Now that I have the new bike, I wanted to take a short but nice ride to see how she feels but without giving me the opportunity to push the corners and wipe out. I am a careful rider but it is a new bike.
At 10am I got my gear together, including wet weather just in case. I have a comm system so I plugged in the cell phone so Rita can contact me in case of a problem and plugged in the iPod for some tunes. I find that tunes lets me focus on what I’m doing and not be distracted.
I headed out from Broomfield down to 287 and up to Louisville. The day is beautiful and the perfect temperature for a ride. I got on 42 and then 36 and finally made a left on Canyon Road. They’re tearing it up but the bike seems to handle it without any dancing.
As the road turns into two lane, I find myself behind a line of 5 cars a full sized van and a truck pulling a horse trailer. Perfect. This will keep me at a good speed and I won’t be tempted to push the bike. Exactly what I expected.
There are a few cotton ball clouds on the ride up. The rock formations look great and it looks nice and cool under the trees. The river is running a bit higher and there are plenty of cars parked on the side of the road.
The curves are nice and being able to concentrate on the bike and how it feels in the curves is welcome. From the rains, there’s a bit of sand on the road but very little in the curves. The bike seems very solid and there’s none of the slight wobble I get on the 750, probably because of my size.
At the first “keep right except to pass”, I’m not really paying attention and maintain my position. A few cars pass the horse trailer and the rest of us move up. At the next “keep right”, I’m watching and follow a car who is passing the horse trailer. Now there’s just the one car in front. At the first place where I can pass, I zip by and she does zip. In a few minutes of enjoying a little faster ride I’m up to the first cars that passed the trailer. A few minutes of riding behind them and there’s another passing zone. Zip and I’m by again, just in time to pass the dam. A few more nice turns and I’m in Nederland down to 35 and then 25. A stop at public parking to stretch my legs and enjoy the sun.
There’s about a 10 to 1 ratio of cruisers to sport bikes riding through town still I wave to the guys as they pass.
I check the bike out and all seem well, she’s not even breathing hard 🙂
I get suited back up, get on and head out of the parking lot. At the entrance there’s a bunch of sand and the rear slides a bit as I leave. I make a right and head up the hill. There’s a Jeep in front of me that nicely pulls aside after the first turn. I wave after I pass and begin the ride up. It’s still a very nice day and there’s no reason to break out the wet weather gear. Blue sky and cool breezes. Perfect riding weather.
After a few miles, I find the left turn for Rt 72 and make the turn. While there is some traffic coming towards me, there’s no one in front or behind. The road is freshly paved with the little splotches of yellow indicating where the center of the road is. The sand is in the road, in places quite wide swatches of it but still none in the curves.
The railroad bed is to my right and I recall the track crossing coming up ahead. Sure enough, there’s the 35 mph and then the 25 mph for town and 15 to cross the tracks. A look and a nod to a biker parked on the side of the road and I’m through town and up the hill. I come around and down to the bottom again. On the way up, I see a cop sitting on the right side pointing up hill and behind the 30 mph sign. He eyed me on the way by but I’m doing 30. As I get up to the hairpin and out of his sight, I wave down the next two vehicles I see and continue on.
Now I’m getting on the tighter turns and discover a few curves with sand and the back end does a tiny slide. Lots of property for sale. Must have realized how cold it is when living at the top of a mountain 🙂 I get to the top and see several bikes parked at the restaurant including a few sport bikes.
The ride the rest of the way down the hill is as nice as the ride up 119. Wider turns, new pavement and little traffic. I come out to the plain and open her up just a little. At the intersection of 93, I make the left and head on down. The car in front of me is poking along so at the first chance I begin to pass. I guess he realized I was passing because he began to accelerate. A tiny bit of acceleration and I’m by him and back in the lane (look down and I’m at 110 !), slow back down and slowly catch up with traffic. At 128, make the right turn and head back home.
At the light where I make my left, there’s a guy on a custom and we chat briefly before the light changes. Gas up at the station and pull in to the garage.
The bike seems to be pretty nimble to me. It’s a lot more stable in the curves than the 750 is, again it may be because of my size vs the two bikes. I seem to be a bit farther over the front of the 750 than I am on the ‘busa. I also notice that my feet are able to comfortably get on to the pegs. I have to lean the 750 over a tad to get my foot on the peg. It’s worse when I have my JR pants on especially with the quilted lining. As far as the ride, it’s a _lot_ smoother both on the flatland and in the mountains. I’m looking forward to a longer trip.
Speaking of a longer trip. Rita has purchased an old Goldwing trike (1200) from a dealer in Ohio. She’s taking the train to Akron and I’m going to take a bike. We’ll meet there and we’ll drive back together. I’ll be leaving bright and early Wednesday morning.
Excellent 🙂
Hope you enjoyed your day as well.