I finally got out for a reasonable ride again, this last Sunday. I joined a few other riders from sport-touring.net on an excursion to Mount Baker, a suitably awesome ride. The plan was to meet up at the crack of dawn (well, 7:45) in Arlington, and then follow Hwy 9 up to Mount Baker; I realized halfway to Arlington that I'd taken my registration out of its underseat home when I was cleaning up the bike the day before, and went back to get it. That cost me 15 minutes, and when I reached the meetup spot, the other riders had left.

I decided to press on and hope to catch up, and luckily I recognized the somewhat-unusual Triumph Speed Triple piloted by one of my fellow riders parked outside a little cafe in the town of Acme, Washington. Fritz, Damon, and Danny were inside getting breakfast, and I gladly joined them; I'd an energy bar in my tankbag but hadn't had a chance to eat anything reasonable that morning.

From Acme we headed straight on up the mountain. Hwy 9, especially north of its junction with the North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20), is a ton of fun; not technical, per se, but a lot of nice easy corners and plenty of space to go fast. There were tons of other riders on the road, various packs of cruisers and sportbikers, most of whom we jumped past as soon as we got the chance.

The final ascent towards the summit and Artist's Ridge was significantly more challenging. Lots of switchbacks and hairpins marked at 15mph, some of which really meant exactly 15. The tightness of the turns, combined with the steep uphill grade, often meant taking them in 1st gear; most of the last few miles was in 1st and 2nd. Some gravel and small rocks on the road at times, and snow on both sides even in August. Good practice with looking clear through the turns, as the penalty for failure was made abundantly clear by the large dropoff on one side of the road.

Great fun times. I find I'm still a little more cautious than necessary when passing, and that hampers my ability to keep up with my fellow riders on occasion, but I was very comfortable at this group's pace when traffic wasn't heavy. The cornering experience I got through the Great West Coast Trip has apparently paid off, and I feel quite at home in the more technical parts of the road. All in all, a great time.

Here's the route:

a shot of the nice road leading up to the summit:

and a shot of Zoë and Fritz' Speed Triple at the top:

I also brought the camera setup along, and made a quick little movie. Here 'tis:

In other news, Zoë is on the market. More to come on that in a few.

J and I spent this weekend down in Southern California visiting friends (much love, as usual, to Samantha and Paul), but before we left I put Zoë up on Craigslist Seattle.  It's an odd feeling; I've never sold a vehicle before and never bought one before the Bandit, but I suspect it's beyond that.  Probably an artifact of giving my bike a name; Zoë feels somehow like a partner in the whole process of learning to be a rider, rather than just a vehicle.  I've never had an attachment to a car, of course; a car is an appliance to me.  I suppose I think of Zoë a bit the way I do a sailboat.  A boat isn't just a conveyance; boats have always had souls to the sailors who crew them, and names and personalities.  For this bike, at least, I tend to have a similar sort of feeling.

I wonder whether whatever I replace her with will get a name, or whether it will just be a vehicle?  Time will tell. 

Anyway.  Since I listed her, I've had two inquiries.  Both of them have seemed extremely interested but dropped out prior to seeing the bike; one was a long distance away, and so getting up to Seattle was challenging, and the other appears to have run afoul of a girlfriend who doesn't support the buying-a-bike plan.  So I suppose my intentions are to keep Zoë listed on Craigslist for another week or two, and maybe put her up on eBay or Cycletrader or the local classifieds as well.  Those all cost money, but greater circulation can't hurt.  I'd prefer to sell her private-party if I can, simply because there's generally a lot more cash to be made with a sale than with a trade-in.  If nothing moves in a couple of weeks, though, I will have to suck it up and go see what the dealers in the area are offering.

In terms of replacing her, my Next Bike Target at this point appears to be a Suzuki V-Strom 1000.  I can't say that bike speaks to me in exactly the way the sexier sportbikes out there do, but the Strom seems a good match for what I want to do with a bike, and there are a number of 'em available used in or around Seattle at the moment.  I will have to be financing some fraction of the purchase-price of the next bike; I've already handled that, and have the check in my hot little hands, but I don't intend to move on that until I've found Zoë a new owner.  I don't want to be sitting on two bikes, and if I can't swing a private-party sale for the Bandit, I don't want to burn my bridges for trade-in by having already bought another bike. 

