Watch those New England back roads, at least till you get the hang of it!
I'm with Steve's earlier comments; I've got the same Triumph and I have to remind myself about the acceleration when I get off the Honda and onto the T. I got some Triumph stuff from a guy in southern NH (near Windblown X-C area, if you know it) who got rid of his 955 Sprint because he got tired of hitting 100 mph on the back roads there without even anticipating it! I think he said he traded it for a Beemer...
Thanks, I took my BM for a ride today to air it out a bit. I live very close to some great country roads that meander through towns just west of Boston. The routes are well known to me and I feel at ease with the knowledge of where I can push it a bit. After riding my old friend through familiar and beautiful territory for about a dozen miles, I returned home and started up my new acquisition. 61 miles on the clock. I've been waiting to get some of the .8mm 3M scotchguard clear adhesive material to protect the tank from the fasteners that keep my ample avoirdupoids from being exposed to the getting rather chilly elements.
I couldn't wait anymore however as I had a scientific experiment to run, comparing the relative handling characteristics of the two bikes on two lane, 35mph roads.
At first things sucked. It was three o'clock on a Friday afternoon, and my usually vacant, rolling, twisty routes had been mysteriously replaced with what suspiciously appeared as commuter highways where everyone was Mr. Bean, driving goofy little cars at 32 mph as I attempted to navigate the same routes I had just taken on the BMW an hour before. I was riding along the Charles river on a particularly challenging piece of road behind 2 Mr. Beans, in first and second gear when I made a decision to forego science and enjoy myself. I made a left on Lake Street in Sherborn and sans autos started to experiment a bit. What appears to me as more power than I've ever experienced was an immediate joy. The response on deceleration is as quick as acceleration and I found very quickly that being smooth, both in setting the pace as well as modulating it, was really imperative. I initially felt that the front end was heavier than on the BMW, and that I had to set up for turns more conscientiously, rather than react once I had entered, something I had been able to get away with on the Beemer. I found that as I rode, I became more aware of how I could use my legs and the heels of my boots on the pegs to help shift the balance of weight off of my hands. This helps improve both my cornering and smoothness. It was in the low 50's today, and I was wearing a nylon shell as well as a polar fleece under my leather, as I was on my initial ride. The collar of the fleece, in conjunction with the riding position keeps my Arai helmet from turning easily, and I still have to struggle to turn my head as much as I like to. I purchased some Helibars from mxsouth.com for $165. including shipping yesterday( this seems like a very good price, and I asked the salesperson to check to make sure they were sending bars for the correct bike). I'm hoping the bars remedy this problem. If not I need to find a helmet that is not quite so long across the back portion, or purchase less restrictive clothing.
I stopped in Sherborn center to return a call from my brother, who informed me that the police had surrounded the pizza place around the corner from my house. Apparently, a sprinkler installer had had a row with an elderly customer, and beaten him to death as well as injuring his disabled daughter, and fled into the pizza place, taking a hostage. Whoah, I'd better get home quickly and see what's going on!
Armed with a mission, I flew home, one of the best and most exhillerating 10 mile rides I have ever had.
I encountered only one vehicle that I had to pass, and it was a cinch. I twisted a bit and saw 100 before I returned to my usual restrained self. Effing awesome feeling without cutting it close at all. I reached home with the sense that I was a bit more familiar and comfortable with what I could do. I walked the quarter of a mile up to town as they were removing the police barracade that had restrained traffic from the center of town. My cell phone did not have service, and I found later that the authorities had resticted bandwidth while they talked the fellow out of the pizza joint. I happened apon a swat member walking toward me with an assault rifle in hand and asked if the situation had been resolved successfully. He kindly replied that he thought that things were in hand. I later found out that after surrounding the pizza shop with hundreds of personnel, including 2 helicopters, the man apprehended in the pizza shop had not been the murderer, but some miscalculating robber, who had the misfortune of picking a very bad moment. My town has had two murders in the 26 years I have lived here. Before that there hadn't been one since a policeman was killed during a bank heist during the depression( the 1930's). I have to wonder if my being here has contributed to the increased violence. Probably in part, a very surreal afternoon!