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