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- Week Our rides today.

Can't like that post. I have lived in Florida a couple of times and I'm glad I don't live there now. Bummer about your truck. That's one of the problems with owning an older vehicle. I have an 02 Avalanche but so far the repair bills have not been too bad.
Thanks, I'll survive it, just less money in the bank. At my age I'm not moving to another state, been here since I was 6 years old and my only child lives here too. Yeah, that is the one downside to owning older stuff, eventually something is going to break no matter how well you take care of it. Odd thing is, my wife's S-10 has seen a much harder life and has almost double the miles on it (over 260k) but has been ridiculously reliable. She talked about trading it in back in 2006 because the miles were stacking up on it, and I told her she'd be crazy to do it because the 4.3 V6 in it and 4L60E trans (just like in my truck) were so long-term reliable, and her's has lived up to it totally. It's been paid for since later that same year.
 
Some selected pics from my brief outing to Americade in Lake George the past couple of days.

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That's pretty much all I did. Copy/pasted from my FB post:

In order of rides taken:
Gold Wing (first time) - massive thing. Parking lot - I had to get my mind off of how and heavy it is by focusing on what's in coming up. Freeway no problem - the weight smothers the any bumps. Twisties - it would take some time to get comfortable.

Indian Chief (first time on a cruiser) - The engine is a lot of fun. Great grunt, great sound. It turns over so slow - at 70mph it's doing about 2500rpm - very mellow. The windscreen worked okay. I couldn't figure out how to sit on it - slung back, hurt my back ... sitting upright took work. It was fun, but I don't think I could ride it for more than an hour.

Part 2
Zero SR - the silence is impressive. The thrust is impressive. The handling, braking, comfort ... all very good. I really like it and if it weren't for range considerations ($$ too) it would be mine.

Triumph Scrambler 1200 - that bike makes me chuckle every time I see a photo, it looks like so much fun. Riding was also way fun. I loved the engine - so torquey and good vibes too. Great a low speed, quickly getting to high speed - fun on the twisties. Too much wind on the freeway, though. (I look for bikes that are at least decent at all uses.) The fonts in the instruments are too small and 'fine.' The bike is as fun as it looks - I'll still dream about owning one, though it doesn't fulfill all my needs.

Part 3
Triumph Tiger 1200 - it's a big ol' boy, but a lot of that's plastic (the faux gas tank stuff). It's very comfortable in all ways - parking lot, freeway, twisties. If you've consumed some reviews you know that they changed the firing order to get better traction. This does give it some rough qualities that I'm not totally sold on. (BTW, I ride a Sprint 955i - so a triple but smooth.) All-in-all I liked the bike, but adventure bikes just don't light my fire.

Triumph Speed Triple - Oh man! Now we're talking! (I'm biased towards sporty bikes, admittedly.) This bike is small, fast and surprisingly comfortable (I'm 6'2"). On the freeway it's 'clean air,' more clean than on the Scrambler for some reason. The acceleration is awesome. The suspension wasn't too harsh, I didn't think (it's been criticized for this) The quick shifter (don't laugh but I totally forgot about this feature until I rode this bike) was fun ... takes some practice to upshift smoothly. Neutral was a little hard to find on both this and the Tiger ... something to do with the quick shifter? Getting back on my 20 year old Sprint I was reminded just how fast the S3 is. (You know the Zero SR is also impressively fast, but my spin on it was in a group ride so exploring it was limited.)

BMW R1200RS - Great riding position, for me anyway. It was my first time on a boxer in decades ... only banged my shin once!
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I loved the feel of the engine, at all speeds. Slow parking lot maneuvering was a little strange, somehow the front wheel felt heavy, like waiving a large object in front of you. Is it something to do with the rake? Once out of the parking lot all was good - the bike handles well at high speed and on the twisties, with good wind protection and comfortable position. The 'shift assist' system was a little awkward for me - I had a hard time upshifting without jerky response - practice I suppose. With practicality in mind this would probably be the bike I'd go for, though I didn't like the low speed steering.

KTM 890 Adventure - This bike and outing was the most disappointing. Frankly I wanted to ride the Super Duke but only the 890 was available - it was not my bike of choice. I don't come from a dirt bike background and I have feeling I don't really appreciate a bike like this. The engine is rough and while it had very good low-end power/torque, it seems to top out at about 5k. The bike was poorly prepped, with controls very much out of place (levers up, shifter way up ... weird). The KTM crew was the most conservative in that the group leaders really kept the ride slow - it was condescending.
 
