First day trip and first night trip on the freeway today...

[Queso]

It was a blast  It was really freakin windy, though. I gotta get me some fairing! I'd think even just a windshield (e-bay cafe fairing?) would work. The front end wobbled quite a bit over some of the bumps. I caught myself doing the "death grip" on some of the easy turns at a windy 85 mph. From all that I've read though, I figured it was all normal, so it wasn't scary, but it sure was exhilarating! 487cc's is plenty enough to get around on the expressway, but when I do decide to trade up (gonna be a while yet), I'm going with at least a 750 gixxer (staying with Suzuki  ).

I did my first couple stoppies today, too, courtesy of some idiot cagers. Wore the knobs of my new front tire easily enough  I went way slower than I could've on the ramps because I didn't know them too well, but I figured better too slow than too fast. I'm glad I had my riding pants on, too (plan to always wear them for freeway travel) and good thing.. It'd have been COLD without!

Question: Is the high rpm hum supposed to be consistent? It sounded fine, no backfiring or anything, but the hum kind of oscillated, know what I mean? I look forward to hearing how she runs after I get all my tune-up work done. Sure was fun, though!! 

[Dwn4whadever]

but the hum kind of oscillated, know what I mean?

Yeah i heard that too. I hope that is nothing serious, i ignored it though. Well im glad to see you out having fun.  . I totally agree with you about the windscreen/fairings. The wind is a Buddha Loves You when you are at speed. But i guess it is something you just get used to.

[squelch]

Question: Is the high rpm hum supposed to be consistent? It sounded fine, no backfiring or anything, but the hum kind of oscillated, know what I mean? I look forward to hearing how she runs after I get all my tune-up work done. Sure was fun, though!! 

Congrats!  80 MPH is about as much wind as my current skill level will allow.  I think the hum comes from the tires -- I get the same thing above 60 MPH.  My pet theory is that it oscilates because both the front and rear tire make almost the same sound.  The two similar sounds interfere with each other, causing the volume to wobble.  Here comes the science:

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/applets/fourier.html

[Kerry]

So, if you change gears but maintain the same speed, the "oscillation" will stay the same?

If Queso is talking about the same (harmless) "thrumming" that I first noticed on a ride in the middle of nowhere ("What is that?  Am I going to make it back to civilization?") I think it has more to do with the engine RPMs.

But I don't have any science to back that up.   

BTW, I have noticed interesting "interference patterns" caused by the differing imperfect balance of the front and rear tires/wheels.  But it's more like an up-and-down bouncing than a vibrational hum, and I only perceive it at lower speeds.

[WildBlue]

Glad you had fun!  Have you taken the MSF class yet?  It'll make you a safer rider for sure.  Either way don't push it, getting on the freeway is a big step -- things happen a lot faster at freeway speeds and you have to be more aware of your surroundings, the traffic ahead you, and give yourself enough time to react.  Unless you're very comfortable with your skills I'd avoid the freeway for a while.   [/rant]   

[TragicImage]

I think in the three months I've been riding, I've put on less than 50 freeway miles.


Just offers me nothing.  Its boring.


however, TONS of canyon riding.

[shik]

Yeah, great you had a good time.


Im still sitting here wondering how people talk about the MSF course and stuff all the time, but guess that's because of the difference between Denmark and the States.

Here we have practice in a closed environment for minimum 1 - 2 hours. Then we get sent out into traffic (with a driving instructor tailing us in the car - 3 bikes at a time). We have a total of 13 hours on the road.

Then another trip to a closed area where we test brakes and how those work under certain conditions.

We also got around 25 - 30 hours of theory which end up with a test that consist of 25 slides with 2 - 4 questions each. 1 question answered wrong = whole slide being wrong.

You can have a max of 5 wrong ones (slides that is).

Then a driving test, where you get a copper guide you around, if you drive well enough (depends on his mood and shaZam!..) then you pass and get a temporary license. Within 2 weeks you receive the "real" license.

But hows it like in the states? In general that is.

[Queso]

I'm scheduled for the MSF course, got the soonest class I could. I had it up to 90 mph today, and it handled fine, wind just beat me relentlessly, though. I like the freeway because of the action, there are a TON of cars out here, and I'm extremely alert on the road. I try to avoid the freeway for now, though. Don't know why, but my bike just stalled on the freeway this morning.

I was in 6th gear at about 7-8k, and it felt a little bogged down, then got slower, and then at WOT I kept decelerating. I downshifted, but kept slowing down. When I pulled in the clutch, the engine stalled completely. I was in the carpool lane at the time, fortunately. It wouldn't start back up, then either. It'd crank, but no start. So I messed with the petcock and opened the choke, then it started back up, and I was kind of nervous about that for the rest of the trip. But it did perfectly fine on the way home.

