Yep- I took delivery of my new ’06 Sunset Red ST last night
It’s really too early for first impressions, but here ya go anyway - mixed in with a ride report
Rules:
- Cant exceed 3500 RPM as per the owners manual, for the first 100 miles.
- New tires…gotta be mindful of their slippery nature
Ride:
- From Lomita, to Camarillo. The first 20miles covered stop & go traffic through town.
- A moderate amount of heat from the motor
- Low beam lights are fine in town
- Seat comfortable- softest I’ve ever ridden on
- Seating position is excellent!
- Shifting is really smooth compared to the older bikes I’ve ridden (02 Daytona, 03 Speed four)
Santa Monica / Malibu / Camarillo:
- The suspension did a really good job with the bumpy roads
- All the lights through Malibu were in my favor, so I left it in one gear (3rd?) and paid attention to the “feel” of the bike- smooth, and relatively light.
- Now about 2 hours into the ride and I’m still very comfortable- even through horrible stop & go traffic earlier
- Stopped at the Starbucks near Pepperdine college. Knowing the last part of the ride was going to be stressful, I wanted to get some coffee to calm my nerves. The place was packed, so back on the bike
- High-beam light didn’t seem to help much, but better then some bikes I’ve owned.
- The fairing was just the right height for me to tuck down behind without having buffeting problems.
- 45 MPH+ wind gusts knocked us around quite a bit. Sure wish I could have had the engine turning more then 3500 RPM! Here is where I was concerned about the new, slick tires; a lot of water was coming off the ocean along the coast, combined with the heavy winds. Could have been real bad news.
- Center stand is real easy- when we arrived home safely, I put her up on the center-stand expecting a hard time, but it was very easy. Much better then my Bonnie!
Final thoughts:
- The bike got me home through all that, and I wasn’t saddle sore (despite several “pucker” moments)- I love this bike!
- The dealer couldn’t order the hard bags ‘till the bike was registered. I was expecting to have them already installed. Silly me
- the left mirror vibrates a quite a bit more then the right- which is rock steady; Matt noticed it during the check-ride, and put a new one on order. Most shops out here would wait for YOU to tell them it was bad.
- Matt & Linda at South Bay were great! I could have bought the bike for a bit less elsewhere, but the service at SB was outstanding- totally worth it.
We are still under a wind advisory today, so I left the bike at home. Had enough of that last night, thank you very much! However, I’ll be riding tonight
Didn’t get many photos of the bike last night since, well, it was dark out. But did take a few when I arrived home. Posted them in my
Members Photo Album
More to come!
~Randy DTFR
Ride safe!
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