Well, guess that is it for now, till the next update!
Week 1 with the new Bike.
Hey everyone,
So had the bike now for just over a week. I have managed to put about 45 miles on it just riding locally around my area.
I have taken it out to lunch on multiple occasions and also went out for dinner once as well to see how it was to ride at night (something I have never done previously).
Slowly getting used to the bike, my shifting up and down and acceleration are getting smoother, though still not quite where I think they should be. Getting much better at braking and downshifting at the same time for stops and able to even slow down and start moving again without needing to put my foot down if the lights change in time.
While my cornering was really wide the first few rides, I am getting more comfortable with taking the corners a bit tighter and leaning a bit more into them, also going just a tad faster. Will take more practice on that until I get the feel and balance of the bike to become second nature to me.
The area I live in is fairly light in traffic, but still has enough cars on the road to get some experience with watching for turning cars, and scanning around me to make sure no one is doing anything stupid that would be a problem for me. Had the opportunity to be passed, and pass others as well, on the main roads around town. Dealt with stopping and starting on hills (we have some pretty steep ones around here) and moving through the curves of the main roads.
Had a few days with the wind blowing at a good rate, so was interesting to see how it can move you around some on the road as it hits you from various directions. Easy enough to compensate, but was a different feeling than having winds in a car or other large vehicle.
So far have been limited in rate of speed as most of the roads are around 40 mph speed limits, but did get on the main road into town which is 50 mph, and traffic goes much faster on average so was up to 55-60 mph for a mile or so. Bike felt really good and stable at that speed, even with a good crosswind blowing that day. Hoping to get it out on the actual highway in the next week and see how things go when moving up to 70 mph.
Riding at night was easy, lights on the bike are really bright, so gives good visibility of the roads. (Area where I live has no street lights, so can be really dark). May still be a good idea to install some additional lighting for riding in more remote places where there will be no light sources at all and roads will not be nice and smooth.
Read through most of the owners manual at this point, learned what all the lights on the instrument console mean and where most of the various components of the bike are located. The maintenance on the bike is a bit painful, very difficult to access most parts that need periodic replacement, so will get to have some fun when that comes. The first maintenance is due at 2 months or 600 miles, and will actually have the dealer perform that one as they go through a series of checks to make sure everything is adjusted correctly and in proper alignment. After that, I will start looking at doing my own work at least for simple stuff like oil, coolant, air cleaner, battery and brakes. Other things I will still use dealers or shops for most likely, though I am looking into some options for learning more about motorcycle maintenance to see how I can best gather the skills needed to do most things on the bike in case the need would arise in a remote location.
Still have 2 weeks before the center stand arrives, and will be happy when it does. While I was finally able to find a parking solution to have both the car and bike in the garage at the same time, and ability to move each out without moving the other, it is very tight, and the center stand will buy me about 3 inches of space to work with.
Not much more to do right now, just plan to ride more during the day and evening, and keep increasing my skills and getting used to faster roads and eventually work my way into heavier traffic. Also getting used to riding in the extreme heat down here. That will definitely influence my research and purchases of riding gear for my person.
So unless something really interesting happens, will update in another week.
Thanks for coming along on this journey and hopefully you will find it of some interest.
Chris
So had the bike now for just over a week. I have managed to put about 45 miles on it just riding locally around my area.
I have taken it out to lunch on multiple occasions and also went out for dinner once as well to see how it was to ride at night (something I have never done previously).
Slowly getting used to the bike, my shifting up and down and acceleration are getting smoother, though still not quite where I think they should be. Getting much better at braking and downshifting at the same time for stops and able to even slow down and start moving again without needing to put my foot down if the lights change in time.
While my cornering was really wide the first few rides, I am getting more comfortable with taking the corners a bit tighter and leaning a bit more into them, also going just a tad faster. Will take more practice on that until I get the feel and balance of the bike to become second nature to me.
The area I live in is fairly light in traffic, but still has enough cars on the road to get some experience with watching for turning cars, and scanning around me to make sure no one is doing anything stupid that would be a problem for me. Had the opportunity to be passed, and pass others as well, on the main roads around town. Dealt with stopping and starting on hills (we have some pretty steep ones around here) and moving through the curves of the main roads.
Had a few days with the wind blowing at a good rate, so was interesting to see how it can move you around some on the road as it hits you from various directions. Easy enough to compensate, but was a different feeling than having winds in a car or other large vehicle.
So far have been limited in rate of speed as most of the roads are around 40 mph speed limits, but did get on the main road into town which is 50 mph, and traffic goes much faster on average so was up to 55-60 mph for a mile or so. Bike felt really good and stable at that speed, even with a good crosswind blowing that day. Hoping to get it out on the actual highway in the next week and see how things go when moving up to 70 mph.
Riding at night was easy, lights on the bike are really bright, so gives good visibility of the roads. (Area where I live has no street lights, so can be really dark). May still be a good idea to install some additional lighting for riding in more remote places where there will be no light sources at all and roads will not be nice and smooth.
Read through most of the owners manual at this point, learned what all the lights on the instrument console mean and where most of the various components of the bike are located. The maintenance on the bike is a bit painful, very difficult to access most parts that need periodic replacement, so will get to have some fun when that comes. The first maintenance is due at 2 months or 600 miles, and will actually have the dealer perform that one as they go through a series of checks to make sure everything is adjusted correctly and in proper alignment. After that, I will start looking at doing my own work at least for simple stuff like oil, coolant, air cleaner, battery and brakes. Other things I will still use dealers or shops for most likely, though I am looking into some options for learning more about motorcycle maintenance to see how I can best gather the skills needed to do most things on the bike in case the need would arise in a remote location.
Still have 2 weeks before the center stand arrives, and will be happy when it does. While I was finally able to find a parking solution to have both the car and bike in the garage at the same time, and ability to move each out without moving the other, it is very tight, and the center stand will buy me about 3 inches of space to work with.
Not much more to do right now, just plan to ride more during the day and evening, and keep increasing my skills and getting used to faster roads and eventually work my way into heavier traffic. Also getting used to riding in the extreme heat down here. That will definitely influence my research and purchases of riding gear for my person.
So unless something really interesting happens, will update in another week.
Thanks for coming along on this journey and hopefully you will find it of some interest.
Chris
Motorcycle is here!
Hey everyone,
So the bike was delayed a bit as one of the 3 parts I ordered was on back order. Still waiting actually, but I had them go ahead with the bike delivery and will just take it back in to get the last part (center stand) installed.
Annoyingly that was the one part I really needed to make parking it in the garage with my car more efficient, but guess I can just play musical parking spots for now.
So they dropped the bike off on Saturday around noon. Looked it over and then decided to take it out right away for lunch, no time like the present as they say.
First ride was a bit nerve wracking, not been on a public street on a motorbike in a very, very long time. Thankfully traffic is pretty light where I live and cars mostly drive slower speeds. Made it to lunch without too much trouble and then rode home.
Since then I have taken it out 2 more times, both lunch runs. All told I have now ridden it about 15 miles around town.
Definitely a different experience than the bikes I rode in my youth and even the bike I rode for my class and rider exam. It travels nice and smoothly, seems to corner well at low speed, though I have noticed I tend to drift wide on higher speed corners, but feeling that will get better as I get used to how the bike is balanced.
Braking is still a bit tricky, brakes work really well, so find myself slowing down too soon before I need, so trying to work on applying them slower or later, otherwise easy to slow and keep bike upright under normal braking conditions.
My biggest challenge so far is the gear shifting. Just not found the sweet spot for when to shift the gears without either shedding too much speed or shifting under power and jerking forward. Thinking I will go do some practice runs in a big parking lot this weekend to go up and down the gears a few times to get used to how the bike changes gears and where and how I can best smooth the shifting process out.
Still need to get the owners manual read so I can learn where all the bike options and functions are, more things on the bike than I probably need right now, but still need to learn how to operate them and make sure nothing is setup in a way it shouldn't be. Another project for the evenings rest of this week.
Today I rode to lunch and the wind was blowing twice as hard as the other days, so was a new experience to ride in the wind and seeing how it can move the bike around a bit. Was not too bad, but can see how a really strong wind can drastically impact how the bike moves and how it could wear you out physically trying to keep it upright.
Will eventually gear the bike up for long distance travel, but for now it will only be making short trips, so have time to look into all the options and make sure I am choosing the best equipment for the ride. Before that will need to get all the gear for my person. I currently have the old helmet, gloves, boots and jacket I received from a friend, but need to replace it all with newer and nicer stuff here in the next month or two.
Will keep taking it out for short trips and then in a few weeks will hopefully feel up to taking it out on the highway and seeing how that goes. :)
Till the next update!
So the bike was delayed a bit as one of the 3 parts I ordered was on back order. Still waiting actually, but I had them go ahead with the bike delivery and will just take it back in to get the last part (center stand) installed.
Annoyingly that was the one part I really needed to make parking it in the garage with my car more efficient, but guess I can just play musical parking spots for now.
So they dropped the bike off on Saturday around noon. Looked it over and then decided to take it out right away for lunch, no time like the present as they say.
First ride was a bit nerve wracking, not been on a public street on a motorbike in a very, very long time. Thankfully traffic is pretty light where I live and cars mostly drive slower speeds. Made it to lunch without too much trouble and then rode home.
Since then I have taken it out 2 more times, both lunch runs. All told I have now ridden it about 15 miles around town.
Definitely a different experience than the bikes I rode in my youth and even the bike I rode for my class and rider exam. It travels nice and smoothly, seems to corner well at low speed, though I have noticed I tend to drift wide on higher speed corners, but feeling that will get better as I get used to how the bike is balanced.
Braking is still a bit tricky, brakes work really well, so find myself slowing down too soon before I need, so trying to work on applying them slower or later, otherwise easy to slow and keep bike upright under normal braking conditions.
My biggest challenge so far is the gear shifting. Just not found the sweet spot for when to shift the gears without either shedding too much speed or shifting under power and jerking forward. Thinking I will go do some practice runs in a big parking lot this weekend to go up and down the gears a few times to get used to how the bike changes gears and where and how I can best smooth the shifting process out.
Still need to get the owners manual read so I can learn where all the bike options and functions are, more things on the bike than I probably need right now, but still need to learn how to operate them and make sure nothing is setup in a way it shouldn't be. Another project for the evenings rest of this week.
Today I rode to lunch and the wind was blowing twice as hard as the other days, so was a new experience to ride in the wind and seeing how it can move the bike around a bit. Was not too bad, but can see how a really strong wind can drastically impact how the bike moves and how it could wear you out physically trying to keep it upright.
Will eventually gear the bike up for long distance travel, but for now it will only be making short trips, so have time to look into all the options and make sure I am choosing the best equipment for the ride. Before that will need to get all the gear for my person. I currently have the old helmet, gloves, boots and jacket I received from a friend, but need to replace it all with newer and nicer stuff here in the next month or two.
Will keep taking it out for short trips and then in a few weeks will hopefully feel up to taking it out on the highway and seeing how that goes. :)
Till the next update!
2017 Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS
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