It been raining all day, and I had a night of movies .. my kids are away so I caught up on all the scary movies that I can’t watch coz they bitch and moan that they can’t watch them. The result is I feel like I’d been on the booze all night, when in-fact I had only been on the booze until about 3am - so this morning looking at the weather, and feeling like a sack full of hammers was bouncing round in head, I decide to skip the 1st day of ownership ride
After rubbing my gear down with dubin (after getting hell wet riding home from the shop yesterday) and after a wee afternoon kip (a nana nap ) the weather seemed to look like it was clearing.
Quick gear up, and I’m off .. headed to hamilton (about 15-20 kms away)
First impressions: I really need to work on my “first gear” handling skills. The XV doesn’t feel as stable at 100 as the sports bike I’ve ridden. it feels a bit exposed to the wind, and I feel a bit of sideways movement occasionally at 100. No rev counter means I’m still riding in my head (trying figure out whens a good time to change) instead of riding through my ass, and ignoring the gauges. Also without all those revs of an inline 4, I kinda felt a bit chunky changing up. The gear lever is slightly difficult to change up. It maybe that I have new boots that need breaking in, but I have to make a conscience effort to hook my toe under the gear lever. I noticed this yesterday when I was riding home from the shop wearing steel toes, and made a mental note not to wear my steelies until I’m a little more comfortable, but perhaps I just need to learn to ride some more I can feel the ass slipping around on the gravel at 30kms, but I felt totally cool about it, and not the slightest bit nervous .. that’s cool (I live on a gravel road that’s 1.5 kms long) Counter-steering is still a decision rather than second nature.
That’s about it. The shop guy told to go “real easy” on the new tyres, especially in the wet. That made me a bit nervous, and I don’t think I went over 80kms on any corner. I think a day in the sun might do me the world of good when it comes to trust in my rubber
All in all bloody fantastic - can’t wait for the next opportunity hope like hell it not raining next weekend.
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