With any luck, I'll be able to work something out in the relatively near future.  I'm supposed to ride down to central Oregon on the last weekend of this month to meet up with some relatives, and I'd really prefer to have a nice touring-worthy bike to break in on that trip.  We'll see...

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with a bittersweet heart that I announce the sale of my first motorcycle, Zo�. I posted her on Craigslist a week and a half ago, and recieved a number of inquiries. Most of those inquiries, in true Craigslist fashion, were folks who didn't follow through, but the first individual who actually came to see the bike decided that she was what he was looking for, and so as of this morning I'm bikeless and a couple thousand bucks richer. Hopefully both of those conditions are only temporary. Her new owner, Dave, is a crewman on board a Navy destroyer based out of Everett, and I trust he'll provide her with a good home.

This week I intend to look strongly into the V-Strom option; there are a few up on Craigslist and one that I know of at a local dealer. Since all the dealers are closed on Sunday and Monday 'round here, I'll take a look at the dealer bike on Tuesday and then see about the Craigslist options. Hopefully I'll be riding again by the weekend, which is good as I was supposed to head down to Oregon to meet some family there. No bike, no ride... Hopefully this can be made to work out. I feel kind of naked without a bike out front, for some reason.

Since I didn't check first whether it was okay to post a picture, I took the liberty of adding an Evil Face-Obscuring Black Bar to the shot below, as the final papers are being signed.

G'bye, Zo�. Thanks for the fun times.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present my new ride. She's a 2004 Suzuki V-Strom 1000, in my favorite of all colors, with a hair over 15,000 miles on the clock. She's been immaculately kept, as far as I (and the service manager of a local Suzuki dealer) can tell, and she's about as different from the Bandit as is possible.

From the few miles I've put on her already (from the seller to my house, and then again back down to the seller 2-up with Jen to pick up my car), I've noticed a number of differences from Zo� that will take some getting used to.

The good:

* Torque. Oh, dear lord, the torque. In the normal semi-legal speed range, pretty much regardless of gear, when you twist the throttle, this bike goes. I've yet to mess with really hammering it, but I can feel the front wheel getting light every time I accelerate.
* The seating position is great for me. Very comfortable, and very high off the ground - it's nice to look SUV drivers in the eye. This feels like a comfortable-all-day bike; more so even than the Bandit was.
* The engine makes quite a lot of power, but it seems to be very usable power with a nice linear power curve. It doesn't sneak up on you, but it seems like there's always plenty there.
* Put a passenger on the back, and the handling characteristics of the bike barely change at all. None of the wallowing mushiness that I'm used to.
* Adjustable preload on the front suspension! And you can adjust preload on the rear by just turning a knob, rather than hammering for three minutes on the adjuster rings under the seat!
* A fuel gauge!
* On just the low beam, the Strom's headlights put out more light than the Bandit did on highbeam with driving lights running too. Love it for night riding - I can actually see.
* Nice storage in the Givis, and they pop right off when they're not needed.
* Room under the seat for the camera, when I get my video rig set up on this bike.
* Great mirrors. I can actually see directly behind me; I never could on the Bandit.
* According to Jen, very comfortable passenger accomodations.
* Fuel injection. Turn key, start bike, ride off. As opposed to the Bandit, which was cold-blooded as all hell and needed constant fiddling with the choke for the first 5 minutes of a ride.

And, of course, the bad:

* The dreaded wind buffeting. Pretty much every V-Strom forum makes mention of the really nasty turbulent airstream that comes over the very oddly-designed windscreen and beats you about the head at freeway speeds. It's annoying. It's really, really annoying. At first I thought something was wrong with the engine, I was getting shaken around so much; then I ducked behind the screen and suddenly everything was great. Obviously a new, better windscreen will be on my list ASAP.
* Low-end stumble. There's a real shudder / stumble / popping at around 3k RPM, regardless of gear. This is another known issue with this engine; I find mention of it all over the boards, and apparently it's an easy fix. Most dealers can remap the engine with a programming box, and the Strom forums have the appropriate change to make to fix this issue. Alternately, one can plug a Power Commander into the bike, but I'm not really interested in super high end tuning. If I can deal with the stumble, I'll be happy.
* The brakes are actually surprisingly anemic. I'm sure it'll just take some getting used to, but they're smaller equipment than those on Zo�. Which surprises me, because even though the bikes weigh about the same, the Strom is quite a bit taller and carries its weight higher off the ground.

