MORE Stupid Newbie Questions

[Muldoon]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice so far. I picked up my bike on Friday and have done some good riding over the weekend, about 250km. This is my first road bike and I have some questions and hope I can pluck the collective brain!
1) Its rough. I mean the motor. Is this because it is a parallel twin? Still new and needing to be broken in?
2) I was told to only use 5.5k rpm for 500km, then another 1000rpm for each 100km after that to break her in right. Sound fair?
3) My left wrist is aching! I did most of my riding through the city so there was lots of clutch work. Does this go away in time or do you just get used to it?
4) I ordered my manual through the site and also got a copy of the book "twist of the wrist 2". Is there any books on riding techniques for the road you could recommend?
5) THESE THINGS ARE THE GREATEST! I cant wait to jump on and go for another ride!

Cheers

[Turkina]

Okay, here's my thoughts:

1) A parallel twin is going to sound rougher than the inline 4's of 600cc bikes.    The GS is an old, dependable engine, so it won't sound as slick as newly designed bikes.  I wouldn't worry about it.  Is the throttle giving you smooth power, no pulsing or anything like that?

2) Sounds okay... Here in the US, we get told to keep it down until we reach 1000 miles!  But there are a couple different theories to breaking it in.

3) Umm... both.  You need to strengthen your hands and wrists.  Get some of that rock climbing grip putty and go to town, build yourself a strong left hand for the clutch, and a strong right for bone crushing handshakes  The clutch does make your hand weary after a long bit of riding, and that's why it hurts.

4) I've got Proficient Motorcycling by umm... David Hough.  Covers a lot of real world situations.

5) Sorry, but watching WRC takes precedence over riding tonight!  I was about to head out but then I saw the rally cars going at it  

Congrats on your new bike!  

[mp183]

Try this site.  It's Australian and has all kinds of info.

http://bikepoint.ninemsn.com.au/portal/tabID__5766/BikeTipType__tech/DesktopDefault.aspx

I also have a good article by a SV rider about riding techniques
but it's in MS Word and 33 pages.
If you want it just e-mail me and I'll e-mail you a copy.

I can tell you from personal experience that if you get stuck in traffic your clutch hand will feel it.  It takes a little time to workup the muscles.

Good luck and don't panic.  Don't be afraid to rev it. Just don't lug it.
Keep it above 4K rpm and everything will be fine.

[Shadowhawk]

Could you email the article to me?

I'll pm you with the add.

Don