Miscellaneous Ramblings....

[STcharlie]

Just returned from a trip through CT/MA/NY/VT. Rode on good roads, bad roads, no roads(gravel), dry roads & wet roads, straight roads and really curvy roads. Since I saw it all I thought I'd share...

On the good curvy dry roads, the ST is a big bucket 'O' fun...but I'm a little surprised at one aspect. On RT17 in VT I was zipping up some really tight turns and was a bit surprised to hit the peg feelers, center stand, and my right toe. I wasn't really cranking it and would have thought there was more lean than that...maybe I need to look at the suspension for a tweak...Didn't hit anything on the left side though....
On the real bumby bits the ST suspension worked really hard to keep both shoes on the floor, even in the corners...the bike stayed down in the bumpy corners...very nice!
The stock tires kinda suck. On wet roads and over the road snakes they behaved very squiggly...and lots of slipping of the rear on wet acceleration. Not very good feel in the long sweepers either..although they stuck right to the edges...if dry...
The CB 16.5" screen works great in the rain. Most of the water is forced around the sides of the screen rather than up it, keeping my view of the road nice and clear. Maybe it's not the belle of the ball, but it sure works hard at pleasing...I like it even more now that I've seen it work...and it's staying on...
The ST back brakes are almost non-existent...trail-braking in the corners didn't work, so I just gave up and went into the corners with a lower gear and really paid attention to the throttle...this sounded cooler anyways...
I have a FirstGear jacket that was cool in the heat, warm in the cool, dry in the rain, and (according to my buds) easy to see at night...great jacket...
Gas mileage for about 800 miles was around 55 mpg...not thrashing it but not babying it either...
Now that I've put a few nice trips on I think the GenMars are all I'll need. I was worried at first about the reach, but now I'm used to it and it's not a problem even on long days.
This seat is way too soft and not slippery enough...moving around in the twisties means gettin' the goods right off the seat...That'll be the first priority once the season is over...
And...she's starting to shift much better...only a couple of bad 5-6 shifts, but it's starting to break in and that's getting better.
All in all...lots of smiles...love that motor...

Charlie...

[Scott619]

I would have to agree on the cornering clearance, I too have scraped pegs, (I have removed the feelers) center stand and the lower fairing. Not really happy about that but it is a good war wound. Suspension work is on the top of my list as well. The stock tires are junk, can't wait ti put some Pilot Roads on. Ordered my Corbin seat because the the stocker is too soft. All in all, good bike pretty fast and pretty comfortable.

I have driven (a car, not the Sprint ST) on Rt. 17 in VT many times. A lot of the VT roads have a heavy slope to them for snow melt runoff. This may have contributed to the scraping - consider a suspension tweak.

Sounds like it was a great trip.

One possible cause for premature grounding of hardware can be spring static sag isn't set allowing suspension to compress excessively resulting in less ground clearance. See if your bike (with you aboard) has about 30-35mm sag front and rear. If not check RaceTech's web site for adjustment procedure.

[STcharlie]

Yup...I was thinking that the suspension was sinking too much also. I was loaded up with full saddle bags and full tank of gas at the time... I really haven't messed with it since I got it new, as until now I haven't had any complaints. Even now, the scrapes are more "Badges of Honor"! And RT17 has some REALLY tight twisties that are just a ball on 2 or 4 wheels!

Charlie...