Just Ride.

Should this ride thread be just a.... well, thread? Or should there be a dedicated Forum topic?

  • Yes, it's own topic in the Forums

    Votes: 19 90.5%
  • Nah... threads good enough.

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .
E

Even better than I-75 through Atlanta? or 1-95 through....anywhere?

You a funny guy! :bike:

I've done 75 through Atlanta twice. Never again.

I've done 95 from Cocoa Beach Florida to it's Northern terminus in Houlton, Maine. (Not all in one trip). There are two emotions that cover ALL of 95...mind-numbing boredom or abject terror. I did 95 through NYC once. Every other trip (and there have been several) have involved staying well West of that shithole and rejoining 95 in Joisey. Not that that's much of an improvement...
 
One of the hard things about where I live, is that to get to anywhere really interesting, I have to endure an hour or more slog on an interstate highway , packed with semi trucks and people trying to break the land speed record.
That’s why 95% of my rides are desert and farm land that I can kinda stitch together with a few carefully chosen back roads. Urban sprawl is quickly burying my back roads though. 😥
 
Well, I guess I'm fairly lucky with the selection of roads around here. No motorways, no dual-carriageways, and none of the roads is straight level and flat. Country roads - the main A roads are one lane each way, the B roads similar but a bit narrower, and loads of lanes, mostly single lane, many times narrow enough to have passing places. Traffic levels - well, if you head out on the main roads at the busiest times, there's strings of cars, vans, lorries. And even traffic queues in the towns. But in general I think mostly the traffic is light and on the less used country lanes there's more chance of meeting a tractor than a car or delivery van.

You need to travel to get anywhere important - an hour to Edinburgh, two hours to Glasgow or Newcastle. But you don't need to travel to get to good riding country.

The worst downside is the Scottish Government's defensive attitude to salting the roads. It's not IMHO about safety, it's about protecting the public purse from being sued. If there's a road traffic accident on icy roads, the Very First Question the insurance companies ask is, Had the roads been treated? And if the answer is No then the accident was obviously not the fault of the driver. So if the forecast points to even the slim possibility of cold enough for frost, the bloody gritters are out.
 
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The rain was coming, but I did manage 53 miles and made it back just as the sprinkles started - better lucky than...
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You a funny guy! :bike:

I've done 75 through Atlanta twice. Never again.

I've done 95 from Cocoa Beach Florida to it's Northern terminus in Houlton, Maine. (Not all in one trip). There are two emotions that cover ALL of 95...mind-numbing boredom or abject terror. I did 95 through NYC once. Every other trip (and there have been several) have involved staying well West of that shithole and rejoining 95 in Joisey. Not that that's much of an improvement...
Yep, I'm supposed to ride to La. next week. If I take U.S. 90, the route I prefer, it's gonna take 13+ hrs as it passes through many towns. If I take I-10 it will take about 8 hrs. but I might fall asleep. I think I'll be taking a hybrid route.
 
One of the hard things about where I live, is that to get to anywhere really interesting, I have to endure an hour or more slog on an interstate highway , packed with semi trucks and people trying to break the land speed record.
That’s why 95% of my rides are desert and farm land that I can kinda stitch together with a few carefully chosen back roads. Urban sprawl is quickly burying my back roads though. 😥
Precisely why my riding mileage this year is about half what it usually is: I've been everywhere even remotely interesting in my preferred 1-2 hour radius. Anything new would require at LEAST an hour, and likely two, of "grit yer teeth and get 'er done" riding to get to, resulting in a 5-6 hour day on the bike with is too much for my tired old bones. This year has been pretty much "take the bike to town" whenever logistics permit.
 
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I took Dale's Beemer for a little ride today, mostly because I wanted to check out the cruise control. Never ridden a bike with cruise.

I could get used to that. Very well thought out. Once set, it maintains set speed very smoothly. Of course if you touch either brake or the clutch it cancels, as I expected. What I DIDN'T expect is that if you manually roll off the throttle, it also cancels. Seeing as that is the instinctive reaction of most riders to a perceived hazard, that makes a great deal of sense.

Performance, while certainly adequate, doesn't have the "YEEHAH!" factor my FJ does. You grab a handful of throttle and the bike accelerates smoothly and fairly quickly, but it's porkitudinous curb weight is apparent. Clutch is just a tad heavy, transmission is silky, brakes are good. The bodywork and the windshield work nicely, wind noise is minimal and protection is quite good.

So, overall, while it's a nice bike, it's not for me. Primary reason for that is the riding position - too much of a tuck, knees too high, handlebars too far forward. I rode about 15 miles and my back and hips were letting me know they weren't happy.
 
I did 70 miles on an ‘04 Connie yesterday. Yes, porky. I can’t maneuver it in the garage without banging my chins on the fairing. My feet are too big to fit behind the fairing and work the shifter, and same for the rear brake. Comfy seat. Cramped legs. Engine heat cooking my left leg and buttock. Too much weight on my wrists. Great wind protection. Goes fast around curves in the road. Hauls a big load. I’m tall and I would not choose it for a long trip. After 70 miles it’s clear that my XS650SK is more comfortable, Special bars and all!

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I did 70 miles on an ‘04 Connie yesterday. Yes, porky. I can’t maneuver it in the garage without banging my chins on the fairing. My feet are too big to fit behind the fairing and work the shifter, and same for the rear brake. Comfy seat. Cramped legs. Engine heat cooking my left leg and buttock. Too much weight on my wrists. Great wind protection. Goes fast around curves in the road. Hauls a big load. I’m tall and I would not choose it for a long trip. After 70 miles it’s clear that my XS650SK is more comfortable, Special bars and all!

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LOL. I was stopped @ a pullout on the Cherohala SKWY last week and a Concourse came wizzing around the turn - had it heeled-over pretty good. My eyes aren't good enough for that anymore and I don't want to find-out if my reflexes are.
 
LOL. I was stopped @ a pullout on the Cherohala SKWY last week and a Concourse came wizzing around the turn - had it heeled-over pretty good. My eyes aren't good enough for that anymore and I don't want to find-out if my reflexes are.
Yes, it will go like stink!
 
Special delivery for Mr Goetz.... paging Mr Goetz...
Very odd that... UPS store is 10-15min away, yet I've never made it there and back in under 2hrs. Weird huh? :umm:



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A trip to Lowe’s took me three hours on Saturday. I wasn’t in the store for 10 minutes. 😁
 
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