Jcwood3
Jason
I bought a low mile 07 ST1300 this summer and have been making small repairs / replacements / improvements over the last few months while using it as a fair weather daily driver. Which has all been amazing. And when I need to know something, one quick search here provides a wealth of information and experience.
I wanted to squeeze one more long ride into the year so I picked Thanksgiving and took a week off planning for two two-day-ish trips on either end of the holiday week. I live in Alexandria VA (just south of DC) and my mother lives in Bolivar TN (just east of Memphis). I figured I’d try Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, and visit an old friend of mine in Camden TN (just west of Nashville) I’d visit him on the second day.
Today was Skyline Drive. Great ride. I only got to the northern part, and plan to come back. Just beautiful through there, even after all the leaves have fallen. Weather was nice (55-65 F). After that, I hit the interstate to pound out some miles. I noticed something I’d never noticed - could use some advice on this.
At higher speeds (over 65 mph), the back end felt like it was trying to “slide out”. Like a car feels during oversteer. Didn’t feel it below 55 on skyline drive. Triple checked tire pressure (boy that rear valve stem has very little clearance to get a feed valve on!) and made a check to see if anything was loose or worn - a visual, hands on check at a gas station... no tools.
I’ve ridden a Dyna for 15 years, and didn’t recall the sensation. After a while I noticed it was correlated to dirty air. Interstate had a lot of traffic, the worse the buffeting from a big truck or whatever, the worse it seemed. As this is the first time I’ve taken the ST out fully loaded (full saddle bags and a 30ish pound bag on the passenger pillion) I’m guessing it’s related. It’s not overloaded by any means, but there’s definitely more weight than I’ve ever ridden it with before, and I didn’t adjust the shock.
So I’m thinking this is a combination of weight + unadjusted suspension + a guy who isn’t used to sport bike geometry + dirty air. Any thoughts / pointers?
Even with that, which became much less concerning after 10 minutes of riding with it, I really loved every mile. They’re just solid performing bikes. Great in the corners and mile eaters (stock seat notwithstanding - ouch). I did 510 miles today over 9 hours with all kinds of road surfaces and that thing never missed a beat. And listening to the engine when the windshield was all the way up was fantastic. That mix of low piston thumping and gear whine - sublime.
Just a few pics. More as I continue. Leaving from east Knoxville tomorrow morning, headed west for a little under 300 miles.
JC
Loaded for the trip and aired up
Skyline Drive
Post-ride operations
Thanks for reading
I wanted to squeeze one more long ride into the year so I picked Thanksgiving and took a week off planning for two two-day-ish trips on either end of the holiday week. I live in Alexandria VA (just south of DC) and my mother lives in Bolivar TN (just east of Memphis). I figured I’d try Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, and visit an old friend of mine in Camden TN (just west of Nashville) I’d visit him on the second day.
Today was Skyline Drive. Great ride. I only got to the northern part, and plan to come back. Just beautiful through there, even after all the leaves have fallen. Weather was nice (55-65 F). After that, I hit the interstate to pound out some miles. I noticed something I’d never noticed - could use some advice on this.
At higher speeds (over 65 mph), the back end felt like it was trying to “slide out”. Like a car feels during oversteer. Didn’t feel it below 55 on skyline drive. Triple checked tire pressure (boy that rear valve stem has very little clearance to get a feed valve on!) and made a check to see if anything was loose or worn - a visual, hands on check at a gas station... no tools.
I’ve ridden a Dyna for 15 years, and didn’t recall the sensation. After a while I noticed it was correlated to dirty air. Interstate had a lot of traffic, the worse the buffeting from a big truck or whatever, the worse it seemed. As this is the first time I’ve taken the ST out fully loaded (full saddle bags and a 30ish pound bag on the passenger pillion) I’m guessing it’s related. It’s not overloaded by any means, but there’s definitely more weight than I’ve ever ridden it with before, and I didn’t adjust the shock.
So I’m thinking this is a combination of weight + unadjusted suspension + a guy who isn’t used to sport bike geometry + dirty air. Any thoughts / pointers?
Even with that, which became much less concerning after 10 minutes of riding with it, I really loved every mile. They’re just solid performing bikes. Great in the corners and mile eaters (stock seat notwithstanding - ouch). I did 510 miles today over 9 hours with all kinds of road surfaces and that thing never missed a beat. And listening to the engine when the windshield was all the way up was fantastic. That mix of low piston thumping and gear whine - sublime.
Just a few pics. More as I continue. Leaving from east Knoxville tomorrow morning, headed west for a little under 300 miles.
JC
Loaded for the trip and aired up
Skyline Drive
Post-ride operations
Thanks for reading
