I purposely rode "nu2me" to breakfast in Steveston as I was intending to stop off at the BMW dealer so I thought it would be in bad taste to ride my Suzuki there. When we arrived we see this Pink beauty. Somehow I am greatly attracted to Pink .
On my way home I also stopped at EMS to repay Ted for adjusting my foot brakes a couple of weeks ago
I often stop here on Saturday to chat with other riders and to pass some time. Today Ted didn't seem that busy and he told me he had time to do an oil change on my V-strom, so I headed home to swap bikes. It is not easy to swap bikes as I have to navigate my narrow pathway on the side of the house, then turn it around in a confined space in the carport so that it is facing the right way the next time I need to bring it out.
Like ships passing in the night I swap bikes. I put "nu2me" back where it belongs and bring my V-strom out to see the light of day. This meant navigating my narrow pathway to bring Nu2me to its parking spot, then bring out my Vstrom using this same narrow path. I have not ridden my 'Strom much the past 2 weeks as I was getting used to Nu2me. The first thing I notice is how difficult it is to push my Vstrom around, and also how top heavy it feels
I ride my Strom to EMS in anticipation of a fresh oil/filter change and park in nearly the same spot where I was just a half hour before. It was now busier as more bikes have arrived since I left. I wait around a bit then decide not to waste anymore of the nice sunshine and I get the bright idea to have a quick lunch and check tire prices at BaysidePerformance.ca Holy, Moly the prices seem very good so I call to see if the Michelin PR2/PR3's are in stock as I wasn't sure which tire I needed. After my quick nourishment I decide to ride my Vstrom over there to talk to Kevin and since he could install my new tires in the next hour I decide to "go for it". I ride home again to swap bikes (again)
This time I decide not to park my Vstrom right away, but I move Nu2me out to the street
and I ride back to BaysidePerformance.ca for Nu2me's new shoes. After I get home I decide to park Nu2me first and have to navigate my narrow path again. After she was tucked safely away and attached to her battery tender I decide to take my Vstrom out again for a short ride around my neighbourhood wearing my Old but new Modular helmet. About 5 years ago I bought a cheap modular helmet but never used it. It had been stored behind my sofa all this time gathering dust. I removed the plastic vinyl protector from the faceshield and put it on. It is more confining than my 3/4 helmet but it works fine with my glasses even though you lose a lot of peripheral vision. I must say that it gets hot in there and I have to leave the shield open "one click" to stop the condensation. It takes a bit of getting used to looking out of the smaller opening.
Eventually I navigate my narrow path again and soon both bikes are resting quietly contented to be attached to their respective battery tenders, waiting for their next adventure
The Cee Bailey windshield on Nu2me throws air right at my helmet because it is fixed into its position and the angle cannot be changed. It would get annoying at highway speeds. I read on the R1200 forums that this is a problem with many others so I thought that if I wore a full face modular helmet, that I could stop some of the wind. On my 3/4 helmet, rain blows from under the helmet letting water in, plus I notice that the modular helmet is much warmer, esp during the colder temperatures. So I plan to do more testing by wearing it a bit more before I form an opinion. Luckily my new 47 Ltr Blade topcase can hold two full sized helmets so I can switch back to my 3/4 helmet if I need to.
A week or so ago I attended our last bcsportbikes.com BBQ bike night for this riding season. You can read about it here, near the end. Here is the video
Pay close attention around 4:12 . . . and the winner at 4:32 . . .
cool beans, Bob. I am wondering if you are quickly running out of room in your garage! haha.....They are both nice looking bikes. But it is sad that you can't adjust the windscreen on "nu2me". Scootard adjusted mine and the wind seems to go right past me unless I get hit with a sidewind of some sort.....:-)
ReplyDeletePat:
DeleteI used to have 3 cars and 3 scooters. I was keeping the insurance company solvent. I downsized my '67 Firebird convertible and sold off the spare scooters and was down to just my 2 cars and 1 Vstrom, until now. I'm not sure what to do with the Strom right now but when I retire I will delete another Car, and by then I will be down to only 1 bike. For now I have a slight parking problem
I thought my windshield/wind problem would be solved with the modular helmet
Luck bugger....
