----- Original Message -----

From: Charles Graves

To: W650riders@...

Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 1:18 AM

Subject: [W650riders] My First Multi-day Trip on the W

< Hmm, just reviewed this prior to posting – it's a bit long-winded
and caution that if you're short of time you may prefer to check out
other postings here first. >

Last Tuesday through Sunday I took a test ride through Maine, New
Hampshire and Vermont (I life in New Brunswick, Canada, which
borders on Maine, USA). I call it a "test" ride because back in late
April when I picked up my W I was terribly disappointed to discover
that after a short time of riding – maybe 40 minutes – a
debilitating pain developed in the middle (not lower) part of my
back. Over the course of the summer my rides gradually became a
little longer and eventually pain-free to the extent that I could do
a day run.

Here are a few thoughts/comments that arise from the trip...

Back & Butt: Didn't know what to expect regarding a multi-day
undertaking but was pleased to discover that most of my body –
including my back – held up quite well. I say `most' of my body held
up well because my butt was by far the sorest part of me over the
last couple days. And no, I'm not talking hemorrhoids. I have a
Corbin Gunfighter seat but opted to use the stock (2001 model) as I
needed to carry my luggage on the back of the seat (Gunfighter does
not allow for this). To be fair, the luggage on the back of the seat
had me sitting well forward and prevented any movement or
stretching. Will look closer at seat modifications over the winter.

Tank Bag: I discovered that I need a tank bag for my bike travels to
facilitate easy access to camera and maps. I have been reluctant to
go the tank bag route for fear of marking the tank (granted, it came
with a couple of minor scratches). Recognizing its usefulness now, I
am open to any recommendations that members of this group have
regarding what to get and what to avoid when it comes to tank bag
selection.

Windshield / Helmet combo: My bike has a National Cycle F-15
windshield. This relieves the wind flow to my body but is rather
unpleasant in how it directs wind to my head (I wear an open face
3/4 helmet with no shield). Despite wearing ear plugs, I had to
wonder if the constant wind noise might be mildly harmful to
hearing. I realize there are larger windshields that do a much
better job of diverting wind. My objection is that they are larger
than I really like but given that I live in eastern Canada the extra
protection probably counterbalances what is lost in looks by
extending the riding season (my highway ride to work on the bike
yesterday was a tad on the cool side). Also, I like the idea of
being able to see `over' the top of the windshield – suspect this is
not possible with the larger ones. I intend to check out the
National Plexifairing 3 (with lowers) as suggested by Ray Nielsen
and others. Or a Slipstreamer Enterprise (again with lowers).

Re the helmet, I like the open face but will likely migrate to a
full face (or flip-up) for the added protection. Expect that will
cut down on wind noise too.

Reserve: My riding style is rather lax for the Jon Haddocks of the
world. Jon doesn't realize it but he's become my de facto biking
mentor – and I regret he will not be impressed to learn that I
consistently achieved 160 miles per tank before needing reserve. (Be
patient, Jon, there may be hope for me yet – but it will take time.)
Seems that I would fail to get gas before the 140 mile mark and then
happen to hit a stretch of road for 25 miles or so that did not have
a service station. Just curious if there is a documented volume of
gas for reserve, or how far one can expect to go on reserve. I read
here where somebody commented the reserve holds 0.9 gallons, though
I don't know if that was a general guesstimate or a documented
detail. Due to my chronic absentmindedness, it might be useful to
know for future reference. Having said that, if I had a healthier
cranial region, I would avoid even having to think about this, since
I suspect running low on gas increases the risk of picking up junk
that happens to be in the tank (though there's nothing obvious
floating around when I fill it up).

Mt Washington: Wow. In fact, BIG WOW! If you're ever passing through
New Hampshire and you're not afraid of heights or narrow roads with
steep drops and no guard rails, you owe it to yourself to check this
out. Best $12 (approximate) I've spent in ages. And one of the
coolest places I've ever driven – certainly the coolest place I've
been on a bike to date.

General: It seems my W and I bonded quite well over the course of
our travel last week. My initial bike purchase came down to a V-
Strom or the W. In retrospect, I might have been better off with the
V-Strom. However, I'm glad I bought the W. My original plan was to
buy one bike that would suit most of my riding plans. Now my plan is
to save up for a second bike – one that might be better suited for a
long trip with quite a bit of luggage that is apt to include a
significant amount of time on unpaved roads. But that's for another
thread – one that covers the V-Strom and/or Versys.

