Hey,
So not much to put here. Been doing a few short rides as always, but been so busy with other things that I have not been able to get out much.
I did finally hit 1000 miles on the bike though at approximately the 1 year mark of ownership. So not too bad for someone who had not ridden in a very long time!
Rest of May is pretty much taken with other things, but then the summer should slow down and I can hopefully get out and ride more, even if the heat will be crazy!
By July or August I should be ready to start doing some updates to the bike and my riding gear, so will at least have a few things to talk about then and should have some more interesting, though short rides to let you enjoy, may be able to start getting some video by then as well, depends on when I finally decide on some of that gear.
Hope you have a great summer.
Chris
My Journey towards an Around the World Motorcycle adventure from concept to execution.
Winter blues
Hello all.
So the weather in Arizona has been miserable this winter. Far colder than I ever recall it being and far more rain than usual. We even had a very light snow here in February!! That is very rare.
So the riding has been pretty limited. Mostly around town for lunch/dinner/small errands.
I have gone over to dinner and to visit friends to the nearby cities and also rode it to work a few weeks ago just to see how I liked riding in the normal weekday traffic. Overall was not too bad an experience.
I have managed to shed most of my concerns with the bike, feel pretty confident on it during normal conditions now. While still making fine adjustments to how I accelerate and shift to find that perfect balance, and getting better and taking corners faster and leaning the bike quite a bit now, most riding has become kind of automatic to me.
High winds are still annoying to deal with, and only 1 very short rain ride since the last experience in wet weather, but those skills can come later.
I am hoping to get into the next rider course here soon. Is a confidence course to review skills learned in the basic course, but will use my own bike this time.
Not bought any gear yet as I have been working on other projects and funds only go so far, but the gear I have at least allows me to ride, but do need to get on that soon here.
Hoping weather will stay warmer now and I can start riding it more and planning to take it out of town probably by end of April or early May to visit family in nearby town. Should be some new experience on the much heavier used Interstate and dealing with the higher elevations as well.
So till the next update!
So the weather in Arizona has been miserable this winter. Far colder than I ever recall it being and far more rain than usual. We even had a very light snow here in February!! That is very rare.
So the riding has been pretty limited. Mostly around town for lunch/dinner/small errands.
I have gone over to dinner and to visit friends to the nearby cities and also rode it to work a few weeks ago just to see how I liked riding in the normal weekday traffic. Overall was not too bad an experience.
I have managed to shed most of my concerns with the bike, feel pretty confident on it during normal conditions now. While still making fine adjustments to how I accelerate and shift to find that perfect balance, and getting better and taking corners faster and leaning the bike quite a bit now, most riding has become kind of automatic to me.
High winds are still annoying to deal with, and only 1 very short rain ride since the last experience in wet weather, but those skills can come later.
I am hoping to get into the next rider course here soon. Is a confidence course to review skills learned in the basic course, but will use my own bike this time.
Not bought any gear yet as I have been working on other projects and funds only go so far, but the gear I have at least allows me to ride, but do need to get on that soon here.
Hoping weather will stay warmer now and I can start riding it more and planning to take it out of town probably by end of April or early May to visit family in nearby town. Should be some new experience on the much heavier used Interstate and dealing with the higher elevations as well.
So till the next update!
Happy New Year - 2019
Hello everyone,
So not much to talk about over the last few months since I wrote last.
I have continued to ride the bike around town and a few longer trips into other parts of the city, just building my confidence and working on developing those innate skills that will allow me to react by instinct on a trip.
I have seen some improvement in my level of comfort on the bike, no longer as worried about stalling the engine or riding too slowly. I have also found better confidence in cornering and have even started to see a good lean when taking corners at higher speeds now.
The bike did finally reach its break in mileage (600 miles) so I took it in for the first service that the manufacturer highly recommended. They changed all the fluids, adjusted the various components and fully inspected the bike to make sure there were no loose parts or issues that might have been caused by the original shipping, storage, display and final delivery to me. No issues were found thankfully.
The bike drives a bit differently now, they did adjust the throttle and clutch controls some, so now need to get used to the way the bike works now. The clutch slip zone is a little farther out on the handle release now, so need to get use to letting it out more before it grabs, and the throttle itself seems a bit tighter and faster to respond, so again, need to get used to that.
I have not done anything else to the bike, and the time to ride has been impacted by work, cold weather and my lack of good riding gear. I did finally pick up a new pair of riding gloves, but just something cheap to keep my hands warmer.
Now that the new year is here I will get started on the research and acquisition of better riding gear to protect myself from the elements and dangers of the road. Will be looking at a new helmet, good riding jacket and pants, some wet weather gear, boots and good gloves. My challenge will be to find gear that can really be all-purpose as I want to limit the amount of gear carried on the bike, so need to find stuff that can serve as wide a range of duties as possible.
Around February or March I will hopefully get started on some longer rides here around Arizona and even some overnight trips so I can start thinking about that kind of gear and what I will want, which will then help me decide on the size and types of storage I want to put on the bike.
Will not be many updates for a few months again probably, but until then have a great year.
So not much to talk about over the last few months since I wrote last.
I have continued to ride the bike around town and a few longer trips into other parts of the city, just building my confidence and working on developing those innate skills that will allow me to react by instinct on a trip.
I have seen some improvement in my level of comfort on the bike, no longer as worried about stalling the engine or riding too slowly. I have also found better confidence in cornering and have even started to see a good lean when taking corners at higher speeds now.
The bike did finally reach its break in mileage (600 miles) so I took it in for the first service that the manufacturer highly recommended. They changed all the fluids, adjusted the various components and fully inspected the bike to make sure there were no loose parts or issues that might have been caused by the original shipping, storage, display and final delivery to me. No issues were found thankfully.
The bike drives a bit differently now, they did adjust the throttle and clutch controls some, so now need to get used to the way the bike works now. The clutch slip zone is a little farther out on the handle release now, so need to get use to letting it out more before it grabs, and the throttle itself seems a bit tighter and faster to respond, so again, need to get used to that.
I have not done anything else to the bike, and the time to ride has been impacted by work, cold weather and my lack of good riding gear. I did finally pick up a new pair of riding gloves, but just something cheap to keep my hands warmer.
Now that the new year is here I will get started on the research and acquisition of better riding gear to protect myself from the elements and dangers of the road. Will be looking at a new helmet, good riding jacket and pants, some wet weather gear, boots and good gloves. My challenge will be to find gear that can really be all-purpose as I want to limit the amount of gear carried on the bike, so need to find stuff that can serve as wide a range of duties as possible.
Around February or March I will hopefully get started on some longer rides here around Arizona and even some overnight trips so I can start thinking about that kind of gear and what I will want, which will then help me decide on the size and types of storage I want to put on the bike.
Will not be many updates for a few months again probably, but until then have a great year.
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