*to me
Yes, the motor number is way past the 4th gear problem range.
I just moved from New Mexico, USA where I was riding a Yamaha YZF600R. Excellent bike, and the riding in the four corners area of the southwest is awesome.
Now I live in Vienna, Austria. I've given up the best climate in the world, fantastic roads, great riding buddies, and a garage to store/maintain my bike for better pay (and no income tax!!!! :-D
:-D
), more cultural/educational opportunities for the family, better pastry, and a chance to compare the Rocky Mountains to the Alps. Oh, and a T595 Daytona with a one-year warranty from the dealer.
I picked it up this past Friday after a serious headbanging session trying to use my diplomatic privliges to buy an '05 Sprint ST without paying the local taxes (~36%!). No dice; I'd have had to actually leave Austria and bring one back, so I decided to grab the used one first to see if I liked this whole three-cylinder idea as much as I expected to. I got it just in time; the weather this weekend was fantastic. I hope we get lots more of this before the winter descends.
Yesterday I took it out and stayed fairly close to Vienna. Mistake. I spent more time sitting on the side of the road figuring out which little town I should be headed for nest than I did actually riding. I got home wondering if I should have gotten something more comfortable. All in all, a fairly rotten first ride.
So today dawned cloudy, but not too cold. Some of the best riding yesterday had been on the highway (that tells you a lot right there), so I thought I'd head off on a highway loop and see where the roads took me. I spent two hours or so doing that, and then stopped for one of those pastries I mentioned earlier and a map recon session. I stuck to smaller roads all the way back to Vienna, and :razz:
:-D :razz:
:-D :razz:
:-D ! This was everything I'd hoped for yesterday. The problem wasn't the bike, it was the route. Today there was plenty of open road with great sweeping curves... tight, (usually) smooth switchbacks... very little traffic... the occasional photo op...
Overall impressions:
Power: excellent - this is about a 30% increase over the YZF, so no complaints here. I haven't even begun to really explore the power.
Handling: excellent. I think I felt the rear slide a little once or twice, but it was controllable and probably due to the cold roads.
Brakes: excellent. This is getting repetitious, but I'm particularly glad to find the brakes are great. The YZF was/is known for great brakes, and you hate to step down on this issue in particular.
Comfort: Not quite as comfortable overall; clipons seem a little lower, and the pegs seem a little higher than the YZF, but there's plenty of room to move around on the seat (I prefer this seat's size and foam density to that of the '05 ST I tested). The clipons might not actually be that different, because my left arm felt fine. My right shoulder got a little sore, but the difference is due to the throttle. With a throttle lock, I could give that arm a chance to move around more, which would keep it more comfortable. This is after 650 km (400 mi) over the course of the weekend.
Linear Mode
