Hailwood

I've had them on the R1 for about 500 miles and have been pleased so far. I haven't been able to go on a really agressive/longer ride yet, but they are great for the closer twisties I've been on. For street riding, esepcially after my long ride last weekend, I think that ST tires (BT-023, PR2, Road Smart) are more than good enough for grip and I might actually put a set on the R1 after the S20's are done.

Thanks guys, it was a fantastic ride.

Ever since I started riding, my best riding buddy has always been my Dad. From my first bike ~15 years ago until now, we've always tried to get out and ride when time and circumstance permitted. We've done plenty of day rides, and even an overnight trip or two, but we've never gone on what I'd call a truly 'epic' ride. We decided that this would be a good year to try and get one in, as neither of us is getting any younger or any fewer responsibilities. We arbitrarily decided that ~3 day trip down to the mountains of NC would be a great way to go, and set our sights on Boone, NC as our Southern-most point. After that a route sort of developed based on great roads that we'd read about, and a quick stop off in Morgantown on the 7th for a family celebration. I took my trusty FZ1 and Dad brought his GS-A, both of which were very well-suited to this type of ride. The FZ continued to impress me with its versatility, and I was surprised how well the big BMW handled the twisty bits. The heat was oppressive, especially later in the weekend, but with a couple of Camelbaks and plenty of stops, it worked out just fine. I honestly believe that if you're riding longer than ~4 hours at a time, a Camelbak is the best thing you can buy to help ward off fatigue from becoming dehydrated. Here's a link to the route we took Day 1: Green, OH to Athens to meet up w/ Dad and then on to Boone, NC Day 2: Boone, NC To Charleston, WV via Roanoke, VA Day 3: Charleston, WV to Morgantown, WV for some family stuff Day 4: Morgantown, WV to Green, OH ~1300 miles roundtrip and worth every hour in the saddle. We didn't get too many photos since we were riding so much, but here are a couple from a stop we did just before entering Tennessee on WV-16: Couple notable roads from the trip: WV-16: Ride this road. Seriously. I'd been on the Northern part with Tony and Dave a few months ago and it was fantastic, but the section South of Welch until you hit NC is some of the best riding I've ever seen and it goes on what seems like forever. Unfortunately it was raining and the pavement was super slippery when we went through, but I'd love to come back and ride it in the dry on a proper sportbike. Blue Ridge Parkway: This is such a spectacular road, not for the curves, but the amazing scenery and lack of any commercial vehicles. The speed limit is 45 and the corner speeds aren't marked, so it's difficult to try and go quickly, but for a nice relaxing ride, you just can't beat it. We took this all the way from Boone to Roanoke - something like 170 miles and loved every minute of it. VA-311: The section we did was from Roanoke up to US-60 at Interstate 64 in Greenbriar Co., WV and was also a spectacular road. This road takes you over the mountains from VA into WV and had some excellent scenery and great pavement. Here's a quick video I shot on one of the better sections of 311: http://youtu.be/hHLSQMnQlhk One of the things I really liked about this road compared to WV-16 was that the pavement was immaculate and free of debris. I didn't try pushing the speeds at all (the video is a little boring unfortunately) but of all the roads we were on, I felt like this one had the best potential to be ridden quickly. US-60: 60 is a bit of a mixed bag. Parts of it are really boring and go through quite a few small towns, but the sections near the New River are truly excellent and most of the hills have passing lanes, so it's really easy to make time around slower traffic. US-119: I took this almost all the way from Charleston to Morgantown and really enjoyed it. Plenty of curves and it's close enough that it could easily be part of a long day ride from NEO (which Tony, Dave, and I did a few months ago). The traffic is mostly light in the best sections and the pavement is mostly clean, so you can make some really good time. I have some other videos I'll be playing with over the next few days, so I'll hopefully update this post as I go.

Great video, as always, Nivin! BTW, you may have answered this before, but what's your video editing workflow/software of choice? My wife got me a GoPro for my birthday and I'm itching to make some vids.

Wish I could join you guys, but I'm out of town this weekend. Have fun and ride safe!

Yes, sir - Mr. Adam Baldwin.

Jayne Cobb - Public Relations Specialist

It definitely is incredible how little people seem to care about paying attention while driving. The idea that someone can take the responsibility of hurtling a 2 ton vehicle around at 70 mph so lightly is almost offensive. If I'm on the bike and notice someone doing something particularly stupid, I lay on the horn and give them the 'eyes up/eyes on the road' gesture. No one seems to care, but it makes me feel better.

You can find great deals on good condition Honda Superhawks. It wouldn't have quite the top-end of your RC, but it's much more comfortable and has a fantastic midrange. Plus since they are so reasonably priced, you could pick up a DRZ400SM or something similar to get the sumo fix.

I'll be there on Saturday.

Maybe they want to sell more vehicles.. Supposedly something like this is coming. Apparently the new 'clean diesel' regs and the stigma that 'Mericans won't buy them are holding things back at the moment. I for one would love a small, fuel-efficient, high-torque car as a daily driver.

My reply from this thread: Minimum (I relgiously wear all of these unless I'm riding the bike up and down the street after an oil change or similar): Helmet A* Leather Jacket A* Gauntlet Gloves Sidi Boots Jeans Longer/Sportier Rides: All of the Above A* Track Pants zipped to Jacket Currently shopping for a good back protector Finding gear that fits well is key to wanting to wear it. The fit and extra padding in my makeshift 2-peice suit is actually much more comfortable to wear on long rides than jeans.

He pulled them over a short distance from where I stopped, I rejoined them, and we were all cited for speeding. Personally, I don't feel the need to be constrained by limitations created for average drivers and designed for vehicle capabilites of 30 years ago, but I don't have any delusions about it from a legal standpoint. If I get caught speeding, I stop, I pay my fine, and carry on.

I will generally always err on the side of stopping - I have no interest in a fleeing/reckless op charge. When Tony, Dave, and I got stopped in WV a couple weeks ago, I was in the back and pulled over hoping he would stop me and let them carry on, but he waitied for me to stop and then took off after them. Honestly, I feel like the more the officer is actually concerned about some (potentially) unsafe activity, the more likely they are to stop and individual. If it's just about generating revenue (as it was in our case), I feel like they won't hold back in stopping as many folks as possible.

Hailwood#1200 Been enjoying playing quite a bit so far.

While sitting on the bike normally, I brace my feet against the front of the stand (where the rollers are on my Pitbull) and just roll the bike forward. It should pop right off. This does work much better on stands that use spools instead of supporting directly on the swingarm, but you can use it on either one.

Sorry to hear that I've had this happen before, and is why I always sit on the bike to remove from the rear stand.

But what about the ring? :rimshot:

That wound up being a nice fun ride - That second section of 646 is quickly becoming my favorite road north of I-70 and there were a lot fewer cars around Atwood than I was expecting. We definitely would have been better off if we'd taken Nivin's route from Steubenville up to Lisbon though - 43 was not the way to go. We'll have to try to the other way next time. Thanks again for the invite!

No worries. I'll see you guys then.

Weather looks good, roads look pretty dry here. I'm still in for the original plan.

Most of the roads on either of the routes in This Thread are pretty good. Mix and match to get the distance you want. As Tpoppa mentioned, the roads down in Amish country (OH-39, US-62, etc) are good for more relaxed rides.

Depending on the weather I might come along for this.

This. Kyle is the go to guy for getting the RC to handle correctly. I've not personally ridden one of his setups, but I've heard plenty of people echo woodchuck's comments.

It's a known fact that owning a Speed Triple makes you irresistible to the ladies, especially when it's an awesome eye-searing color such as this one. Looks great, GLWS!