Horsehead
Slow Pokin' the Southeast
Well I really am so excited to be back into motorcycles and riding. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is and what a great community of folks make up the vast majority of this lifestyle we are all a part of.
Last weekend I got a notification on Facebook that the Indian dealership about 15 minutes from my house was going to be hosting the Demo truck and offering test rides to anyone that wanted to attend. I had done a Suzuki demo day probably around 8-9 years ago when i was still actively riding and remembered it was a lot of fun getting to try out several bikes that were a bit different from my personal machine. So even though I don't really have any desire to own a cruiser, I figured I'd head into town and give a few of their new offerings a once over. It doeant hurt that both my grandfather and my dad rode old Indians many years ago.
So I hopped on the ST11 and headed into town. There were several other folks there who all had the same.idea. Everyone was friendly and eager to talk about their experiences on the various bikes that Indian was offering. There were Harley riders, Sport Bike Risers, metric cruisers. You name it. Pretty much every type of bike except maybe ADV bikes were represented in the parking lot of attendees.
I've driven by this dealership countless times taking my daughter to ballet, but never once stepped inside. It's quite the place!
Registration was super easy. Just show them your driver's license with valid motorcycle endorsement and sign the waiver. Then pick out which bike you'd like to ride first.
Partly because a lot of bikes were currently out with other test riders, and partly because I didn't want to go from the ST to a gigantic bagger first thing, I picked the FTR Carbon for my first test ride.
Summary- holy crap this thing is freaking amazing. Talk about a torque monster!!! You really had to be careful to keep that front wheel down, and equally careful not to grab too much front brake when taming the beast. It was incredible fun. Instant acceleration, easily gobbling up 30 - 40mph, even in 6th gear, in an instant. I could see this bike being a TON of fun on back country roads. The forward leaning posture really worked well to counteract the wind at 70-80mph. You felt almost weightless as the two forces opposed one another.
When I got back to the dealership, everyone else was gone. And only one bike remained. So I guess I would be taking out a full dress bagger after al -- the Challenger. The difference between the two couldn't be more stark. Going from a sort of street fighter bike to this feltkke going from a bar stool to a couch. This bike was luxurious, comfortable, had every bell and whistle imaginable, but still had a ton of get up and go. The wind protection was quite nice on the highway after the FTRs naked frame.
Back to the dealership to see what else there was. By now another group had come back, and I pretty much had the pick of whichever bike I wanted. I really wanted to try out one of their more classic cruisers, so I opted for the Chieftain Bobber. Again, holy crap can you say torque? This thing wanted to jerk you off the seat if you werent careful with the clutch. Lots of fun. But it had the least lean angle of any so far and I was scraping pegs without even meaning to. It also didn't have the advantage of the forward lean posture of the FTR to counteract the wind. I felt like I was going to get blown off the handle bars at highway speed.
Funny thing happened on the way back to the dealership. I saw a familiar vehicle up ahead and lo and behold it was my wife headed into town! She managed to get a shot of me as me and another rider pulled away.
Back at the dealership I had time for one more ride. There were only two bikes present to choose from. A scout and a Chieftain Dark Horse Thunderstroke edition. This bike has all the electronic bells and whistles, but also had a few performance upgrades. I must say, this one may have been my favorite. It had so much power it wasn't even funny, but it was comfortable. It was loud and obnoxious and blacked out. But man it just felt cool to be riding it. I told my wife later "I can see why so many middle aged men end up on something like this." It really does just make you smile.
But, that bike was right at $29k. Don't get too attached...
So with that, I left. The ST11 felt like a nimble little sport bike compared to those baggers. And it's so much narrower between the legs. With my Heli Bars set how they are it also feels like a much more sport oriented posture. Needless to say, I had a blast but I was also happy to be back on MY bike for the ride home.
What do y'all think? Do you ever attend demo days for motorcycle brands / styles you can't afford / aren't actually interested in owning, or is it just me?
Last weekend I got a notification on Facebook that the Indian dealership about 15 minutes from my house was going to be hosting the Demo truck and offering test rides to anyone that wanted to attend. I had done a Suzuki demo day probably around 8-9 years ago when i was still actively riding and remembered it was a lot of fun getting to try out several bikes that were a bit different from my personal machine. So even though I don't really have any desire to own a cruiser, I figured I'd head into town and give a few of their new offerings a once over. It doeant hurt that both my grandfather and my dad rode old Indians many years ago.
So I hopped on the ST11 and headed into town. There were several other folks there who all had the same.idea. Everyone was friendly and eager to talk about their experiences on the various bikes that Indian was offering. There were Harley riders, Sport Bike Risers, metric cruisers. You name it. Pretty much every type of bike except maybe ADV bikes were represented in the parking lot of attendees.
I've driven by this dealership countless times taking my daughter to ballet, but never once stepped inside. It's quite the place!
Registration was super easy. Just show them your driver's license with valid motorcycle endorsement and sign the waiver. Then pick out which bike you'd like to ride first.
Partly because a lot of bikes were currently out with other test riders, and partly because I didn't want to go from the ST to a gigantic bagger first thing, I picked the FTR Carbon for my first test ride.
Summary- holy crap this thing is freaking amazing. Talk about a torque monster!!! You really had to be careful to keep that front wheel down, and equally careful not to grab too much front brake when taming the beast. It was incredible fun. Instant acceleration, easily gobbling up 30 - 40mph, even in 6th gear, in an instant. I could see this bike being a TON of fun on back country roads. The forward leaning posture really worked well to counteract the wind at 70-80mph. You felt almost weightless as the two forces opposed one another.
When I got back to the dealership, everyone else was gone. And only one bike remained. So I guess I would be taking out a full dress bagger after al -- the Challenger. The difference between the two couldn't be more stark. Going from a sort of street fighter bike to this feltkke going from a bar stool to a couch. This bike was luxurious, comfortable, had every bell and whistle imaginable, but still had a ton of get up and go. The wind protection was quite nice on the highway after the FTRs naked frame.
Back to the dealership to see what else there was. By now another group had come back, and I pretty much had the pick of whichever bike I wanted. I really wanted to try out one of their more classic cruisers, so I opted for the Chieftain Bobber. Again, holy crap can you say torque? This thing wanted to jerk you off the seat if you werent careful with the clutch. Lots of fun. But it had the least lean angle of any so far and I was scraping pegs without even meaning to. It also didn't have the advantage of the forward lean posture of the FTR to counteract the wind. I felt like I was going to get blown off the handle bars at highway speed.
Funny thing happened on the way back to the dealership. I saw a familiar vehicle up ahead and lo and behold it was my wife headed into town! She managed to get a shot of me as me and another rider pulled away.
Back at the dealership I had time for one more ride. There were only two bikes present to choose from. A scout and a Chieftain Dark Horse Thunderstroke edition. This bike has all the electronic bells and whistles, but also had a few performance upgrades. I must say, this one may have been my favorite. It had so much power it wasn't even funny, but it was comfortable. It was loud and obnoxious and blacked out. But man it just felt cool to be riding it. I told my wife later "I can see why so many middle aged men end up on something like this." It really does just make you smile.
But, that bike was right at $29k. Don't get too attached...
So with that, I left. The ST11 felt like a nimble little sport bike compared to those baggers. And it's so much narrower between the legs. With my Heli Bars set how they are it also feels like a much more sport oriented posture. Needless to say, I had a blast but I was also happy to be back on MY bike for the ride home.
What do y'all think? Do you ever attend demo days for motorcycle brands / styles you can't afford / aren't actually interested in owning, or is it just me?
