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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell me what you think?