Killer_kaw

Solid first day. Ended up in little Switzerland N.C. Big Kwai is very comfy.

Got it cleaned up, fueled up, loaded up. Gonna point it south early in the am.

Good roads. Decent pace (got better on 93/83. great to see a handful of Ohio riders out for this. Great that your keeping this going @FORD. Always a pleasure. See you in Townsend

Starting down Monday. Should be in that neck of the woods Tuesday night and @ Townsend Gateway Wednesday.

I’ve only been on a little piece of it at the southern end. I think it’s 45mph the whole way. Found the fuel map. Shouldn’t be an issue the Vaquero seems like it’ll do over 200 miles on a tank easy at that pace. Thinking 250 all the way to the northern end of BRP then 100-200 miles of the parkway on Monday.

Thinking of leaving Monday and running the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway Monday and Tuesday. Just because I’ve never done it. Who has done it? What should I know?

I’ll sweep. Looks like I’ll be riding the bean. The big girl is pretty much ready to roll south first of the week.

Weather is looking great for this.

The section between 669 and 78 is in pretty good shape aside from a mile north of 78. Big ass slip. The signs say rough road and they mean it. I rode this about a week ago to check the roads out for the ride @FORD posted up. Make time to hang a left on 669 and take it to the river then turn around and do it again. That little stretch between 555 and river road is one of my all time favorites. Just watch the blind turns on the first pass.

I felt the same way toward @Tonik about Ivans flash and a few other bits but....now I just thank him. Looks like Tim will be getting a mountain runner flash before running off to the mountains.

Your gonna like it.

Pretty sure it depends on what you go with.

https://motoinkz.com/ really like these products. Install not bad and they hold up well.

Pm sent

This should be a nice warm up for the gap trip. Most of the roads are in pretty decent shape. This has been a damn fun ride the past couple of years. Sounds like we’ll be finishing up at the Arena in Cambridge (excellent pizza). There will be a bike show/ rib fest going on in Cambridge that day. Hope to see some familiar faces.

Got the break in oil out of the Vaquero and most of its first service done before running out of time. Pulled the forks to add a little heavier oil and big boy single rate springs. Good riddance to the excessive brake dive and progressive springs. Added a fork brace on recommendation from @Tonik and it really takes the flex out of the front end. This bike won’t be nearly as much fun at the gap compared to the ZRX but sure will be comfy getting there.

Smokin joes bbq in Townsend is pretty good.

The Vaquero got a full 2-1 exhaust. Not crazy loud but I can hear it idle now. Also installed a quick release back rest for the wife. Mileage is up and I’m better than half way through the break in period.

Never had sena so not sure of speaker size. Had great luck with uclear with boomless microphone though. Anyhow you can do a very clean job of opening up speaker pockets with a soldering iron. Go slow. The heat gets close and the eps will shrink. Wouldn’t go nuts due to safety factor though.

^^^^ This. @Tonik towed me on this route through Hot Springs last year. Awesome roads. The road along the creek between gatlinburg and Townsend is a crap shoot for traffic but a great stretch of asphalt.

Not sure since new ownership but in the past you could test ride in Mt Vernon. While looking for a Vaquero I was all but laughed at while at IP. Thank god. Also woulda cost me $4000 more to bring the bike home. Seemed they didn’t have much interest in selling a bike.

I gotta set up controls in a way to keep me from wanting to stiff arm the bars. Also I’ve never had a stock seat I liked. They’re usually comfy and soft. Short rides ok but 200 miles in not so much. Lots of folks refer to Corbin’s as bricks but they’re much better on a long day. A decent helmet that cuts through the wind really helps my neck. And a couple avieve don’t hurt either.

Ability ✅ Tools ✅ shop manual✅ Thanks fellas but let’s face it. I’ll most likely end up doing something to this thing a warranty department won’t like anyhow

Already on its way.

Just bought my first new bike. Do I need to let The shop do the first service or two or just do the work myself and keep receipts and records? The Vaquero has a 3 year warranty and I wouldn’t wanna cause any warranty issues down the road.