After twelve years since last owning a motorcycle I am back! Thursday the dealership delivered my new k8 to my home, as it was 23 degrees out and I couldn't quite (but almost did) motivate myself to ride 35 miles down the interstate to deliver it myself!
Armed with information gained here I negotiated $10,284 OTD including temp tag, but excluding sales tax as I live in N. Kentucky and the dealership I purchased from is in Ohio.
Among a number of other "jobs" I hold, I earn a little $$ from photography, so please forgive me for not posting pictures immediately. You'll see no blurry, underexposed camera phone shots from me - but the downside is it'll take me a little longer to get photos up as I wait for the ideal opportunity to take a photograph.
And in any event, everyone has seen photos of stock k8 orange & black Hayabusas.
Using the search function on this board, I learned I could gain limited access to the nuts that hold the rear reflector brackets in place by taking the rear turn signals out. Using one of those spring steel "pick up tools" (I don't know what it's really called) to hold the nuts while removing the screws, I was able to remove the brackets. I knew if I posted photos with the reflectors on I'd catch hell.
Finally I had a bike, good light, and a camera all occupying the same general point in space and time. The problem now was the temperature had risen to 36 degrees, and I'd just bought a cheap helmet from a local dealership that was going out of business
, because I couldn't wait until Monday for my Shoei to be delivered.
Tossing the camera, I quickly changed into three pair of silk long underwear, a pair of jeans, two pair of socks, a t-shirt, silk long underwear shirt, a wool turtleneck sweater, a pullover sweater, leather jacket and gloves. I rode to a church that is just down the road a little way, and practiced slow speed maneuvering and panic stops in their parking lot for ten minutes or so before heading out into traffic.
Almost as soon as I got up to speed, a Sheriff Deputy shot out from around a curve ahead of me with lights and sirens on. I was like "You've got to be kidding me." Checking my speed, I saw I was only about five miles per hour above the limit, so I continued on as he flew past me in the opposite direction. I don't know what that was all about.
Before long, traffic became almost non existant as I rode, and the roads just kept getting more and more twisty. I rode through Rabbit Hash, KY...a popular Harley rider hangout on the weekends in summer. After an hour or so I found myself at Big Bone Lick Park (I'm not making up the name). I was a little cold though not too bad, so I decided to stop and walk around a bit to warm up the muscles. The public restroom was open (and heated!) so I stood next to the heater for five minutes or so soaking up the warmth.
Leaving the park, with no traffic in the area, I tucked behind the fairing and let the bike run up to 5500 r.p.m. in sixth gear for about four seconds before slowing.
Then, after briefly pausing for a school bus that was offloading kids, I headed for the interstate to see how the bike would do there. That turned out to be uneventful, though I need to figure out how to get the most out of the mirrors.
After a couple of miles on the interstate, I pulled off on and headed into town to spar with traffic. By now I had been riding for about an hour and a half, and it didn't take long in stop and go traffic for my left forearm to start burning from the clutch. Wrists didn't hurt, as I thought they might, because the 'Busa does a pretty good job of allowing a reasonably wide range of seating positions. Sitting forward on the seat, it felt like I was nearly completely upright (I'm sure I wasn't, but it didn't feel bad). That position requires use of back and abdominal muscles to support the upper body. Sliding my butt back, I could tuck about half of my helmet below the windscreen for more aggressive riding.
Riding in town while surrounded by cars was a little tough because I couldn't hear the engine very well when leaving a stop sign. I guess I need some louder pipes.
All in all I felt I did pretty well, as I only killed it once toward the end of the ride when I was starting out from a traffic light (combination of forearm pain and not being able to hear the engine while surrounded by traffic). If one has enough time, one could probably get the bike going by just slowly engaging the clutch without even adding any power...there's that much torque available down low.
I rode sixty miles during this first excursion...gotta take advantage of the weather when I can this time of the year. I reluctantly headed home at about the two hour mark with my forearm feeling like it was on fire. I wanted to get home before rush hour traffic and darkness.
The bike handles great! The roads were cold, with sand and salt in many places. That, coupled with my unfamiliarity with the bike, new tires, and lack of recent riding experience kept me from pushing the bike hard at all in the curves, but I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun once I get more experience on the 'Busa and the weather improves.
The torque on this bike is great! Once above 30 m.p.h. just shift into sixth and forget about it. The bike will pull hard enough in sixth at 2k r.p.m. to out accelerate any cars on the road. There's loads of usable power available below 5k, so it's fun to ride without feeling like you're flogging the bike to death.
Prior to yesterday, I've only ridden once during the last twelve years. While on vacation in Italy in late '07, I found someone dumb enough to rent my wife and myself a Yamaha 650 enduro for a couple of days. It was so underpowered riding two up that you had to slip the clutch while shifting between first and second. The rental store clerk didn't even blink when I handed my unendorsed, cars only, license. I got my motorcycle endorsement when I was sixteen, but some DMV clerk in Oklahoma failed to add it when I moved there from Kansas years ago, and I didn't think to check for it immediately.
Riding in Tuscany was great. The freedom to just go get lost somewhere with one of those silly tourist maps, and not having the wife constantly telling me to stop and ask for directions...since neither of us spoke Italian well enough for it to matter...well let's just say it was something like "man heaven" if there is such a place.
