SoloBiker.com

Archive for August, 2008

I originally made this post in the dedicated GSX650F forum last month. I’m reprinting it here in the hope that the information it contains will be useful to others.

Keep in mind that these are my initial impressions after 500 miles. I grow to like the bike more every time I ride it, but I’ll prepare a much more thorough review of the bike after I get back from my 9 day, 2,300 mile tour from 9/1/08 to 9/9/08.

(Alternating bolding to make it easier to read.)

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I love the power level – enough power to get me out of trouble, but not enough power to really get me INTO trouble, if you know what I mean.

I love how the slightly high weight for this class of bike makes it feel so incredibly stable and planted at speed.

I love that the windshield and fairing provide the cleanest flow of air I’ve ever had on a bike.

I love the way it looks.

I love the instrumentation. That gear indicator is a big deal to me. I’ve already come to rely on it, and it makes me much smoother as I slow to make low speed turns.

I love that it is so similar to the Bandit 1250, because this created an instant aftermarket of things like hard luggage and seats. Without this I wouldn’t have even considered the F.

I love how the thing sounds like a turbine when you rip the throttle.

I love the smooth throttle response and even power distribution when you go WFO.

I love that an ultra conservative rider like me can get this bike to 100 by complete accident (a first for me out of 6 bikes I’ve owned).

I love the overall protection that the full fairing gives me, especially on my lower body.

I can’t think of a single thing that sucks. I have a few dislikes, all of them minor, and most of them fixable.

I don’t like how it sounds at idle. It is very “agricultural”, and makes my previous Harley Sportster sounds smooth and modern in comparison. (Edit: this is getting better and smoother as the miles add up.)

I don’t like the seat, though it’s still the best OEM seat I’ve sat on this side of a Buell. Fix is on its way this week in the form of a Sargent. (Sargent has been on the bike for a few hundred miles and is a HUGE improvement.)

I would prefer the ergos of the Bandit. I have lower back issues, and the 650F had me bent over a touch more then I’d like. A set of GenMar up and backs solved 95% of this issue.

I’d really like about one more inch of legroom. This might be possible with the Buell footpeg conversion if I can eliminate the few new ergo problems that those pegs create. (Sargent “low” seat is almost 1″ higher then stock seat – mostly solving the legroom problem.)

I dislike the size of the pipe, but that’s a smog thing, and I notice all new bikes are going to these farm silo sized things. Easily taken care of in the aftermarket. (Holeshot Performance makes a beautiful powdercoat black pipe with options to quiet it down enough for touring. Worth a look.)

I think that about covers everything. After 5 bikes in three years, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, and the U.S. market finally provided it in the 650F. Having the 1250 motor in this package would have been perfect, but it doesn’t exist, and I couldn’t justify the extra cost of a Bandit 1250 for a guy who always tours solo and NEVER sees the other side of 90 on trips.

If you couldn’t tell, I do love this bike.

I’d prefer it was a belt drive, but that’s just a pipe dream.

This is the bike I wanted 5 bikes ago – a “Sport Standard” that could be made into a 3/4 scale FJR or ST1300. It’s about 160 lbs lighter than those two bikes, is about half the cost, will nearly keep up in the straights, and outrun them in the twisties.

It’s the perfect balance of commuter / tourer, with just enough power to keep things interesting.

Don’t let the GSXR looks fool you. This is no rocket bike to be sure. At 85 horsepower and 515 lbs wet, it will certainly get out of it’s own way, but will be left in the dust by every sportbike on the market.

And that’s just fine with me…I’m not that kind of rider anyway.

I’m still in the break-in period with this bike, so haven’t yet taken it any great distance (I’ll replace the photo with one fromthe road ASAP). I’ve already set it up for touring though, with a center stand, bags, and an all day comfortable Sargent seat.

My limited amount of time on this bike so far has shown me that it will be the bike I ride with, and build memories with, for many years to come. I look forward to many happy miles on this bike.

1996 Honda CB750 Nighthawk

The only bike I ever made money on…

I bought this bike from a guy for $1,300 who really didn’t know what he had. It was in very good shape for its age, with the exception of the exhaust. Seems the previous owner hacksawed the old mufflers off and replaced them with straight pipes.

Riding it home was an adventure. This thing made my Harley sound whisper quiet. I set off at least three car alarms in my 9 mile trip home!