And then there's plenty that's just different. The overall character of the two engines, and the sound and feel of the bikes, are massively different, for starters. The Strom feels like it's going quite a bit slower, at any given speed, than the Bandit would, and it picks up speed quite a lot quicker in normal riding. The mirrors and bars feel a lot closer to my face; I feel like I'm perched on top of the bike, rather than being down in the seat, I suppose because of the fully upright seating position. When taking corners, I have noticed that the Strom leans quite a long way into the turn before it actually starts to change direction; I wonder if that's an artifact of the bike itself, or the tires that are on it, or just a simple question of height? I haven't a good sense of its handling in twisties yet, but I'm sure I'll get a chance to figure that out.

She appears to be completely stock, with the exception of the two Givi saddlebags. The list of things that I need to modify, change, and add is beginning to develop in my mind, but at the moment I'm content to ride her and finish my thinking. I know for sure that she gets a set of heated grips (DualStars again), a set of engine/case guards, some modification to the windscreen, a top box (another Givi), and a Scottoiler. I'm giving serious thought to a centerstand, though I've less need for it with the Scottoiler installed. I'm not a crazy tuner type, so I'll probably stick with the stock exhaust for the forseeable future.

Anyway, that's all for the moment. I'm very excited to be riding again (yes, I know it's only been a few days) and I'm quite looking forward to learning the ins and outs of this new and very different bike. I haven't felt inspired with a name yet, although Kaylee is in the running (bonus points to those who'd get that reference).

I strongly suspect that if I'd test ridden this bike, I might not have bought it. I also strongly suspect that this is a very good bike for me, once I become comfortable with the differences. I am certainly not unhappy with it at all, just startled at how different this bike is. I suppose I expected that all bikes are pretty much alike, having only ridden the Bandit, and am learning - not surprisingly - that there are nuances I'd never considered.

This coming weekend I'll be riding the Strom down to visit family in central Oregon. Should be plenty of time for self-analysis and bike analysis on that ride.

Total trip distance: 771.5 miles, by GPS

first, I'm sorry about the lack of many pictures. I kept seeing nice vistas and intending to stop for a shot, but I was enjoying the ride too much. Mea culpa.

This weekend marked my first real "trip" on the new V-Strom. A number of my extended family - my mother and grandmother, my brother and his girlfriend, an aunt and uncle along with their son and his girlfriend, and yet another uncle - were all gathering this weekend to celebrate some birthdays and hang out. My aunt and uncle have part-ownership of a house on Black Butte Ranch, in central Oregon, and so I thought riding down to visit would be a great getting-to-know-you session with the bike. I haven't modified it much yet, so I figured a good long trip would give me a baseline in order to prioritize whatever I have to do to make the Strom into exactly the bike I want.

I left Friday after work and headed south on I5. Friday's ride was pretty horrible, at least for the first six hours or so; traffic on 5 was running at around 20 mph stop-and-go, and the hydraulic clutch was very tiring after two hours of that. When I finally cleared Olympia, though, it opened up quite a bit and I was able to start making up for lost time. The Strom runs very happily in 4th gear at around 75 or 80, though there is some minor weave upwards of 80 with the Givi bags on. I'm hoping using only one bag as a tail trunk, instead of both as saddlebags, can help to mitigate this; she tracks straight as an arrow with the bags removed.

Stopped for dinner in Portland before continuing on. At Salem I caught Hwy 22 eastbound, and that's where the trip started to be awesome. 22 is a beautiful 2-lane with nice new pavement, climbing up into the high forest east of Salem. Night had fallen and traffic was light; the amazing headlights on the Strom made riding at night a real pleasure, though, and I was able to start exploring just what she can do in turns. There weren't many good curves on 22, but there were enough to show me that she's actually quite a nimble creature despite her height. I rolled into Black Butte around 10 pm with a hugh grin on my face, which was quickly swept away when it was made clear to me that no bikes are allowed in the ranch and that I'd have to leave her at the welcome center. I hate rules like that, and was irrationally worried that something would happen to my shiny new bike in the time I was there. Thankfully, nothing did.