I'm only looking like we all do, "window shopping." :-)
I hadn't ridden a modern parallel twin or boxer ... fun. The Indian's v-twin was fun too (I've had a couple of v-twins, but not a cruiser).
The S3 was the most grin inducing.
The Zero was very nice - I'd have one if $$ weren't an issue. Seems perfect for the city.
 
Back in 2019 I stopped by a local dealer just to look around. It just so happened that they had the Indian Demo truck there that day and they had a bunch of Indians lined up out front just waiting to be ridden. I had no interest in buying a big heavy and expensive cruiser but all I had to do was fill out and sign a form so why not.

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The big twins just looked too ginormous to me. I rode in on a 280 pound scooter so a 900 pound behometh just didn't appeal to me. No problem they had a bunch of scouts. I think they were around 550 pounds and 100 HP.

They had several different scouts to pick from.

I tried the Scout Bobber first.

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It took me about 50 feet to realize that this was not a comfortable bike. Forward pegs and forward bars fold you up like a pretzel. I was ready to get off after the few mile ride. Other than the riding position it was a nice bike with a great motor.

Time to try another bike with a better riding position.
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I rode the black one with more conventional handlebars. The riding position was much mo betta.

The best looking bike they had IMO was this blue one.

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I have never been a fan of floorboards but I decided to try this one.

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So I took it out. The floorboards were surprisingly comfortable. If I win the lottery and wanted a cruiser I could see buying one of these.

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That was 3 years ago and I still haven't bought an Indian but it was nice getting a chance to ride a few to see what I am missing.
 

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Pity that more of those who favor the "Big Wheel" riding position don't realize or care the long-term damage they may be doing to their bodies from the added pressure of sitting that way...
 
Pity that more of those who favor the "Big Wheel" riding position don't realize or care the long-term damage they may be doing to their bodies from the added pressure of sitting that way...
Everyone is different. That riding position is better for people with knee problems but it does put more strain on your back.
 
I never clicked with the Strom I owned prior to my Sprint, but I admit the riding position, and longer suspension, made long-distance days easier. (the buffeting was no fun, though)
 
Michele and I went for a 600 km loop around southern NB yesterday. The weather was beautiful, with warm temperatures in the mid 20’s C. Please pardon the lack of bike in the pictures, as she finds it a chore getting on and off all the time. Hey, whatever it takes…. 🙂

On our way to St. Martins.
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Low tide.
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Lunch break along the Fundy Trail Parkway.
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Our lunch guests.
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Further along the parkway.
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Cable ferry across the St. John river at Evandale.
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Hey West Isles, what are the round thingies on the top triple clamp where allen head bolts might typically be? GPS mount of some sort?
 
Hey West Isles, what are the round thingies on the top triple clamp where allen head bolts might typically be? GPS mount of some sort?
That is where the factory Nav cradle was mounted. I had it removed when I took delivery of the bike last year, for a couple of reasons. First being that if I were to shell out $1000.00 for the BMW Nav VI ( or now the newly avaible phone holder, that locks in the mount), I would mount it above the TFT using a aftermarket bracket, as the location on the bars forces you to look down, taking your eyes off the road. And second, it covered the roundel, and looked hideous, IMHO.
Sometime I will get around to ordering the shorter bolts that do not protrude from the bars.

Thanks for the comment on the sunset photo. I was there for another 10 minutes, waiting for the ferry to get in, and the sunset got even better. But alas, I had not plugged my phone in to the bike earlier, and the battery was dead....

And regarding your comments on your test ride of the RS at Americade, yup, handling is pretty heavy. Some people say it handles like a truck. I'm ok with that, as I'm used to driving a tractor-trailer :) Plus, I have never rode a bike that handles cross winds on the slab as well as it does.
 
I went on a short local ride yesterday. It was stinking hot so I waited until the sun was setting and the temperature dropped below 90. I live close to several parts of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge so that's where I often go for short rides.

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I found a nice spot to view the sunset but it wasn't anything special.

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I cruised some gravel roads running beside some corn fields.

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The moon was really big and bright.

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I got rained on for a second.

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I made my way up the Hudson, again. This time I went to Bikes and Breakfast in Cold Spring (kinda fun, though I arrived too late to see the big gaggle of bikes). After hanging out there I rode over to the lookout on 218, which runs along and above the Hudson on the west side. It's a nice little twisty road, and the lookout is one of the best.

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Lunch stop at Queenstown, along the St. John river. I’ve been on medical leave from work for the past two weeks, and will be until the end of July. This necessitates a trip to the hospital in the city every week day, so I’ve been taking the bike whenever possible and taking the long way. It’s a 200 km trip in the car, but on the bike, that turns into three to four hundred km.

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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!
 
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