Had my first real ride yesterday!!!!

tzimmerm

tzimmerm

XS650 Junkie
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I left work two hours early yesterday to go enjoy the weather and ride the snot out of my bike! It was so great! I put about 150 miles in just yesterday! I’m already getting used to riding on the interstate. I didnt want to push it, but I’m excited to see if she can do the ton. I’ve had her up to around 85-90 a couple times, and it doesnt seem like’s topped out. One thing I realized yesterday after riding around for over an hour straight is that I don’t feel like this bike vibrates as much as I’ve read about. I also had no problems doing speeds around 70, and passing on the interstate, so I guess all the talk of needing to replace sprockets “for highway speeds” is a load of marketing bull. Which I totally fell for. Riding is basically what I imagined it would be. I love my bike and I can’t wait to get back out there! It’s all I want to do.
 
tzimmerm, you have your head on straight on this issue. The stuff you read on gearing isn't marketing bull, it's just a matter of personal taste in some cases (moderate gearing changes) and ignorance in others (drastic high gearing). The idea that the XS6560 was geared too low in 5th has been pushed by guys whose experience on 650 cc. air cooled parallel twins without mechanical balancers is limited to the XS650. Guys who knew and rode the Brit bikes of the period know better.
 
Hi tzimmerm,
all you got on a stock XS650 is about 50 horsepower so it'll just about reach the ton but no faster.
If you gear it to a low ratio (say 17/30 ) it'll just about do the ton in 4th instead because at 17/30 5th is an overdrive.
 
Hey Tzimmern
Glad to hear you got a good ride in...
Hopefully it's one of many for you..
The vibes are part of the mystic of these gems...it is raw and is real..one of the things I love about these bikes...I have owned smoother bikes...but didn't love them near as much
 
Went for another ride on my birthday; Saturday June 9th. It was perfect. Planned on working OT all day but left at 2:00 after 3 hours to ride with a buddy that got a harley a year or so ago. I wanted to cruise some rural highways I knew when I was in high school. We ended up just following roads and riding longer and longer, and ended up in burlington, about two hours away. Stopped for lunch and then headed back a different way. The weather was absolutely perfect; mid 70’s all afternoon. We got back at a quarter after 8:00. Probably covered around 300 miles. Really the Best birthday I have had in I don’t know how long; just riding free with nowhere to be and nothing but open roads all day long. I put the highway bar back on the next day, haha.
 
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When the drug has this kind of effect, you know you're an addict :) If you're a new rider, or even if not, take the MSF course. Not expensive, free for under 18, and can get you a discount on insurance. Things I learned there have saved my life more than once. My MSF teacher was the cop in Rain Man who says "Get back in your car!" For real.
 
That’s the course I took to get my MC license. It was instructed by a local guy who does MC and Car driving programs. I was told his course was easier/more forgiving than going through the DOT, and since I had never ridden before, I wanted to make sure I was getting properly trained.
 
What happened to the days you learned to ride in an empty lot when the only teacher was the experience?
Not saying an organized course is a bad thing. Times they are a changing.
 
It comes down to awareness, which includes awareness of MSF :) They did a ranking of mc accident victims -- highest rate was people taught by a friend, next was people who taught themselves, and last was ppl who'd learned from a formal course. Thought it was interesting it was safer to teach yourself than be taught by a friend. Experience is a good teacher, but collective experience is best, which is what the course comes down to.
 
But...MSF was not instant ability and confidence. I remember at the end of it some of us were privately laughing that we were definitely not ready for public roads. The course wasn't so much the complete motor skills required but rather drilling in safety skills. I practiced days or weeks in the parking lot before I rode downtown to show my MSF card and get a license. Some things they didn't even touch on, like pulling out to the left or right from a stop; maybe because there's a fair chance of falling over before you get the hang of it. I learned pulling out in a turn from a youtube video of a motorcycle cop demonstrating it.
 
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