It's great to be riding again! Thanks for letting me share my enthusiasm. Hope all you veteran Hayabusa riders got a good laugh from my timid first ride!
Armed with information gained here I negotiated $10,284 OTD including temp tag, but excluding sales tax as I live in N. Kentucky and the dealership I purchased from is in Ohio.
Among a number of other "jobs" I hold, I earn a little $$ from photography, so please forgive me for not posting pictures immediately. You'll see no blurry, underexposed camera phone shots from me - but the downside is it'll take me a little longer to get photos up as I wait for the ideal opportunity to take a photograph.
And in any event, everyone has seen photos of stock k8 orange & black Hayabusas.
Using the search function on this board, I learned I could gain limited access to the nuts that hold the rear reflector brackets in place by taking the rear turn signals out. Using one of those spring steel "pick up tools" (I don't know what it's really called) to hold the nuts while removing the screws, I was able to remove the brackets. I knew if I posted photos with the reflectors on I'd catch hell.
Finally I had a bike, good light, and a camera all occupying the same general point in space and time. The problem now was the temperature had risen to 36 degrees, and I'd just bought a cheap helmet from a local dealership that was going out of business
, because I couldn't wait until Monday for my Shoei to be delivered.Tossing the camera, I quickly changed into three pair of silk long underwear, a pair of jeans, two pair of socks, a t-shirt, silk long underwear shirt, a wool turtleneck sweater, a pullover sweater, leather jacket and gloves. I rode to a church that is just down the road a little way, and practiced slow speed maneuvering and panic stops in their parking lot for ten minutes or so before heading out into traffic.
Almost as soon as I got up to speed, a Sheriff Deputy shot out from around a curve ahead of me with lights and sirens on. I was like "You've got to be kidding me." Checking my speed, I saw I was only about five miles per hour above the limit, so I continued on as he flew past me in the opposite direction. I don't know what that was all about.
Before long, traffic became almost non existant as I rode, and the roads just kept getting more and more twisty. I rode through Rabbit Hash, KY...a popular Harley rider hangout on the weekends in summer. After an hour or so I found myself at Big Bone Lick Park (I'm not making up the name). I was a little cold though not too bad, so I decided to stop and walk around a bit to warm up the muscles. The public restroom was open (and heated!) so I stood next to the heater for five minutes or so soaking up the warmth.
Leaving the park, with no traffic in the area, I tucked behind the fairing and let the bike run up to 5500 r.p.m. in sixth gear for about four seconds before slowing.
Then, after briefly pausing for a school bus that was offloading kids, I headed for the interstate to see how the bike would do there. That turned out to be uneventful, though I need to figure out how to get the most out of the mirrors.
After a couple of miles on the interstate, I pulled off on and headed into town to spar with traffic. By now I had been riding for about an hour and a half, and it didn't take long in stop and go traffic for my left forearm to start burning from the clutch. Wrists didn't hurt, as I thought they might, because the 'Busa does a pretty good job of allowing a reasonably wide range of seating positions. Sitting forward on the seat, it felt like I was nearly completely upright (I'm sure I wasn't, but it didn't feel bad). That position requires use of back and abdominal muscles to support the upper body. Sliding my butt back, I could tuck about half of my helmet below the windscreen for more aggressive riding.
Riding in town while surrounded by cars was a little tough because I couldn't hear the engine very well when leaving a stop sign. I guess I need some louder pipes.
All in all I felt I did pretty well, as I only killed it once toward the end of the ride when I was starting out from a traffic light (combination of forearm pain and not being able to hear the engine while surrounded by traffic). If one has enough time, one could probably get the bike going by just slowly engaging the clutch without even adding any power...there's that much torque available down low.I rode sixty miles during this first excursion...gotta take advantage of the weather when I can this time of the year. I reluctantly headed home at about the two hour mark with my forearm feeling like it was on fire. I wanted to get home before rush hour traffic and darkness.
The bike handles great! The roads were cold, with sand and salt in many places. That, coupled with my unfamiliarity with the bike, new tires, and lack of recent riding experience kept me from pushing the bike hard at all in the curves, but I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun once I get more experience on the 'Busa and the weather improves.
The torque on this bike is great! Once above 30 m.p.h. just shift into sixth and forget about it. The bike will pull hard enough in sixth at 2k r.p.m. to out accelerate any cars on the road. There's loads of usable power available below 5k, so it's fun to ride without feeling like you're flogging the bike to death.
Prior to yesterday, I've only ridden once during the last twelve years. While on vacation in Italy in late '07, I found someone dumb enough to rent my wife and myself a Yamaha 650 enduro for a couple of days. It was so underpowered riding two up that you had to slip the clutch while shifting between first and second. The rental store clerk didn't even blink when I handed my unendorsed, cars only, license. I got my motorcycle endorsement when I was sixteen, but some DMV clerk in Oklahoma failed to add it when I moved there from Kansas years ago, and I didn't think to check for it immediately.
Riding in Tuscany was great. The freedom to just go get lost somewhere with one of those silly tourist maps, and not having the wife constantly telling me to stop and ask for directions...since neither of us spoke Italian well enough for it to matter...well let's just say it was something like "man heaven" if there is such a place.
It's great to be riding again! Thanks for letting me share my enthusiasm. Hope all you veteran Hayabusa riders got a good laugh from my timid first ride!
