Theres like fucking 6 "new bike day" threads out there now, can i start a fucking trend or what?
Went down to c-bus to pick it up today, no problems. nice little 2 1/2 hour drive. about 40 miles from c-bus i see a MASSIVE 4 car pile up on the other side of the road. 15 miles later, still traffic jam over there. so i decide i am NOT taking the highway back to my home land.
Overcast skies, moderately warm, its still an okay day. Get the title transfered no prob, hand over cold hard cash, shake hands, ride away. we've mapped an alternate route to get around the clusterfuck of 08, otherwise known as "you stupid fucking tailgaters deserve all that whiplash". First impressions of bike.
WHOA what is this thing? its another world. Omg cant find the shifter. Omg i missed a gear. Omg am i in neutral? Omg did i just stall? then i got 200 feet down the road from the driveway and figured out how to ride again. Point being it was very awkward, like going from your favorite pair of casual boots, to a brand new pair of state of the art running shoes. a little discomfort at first. got to the gas station a block away from the guys house to fill it up and ive pretty much got the kinks out of the whole "okay where do my feet go on this monster" situation figured out. begin the ride home.
The bike has some ooomph. The throttle is snappy, and the shifting is smooth and methodical. The clutch is a little more touchy than im used to, stalled a couple times before i got used to it. it was hard even adjusting to the speedometer and the tach, because i'd expect to be going a certain speed at 6k in fifth and i'd be going much slower on the RR (my f3's tach only went to like 14, the RR goes to 17).
And speaking of speeds, it was even hard going from looking at the analog dial to the digital readout. Once i got used to it i was happy with it, but its just so much weirder looking down and seeing a number rather than looking down and seeing a needle's position.
The most important part, feel. The bike is taller than the F3. I cant completely plant my 5 foot 9 1/2 (on a good day) heels on the ground. Even felt like i was sitting a bit taller, till i realized i was humping the gas tank and had like 6 inchs of room behind my but in which to scoot back into and lean down on. Much more agressive than my old bike. and i soon learned this.
At first the bike did not seem as responsive as my F3. Kind of felt like i had to really push it in to a turn, as opposed to the F3 that would just fall into one. I attributed this to the tires though, and forgot about it and just concentrated on riding for a bit, we were still on our detour route around clusterfuck ten thousand. and im getting tired of following this cage, its time to go fast.
We get to where the highway finally meets the road, and i signal a stop. Clouds are getting dark, storm is looming. My dad (my ride) says maybe we should go back and go around.
"No" i say, as it starts to drizzle. "i'll meet you at home"
I turn around and cruise up to the stop sign to get back on the main road, and then the highway.
No sooner do i get on the on ramp than the heavens open up and start to pound me. "HAHA!" i though "im in my leathers bitches! you cant phase me!"
Well thats partially true. a little water cant phase me...
30 minutes later of riding no more than 40, prolly an average of 20 mph in torrential downpour, i see light skys on the horrizon. the traffic starts to unclusterfuck itself (this was a separate, less severe clusterfuck. This one had more to do with the fact that nobody in ohio knows how to drive for a shit, so whenever the highway goes from 3 lanes to 2 people's brains melt and they have no other choice but to drive like monkeys).
So i take off. Im drenched by this point, really soaking wet, but going faster helps. I've bypassed most of the traffic and there are just a few cars in front of me, and im doing about 80 when the traffic gaps permit ( i was staying the FUCK away from any cage ) . Eventually i get to dry land again, and while i thought it would be a blessing, it was not. It was terrible. Suddenly everything starts to dry and any coldness i had before is now multiplied by ten. Im still making time though, cruising at about 85 ninety, i am determined.
70 miles down the road and i spot an offramp, its time for a break, as i almost just experienced a butt cramp on my bike and that is not something i want to do. terrifying. So i pull off this noname exit to some noname town (it had a name, but for bloggings sake we'll just be generic), and i stop at the end of the long, uphill offramp to some country road that crosses the highway, but has no exit BACK ON THE HIGHWAY. ah well, looks like im hittin the back roads home.
I take my gloves off and imagine having a warm heater for my hands. something, anything to warm them up. they are so cold.
Then i realize i have a fucking motorcycle that is producing heat somewhere in the 200* range, and i utilize my exhaust for a little while. ahh my hands smell like shit but they are warm! Then i realize my gloves are soaked, and i wish i had a glove warmer upper/dryer thing...
and again i have an epiphany, and i put my gloves over my exhaust and warm those bitches up.
Eureka!
So im on my way again after warming up and waving on some passerbys that stopped to make sure i wasnt lost or crazy or both. and i head into the country roads. By this point i've gotten used to the different seating and the different stance, and i realize something. This bike is DYING to fucking turn. Like a switch was turned on and suddenly everything felt right in the world. I guess i stopped trying to ride the bike like my F3 and just kind of got used to the RR, and suddenly everything felt good in the world. amazing how i had just had about the most uncomfortable depressing hour and a half ride of my life, and now i am simultaneously having the BEST ride of my life. The whole way home i was ecstatic, although i had to keep reminding myself what being overzealous gets you... a bike in the gutter and a busted ego. I was conservative, and will continue to be, but its just a matter of time before i start to really see what kind of can i've opened up...
So today i bid you a due, my faithful F3. You served me well and were exactly what i needed, and as a father never forgets a lost son, as a man never forgets an old friend, as we never forget our first love, i will never forget that bike; heres to you.
