alfalfa

So, made it down to Lake Elsinore on Saturday. My appt was for Sunday, but a friend had his for Sat afternoon and then wanted to go play in the hills afterwards. Riding the twisty's sounded like fun so i blasted down after breakfast, showing up at the test area just after 1. There was a pretty good setup going. As is almost always the case, there were more reservations made than ridres showed, so i actually got to ride one, instead of waiting until Sunday a.m. This dovetailed nicely into our weekend plans, so off i went after a quick course on how the bike worked. I chose a "special" model (the one with auto-lowering, crash bars, extra riding modes, etc.). The only rules were to leave in RAIN mode, until familiar with the bike and return it unscathed. They had a long, if not boring route around the lake. Probably a good 15 miles, i would say. All town riding, but it did have some long stretches with no stops. Half a block out of the staging area, i hit SPORT mode, and man, what an engine! Very peppy response, firm suspension! Fun to play with. The only thing that bothered me (strong word, as it wasnt that bad( was a little throttle lag when shifting. I think that would go away the more you got familiar with the bike. The bike was comfortable enough on the streets. Mirrors seems a mite small, tho. Ergos were good for a 32-inch inseam. The lowering was interesting and should prove very popular for the shorter legged, or when offroad. After returning, i saw my buddy talking to one of the GS Giant friends, who was overseeing the offroad section. Well, it wasnt paved, but it wasnt really offroad. I guess HD lawyers are just as anal as BMW ones. I understand from our friend that it was quite the battle to just get permission to take the bikes into a level gravel area for some "testing". One bike at a time on the course was the rule. If you dropped the bike, you were done. Speed limit was 25mph, but there was no radar to keep you honest. So, wink, wink. When it was my turn, i took off on the slow slalom, getting used to the feel in loose stuff. Then came easy 180s, followed by a circle test. Did both sets of tests sitting and then standing. Bike was good at maintaining speed by clutching. Power felt good, not as low end as the GS, but not bad. The interesting test was the acceleration and braking, using the offroad ABS for hard braking. Very impressive as the bike slid to a controlled, straight stop. All in all, i think Harley has a winner with this bike. Consider is an SUV and you will see what the market and use should/will be. Meaning, hauling your crap long distances so that you can get dirty. I'm just hoping that they get their converts from their own base, as well as those who have been dual-sporting/adv-ing all along. Case in point - amongst all the bikes that were there, waiting to ride, most were dual sports, with only one HD bike. Not sure if that was someone test riding, or an employee, tho. Now, to sit down and figure out if i need 7 bikes............. (p.s., the HD Branded Revit gear is really good looking and looks long wearing!)

Interesting point. Like our autos, our motorcycles are made for the type of traveling you can do, mostly in the western states. Wide open, huge distances (California is over 700 miles long. I have to travel 2300 miles to get to Tennessee to buy my moonshine). Roads are wide and flat for the most part. The spaces between the roads (in the west) are also wide open. Like the GS, this bike will be an SUV for most riders. For the merry band of #AGALOS, we will hurt ourselves riding them like dirt bikes. Sunday is my turn on the bike, at Lake Elsinore (of On any Sunday fame). I understand we get to play in the dirt, even if it is a level, gravel lot. Unguided road rides means i will get to test the bike in Sport mode, and enjoy all 150 horses! Y'all make it out to Cali and you will see why most Europeans we run into on the highway are on Harley's.

my bike gets tired, too

2nd stab yesterday, Moderna. Side effects were minor for me, but not so minor for friend's wife. She said it felt like a truck hit her. Probably because she doesnt ride a motorcycle.

