Saturday I went to visit the W-unit at the Powersports dealership where she works, and where I ordered our Red SM5 which of course won't be here for a while yet. They're a relativly new dealership (March) and had just received their 2 demos about two weeks ago. As I walked in, and while I was harassing the Sales Manager, (for no apparent reason) the Store Manager tossed me a key, (At first a flash of Red went through my head) and said the Silver SM5 was all gassed up. (Darn! I thought) I of course said great, when do you want it back? Before I lock the door he replied.
After completing the appropriate scribing, the giving up of the first born, (Worthless anyway) and other necessary dealership dribble, I concluded my pounding of the Sales Manager by taking his jacket, gloves, and helmet. I then told him not to feel bad yet, and to save that feeling for when I bring all his gear back later, in a nice sweat soaked condition as it was 90 degrees that day. (He should feel honored)
With a quick once over of the the
I was out the back side of the lot and off, down a couple of side roads to a major 6 laner. Now I'm not going to bore you with a bunch of needless stuff that most of you already know, but I would like to give you my experience on a few subjects discussed on this forum as it relates to the ride I had. First, I want to say that the
was completly stock with the stock suspension settings and after I took off, I quickly realized that the speedo was set to KPH so it was going to be a flow with the traffic RPM ride. Now I would like to cover a few of those subjects but first a few stats about me:
5'11" 195lbs. 33" inseam. First new street bike-1979 Suzuki. Have owned at least 1 crouch rocket, 1 cruiser, and 1 goldwing since then.
1. Mirrors. Visual is better than all the rockets that I've owned and some of the cruisers also. The Wings were better but they are different animals. I probably won't be puchasing any extensions, but I will most likely spend 3 bucks and get some small peel and stick convex mirrors to stick on them. That would be enough for me.
2. Handlebars. Comfortable width for my size. With stock windscreen at HWY speeds I would not require any risers because the wind pressure keeps the weight off my hands without having to pull at the bars. However if I were to do some all weather touring, a windscreen to help keep some rain off and risers to then take the weight off my hands and wrists would probably be required. I did notice a low frequency vibration in the grips. It did not make my hands numb during my ride of 75 miles unlike the high frequency vibe that I had in a couple of rockets that put my hand to sleep in 5 minutes. I think that a pair of Grip Puppies would be enough to resolve that for me.
3. Engine Heat. Spyder never exceded 5 bars during my ride through light traffic and stops. To me, the heat that I experiened wasn't much different than a fully cowled large rocket. I think because the heat is uneven from right to left it makes it more noticable. I also think that unlike the fully cowled rockets you never have to put your feet down at stops, thereby never removing your feet from the heated air flow of the cooling fan when it comes on.
4. Engine and Drivetrain. I really enjoyed this part of the machine. Plenty of "power to weight" for what it is. I think if they bumped it up to much more it would be a bit much for the demogrphic they are shooting for. But I do hope the aftermarket folks can help out those that want to "go so fast that they can smell their own exaust". I also really liked the transmission. Very smooth, and the clutch diddn't tire out my hand in traffic. The RPM's at HWY speed seemed acceptable to me for crusing with this set up.
5. Brakes. This system seems to work just fine. Haul you down when you need it to. (Just don't grab for the front one) No squeel on this one for the first 25 miles. Then the back one was pretty consistant on the squeel after that. Shall we call that "normal" for this critter.
6. Overview. I had fun. The leg position was a little tight. But that might be due to "never" having to put your feet down. As I stated earlier I have been riding off and on since 1979 and to be honest with you it was starting to get a little boring. But, because of the drastically different handling characteristics of this machine it will put the "Fun" back in it for me when mine finally arrives in a month or so. I don't believe there is anything I experienced on my ride or read in this forum that would scare me away from my purchase.
Now I can only hope that the W-unit doesn't enjoy driving it as much as I will. Otherwise, after the fight, it could be somewhat costly.
By the way, I did say Hi and By to her twice while I was at the dealership.
Can't wait for mine to get here!
After completing the appropriate scribing, the giving up of the first born, (Worthless anyway) and other necessary dealership dribble, I concluded my pounding of the Sales Manager by taking his jacket, gloves, and helmet. I then told him not to feel bad yet, and to save that feeling for when I bring all his gear back later, in a nice sweat soaked condition as it was 90 degrees that day. (He should feel honored)
With a quick once over of the the
5'11" 195lbs. 33" inseam. First new street bike-1979 Suzuki. Have owned at least 1 crouch rocket, 1 cruiser, and 1 goldwing since then.
1. Mirrors. Visual is better than all the rockets that I've owned and some of the cruisers also. The Wings were better but they are different animals. I probably won't be puchasing any extensions, but I will most likely spend 3 bucks and get some small peel and stick convex mirrors to stick on them. That would be enough for me.
2. Handlebars. Comfortable width for my size. With stock windscreen at HWY speeds I would not require any risers because the wind pressure keeps the weight off my hands without having to pull at the bars. However if I were to do some all weather touring, a windscreen to help keep some rain off and risers to then take the weight off my hands and wrists would probably be required. I did notice a low frequency vibration in the grips. It did not make my hands numb during my ride of 75 miles unlike the high frequency vibe that I had in a couple of rockets that put my hand to sleep in 5 minutes. I think that a pair of Grip Puppies would be enough to resolve that for me.
3. Engine Heat. Spyder never exceded 5 bars during my ride through light traffic and stops. To me, the heat that I experiened wasn't much different than a fully cowled large rocket. I think because the heat is uneven from right to left it makes it more noticable. I also think that unlike the fully cowled rockets you never have to put your feet down at stops, thereby never removing your feet from the heated air flow of the cooling fan when it comes on.
4. Engine and Drivetrain. I really enjoyed this part of the machine. Plenty of "power to weight" for what it is. I think if they bumped it up to much more it would be a bit much for the demogrphic they are shooting for. But I do hope the aftermarket folks can help out those that want to "go so fast that they can smell their own exaust". I also really liked the transmission. Very smooth, and the clutch diddn't tire out my hand in traffic. The RPM's at HWY speed seemed acceptable to me for crusing with this set up.
5. Brakes. This system seems to work just fine. Haul you down when you need it to. (Just don't grab for the front one) No squeel on this one for the first 25 miles. Then the back one was pretty consistant on the squeel after that. Shall we call that "normal" for this critter.
6. Overview. I had fun. The leg position was a little tight. But that might be due to "never" having to put your feet down. As I stated earlier I have been riding off and on since 1979 and to be honest with you it was starting to get a little boring. But, because of the drastically different handling characteristics of this machine it will put the "Fun" back in it for me when mine finally arrives in a month or so. I don't believe there is anything I experienced on my ride or read in this forum that would scare me away from my purchase.
Now I can only hope that the W-unit doesn't enjoy driving it as much as I will. Otherwise, after the fight, it could be somewhat costly.
By the way, I did say Hi and By to her twice while I was at the dealership.
Can't wait for mine to get here!
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