Okay, pulling out of the driveway was interesting, I have a gravel drive, and after the last storm it's pretty rutted.....I almost quit, right then and there. But I persevered, and got out onto the road. First thing I noticed, the bike wants to stay upright, counter steering is definitely a good skill to have learned, as was said before, this is not for newbies, you really need to be an experienced rider. After about 10 miles I felt something wasn't right, so I added air to the rear, to about 36lbs, and brought my front up to 42, this felt a bit better to me. The next 90 miles were a mix of country, 4 lanes, and highway. I did notice a tendency for the bike to try to follow the camber of the road, to be expected when you realize your tire profile is basically just flat, I adjusted to this pretty quickly. Cornering....again, counter steering is a must, and I've been off the bike for a while, so it took a few miles for the reflexes to take over and then cornering became more relaxed for me, corners got tighter and tighter the more the odometer racked up. No balance issues from the tire as mounted so I lucked out there. Overall, I think I did pretty well for my first foray into this evil en devour.......
Am I sold? No, but I remain impartial, I need to log a few more miles first. Was it as bad as some nay-sayers proclaim? No, but there is a learning curve. Did I burst into flames and crash in a huge explosion? No, that didn't happen either. Did it feel weird? Yup, it did, but so did losing my virginity.....
The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow, and I'm off work, I think a trip to the coast is in order.........
And to those that say this can't be done safely, two words. Wright Brothers. (that came to me after so many people told me, in the outside world, that it won't fit, it won't ride, it'll blow off the rim.....etc etc....) Unhappily, the missus has made up her mind that it's dangerous, and refuses to ride with me now.......Oh well...maybe I can add that driver backrest after all.....