About the petcock... I can't tell which way is what. It looks like there is an arrow on it, but it's been pointing at RES, and I can't get it to point directly at FUEL. I'll take a pic of it in all 3 spots a lil later to see what y'all think...

[p0diabl0]

Shik, in the states, at least in california, you either have the option of doing the MSF course (5 hours class, 10 hours riding in a parking lot type setting) or passing the DMVs test which is apparently retarded in that my MSF instructor could only pass it after a number of trys on her harley, and shes been riding for 20+ years. People under 21 years of age (hey thats me!) HAVE to take the MSF course.

Queso, my bike has done that too. For some reason i cant leave it on fuel or res, i have to keep it on prime. If i leave it on the others it will fail after a while and leave me sitting on my ass with no gas. If it happens again, try running only on prime for a while (make sure to set it to fuel when you leave the bike somewhere just in case) and see if that fixes it.

[Kerry]

I was in 6th gear at about 7-8k, and it felt a little bogged down, then got slower, and then at WOT I kept decelerating. I downshifted, but kept slowing down. When I pulled in the clutch, the engine stalled completely.

I'd be interested to know how much fuel the tank accepts the next time you fill it up.

About the petcock... I can't tell which way is what. It looks like there is an arrow on it, but it's been pointing at RES, and I can't get it to point directly at FUEL. I'll take a pic of it in all 3 spots a lil later to see what y'all think...

See annotated photos in THIS POST.

[Queso]

Uhh... heh heh... I been on RES since I got it apparently... Last fill up I put in 3.5 gallons. I'm going to change my plugs and air filter in a minute here, then go fill it back up. I don't know how full is "full" though, so it could probably take a bit more, but I don't want to overfill or anything.

[Kerry]

No worries; I had the same weird "bogging down" thing going on the first day I rode my '99.  Putting it in PRIme got me home, although I didn't understand why at the time.

Whichever way you fill up, do it consistently.  I always fill it right up to the bottom of the "filler tube" under the filler cap.  This usually takes several "top offs".  Between each "top off" you can either wait for the fuel level to drop, or rock the bike slightly from side to side to help get air bubbles out.

After filling, set the trip meter to 000.0 and put the fuel selector switch back in the ON position if it was in either of the other positions when you pulled into the gas station.  (ON is DOWN on your 2000 model.)

Once you have the "consistent fillup" nailed, I recommend that you ride it until you have to go on REServe ... at least once, if not 2 or 3 times.  Then you will know for yourself when the "bogging" means "time to go on REServe" and when it means, "Uh-oh. What's going on?"

[squelch]

Uhh... heh heh... I been on RES since I got it apparently... Last fill up I put in 3.5 gallons. I'm going to change my plugs and air filter in a minute here, then go fill it back up. I don't know how full is "full" though, so it could probably take a bit more, but I don't want to overfill or anything.

The first day I had mine I had to put it into reserve after it puttered out -- dealer had almost no gas in there.  After driving home on reserve I put something like 4.1 gallons in it.  I routinely put 3.5 to 3.8 gallons in there without touching the reserve, filling to the bottom of the fill hole. My guess is reserve starts after 4 gallons.  Any of you vets know how much gas reserve holds?

[Kerry]

From an OLD post:

The '89-'00 tank holds 4.0 gals in California, 4.5 elsewhere in the US.

The '01+ tank is supposed to hold 5.3 gals everywhere.

On '89-'00 models, REServe is nominally 1 gallon.  (Not sure about later models, but probably about the same.)  However, it can differ from bike to bike ... ergo my recommendation above.

[Queso]

Turns out my stalling issue was low gas  I put in almost 4 gallons at my last fill, but I didn't max out the tank capacity, I'm sure. I changed my spark plugs and verified I am running lean (white tip plugs - that is lean, right?). So as soon as I work up the nads to mess with my carbs for the first time, I'll get it fixed. For now, I don't even know what to mess with, because I don't know which parts are which on the carbs. howstuffworks.com gave me a better understanding of them, though 

[domas]

The front end wobbled quite a bit over some of the bumps.

It was the same for me, but after reading lotsa information, i understood that this wobling is caused by me holding onto bars. To fight the wind or acceleration, lean forwards or/and press tank with hips, but dont hold on to handlebars, this can lead to uncontroled wobling.

[Queso]

The front end wobbled quite a bit over some of the bumps.

It was the same for me, but after reading lotsa information, i understood that this wobling is caused by me holding onto bars. To fight the wind or acceleration, lean forwards or/and press tank with hips, but dont hold on to handlebars, this can lead to uncontroled wobling.

I figured out the leaning forward part, and made myself ease up my grip everytime I caught myself holding on too tight.