Ruts + ABS = Ditch

[Bloggs]

Went for a longish dirt ride yesterday. After cruising a few local dirt roads I started to get really confortable - this machine makes looooong powerslides easy! - so went exploring for some tougher terrain. As I found a relatively steep downhill I decided that now was a good time to stop for a drink break - stop bike, enjoy view, have a drink, start bike, head downhill for some fun... Well the fun soon turned into: 90 degree corner, big ruts, OH F*@K, NO BRAKES, decision - trees or ditch. The sphincter decided the ditch was the way to go. Amazingly the bike (it wasn't me I can tell you) took us through the ditch and up over the other side to come to a nice stop with no damage, other than some serious stains. So what's the moral of the story you ask? When off road REMEMBER TO TURN THE ABS OFF EVERY TIME YOU START, you idjiot!

I must say though, I don't think the old V-Strom would have handled the ditch so well. Man I love this bike!

 

[aspad]

1500 kms report

Hi Bloggs,
Glad to hear of your survival save for brown trousers....
I have 2wks and 1500kms on the bike and am loving it.
On saturday I took mine over the Blue Mountains via the Bell Line and had an absolute ball on the fast sweepers and hairpins over to Lithgow. It was fairly damp, cold and misty but the bike just lapped up the conditions....hmmm heated grips. Then down to the Jenolan caves via Lake Lyell on what has to be the worst road in NSW (and that is saying something) - more patches than original surface but once again the bike was completely unphased.
In the very tight, narrow twisties on the 5Km drop to the caves the bike just sailed round everything including the bits that have been dug up for road repairs and the rocks that had recently fallen from the cliffs above - very nimble for a bike of such size and weight.
Coming home I took it via a dirt road to get back to the Gt Western Hwy - again very confidence inspiring for me even though I have zero previous experience on dirt roads with bikes - only had one 'moment' when I changed down to enthusiasticaly and the back end went about a metre sideways but the bike instantly came back on line without any further input from me.
Came home via the M4 and although the bike coped well this was my least favorite part of the ride - at 120-130 the bike does weave a bit in light winds and I cannot get the screen to cut out wind blast around my head (6.1' with the seat and screen on the high settings). Also had a wierd feeling in my arms after about 30 mins which may have been due to high frequency vibration - anyone else experienced this at motorway speeds????
Apart from this, no probs at all with the bike so far.
Ran it in hardish, but not brutally, and bike has hardly used a drop of oil.
Conclusion: A very confidence inspring ride which is a ton of fun and almost perfect for the conditions here in Oz. A fantastic all rounder which I love more each time I ride....

 

[Dolphin]

Even though I am 6'3", I tend to find the windscreen is better in the lower postitions.
3rd one down is totally awful, but all others are fine.
Totally agree about Sydney roads, makes it hard to understand how people can ride sports bikes without burying them in the standard issue 1 meter pot holes....
Makes the GS the perfect bike for our roads.
ENJOY !!

 

[aspad]

GS perfect bike?

i was comparing notes with a german guy riding a 650PD during a stop on Saturday. He made the point that in Germany there are loads of GSs and other dual sports even though the roads are excellent for sports bikes and there is limited opportunity for real GSing - over here the roads are, let's be diplomatic, of variable quality - but nearly everyone has a sports bike.....what does that say??? A lot about the power of marketing and the aspirations and images that bikers carry around in their heads I suspect...

 

[Dolphin]

"Variable Quality" is very diplomatic.
A nice way of saying shite-house.
Having grown up on off-roaders and being 6'3", Ii wouldn't even think of owning a sports bike. Rode a ZX-10 Ninja years ago, and that was enough to tell me that kissing my own knees while disappearing down grooves in the road was not for me.

RIDE ON....

 

[Tobers]

For Aspad:

"at 120-130 the bike does weave a bit in light winds"

Wind up the rear preload as the rear of the bike is set quite low as standard, making the front light which is especially noticable at speed. Raising the rear cures this very nicely.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Tobers - thats's kmh .

Nobody 'd dare do that in mph anywhere in NSW - you'd get thrown in prison.

Everyone seems skeered to go over 110 kmh/h

1200's wasted over here.........

 

[Vampire]

For Aspad:

"at 120-130 the bike does weave a bit in light winds"

Wind up the rear preload as the rear of the bike is set quite low as standard, making the front light which is especially noticable at speed. Raising the rear cures this very nicely.

I'd tend to agree, sounds like a supsension setting to me.
I have ridden exactly the same roads, regularly ride the M4 to Penrith, and haven't noticed the same problems.
Out of simple curiosity, I tried for top speed numbers with panniers and Givi topbox fitted - the speedo showed 220 kph and I didn't notice any particular instability.

 

[aspad]

weaving

Thanks for the tips re weaving. I will try winding up the pre-load but I think I expressed myself badly in the original post. What I was really referring to was being blown around by gusty crosswinds and the wind effects around large trucks...
As for speeding Moto, well you have to choose your spots and times.....but once away from Sydney there are lots of opportunities....