My first *proper* ride.

[jazerr]

Got my GS in June. I've only ridden it to and from work. I tried to get a NorthBay ride going this weekend, but only got minimal interest. I decided, aw fuggit. I'm goin anyway. Phoned up a friend with a sportster and we had a ball.

Gassed up around 9am and headed out to the Sonoma Coast. It was still cold, but proper gear makes a huge difference. My friend, PUNIN, had drank like 3 cups of coffee just before we left, so 20 minutes in, of course...he had to poo. STOP. We were in El Monte. Not really a popular stop for motorcycles, but I ran into a dude on a GSXR who was going up the same route we were, so he decided to hop into our little group. That was cool. Nice guy.

As we got into Jenner on HWY1, I hit a pothole that I didnt see coming. I don't have my progressives yet, so the forks bottomed out and slammed the bike into my nuts. AWESOME! 

As we got up past fort ross and out of the Sonoma coast, the fog set in. That was a bummer. foggy north coast is way cold. It started penetrating my gloves and neck, so we stopped for a stretch and potty. Chatted up a bunch of old dudes on Harleys. 

Started back up the coast and over Skagg Springs. Skagg is 48 miles long. The first 10-15 are absolute hell. the road is in various states of repair. Not disrepair; the state is trying to fix it. So there's loose gravel, holes, missing chunks of road, etc. But its worth it. Once you pass that garbage and bedlam, its joy.

The clouds opened up as if on cue. Sun, warm, birds, bugs, and fun. The last half of Skagg is 50mph, with 30-35 mh turns. I think I went below 50 once.

Now I understand all the fuss about fast turns, leaning low and dropping the knee. Those 35mph turns, taken at 50-60 are a blast.

Got down past lake sonoma, ate lunch, hung out, chatted up some guys who rode naked R6's. Those are sexy.

headed home, declared no-pants-saturday, and here I am.

Hope I can get some interest next time.

[pantablo]

sounds like an awesome day!

[jazerr]

It was, thank you. Having a hard time finding many folks to really click with. whenever I pull into shops or places with sportbikes out front, the guys there look at me like, "get a real bike ya kitty cat." One guy at a Yamaha-Suzuki shop actually said to me, "Yeah, the GS500 is a kid's bike. A pretty lame little bike." I just laughed and told him he'd never ridden one then. I've ridden a cbR600 and honestly it didnt seem all THAT much more bike.

Anyway, to quote dangerfield...I get no respect...on my GS. So I've been hanging out with guys who ride sportsters, since they get no respect from the harley community.

Love to find some guys who like their GS's.

[jackiei26]

yeah it's funny how people who ride 600's and higher laugh at the GS500 - they make you feel obsolete. 

[Grainbelt]

yeah it's funny how people who ride 600's and higher laugh at the GS500 - they make themselves sound like complete morons.

fixed for free

[pandy]

yeah it's funny how people who ride 600's and higher laugh at the GS500 - they make themselves sound like complete morons.

fixed for free