Motorcycle Forum / General / Sportbikes / August 2006

And now it's a damn good motard:
http://beta.zooomr.com/photos/18248@Z01/160808

Mr. Bannon was kind enough to loan me his 510 today, and I was kind
enough to give him an excuse to perform another oil change and to
exercise the power-washer.

I rode over to Bannon's on the SV, GW riding pillion. On the way I was
sort of marveling at the smoothness and excellent manners of the SV.
The temperature was perfect, and the scenery fantastic.  It made me
want to catch I-5 South and pull a "Ward"(1) -- maybe not stopping
until I hit the Mexican Border.  Of course, we ended up in Mill Creek
instead.

Bannon had his bike all prepped and ready.  GW took over as captain of
the SV and I planted myself on the seat of the Husky.  I wanted to see
what this bike was like on the highway, so we took I-5 south and then
I-405.  After 5 minutes of riding at 75, I thought that the vibes were
intolerable.  Of course, I had just come off the SV, and I had just
been marveling about how smooth it was.  We then took I-405 to Route 9
North, and worked our way to High Bridge Road.

I have to tell you all that I am bored stiff by the roads around here.
After having ridden plenty of non-stop race-track-like curves in the
Mediterranean, Washington State is a big yawn. There are a few nice
roads here, of course, but you have to make a day trip on straight
roads to get to them.  High Bridge is one of the better roads within an
hour of our place, and I haven't ridden it for a while.  I have a
love/hate relationship with it; It beckons to be ridden hard and fast,
but it's rural-residential. IOW, it's impolite and dangerous to be
treating it like a track.

Despite my stab at responsible maturity,  I found that the Husky eats
this road up like Kirstie Alley at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to ride the damned thing.
Yeah, I was winging my way through corners and leaving GW in the dust,
but the bike suffers from an identity crisis.  Do you ride it like a
dirt bike or a sport bike?  I felt a bit awkward trying to figure it
out.  Part of this is because I haven't ridden any serious roads in a
long time -- and part of it is because the bike is so very different.

Next up on the Husky's menu was Ben Howard Road.  I had the same
feelings as I did on High Bridge, but I did glance down at the speedo
while entering a turn with a cautionary speed limit of 20 and noticed I
was carrying 47mph.  The husky is deceptively fast; I felt like I was
doing about 15 mph. And speaking of fast, I could pull out of corners
so quickly  that I needed binoculars to locate Girl Wonder in the buzzy
mirrors.  You can step into a corner really hot, and then pull out of
it like a jet-fighter.  This bike can move.

We stopped at the Sultan Bakery because GW forgot to bring the liner
for her jacket.  At the corner of route 2, she was shaking more than
the Husky.  So we stopped and had a cup of coffee to bring her up to
room temperature.  I was glad to stop too, because at 41 miles, my a.s
hurt as if I had been on the wrong end of a college hazing ritual.

It was over coffee that I suggested we head to Leavenworth. The
previously unacceptable vibes were eclipsed by the feeling I had been
prison-raped, but I was quickly becoming addicted to this torture
ritual. I wasn't going to give up until tears filled my eyes.  Besides,
when you are busy cornering, you completely forget about how bad your
backside feels.

We kept up a serious pace all the way to Leavenworth.  It seems there
is some disagreement in speedometers.  The Husky said I was going 65
mph, and GW said I was going 80.  I think that the Husky's meter is a
bit pessimistic, and the SV's is optimistic.  We were probably doing
72.

There is nothing new in Leavenworth, so I won't bother telling you
about my bratwurst lunch.  Basically, we landed, we ate, we refueled,
and we got on the throttle.  One hour later, and 13 miles from Goldbar,
my a.s felt like it had been beaten with a fence post... and then the
engine cut out. I pulled over asap and spent a minute or so figuring
out how to set the petcock on reserve.  I recall Bannon's warning about
21 miles on reserve and sought the first gas station I could find.
Seems I was getting about 35mpg... although I had been pushing the bike
pretty hard.

We retraced our earlier route, doing Ben Howard and then High Bridge.
Having figured the bike out a bit, I completely lost GW.  Still, when I
was banked over in a corner, I had this feeling as though my helmet was
going to whack tree branches on the other side of the road.  The Husky
feels really tall.   I am sure it's partly due to my perception, but it
still has a serious effect on my comfort level.

All in all, I thought the bike was excellent.  The vibration is really
a non-factor after you get used to it.  It is only bothersome when
cruising over 80mph.  And I was very surprised that the wind is also a
non-issue.  That little dirt bike number plate deflects quite a bit of
the airstream.  If it weren't for the seat, I could have done another
200 miles.

The seat probably works well at the track.  I found it's uniform
flatness to be a big plus when moving from side to side while setting
up to hang off in the turns -- not heroic knee-down hanging off -- just
a little knee pointing to heal that puppy over.

The motor delivers plenty of power, although the transmission could use
one more gear for highway riding.  Then again, it's not intended for
that.  The bike is a perfect motard package and it doesn't require a
home equity loan to perfect like a lot of the conversions I've seen.  I
think it's pretty close to perfect for use as a track bike and
back-road scratcher.

As I discussed with Bannon post-ride, my preference would still be the
Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM -- but that is because I want to take the occasional
passenger and I'd want to outfit the bike with bags or some means of
carrying cargo.  The tamer suzuki engine probably gets better mileage
too.  The SV got 50 mpg today, which is what I expect out of any modern
bike. I suspect the Suzuki SM would get something in that neighborhood,
in a moderate state of tune.

But... If I weren't seeking an all-a-rounder in a motorcycle, the Husky
scores pretty damned high.  Since it's definitely more of a race bike,
it lacks some of the rubberized comforts of something more pedestrian.
Rubber-coated pegs  and thicker grips would really help diffuse the
vibrations, for example.  The motor is in an excellent state of tune --
even if it surges at steady throttle at 40mph-ish -- and it looks
exceptionally simple to work on.  Nice bits all around, and I really
like the brakes, even if I couldn't figure out exactly what to do with
them when cornering.  I think Mr. Bannon scored on this one.

BTW, the surging seems to go away at anything over 50.  I think a
different needle, or shimming the needle will solve that.  There were
lots of big insects out there today too.  Bannon's bike is covered in
protein.  And boy does that rear tire get hot and gooey...
Fortunately, it sticks like glue.

Peckhammer

(1) Bannon and I have a mutual friend with this last name who manages
to disappear for months at a time in places all over North America.