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Hey Everyone,
Just a quick post to start off my blog. In here I will detail as much as I can about what happens in relation to my bike the 2008 Suzuki B-King.

RhadamYgg

more pictures of the B-King!

wrecks wrote:more pictures of the B-King!

I'll second that!

I can't say I recommend all the riding in here, but it is neat to watch.

B-King Bike Test

Snake Pass - This video is very cool!

Of course, now that I have the B-King and am getting a feel for it - I know that in 6th gear at around 4000 (or so I don't remember exactly) rpm is 75 mph or so. Probably in "B" mode. This guys covered the MPH and gear indicator, but its RPMS go waaayy over that. He's gotta be really moving. Not that he really needed to cover the gear indicator - you can't see it past the front brake and throttle lines when you are actually riding the bike.

UK Test Group
Some decent shots of the B-King on the track with - well someone with a whole helluva lot more skills then me.


B-King Review

Crazy People on B-King and Hayabusa

Night Ride

Extended Swingarm The owner of this extended swingarm B-King seems to indicate that it is there to help prevent wheelies. So far I haven't run in to this issue, but I've been babying the bike and riding it mostly in B mode. Of course, one of the most annoying things about the bike is that in order to change the mode it has to be on, but not running in order to change mode. So, when I discover I'm in the wrong mode for the ride I'm on, I'm stuck until the next time I stop and have enough time to turn it off and change modes. One of my (few) complaints about the bike.

First Ride before the bike was released

Custom Exhaust - 4 into 2 into 1 into 3?

Custom Exhaust - ending in 4

B-King vs Hornet
Particularly interesting to me since I like both the 919/hornet 600 (N/A US, of course) and the B-King. But unfortunately, it is only a comparison of the exhaust notes... Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what is so important about how a bike sounds.

Rome Launch

Cute Chick on the bike.

Oh, after the cute chick on the B-King...

There is a video "Se Fudeu - TopLess" - is good for a laugh.

Oh, well, enough for now.

RhadamYgg

Well, I've got two rides under my hat with the B-king for a total of about 30 miles. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try and take it out for a long highway ride with a little local riding. It is supposed to be a warm day for February.

Ride one was a quick ride down the Garden State Parkway (GSP) from exit 136 to Route 1 North Exit and right back on the GSP going North to home. It was uneventful and enlightening.

Discovered the first real problem with the bike. So, if anyone can help - it is in regard to the routing of the cables. The throttle and the front brake cable - run right in front of the gear indicator.

I know, I know, who needs all this junk in the cluster? But, it is one of the things I really liked about the bike. I can see the very top of the gear I'm in. So, if I'm in first gear - I know it and fourth... All the others pretty much look like a horizontal line. I can tell its in third because the vertical line is on the right. Fifth and sixth? Bleh, they look the same.

I was thinking a velcro wire wrap pulling those cables closer to one of the other cables, but I don't want to do it if it might wear through the cable and cause issues. Issues like that could be of the fatal kind on a bike and when it comes down to it, I was good at guessing what gear I was in on the Kawasaki Ninja 250... Based on RPM and speed. I might just need to learn that again on the B-King.

The second ride was to the Rahway DMV. Just a note to my fellow motorcycle owners in NJ. When you go to the inspection station, you don't have to wait in line with the goons in the cars (which of course sometimes I'm one of those goons). They always (at least at Rahway) have me go around the building and a guy - and there might be only one guy - that deals with motorcycles comes and checks you out.

Now, you might be thinking - hey - isn't that a new bike - what do you need it inspected for? Well, I don't, but I did have to stop by the inspection station because it was a new vehicle purchased outside of the state of NJ. There wasn't any reason I could fail, except that if there was something obviously wrong with the bike (and there wasn't).

The neat thing is that the regulations for cars - are the regulations for everything. So, new bike - no need to get it inspected for 4 years - just like when I got my 2001 Honda Accord.

While I was waiting (and these guys are slow, but of course I don't know what other work he is doing at the same time) a white van pulled up behind me. The guy started talking with the inspector when the inspector came up and the inspector told him when he brings his bike in to just bring it directly up front - since he was reminded he needed his bike inspected since he saw my bike.

Well (Tom) and I struck up a good conversation. He's a father and his boys ride - they ride Buells - and he's a HD guy (his bike was a 1984 something or other - whatever name it was it was enough for me to know it was an HD). It was great because after the DMV guy took our information talking to Tom passed the (somewhat significant) time.

I asked if he wanted to sit on the bike because he was talking about how bikes like 'that - meaning sport bikes - were awkward for him to sit on. I asked if he wanted to sit on my bike, since it was more of a standard position than anything else. He hopped on and lifted the bike up. It might have been a little bit awkward for him, but not because of the peg position. He was a bit shorter than me and probably had a bit smaller of an inseam.

Anyway, I really should have exchanged information with him. He was a nice guy and would have been great to go for a ride.

He did keep going on about how my bike would beat the crap out of his... But I don't see it as a major point. Since I'm not a professional rider I'm sure there are plenty of rider/bike combos that would beat the crap out of me.

I still think I would have liked to have purchased a Honda Blackbird. But so far, other than laying out more cash than I really wanted to - I like this bike a lot.

I keep forgetting to turn the bikes mode to B - just because I'm a more sedate kind of rider. A mode does make its presence known and it is a little weird that the bike can handle so differently under the same twist of the wrist.

No wheelies yet. 1 stall (felt really dumb) which brings me to my second complaint about the bike.

You know, I've stalled a few times in the Ninja 250. Clutch in, press the ignition and off you go.

Not so with the B-King. Now, I'm sure there are good reasons for what they did, but here it is.

The B-King has a starter interloc system. She won't start unless the clutch is disengaged AND the bike is in neutral. Gods above help the poor idiot that stalls with the bike in first gear and is in front of traffic. Bleach.

Today I did have a small issue. Stopped at a stop light I decide it is going to be a long stop. So, I pop it into neutral and hang out. Not for no reason - the clutch takes a significant amount of pressure to be disengaged for a lengthy period of time.

Before the light changes - I try to put it into first gear. No luck. I'm stomping on the damned gear shifter and it won't take first. So I try second (this is what I'd do on the rare occasions that I couldn't put it in gear in the Ninja 250) No go. It is getting closer to time to green light so I roll the bike forward. It didn't seem to do much. So, I give the gear shifter a 'manly' push with my foot and it goes in to gear.

I guess, if my bike is a girl (and the transformer bike that looks like it is a girl Arcee) she's one of those girls... She likes it a bit rough.

Anyway, it may be that it needs to be broken in a bit more before it'll cooperate with things like that. I'm not sure. I'll have to toy with it a bit tomorrow if I get the chance and see how it goes.

RhadamYgg

Well, finally went for what I consider to be a real ride. 70 miles, but the snow melting all over the place made it fairly conservative riding on the local streets in the morning.

The B-King - on its first true fill-up got 41 MPG. Not too bad. Most of my highway riding - I didn't control the speed very well, so my speed was over 65 MPH on the parkway, route 287 and route 24 to 78 on the way home.

Felt the bike slip a bit making a turn on local streets, but fortunately, was able to straighten up and go wider to avoid low siding.

Went for a second ride when I went to get gas. Took a quick run through some back streets - an especially curvy one and ended up with some bikers behind me. That was pretty cool - with the exception that I'm not 100% yet on this bike and probably just slowed them all down.

Probably a good thing. A kid driving a black neon pulled up to the street and drove right on to it without looking, cutting me off. I slowed down, using brakes even though I probably didn't have to and beeped my horn because I was annoyed.

So, we all came up to a stop on to Raritan Road and I went right and they went left. I think the one guy did a small stoppie at the stop.

I wasn't in the mood for talking. I was mostly embarrassed about riding so slow through the section of the road (although I was doing the speed limit + 5 mph - which is only 30).

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really a motorcyclist. Other than online, the people I have never talked to again from the MSF course and a couple of salespeople - I don't actually interact with motorcyclists.

Of course, maybe I make up for the real-world contact by posting so much online. I almost didn't even notice that I passed the 1000 posts mark.

Ahhh and all that riding on the wet pavement has transferred a crapload of salt to the front of my bike.

RhadamYgg

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really a motorcyclist. Other than online, the people I have never talked to again from the MSF course and a couple of salespeople - I don't actually interact with motorcyclists.

You're riding in winter, you got a new bike, you belong to TMW, you are a REAL rider!

wrecks wrote:

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really a motorcyclist. Other than online, the people I have never talked to again from the MSF course and a couple of salespeople - I don't actually interact with motorcyclists.

You're riding in winter, you got a new bike, you belong to TMW, you are a REAL rider!

+1

Being a real "biker" is way over rated.

wrecks wrote:

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really a motorcyclist. Other than online, the people I have never talked to again from the MSF course and a couple of salespeople - I don't actually interact with motorcyclists.

You're riding in winter, you got a new bike, you belong to TMW, you are a REAL rider!

Thanks! I like your definition. I did meet and talk with Brackstone twice.

RhadamYgg