My original intention was to fix this bike up and ride it for a year or two, and sell the Sportster. I was tired of having a bike payment, and wanted to ride something I owned outright for a change. I did the work on the bike, adding a new chain and sprockets, new tires, a centerstand, and of course, new mufflers.

But it was a 12 year old bike with several owners. It’s maintenance schedule was unknown, and based on some local 100 mile rides I did on the bike, I really didn’t trust it for longer trips.

For me, the whole point of having a bike is for longer distance travel, so it slowly became obvious that this particular bike wasn’t the answer for me.

Too bad, because I really liked it. It was very comfortable. There isn’t much of an aftermarket for the bike however, and this further cut into any plans I had for making it a long distance tourer.

I sold it a month prior to selling the Sportster. The sale of the two left me bikeless for the first time in three years. I was pretty sure I could live without a bike for a year or two without any problems….

…I lasted three months.

Taking a break in Nipton, CA

For reasons I still don’t entirely understand, I just never “bonded” with the V-Strom. For better or worse, I’m an aesthetic sort of guy, and the poor Strom simply redefined ugly. I even spent a ridiculous sum of money on a lower fairing, which helped the looks a bit, but it wasn’t enough.

One day, my primary riding buddy offered to switch bikes with me for the afternoon. He rides a 2004 Harley Davidson Sportster. I hopped on, and the experience was so completely opposite of my Strom, that it was hard to believe that both were actually in the same class of transportation!

The Sportster shook like a paint mixer at idle, the controls were heavy, and even with mid-mounted pegs, I could see my knees as I rode.

And I couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear the whole time I was on his bike.

I never looked at my Strom the same way after that, and I knew that my next bike would be a Sportster.

My 2006 Sportster was a leftover model, purchased late in the year. I had the option of buying an ‘07 instead, which had fuel injection, as opposed to the carburetors on the ‘06. I somewhat regret my decision, as it was carb problems that played a role in my selling of this bike.

It started life as a maroon bike, but I loved the look of my buddies black Sportster, and eventually found tins and a tank to convert it.

Near Dolan Springs, AZ

I rode this bike a lot. It was a great bike in town, for shorter trips, and at speeds up to 70 mph or so. I have great memories of this bike on trips both long and short – including a trip through southern Utah in July 2007 when the ambient temperature on my gauge pegged the meter at 120+ degrees!

The bike ultimately showed its shortcoming on longer trips, at freeway speeds above 70, and by the constant spitting and backfiring of the carbs. The guy I sold the Sporty to tore the carbs apart, and found that the dealer had installed jets that were too large and designed for the 1200cc motor (mine was an 883). This explained why the bike constantly ran rich and even occasionally spilled gas out the front of the carb.

In the end, it was a very difficult decision to sell it. It was the most beautiful bike I’ve ever owned. I had even purchased an inexpensive bike the previous autumn to replace it, except I couldn’t bring myself to do it, and actually sold that bike before the Sportster.

The Sporty will always hold a special place in my heart, and who knows? I may own one again someday.

2006 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom

Much better!

Getting the dry weight of the next bike down from 654 lbs to 418 lbs made a dramatic difference in my ability to keep this bike upright. Too bad it was probably too tall for a still-inexperienced rider.

Nevertheless, this was the first bike I felt comfortable enough on to ride regularly and even leave town for a trip – the whole reason I got into riding in the first place.

The V-Strom had an incredibly smooth motor, torquey, with a nice powerband. I kept this bike nearly a year, put several thousand miles on it, managed a 1,500 mile trip, and only dropped the bike once in the time I had it. Parking parallel to a downhill slope (again!) on the way to a Pashnit Spring Gathering in May 2006 was the culprit. That event caused me to miss the gathering as I then had to go into Carson City for parts.

First Long Motorcycle Trip - 05/2006 - Death Valley, CA

As much as I liked this bike, it wasn’t without it’s issues. The biggest one was a buffeting problem that I couldn’t solved after two adjusters and four different windshields. As a newbie, being on my tip-toes at stops was unnerving, and I had a constant issue with false neutrals between 2nd and 3rd gear.

Switching rides with a buddy one day, I got some time on a Harley Davidson Sportster. I immediately caught the bug, as it felt so much lower to the ground, and more “planted” at speed. After 10 months, I sold the V-Strom and rode home on a leftover 2006 Sportster.