bluestratos
02-08-2014, 07:02 PM
It was cold today but I was able to get my power hooked up for my heated clothing and off I went. I filled the tank then drove 11 miles to Bellingham on the highway and as I was warm enough I decided to head to my dealer, another 34 miles away. The wind is gusting to 35 but I was surprised to find it very stable and very little effect on the bike. The heated grips really work great on this bike, I had to turn them down to low! I drove the speed limit and took it easy on the shifts to let her break in a bit but over all I am not impressed by the power so far but time will tell.
The tranny is smoother but not as smooth as I have heard tell by others. Off the line it rattles a bit this may get better as the clutch wears a bit. The eco shift indicated I could drive in 6th at 45 so I did and it seemed fine. To pass you need to drop a few gears but it hummed along fine otherwise. The repair definitely fixed the flaring issue that it had so kudos :-)
The power steering takes a lot of effort at low speed, I really noticed it in my drive way when I got back and put her to bed. Breaking is definitely better, it is not grabby and is predictable as you apply more pressure.
My biggest concern so far is how loud the intake sound is right now. It is very loud and I have to turn the radio up to hear over it. It is not as bad at 70 but then the road noise drowns it out. Compared to the videos I watched on the internet mine is far louder but I don't know if the camera really capturing the sound or not. I will have to wait until some one else I know gets one to compare against.
The fuel mileage was great for the first tank, 33.8 miles on a head wind most of the time. I drove 86.4 on 2.56 gallons, mostly 50 and over to max of 74 or so.
Over all I am impressed but need to let her break in some to really nail it down. So, now I am looking for a place to install a custom fuse panel I am building. I think I will use the rear saddle bag this time, left side as I never really found that side to be too useful due to the hump. I plan to run the main harness from the fuse panel out and into a 20 pin connector so I can quickly disconnect for removing the trunk module. From there it will branch out as required. I will do the same with the ground harness.
So many farkels to install so little time! :)
The tranny is smoother but not as smooth as I have heard tell by others. Off the line it rattles a bit this may get better as the clutch wears a bit. The eco shift indicated I could drive in 6th at 45 so I did and it seemed fine. To pass you need to drop a few gears but it hummed along fine otherwise. The repair definitely fixed the flaring issue that it had so kudos :-)
The power steering takes a lot of effort at low speed, I really noticed it in my drive way when I got back and put her to bed. Breaking is definitely better, it is not grabby and is predictable as you apply more pressure.
My biggest concern so far is how loud the intake sound is right now. It is very loud and I have to turn the radio up to hear over it. It is not as bad at 70 but then the road noise drowns it out. Compared to the videos I watched on the internet mine is far louder but I don't know if the camera really capturing the sound or not. I will have to wait until some one else I know gets one to compare against.
The fuel mileage was great for the first tank, 33.8 miles on a head wind most of the time. I drove 86.4 on 2.56 gallons, mostly 50 and over to max of 74 or so.
Over all I am impressed but need to let her break in some to really nail it down. So, now I am looking for a place to install a custom fuse panel I am building. I think I will use the rear saddle bag this time, left side as I never really found that side to be too useful due to the hump. I plan to run the main harness from the fuse panel out and into a 20 pin connector so I can quickly disconnect for removing the trunk module. From there it will branch out as required. I will do the same with the ground harness.
So many farkels to install so little time! :)