Then, the right gets all pissy for being cheated on.

what a beautiful country!! and, oh my! those roads!!!!

well, hell! now i need to go to Portugal!!! Glad we have an expat from there in the club to lead us! (our local BMW club)

did you ever think you would see HD branded gear like this:

Yes, it does. i also like the grey model. Truth be told, the orange/white looks really good in person.

as you can tell from my avatar, i'm in total agreement with Mawsley on the whole scooter thing

My buddy, Matt took one for a test ride in Ohio. There are rumors it had the front wheel leave the ground (he is the friend on my KTM in Baja that has a hard time keeping it on two wheels). I need to find the video of him in Mongolia, during the GS Trophy competition. They have a long shot of the group transiting a stage across the desert, when one bike rares back on the rear wheel at about 60 and rides off

so, probably should go in Second Weekend in May thread, but i did mention checking out the new Harley Pan America here. Couldnt wait any longer, as the local dealer got two on Thursday. Friday, took a long lunch to go drool over new bikes (even if they are HDs) The first one in was a black Special Edition (includes ride modes, center stand, and other things i forget for now). That bike had a deposit, but the dealer never got an answer from the deposit holder, so as of yesterday (Saturday) it was available to anyone. Salesman took me and my buddy in the shop and showed us their demo, the orange and white one. In pics, those colors never looked appealing. In person, everything changes. The front doesnt looks a wonky and the orange is a great color! Went back yesterday (saturday) and got a quick pavement only ride on the demo. Very impressive effort, considering this being a entirely new genre for HD (ignoring Buell for the moment). They should be proud of their efforts. Motor is good and i'm looking forward to riding it again in two weeks, in sport mode. Initial thoughts: Cracking up on the HD labeled Anakee Adventure tires. Like that the wheels are same size as on the GS, so tire options are plenty. Engine noise is throaty and pleasing. Lots of buttons on the handgrips, will take a while to learn them all. Fonts on digital display are a little small, but you can use of the buttons to scroll thru the info, with is showing in the center of the display with each push. Quality seems really good. Handle bars remind me of a KTM - narrow than a GS. It feels lighter than a GS, especially when sitting on it and rocking it back and forth. Suspension felt soft, but i wasnt allowed to mess with many settings. I'm sure the Sport setting is nice and firm. The auto-lowering suspension was interesting and a great feature for height challenged. Dealer staff seem out of their element in trying to sell it. (Understandable, and not a complaint). We spent more time educating the salesman about why some features are on it. HD will use Revit gear, which looks really good. This is another point where the salesman was lost. During training on the bikes, gear and accessories, he was shocked about the price of the adventure gear. He is used to selling $200 -$300 jackets, and whatever assless chaps go for. I assured him that us Power Rangers generally dont have a problem spending $1500 to $2000 on good, safe riding gear (pants and jackets). overall, i would say the Pan America is 90% of a GS. That could change after the factory ride in two weeks.

what a coincidence they are testing them there

probably. when i just renewed my password, the email to do that ended up there. we have a tight filter installed here at work. unfortunately, i delete those trapped on a daily basis, so cant go see if it got thru. no matters, i'm safe again

will do.

signed up to ride it mid-May, in Lake Elsinore. Been reading lots of good reviews about it. Except the front end

i have to, i have no other life

nope. y'all must hate colonials

well, thanks a lot! you didnt even miss me

WTF did everyone go!!!? Phew, back now.

There is an off highway vehicle park just to the east of here, as well.

Camping weekend with the Northern Califronia crowd. Place is known as Songdog Ranch and it is about 1.5 hours north of me, at the end of Hwy 33.

The best thing i can say about the experts in our group is that they are patient and helpful. The lesser-skilled are good about finding bail out routes so they dont hold up the main group. Most rides are set up so that even slower riders dont hold up the faster ones for that long. motorcycle peeps are awesome, most times.

South America is next on the horizon. I've done the top half of the Americas, time for the bottom. Also, Mongolia is right there at, or near the top of the list! Followed a fellow named Oisin Hughes, on ADVRIDER, when he rode around the world. Mongolia he had the most bike issues, but fell in love with the people. Ever since, that's been the place I've wanted to see the most.

I've already heard real-life reviews (a few) on the Harley GS and for the most part, people like it. More power than my GS, at about the same weight. The only complaint is the front end look, but then we like the GS front end ?