ReplyDeleteRoger:
DeleteYou are lucky too. I notice you have a couple of bikes in your stable, with one being a very capable dual sport. My 'Strom is too top heavy and I stay away from gravel
Sure you bait us with the swapping bikes title, then the first picture had NU2ME and a cute little pink bike in it, but then you don't get to ride the pink one. I feel so cheated, lol.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the Wee seems so heavy now. I bet the BMW will be your go to bike and you may find yourself wanting to sell the Wee in the spring.
Trobairitz:
DeleteAs you know, ICBC is not your friend. If we had insurance rates as low as yours perhaps we would consider a small "Pinkie" for around town use. Even with my 40% discount I have to pay around $1,500. /yr for the R1200R, and my 'Strom is another $1,100./yr. Plus I also have two cars
You won't believe how small the "R" feels. I think it would feel smaller than MAX. It already has bar risers and the low seat option. I have to get you to ride it the next time you see it. Not only that, all of your GEAR matches.
So which bike do you like better? Are you keeping the wee?
ReplyDeleteDar:
DeleteRight now, after only riding it (R1200R) a few times and then riding the WEE for a short distance, I have to say that there is NO comparison between the two, but they are designed for different purposes, and I will never go off road anyway. It is not the season to be selling bikes, so for now it will be a temporary spare in case we get a certain visitor from NZ (Coromandel region). Without mentioning names he has a pair of lucky, red shorts, and has been threatening to invade the Cowichan Bay area soon
Yeah, it sucks having 2 bikes in the shed eh Bob? I only have a single car garage but I manage to wedge in both bikes and my wagon. Getting the Connie out is a bit of a vehicle shuffling experience though...
ReplyDeleteAndrew:
DeleteI dislike shuffling vehicles too, especially when you have to manually push them around into their positions, but at least you have a spot to park them securely. I am sure the Connie is a heavy beast. Due to our construction project I am loosing one valuable parking spot, so I may need to install a "stacker" and put one car in the air
The little pink beauty is soooo cute!
ReplyDeleteSwapping bikes is quite the trick at your place right now! You're getting quite a work out with all this pushing the bikes back and forth!
My Ninja tosses air straight at my face too. I've changed to a taller windshield, but it didn't resolve the problem. I also get horrendous wind noise compared to my Suzuki.
I use the pinlock system on my face shield to help with condensation. Oddly I have more trouble with fog on the outside of my shield than inside. At stops I still crack the shield open a bit.
I'm curious about which bike will become your favorite too. It'll be interesting to hear some of the comparisons.
Kari/BlueKat:
Deletepushing the bikes in and out on that narrow sidewalk is a pain, but repetition makes it easier. It is probably more trouble to lock it up on the Street and then have to put on the bike cover, and then remove the bike cover every morning than to just ride it out on the narrow pathway. Plus the added security of locking it inside an alarmed area attached to the battery tender.
I have a few months to solve this wind buffeting problem. I read that I can put a plastic block under the windshield bracket to angle it back a few degrees which may help. Right now it is too vertical.
I have to ride more with my modular helmet to see how it works in traffic, as I lose some peripheral vision. I am saving my initial impressions for another post
When I saw the pink bike in the first picture, I figured you were ready for another bike again.
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems with the modular helmets is they seem to be really noisy when used with a windshield. I was amazed at the difference in noise and buffeting small adjustments to the windshield mads.
Richard:
Deleteyou are the 2nd person to mention the noisy modular helmets, but I already own one and I just have to try it at speed on the highway. Maybe I can get a Laminar Lip for my short Cee Bailey ?
People say that the Vstrom windshield is noisy, but after I installed the Madstadt bracket and angled it back, it works great. Much quieter than Nu2me and I thought that the Beemer would have been better.