smccrory

I'll admit that my first two bikes (cruisers) were Japanese because they offered the best bang for my buck - I didn't buy them because they had better styling than HD - I still think most HDs look sharp as hell, especially the white Road Kings. Had HD offered a comparable model at a competitive price, I very well could have gone that route, but I didn't want to lay down 5 figures on a hobby I might not stick with. They turned out to be two great decisions. Then I stepped into light off-road riding and there was nothing remotely available from HD, not even a light scrambler, and by then I was jaded by a general sense of HD snobbishness and asshattery anyway. For what they are, I think HDs are fine bikes and I don't malign anyone who owns one unless their attitude sucks, but that's a person problem, not a bike problem. They just don't make a model I want to spend (way too much) cash on.

Star Stratoliner, Honda 1300 Custom Line, several Goldwing variants, the Suzuki Boulevard M109 and C/M90s... All have excellent pricing and reliability that equals or exceeds HD's, so what have you been working on and why specifically do you think they're harder to work on or have attributes classifying them cheaper than HD? Dude, your FJR is superior in every way to every HD except for subjective style differences, torque on paper and possibly 2-up riding comfort. Oh, and noise. ;-)

Sometimes the best thing you could do for a person, is to let 'em know exactly how their actions are perceived by others. Even if they don't change their behavior about it, you've hopefully firewalled yourself and your family a little.

That's exactly what I concluded in December 2013. I also looked at the CB500X but wanted something a more offroad-capable with a proven lineage and better two-up comfort. Also at the time, the Versys didn't have ABS, so that was a deal breaker for me - there's no way I was going to buy a brand new bike without ABS. Both the Versys and NC700 are available today with ABS. Excellent article; maybe the best comparison I've seen. In fairness, the Versys edged out the V-Strom in a few other reviews based on subjective criteria like flickability and curve fun-factor, and the last ride I was on showed a Versys 650 perfectly capable of gravel and packed dirt in stock form. That said, I'd rather be on a DL650 for multi-day rides and especially 2-up touring than the shorter and lower Versys. There are more luggage, bash plate, engine guard, seating and farkle options for the Strom too. There are things I didn't like about my 2013 DL650ABS: The stock seat was OK, but I added a heated Corbin for 10x the comfort. I have to add mirror extenders for every bike I own, this one included. I wish it had more adjustable suspension, but honestly that's probably just me being fussy because I think the stock suspension is pretty competent. It's heavy - 475 lbs wet, and I'm not a big guy, so she's an adrenaline-dumping handful in anything resembling mud. I had to add new handlebars and risers to bring the bars back enough to ffully de-stress my spine, but there's only so far you can go with stock cables and lines. Access to the airbox and valves requires a whole bunch of plastic removal. There is wind buffeting with the stock screen, and that drives some people batty; it doesn't bother me that much. The FI can be a bit abrupt, so I feather the clutch at very low speeds to soften the response. I mentioned light engine braking - the individual jugs just aren't very big, so you need to downshift while entering turns to maintain optimal control. On the upsides, the FI, engine and clutch are SO, so smooth at every RPM and every speed. There's plenty of torque in the low RPMs which really helps with off-road maneuvers. Normal maintenance is cheap and easy to do yourself. All-day two-up comfort is excellent, especially with a top box and a back cushion for an sense of security. Useful load is excellent; I have no problems keeping up with 1-up bikes while 2-up or loaded down with camping gear. I love the looks of the 2012+ models. The gauges are well-laid-out and easy to use. They're easy to accessorize - perhaps too easy. The bike feels planted in every situation I've put it in and it performs as well as a carburated 750cc sport bike of days gone by.

You'll be even happier when you pass your mileage limit and rev the engine out.

A GF and I went a couple years ago for the weekend and really enjoyed the incline, Primanti Brothers, shopping in several of the hip-and-trendy neighborhoods, visiting the Frick House, Art gallery and car & carriage museums (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frick_Art_%26_Historical_Center).

One word: Downshift. Redline is 10k and peak power is above 7500, so don't be afraid to rev it and long as you're not seriously bogging things for the first few hundred miles. You'll probably also find that there's not a lot of engine braking in higher gears, so enter tight turns one gear lower than you'd expect for better speed control with just the throttle.

Very interesting. Any insight why it's taken so frigging long to get a new Hurt study going?

Tell him it's to keep up with server teams and to glean insight into potential control strengths and weaknesses with new DevOps techniques. Seriously, try it.

If price is no object, there's no reason to get a V-Strom. The Tiger 800, FJ, several BMW models, Tenere and others all excel in paper and in the field if you're really wringing ADV bikes out to the max. However, if you'd rather save the $4-10k difference for accessories, fuel, camping equipment and the like, and still get a bike that does everything pretty damned well for less up front and lower ongoing costs, it's hard to do better than the value of a DL650.

https://ohiolinux.org I might have to miss it but the OpenStack and all things DevOps should be compelling.

I bought my first membership term at the museum, which meant I paid less for admission into a very nice place and cheap membership into the AMA.

I bought my first membership term at the museum, which meant I paid less for admission into a very nice place and cheap membership into the AMA.

Double-post

I couldn't bring myself to care much about the Pope's visit. Yea, I guess the cheerleading is nice and if people feel like stretching outside of themselves to consider others in sustainable ways, then that's actually pretty cool but you can just as easily use Catholicism or Christianity overall to justify division, condescension, manipulation and illegitimate government, and I've seen beautiful secular moments just as important to those who participated. The Catholic church is, like all churches to degrees, rife with contradictions, self-serving power games, convenient untruths and a history that leaves them no moral credibility to me and my sense of what's right and what's not. The Pope can become a false idol just as rapidly as anyone, and the church complicit in wielding power as an explicit or implicit state religion in ways that trample on the freedoms and equality of mankind. What's worse is then spewing hypocrisy to appear the ally of the underdog. Is the Catholic church changing under this Pope? It looks like it and I hope so, but they have centuries of rot to clear out and I don't have that long to find tipping points that are more personal and impactful wherever I can find them. I'd rather give my time and money and faith and hope and openness and leadership humanity to those without all that baggage, and without the need to desperately hope that this decade/century/millennium will be different. I guess to that end, I can appreciate the Pope's apparent humanity and love without having to eat any of the rest of the Church's cake. It's the same thing I prefer to do with every other notable peacenik.

Bluegrass is awesome. Thunderstruck!

Reading the AMA magazine gives me an appreciation for what they do to protect trail riding and their sponsorship of racing, but who knows if they help with road riding.

113.72% you're right.

Kinky bastard [emoji6]

Congrats! Love my blue '13 DL650.

I have these but they're too long: http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/rox-elite-pivot-risers-for-78-or-1-18-handlebars I want something like these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BP-1-Up-1-25-Back-Suzuki-DL-Series-Black-Handlebar-Riser-Kit/321705491529?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3Daba599d2ab55482d9e2ba95d18caf1ba%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D30%26sd%3D221724582247 Anyone want to do an even trade?

It's all good, and Bob is smart enough to make his own choice (we work together). Maybe he'll even use the headaches to justify an integrated sunshade helmet :-). Craig and I just wanted to give him the option so that he doesn't avoid riding. I also doubt he'll need the helmet for a passenger on his FZ07 - it's a fantastic bike, but not exactly roomy accommodations for any pax bigger than a runway model.

Got it, thanks!

I got one to debug an accessory's passive drain and found it to be really helpful!

Looks like a fun ride!