I spent Saturday hanging around with the family. I did take the Strom into town to fill her tank, in preparation for today's departure, but other than that it was a relaxing no-riding day. Was able to spend some real time with my brother and his girlfriend, which was long overdue; I don't see enough of him of late. My aunt is an excellent cook, and prepared a wonderful birthday dinner of some amazing lamb, and then the five young'uns in the group stayed up late playing drinking games.

...thankfully, that didn't impair my ability to get an early(ish) start this morning. Breakfast with the clan ended at around 10, and I was on the road shortly thereafter. Since I had plenty of time, I decided to head back a long and interesting way, rather than the direct (boring) route I'd taken on Friday - east into the town of Redmond, then following Hwys 97 and 197 north to the Oregon-Washington border. Those roads cut through the high scrub desert of eastern Oregon; the lion's share of 97/197 were arrow-straight, with the occasional area of extremely tight turns and switchbacks as they crest small hills or descent into river valleys. There was an exceptional section of twisties dropping into the town of Maupin on the Deschutes River, a hotbed of white-water rafting. These roads were mostly deserted, though I did have a fun game of leapfrog with a lady in a topless white Volvo. She was wearing a leopard-print sun visor and large white sunglasses, and though she drove fast, she couldn't match the Strom for acceleration. Score one for Req.

I crossed the Columbia River into Washington at the town of Hood River, and followed Hwy 14 westbound along the Columbia. Beautiful views out over the river and a succession of short tunnels kept this road interesting. I was aiming to head north on a series of small roads starting with Forest Service Road 30, which leads past the eastern side of Mount St Helens in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I managed to find that road, unlabelled though it was, and then proceeded to get quite thoroughly turned around. I probably wasted an hour backtracking and trying out different paths before finally finding the proper sequence of 30 - 90 - 25; next time, I'll bring my Destination Highways book along, rather than just the tiny-scale Washington-Oregon map I brought.

This section was almost 100% nice tight twisties through the forest, and absolutely beautiful. The heat of the Oregon desert was gone; the forest was a perfect temperature. I spent much of this route riding along with a very talented, very overweight Australian man on a Harley, who was throwing his cruiser through the turns quite adeptly. We were both trying to head to the same place, and both getting lost in the same way, and so I was glad to be in good company. It was also during this segment of the ride that I managed to touch the tip of my right boot to the ground during a turn. - one of the more surprising events I've experienced. The Strom can definitely corner quite well, and handles the twisties like a champ.

Forest Service 25 ends at Hwy 12 in the little town of Randle, where I stopped for some water before heading on. It was getting late, but I decided to avoid heading straight for I5 and instead finish my northbound run on Hwy 7, the infamous Alder Lake Twisties that I remember so fondly from my Mt St Helens ride with the S-T.n folks a year ago. And surprise - they were still fun, but no longer the amazing, incomprehensible twisties that they seemed then. Nonetheless, an enjoyable time, only slightly marred by the heavy traffic I encountered. I rejoined I5 just south of Tacoma and burned for home, arriving just before 8pm.

This was a wonderful trip. I'm very glad to report that the bike performed flawlessly; she handles the twisties much better than I was afraid she might, she holds up well on long rides, and (when I'm gentle with the throttle or cruising on the highway) she returns more than 50 mpg. The fit is almost perfect for me (though the stock seat could use some work). The windscreen will certainly need replacing with something a little bit taller; the helmet buffeting is a problem, though one I could live with. My biggest regret about this ride, though, is that I didn't have a chance to install my camera setup - the twisties east of Mt St Helens would have given me some amazing footage. I suppose I'll just have to head back down there soon.

I don't mean to speak ill of my Bandit; she taught me a lot and shepherded me though my early learning as a rider, but the new Strom is a far superior bike across the board. More power, yet smoother delivery. Far better shocks; she floats right over pavement imperfections that would have unsettled Zo�. Much better storage space, and far better manners when loaded down. Even with two-year old dual-purpose tires, she feels well planted on the road, and tracks perfectly straight. She does take a bit more muscle to get into a turn, but once there she's right at home while leaned; the Bandit always required constant correction to hold a line.

All in all, I'm very happy to have this bike, and am looking forward to many more long trips. Finally, she has been christened on this ride: the V-Strom's name is indeed Kaylee. Rejoice.