That's all folks. For those of you who suffered through it, I hope
the above monologue was not too boring. I use the daily summary but
added a pic to the Photos section of my bike on the ride up Mt
Washington in case anybody is interested
(
b=1).

Charles

< Hmm, just reviewed this prior to posting – it's a bit long-winded
and caution that if you're short of time you may prefer to check out
other postings here first. >

Last Tuesday through Sunday I took a test ride through Maine, New
Hampshire and Vermont (I life in New Brunswick, Canada, which
borders on Maine, USA). I call it a "test" ride because back in late
April when I picked up my W I was terribly disappointed to discover
that after a short time of riding – maybe 40 minutes – a
debilitating pain developed in the middle (not lower) part of my
back. Over the course of the summer my rides gradually became a
little longer and eventually pain-free to the extent that I could do
a day run.

Here are a few thoughts/comments that arise from the trip...

Back & Butt: Didn't know what to expect regarding a multi-day
undertaking but was pleased to discover that most of my body –
including my back – held up quite well. I say `most' of my body held
up well because my butt was by far the sorest part of me over the
last couple days. And no, I'm not talking hemorrhoids. I have a
Corbin Gunfighter seat but opted to use the stock (2001 model) as I
needed to carry my luggage on the back of the seat (Gunfighter does
not allow for this). To be fair, the luggage on the back of the seat
had me sitting well forward and prevented any movement or
stretching. Will look closer at seat modifications over the winter.

Tank Bag: I discovered that I need a tank bag for my bike travels to
facilitate easy access to camera and maps. I have been reluctant to
go the tank bag route for fear of marking the tank (granted, it came
with a couple of minor scratches). Recognizing its usefulness now, I
am open to any recommendations that members of this group have
regarding what to get and what to avoid when it comes to tank bag
selection.

Windshield / Helmet combo: My bike has a National Cycle F-15
windshield. This relieves the wind flow to my body but is rather
unpleasant in how it directs wind to my head (I wear an open face
3/4 helmet with no shield). Despite wearing ear plugs, I had to
wonder if the constant wind noise might be mildly harmful to
hearing. I realize there are larger windshields that do a much
better job of diverting wind. My objection is that they are larger
than I really like but given that I live in eastern Canada the extra
protection probably counterbalances what is lost in looks by
extending the riding season (my highway ride to work on the bike
yesterday was a tad on the cool side). Also, I like the idea of
being able to see `over' the top of the windshield – suspect this is
not possible with the larger ones. I intend to check out the
National Plexifairing 3 (with lowers) as suggested by Ray Nielsen
and others. Or a Slipstreamer Enterprise (again with lowers).

Re the helmet, I like the open face but will likely migrate to a
full face (or flip-up) for the added protection. Expect that will
cut down on wind noise too.

Reserve: My riding style is rather lax for the Jon Haddocks of the
world. Jon doesn't realize it but he's become my de facto biking
mentor – and I regret he will not be impressed to learn that I
consistently achieved 160 miles per tank before needing reserve. (Be
patient, Jon, there may be hope for me yet – but it will take time.)
Seems that I would fail to get gas before the 140 mile mark and then
happen to hit a stretch of road for 25 miles or so that did not have
a service station. Just curious if there is a documented volume of
gas for reserve, or how far one can expect to go on reserve. I read
here where somebody commented the reserve holds 0.9 gallons, though
I don't know if that was a general guesstimate or a documented
detail. Due to my chronic absentmindedness, it might be useful to
know for future reference. Having said that, if I had a healthier
cranial region, I would avoid even having to think about this, since
I suspect running low on gas increases the risk of picking up junk
that happens to be in the tank (though there's nothing obvious
floating around when I fill it up).

Mt Washington: Wow. In fact, BIG WOW! If you're ever passing through
New Hampshire and you're not afraid of heights or narrow roads with
steep drops and no guard rails, you owe it to yourself to check this
out. Best $12 (approximate) I've spent in ages. And one of the
coolest places I've ever driven – certainly the coolest place I've
been on a bike to date.

General: It seems my W and I bonded quite well over the course of
our travel last week. My initial bike purchase came down to a V-
Strom or the W. In retrospect, I might have been better off with the
V-Strom. However, I'm glad I bought the W. My original plan was to
buy one bike that would suit most of my riding plans. Now my plan is
to save up for a second bike – one that might be better suited for a
long trip with quite a bit of luggage that is apt to include a
significant amount of time on unpaved roads. But that's for another
thread – one that covers the V-Strom and/or Versys.

That's all folks. For those of you who suffered through it, I hope
the above monologue was not too boring. I use the daily summary but
added a pic to the Photos section of my bike on the ride up Mt
Washington in case anybody is interested
(
b=1).

Charles

Mt Washington: Wow. In fact, BIG WOW! If you're ever passing through
New Hampshire and you're not afraid of heights or narrow roads with
steep drops and no guard rails, you owe it to yourself to check this
out. Best $12 (approximate) I've spent in ages. And one of the
coolest places I've ever driven – certainly the coolest place I've
been on a bike to date.

Charles

From: "Charles Graves"
Tank Bag: ......Recognizing its usefulness now, I
am open to any recommendations that members of this group have
regarding what to get and what to avoid when it comes to tank bag
selection.

Mt Washington: Wow.

From: "Charles Graves"
> Re your comment about the Appalachian Trail, I met an interesting
> chap where I was over-nighting near the Maine/New Hampshire border.
> We chatted briefly the evening prior then had breakfast together the
> following morning. In his early forties, I think. Originally from
> Australia and was somewhat familiar with older bikes (Triumphs and
> BSAs). Turns out he was hiking the entire Appalachian Trail for the
> second time (apparently on average a 4 to 6 month proposition,
> depending upon the skill of the hiker).

In 1979(?), my girlfriend and I decided to travel around the states. We
visited her family in Lowell, Massachusetts for a while. <<Strange factoid:
I met a priest at a church fair in Lowell who was a friend of Jack Kerouac
and had done the service at his funeral.>>

We were really into backpacking so decided to "do" the Trail. We started off
at Mount Moosilaukie and spent a couple of days going uphill, then downhill.
It was beautiful and we were drinking water right out of a rushing creek
full of snowmelt. We got caught in big thunderstorms and camped in snow. But
when we hit the bottom, the mosquitoes hatched out and ate us alive. That
was also my first experience with those tiny black flies.

When we called her sister to come rescue us, our eyes were swollen shut, our
hands were swelled up and we could hardly flex our fingers. I'll never
forget the high-pitched sound of millions of mosquitoes in the forest. We
lasted a week.

Later, we found out you should start at the southern end and walk north to
avoid snow and most bugs.

gene in OR

---

To: W650riders@...
From: bxf7check@...
Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:50:59 +0000
Subject: [W650riders] Re: My First Multi-day Trip on the W

Hi Ray:

Yes, I wear glasses with my open face helmet. Certainly don't want a
bug to catch me in the eye while riding.

I like your suggestion re using different helmets for different
types of riding. My bike came with the windshield installed. I took
it off a couple weeks ago and was surprised at the relative evenness
of the airflow with it off. However, I opted to put it back on for
my trip.

My primary problem re the full face is deciding which one to get. In
addition to my apparent absentmindedness, I can be chronically
indecisive, which, for example, has prevented me for buying a
digital camera (can't decide which one to get and still using my
Canon Rebel EOS with print film). Borrowed a digital camera for my
trip last week and found it to be a wonderful tool. Still looking
for a full face or flip-up that is a good fit (and has favourable
reviews).

Charles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--- In W650riders@yahoogroups.com, Ray Ford wrote:
>
> Congratulations on your successful tour, Charles. I was in the
Eastern Townships last summer, and could see the peak of Mt.
Washington from the observation deck atop Mont Megantique. Nice
country.
>
> Re: your question regarding windscreens and helmets, I'd suggest
going for a full face helmet, especially if your screen dumps all
the wind on your face (as my Spitfire screen does.) Use the full
face for longer, high speed rides. Keep the open face (with goggles
or glasses, I hope) for fun runs on backroads, and take the
windscreen off to more evenly distribute the air.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ray F.
>