I went for a nice ride today.

2702 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by sleepngbear, May 3, 2014

TennesseeSmith

Discussion Starter · Apr 27, 2014

I waited for the fog to clear this morning and then headed north on KY11 from Barbourville KY. I ended up in Aberdeen OH.

On the way up I took a detour through the Red River Gorge. I could not get any good photos at the Nada Tunnel due to all the other tourists in the way. The road was very slick in the tunnel and the bike was not happy. I thought I was about to lose the front end four or five times.

On the return trip I took US62 to Cynthiana. That was some awesome scenery as the road wound through the hilly farm land. It was very windy, but the CTX seemed to handle it OK.

I took back roads down to Paris and then to Corbin via Richmond. By the time I got home the winds had died down to almost nothing.

The ride was right around 400 miles for the day. I'll have to work tomorrow, so that's it for the weekend.

I will have had the bike four weeks this coming Monday. Between all the distractions like work, yard work, and riding the other bike, I've still managed to put 2045 miles on the CTX. So far we've made it to six states. Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio.

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MarkH

· #2 · Apr 27, 2014

Sounds like a nice day, except for the slippery part. I won't be doing any long rides like this until I solve the windshield issue, but when I do I intend to do many. In late June I will be riding my first motorcycle tour through several western states.

Would you elaborate a bit more on the wind and the bike's handling? How strong were the winds? Gusts? How did the bike react? The CTX seems much more stable than my former Tiger 800, but it really hasn't been put to any significant tests. I like what I have felt so far, though.

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sleepngbear

· #3 · Apr 27, 2014

Mark, I've had mine in some pretty stiff breezes already (just yesterday, as a matter of fact), and it's been amazingly stable. In a good cross wind, I feel it on my head, but the bike doesn't move.

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MarkH

· #4 · Apr 27, 2014

Ed, I did have one interesting moment recently. Was riding in an easy 8-10 mph breeze when just ahead of me a gusty wind started throwing dirt across the road. I had just enough time to think "this is going to be interesting." As I entered into it I gave the bike its head to see what it would do. It simply leaned into the wind and straightened up as the wind dissipated. Very cool.

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TennesseeSmith

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 27, 2014

The strongest sustained winds on this trip were around twenty mph with gusts into the upper twenties.

The bike handles the wind better than I do. My head gets pushed around a bit, but the bike just stays rock steady. Occasionally, it will lean into the strongest gusts.

I hope the bike doesn't get more sensitive to winds after I mount a proper windshield. I think the low center of gravity and the way the weight has been moved toward the back of the bike help in the wind.

I've been riding tall sport touring bikes that move around a lot in the wind. I think if I lived in Kansas I could get used to riding in strong winds within a few weeks. In the hills of SE Kentucky we don't usually get strong sustained winds, so I tend to notice the wind more than I did when I lived in the flat lands of West Tennessee.

One of the best bikes I had for ignoring the wind was my Wee Strom. That was a tall bike, but it didn't have all the tupperware to act like a sail. It also had very little for a windshield. My '76 Gold Wing had bags and a Vetter fairing, yet it was by far the best bike I ever rode in the wind. I rode it 50 miles in sustained 45 mph side winds once. The worst part was dodging the debris that was crossing the road. I rode my first ST1100 on a day with sustained 35 mph winds that gusted up to 65 mph. That was one of the scariest things I've ever done. The ST moved around a lot.

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bob

· #6 · Apr 30, 2014

TennesseeSmith said:
... I rode my first ST1100 on a day with sustained 35 mph winds that gusted up to 65 mph. That was one of the scariest things I've ever done. The ST moved around a lot.

That sounds just like my ride home with the CTX1300. But the gusts were only 45 mph with the same 35 mph sustained winds. The CTX handled it easily with no problems. I've also been in such wind on my ST1100 and it is a bit scary. We get that here sometimes on the windiest days coming home from work and just when I get to the spot where the beltway changes over to open Interstate there is an overpass that is higher than surrounding stuff and the wind just howls through there. I expect it but it can be unnerving to catch a gust just there.

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sleepngbear

· #7 · Apr 30, 2014

My weather still SUCKS. I have absolutely zero desire to go anywhere, let alone work, in cold wind and rain. I finally got my new helmet last night, and I'll be lucky if I'm able to try it out before the weekend is over.

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bob

· #8 · Apr 30, 2014

sleepngbear said:
My weather still SUCKS. I have absolutely zero desire to go anywhere, let alone work, in cold wind and rain. I finally got my new helmet last night, and I'll be lucky if I'm able to try it out before the weekend is over.

You can wear it around the house to make sure it's right for you.

Weather here is real bad too. Annoying constant rain or intermittent rain and colder temps and expected to be the same through Friday morning at least. But I am riding anyway. Want to get some miles on the bike. I do notice that the huge rear tire rides differently on wet pavement so have to be aware of that. Not bad, just different. Sometimes I wonder if I should have waited before ordering the tall shield to be sure I want/need it, and other times glad I did. Even though it's not here yet... I'll possibly be one who switches them out for the seasons.

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sleepngbear

· #9 · Apr 30, 2014

I was gonna wear it in the car on the way home, but I was afraid it might make me drive like The Stig.

Oh yeah and we have a flood watch from tonight through tomorrow. Joy.

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sleepngbear

· #10 · May 3, 2014

So I did get out for a couple of nice rides last night and today. Went solo, because my usual riding buddy hasn't taken his Valk out of winter mothballs yet (one of the few people on the planet who puts fewer miles on his bike than me). But anyway ... really nice day, upper 60's, mostly sunny, just a bit windy in spots, but one of the best riding days of the year so far. Finally got on a local stretch of road that's a lovely little bike ride that I'd been wanting to get to (Snake Hill Rd, for anybody in or visiting the RI area), with rises and drops and mild twisties. This bike is just fabulous over all of it. Only issue is that after about three hours, my tail bone was starting to groan. That's about the point I'd be stopping for gas if I was on a longer jaunt, so I may just have to plan on taking a few extra minutes to decompress the coccyx before resuming the journey. Otherwise, I seldom ride for that long in one stretch, so it's not a concern at this point.

Now if somebody can just do something about the cattle-sized bugs that are currently out in force ...

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