Well here we go! Left SWLA Wed. 4/29 for Birmingham. Casual Interstate ride. The difference from the mods is evident even here. The bike doesn't want to follow little grooves in the surface. Bumps and holes don't transmit into the bars as much, and the bike just feels overall more stable and firmly planted. Thursday I met up with a friend of mine and 5 other usual suspects to head for the hills.
Within an hour we were on back roads, no surprise with this bunch, which includes...a Tiger 800, FZ6, FJ1300, 600 ninja, Bandit, and a Kawi 600 and me with Big Red2. After riding all day, I can say the difference is amazing. After not really riding curves for about 6 mos., I starting riding like I was on a dirt bike. Going in too fast, downshifting and braking hard and late. Then getting back on the gas as soon as the exit was spotted. While it felt very fast, I was having to catch up on the short straights, which put my entry speed too fast. By the end of the day my rear tire was toast. I had hanging chads all around the tire. Tire had around 4k miles and looked to have way more than 50% life when I started. Pressures were set at 41psi. We stayed at Dillard Chalets. The next morning the group headed off to the Blue ridge parkway, while I headed for Riders Hill in Dalonega. They didn't have the Michelins that I wanted, so we got on the phone and couldn't find one within 4 hours of there. Cords were showing so that wasn't an option. They did have a Conti trail attack my size and I was 900 miles from home with no other options, so I had it mounted. The mechanic at Riders Hill,William, was very meticulous using a torque wrench on the build. He put little sharpie marks on every thing he took off and realigned. Friday was shot. so I did some shopping and bought breakfast stuff for the morning. Saturday we were off again. This time I worked on being smooth and riding a gear or 2 higher. Using brakes instead or engine braking, and being smooth, really helped me ride a lot faster without near the abuse on tires. The conti stuck like like glue which was nice after sliding the rear going in and drifting on the exit with the dying of the other tire. I just don't know how this tire will act in the wet. Then up and on the road home for 14 hrs Sunday. The Race tech springs and Bel Ray fork oil was a great decision. I was severly over loaded on the first day, and after leaving the load at the camp, this bike was on a rail. I could never ride at that speed and precision before the mod. Thanks for all the wisdom from this site to make the install as painless as possible.
:tb1:
