RDWII
New member
I am a member at goldwingfacts.com, have been for a long time. My membership number is 1195, of over 58,000 members. My point is I have seen it over and over, a new guy comes in and asks all the old questions (whats the best oil?) and tells you all the stuff you know already. This is my obligatory post to satisfy that, although I wont ask about oil. I am going to copy/paste what I posted at the other site.
This is how my experience went. I rode the train from Eugene, OR to Oakland. PO picked me up. Breakfast, look at the bike.
Well, my transaction went as hoped. The bike is perfect, had all it was supposed to have, more goodies than I expected, the guy was meticulous with records, although at 7700 miles there arent many.
I left his place at 1 pm yesterday, San Mateo. So picture me navigating san fran traffic, on a bike I am new to, a bike style I am new to, having been off for three years. Not to mention my wobble legs. It was interesting. Then the wind kicked up, hard. That thing has a fat nose, so it really bucks.
This thing is an interactive experience much more so than I expected. Every decent turn involves the butt, both arms, and at least one leg. I started the journey in traffic, with sweepers, and lots of road repairs. As you roll through a sweeper, inside wheel lifts just a tiny bit due to good old physics. I slide a bit to the inside to re center the balance, and push with my outside leg. When that pushing involves the sloppy leg, I can feel my knee slam from one end of the play to the other. I have to work on that...
During one of those sweepers, if that light inside wheel hits some sort of a road abberation, the momentary change in feel hits both wheels, alternately. It takes a bit to get used to that.
I really need to get the risers. The early models only had this riding stance, more zoomsplattish. I had worried about the knee position, but was surprised to find that the forward lean was miuch more troublesome. The new models include one that is definitely more cruiser like. It also comes with the newer, bigger engine. Which I cannot imagine needing...
since this one....
... has the 990 rotax v twin. PO had put a diff muffler on it... a loud harley has only a lil bit on this thing. Thing is, as much as I hate the noise, it pulls like a locomotive. I would hate to lose that. This thing is really, really quick. It loves rpms, infact the only reason the tach has 0-3500 is because it has to go through those to get to where its happiest. 3500-7000. Redline is 9500, indicated to 12000. The Spyderlovers.com folks say that lugging the engine is bad for it.
With that said, 70 mph is right at 5000 rpm. So, it goes like a scalded dog from 0-70. Roll on at 60mph is impressive. At one point I was behind a semi doing 60, appropriated distance behind. I rolled on, and was doing 80 before I reached the cab of the truck. Yeah, it does just fine. I cannot imagine needed the bigger 1330 triple cylinder.
Between the wind, new style of bike, having slept (not really) on a train, and a long day yesterday was a bit of a bugger. I was in pain and exhausted last night at my motel. Also, the Nolan helmet that came with was a noisy sumbuck. I couldnt find anyplace with earplugs, so on I went. I was so worn out from the noise last night..(inserted-I just recovered from a life threatening knee injury-yes, knee. Contracted a MRSA infection that nearly killed me. Factor the thirteen knee surgeries, along with all the things that went wrong in years past, I have had 26 surgeries)
Today the earplugs made a huge diff. I took breaks more often.
BTW, there was a lil rain in roseburg. The best way to see what happens on a wet road is to try it. When a light turned green, I goosed it. This broke the back wheel free in three gears, rapid succession.
o.0
yazwbp28.jpg
This is how my experience went. I rode the train from Eugene, OR to Oakland. PO picked me up. Breakfast, look at the bike.
Well, my transaction went as hoped. The bike is perfect, had all it was supposed to have, more goodies than I expected, the guy was meticulous with records, although at 7700 miles there arent many.
I left his place at 1 pm yesterday, San Mateo. So picture me navigating san fran traffic, on a bike I am new to, a bike style I am new to, having been off for three years. Not to mention my wobble legs. It was interesting. Then the wind kicked up, hard. That thing has a fat nose, so it really bucks.
This thing is an interactive experience much more so than I expected. Every decent turn involves the butt, both arms, and at least one leg. I started the journey in traffic, with sweepers, and lots of road repairs. As you roll through a sweeper, inside wheel lifts just a tiny bit due to good old physics. I slide a bit to the inside to re center the balance, and push with my outside leg. When that pushing involves the sloppy leg, I can feel my knee slam from one end of the play to the other. I have to work on that...
During one of those sweepers, if that light inside wheel hits some sort of a road abberation, the momentary change in feel hits both wheels, alternately. It takes a bit to get used to that.
I really need to get the risers. The early models only had this riding stance, more zoomsplattish. I had worried about the knee position, but was surprised to find that the forward lean was miuch more troublesome. The new models include one that is definitely more cruiser like. It also comes with the newer, bigger engine. Which I cannot imagine needing...
since this one....
... has the 990 rotax v twin. PO had put a diff muffler on it... a loud harley has only a lil bit on this thing. Thing is, as much as I hate the noise, it pulls like a locomotive. I would hate to lose that. This thing is really, really quick. It loves rpms, infact the only reason the tach has 0-3500 is because it has to go through those to get to where its happiest. 3500-7000. Redline is 9500, indicated to 12000. The Spyderlovers.com folks say that lugging the engine is bad for it.
With that said, 70 mph is right at 5000 rpm. So, it goes like a scalded dog from 0-70. Roll on at 60mph is impressive. At one point I was behind a semi doing 60, appropriated distance behind. I rolled on, and was doing 80 before I reached the cab of the truck. Yeah, it does just fine. I cannot imagine needed the bigger 1330 triple cylinder.
Between the wind, new style of bike, having slept (not really) on a train, and a long day yesterday was a bit of a bugger. I was in pain and exhausted last night at my motel. Also, the Nolan helmet that came with was a noisy sumbuck. I couldnt find anyplace with earplugs, so on I went. I was so worn out from the noise last night..(inserted-I just recovered from a life threatening knee injury-yes, knee. Contracted a MRSA infection that nearly killed me. Factor the thirteen knee surgeries, along with all the things that went wrong in years past, I have had 26 surgeries)
Today the earplugs made a huge diff. I took breaks more often.
BTW, there was a lil rain in roseburg. The best way to see what happens on a wet road is to try it. When a light turned green, I goosed it. This broke the back wheel free in three gears, rapid succession.
o.0
hyea:
