MZ33: Taking Aim at Colorado
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:00 am
If it were held annually, I probably would have waited a year before setting my sites on the AMA Women’s Motorcycle Conference, but it isn’t. It is held every four years, and I don’t want to wait that long. Keystone, Colorado. Over 1300 miles. Hmm.
If you count the 125cc scooter, and most don’t, I started riding in August 2007. If you only count the 650 V Star, which is much heavier and had a much higher learning curve, then I started riding in April 2008. I logged roughly 3,000 miles last year, and learned a lot. Among other things, I learned that I wasn’t going 1300 miles on that bike without a whole lot of modifications. Seat, yes, no surprise, and bigger saddlebags, of course, but what was I going to do about the vibration from the handlebars into my hands? Noticeable after an hour, barely tolerable after two. I know I should take frequent breaks, but it seemed to me that this would be unbearable by the fifth or sixth hour.
For a bike with so many aftermarket parts and accessories, you’d think someone would have figured out how to fix this. But it doesn’t seem to bother very many people that own the bike. I never hear about it from other owners. Blues went from Vancouver to San Fran, for Pete’s sake!
So, I stepped back and took a hard look at the bike, what I liked and didn’t like about it. I talked to more than a few people, and they weren't surprised that a 650 V-twin vibrated enough to annoy me at highway speeds. And I do have a history of carpal tunnel-like symptoms several years back, but once I stopped having to write on triplicate forms and type all day, that went away.
If I had my druthers, my feet would be under me, not in front of me, and I wouldn't have my hands so far out there. What was all this talk about "flickable" I heard on posts and reviews of other bikes? It doesn't take much to scrape the floorboards on the V Star.
But I loved flat-footing, and of all the stock cruisers, it fit me best, even the handlebars. I screwed up buying the windshield--it sits right where it can buffet my head the most, and the noise is downright painful. Earplugs became a necessity, not an option.
It was my husband, whose middle name should be "Supportive", who suggested that maybe the cruiser style is not for me. He was the one first interested in bikes, he was the one who loved the cruiser. I knew I didn't want a sport bike, so I thought that meant I wanted a cruiser. The Ninja 250, although more standard than sport according to sport riders, was still too forward-leaning and too much on the hands for me--and probably too small for a long trip. I was leaning toward a V Strom, but where to find one to sit on??
I patiently waited for the Cleveland Int'l Motorcycle Show. Waited and waited. Still waited. FINALLY! Went to the show, sat on everything I could possibly want, including the new 950 V Star. Now that really fit me. Pulling the handlebars back would be even more perfect. But a) this was its first production year and I don't care who makes it, I don't want to be the one who gets stuck with the bugs, and b) was I really going to want to go for extended miles with my legs out front? With floorboards, it would probably be fine.
Then I met Sue, who was at a women's booth at the show. Shorter than me. Showed me her boots she uses on her dirtbike, with the 2 inch platforms!! (I wonder how she gets her toe under the shifter?) Anyway, I told her my "issues", and that I was here to sit on standard bikes, especially the V Strom. She told me to also have a hard look at the Kawasaki Versys, a similar bike that was lighter in weight, and more importantly, the OEM gel seat lowered the seat 2 inches when selected as an option. That was before lowering the suspension. She also was the first to tell me, since I am not strictly a newbie, that I could acclimate to not flat-footing anymore.
To make a long story less long, the Versys can be lowered down to a 29" seat height, using the gel seat, a lowering kit, and dropping down the rear suspension and front forks. The V Strom could only come down about an inch. Plus, I got to test ride a Versys with the seat and the lowered suspension. I was really, really pleased with how it handled, and the reduced vibration (although I know that by some standards, it still vibrates.) I can sit up, I can look around, I can keep my feet under me--so that the MSF drill going over a 2x4 actually makes sense. Trying to add throttle and stand on my feet (remember, they're in front of me) was an exercise in futility on the cruisers.
So now, I have the bike--a significant step in the direction of Colorado. A beautiful, red, 2008 Versys with 1100 miles on it--it was a demo bike, so it gets the full factory warranty. It was also the store owner's bike: Jeff Hinds, who races in the Thruxton cup, and is not taller than me. He hadn't changed the suspension because he is quite proficient, but he had outfitted the bike with the gel seat, a really cool windshield, and Versys side bags made by Givi. Everything I wanted and nothing I don't.
The temperatures have finally turned in a spring-like direction. Time to ride.
If you count the 125cc scooter, and most don’t, I started riding in August 2007. If you only count the 650 V Star, which is much heavier and had a much higher learning curve, then I started riding in April 2008. I logged roughly 3,000 miles last year, and learned a lot. Among other things, I learned that I wasn’t going 1300 miles on that bike without a whole lot of modifications. Seat, yes, no surprise, and bigger saddlebags, of course, but what was I going to do about the vibration from the handlebars into my hands? Noticeable after an hour, barely tolerable after two. I know I should take frequent breaks, but it seemed to me that this would be unbearable by the fifth or sixth hour.
For a bike with so many aftermarket parts and accessories, you’d think someone would have figured out how to fix this. But it doesn’t seem to bother very many people that own the bike. I never hear about it from other owners. Blues went from Vancouver to San Fran, for Pete’s sake!
So, I stepped back and took a hard look at the bike, what I liked and didn’t like about it. I talked to more than a few people, and they weren't surprised that a 650 V-twin vibrated enough to annoy me at highway speeds. And I do have a history of carpal tunnel-like symptoms several years back, but once I stopped having to write on triplicate forms and type all day, that went away.
If I had my druthers, my feet would be under me, not in front of me, and I wouldn't have my hands so far out there. What was all this talk about "flickable" I heard on posts and reviews of other bikes? It doesn't take much to scrape the floorboards on the V Star.
But I loved flat-footing, and of all the stock cruisers, it fit me best, even the handlebars. I screwed up buying the windshield--it sits right where it can buffet my head the most, and the noise is downright painful. Earplugs became a necessity, not an option.
It was my husband, whose middle name should be "Supportive", who suggested that maybe the cruiser style is not for me. He was the one first interested in bikes, he was the one who loved the cruiser. I knew I didn't want a sport bike, so I thought that meant I wanted a cruiser. The Ninja 250, although more standard than sport according to sport riders, was still too forward-leaning and too much on the hands for me--and probably too small for a long trip. I was leaning toward a V Strom, but where to find one to sit on??
I patiently waited for the Cleveland Int'l Motorcycle Show. Waited and waited. Still waited. FINALLY! Went to the show, sat on everything I could possibly want, including the new 950 V Star. Now that really fit me. Pulling the handlebars back would be even more perfect. But a) this was its first production year and I don't care who makes it, I don't want to be the one who gets stuck with the bugs, and b) was I really going to want to go for extended miles with my legs out front? With floorboards, it would probably be fine.
Then I met Sue, who was at a women's booth at the show. Shorter than me. Showed me her boots she uses on her dirtbike, with the 2 inch platforms!! (I wonder how she gets her toe under the shifter?) Anyway, I told her my "issues", and that I was here to sit on standard bikes, especially the V Strom. She told me to also have a hard look at the Kawasaki Versys, a similar bike that was lighter in weight, and more importantly, the OEM gel seat lowered the seat 2 inches when selected as an option. That was before lowering the suspension. She also was the first to tell me, since I am not strictly a newbie, that I could acclimate to not flat-footing anymore.
To make a long story less long, the Versys can be lowered down to a 29" seat height, using the gel seat, a lowering kit, and dropping down the rear suspension and front forks. The V Strom could only come down about an inch. Plus, I got to test ride a Versys with the seat and the lowered suspension. I was really, really pleased with how it handled, and the reduced vibration (although I know that by some standards, it still vibrates.) I can sit up, I can look around, I can keep my feet under me--so that the MSF drill going over a 2x4 actually makes sense. Trying to add throttle and stand on my feet (remember, they're in front of me) was an exercise in futility on the cruisers.
So now, I have the bike--a significant step in the direction of Colorado. A beautiful, red, 2008 Versys with 1100 miles on it--it was a demo bike, so it gets the full factory warranty. It was also the store owner's bike: Jeff Hinds, who races in the Thruxton cup, and is not taller than me. He hadn't changed the suspension because he is quite proficient, but he had outfitted the bike with the gel seat, a really cool windshield, and Versys side bags made by Givi. Everything I wanted and nothing I don't.
The temperatures have finally turned in a spring-like direction. Time to ride.
)
Yes, a top case is a definite likelihood on the want list, but there are issues with fit. The OEM Versys side cases, although made by Givi, will not fit with the OEM Versys top case, also made by Givi. In order to make it all work, SW Moto frames need to be incorporated. I have an email from someone on the Versys forums letting me know some options, but I'm waiting on all that for a while. I was also looking at the one of the frames that Shad uses--it might be compatible with the current side case frame. Or I might just strap a soft bag on top for the trip. Glad to hear the V Strom didn't suffer from top weight issues, but yours is 1000, not 650. Do you suppose that makes a lot of difference? The Versys front end is probably lighter than the 650 V Strom, too, since the whole bike is a little lighter.
I thought it was bad when I was scraping frost off my windshield in Syracuse in June.
I had thought about riding up, but John’s bike is still in the shop, so we went together by car. My Versys and riding gear would have been sooo out of place! Even in street clothes nearly everybody was Harley-ized: Harley shirts, vests, pins, patches, boots, earrings. And the instructors knew their crowd, because while they talked about cutting through leathers & such, they also mention, “you know, those riding jackets some wear that have the thing down the back to protect the spine?” as if it really were a foreign idea. And bikes! Bikes, bikes, bikes! Big s-h-i-n-y bikes! It was a lot of fun, and they fed us some awesome BBQ pulled pork. Hubby kept walking by the pot, inhaling deeply. That was one happy man, I can tell you. 
But it is pretty visible--well, if I keep it clean 
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