Bike Dilemma

[ORBrit]

So here's an update.
I decided to take the Bandit out for a decent ride today. It was a 170 mile round trip, to Florence on the Oregon coast, down Hwy 101 then back up from Reedsport up the Smith River Road.


from:Welcome Way, Eugene, OR 97402 to:43.963168,-124.104309 to:Reedsport, OR to:Smith River Falls, United States to:Wolf Creek Rd, Veneta, OR 97487 to:Welcome Way, Eugene, OR 97402 - Google Maps

It says this should take 5 hours twelve minutes. It took 4 hours, including getting gas before I left, stopping for lunch at KFC in Florence, stopping at a Bike store in Florence, and getting gas when I got back home.

As you can see from the map, plenty of twisties, from long sweeping curves down to 15mph posted speed corners.

My impressions of the Bandit have completely changed just from this one ride!

It was just a matter of more time in the saddle.

It's an amazing thing when it clicks and you enter into a long sweeping 45mph posted speed corner at 65mph and squirt out of it at 85 mph

Low speed maneuvering improved vastly once I got a feel for the bike as a whole. I was able to maintain 35-40 mph in 15mph corners and when I got back into town I was so much more confident turning in intersections.

I can honestly say I have surpassed the handling ability of the S50 already so it'll only get better from here!

Thanks for the support, suggestions and just for being a great bunch of folks to sound off at.

Steve



Oh and some additional stuff - the seat started getting a little uncomfortable at the 120 mile mark, but standing up on the pegs occasionally helped a lot.
I got 43 mpg on my first tank of gas before the ride today.
Today's ride I got 46 mpg

[tricker]

all i ask is that you don't get cabbie seat beads.. looks tacky

[sra4031]

Originally Posted by tricker

all i ask is that you don't get cabbie seat beads.. looks tacky

How about fuzzy dice?

[Clint]

Attaboy. I had little doubt that you'd arrive at that outcome. Oh, and I'm a fan of the occasional standup, too.

Adam, lay off the beads, man!

[Davecm203]

PS, in the tight twisty stuff, make sure that you shift all the way against the tank to get as much weight on the front as possible. It makes the bike easier to turn and adjust your line if needed.

I am glad that you took it out for a nice long ride and it worked out for you. A bike that can handle the twisties is like crack. You can NEVER get enough of it.

[JmalB]

Originally Posted by ORBrit

The Bandit was everything I thought I was looking for - tons of power, upright position, bigger fuel tank, not too tall, better handling (supposedly) and what made me get it right now was the price. KBB is $6355 and I paid $5400.

Now you know.

[intimid8er]

Originally Posted by tricker

all i ask is that you don't get cabbie seat beads.. looks tacky

Originally Posted by Clint

Attaboy. I had little doubt that you'd arrive at that outcome. Oh, and I'm a fan of the occasional standup, too.

Adam, lay off the beads, man!

Do tell! In another thread please! Yes Clint. That means you have to give a write up on the beads. Including...how you arrived at the decision to purchase, the science behind them, your impressions, and recommendations.

Originally Posted by ORBrit

So here's an update.
I decided to take the Bandit out for a decent ride today. It was a 170 mile round trip, to Florence on the Oregon coast, down Hwy 101 then back up from Reedsport up the Smith River Road.


from:Welcome Way, Eugene, OR 97402 to:43.963168,-124.104309 to:Reedsport, OR to:Smith River Falls, United States to:Wolf Creek Rd, Veneta, OR 97487 to:Welcome Way, Eugene, OR 97402 - Google Maps

It says this should take 5 hours twelve minutes. It took 4 hours, including getting gas before I left, stopping for lunch at KFC in Florence, stopping at a Bike store in Florence, and getting gas when I got back home.

As you can see from the map, plenty of twisties, from long sweeping curves down to 15mph posted speed corners.

My impressions of the Bandit have completely changed just from this one ride!

It was just a matter of more time in the saddle.

It's an amazing thing when it clicks and you enter into a long sweeping 45mph posted speed corner at 65mph and squirt out of it at 85 mph

The Ulysses never fails to deliver in that department. I'm still constantly amazed at some of the things it can do.

Recently, I've been working with it to improve comfort. Some of the things I've done has affected it's behavior, and I've had to adjust my riding style to suit. Which is of course the best part of riding....discovering what the bike can and cannot do.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by Davecm203

PS, in the tight twisty stuff, make sure that you shift all the way against the tank to get as much weight on the front as possible. It makes the bike easier to turn and adjust your line if needed.

I am glad that you took it out for a nice long ride and it worked out for you. A bike that can handle the twisties is like crack. You can NEVER get enough of it.

Dave, not trying to start something here, but on the Bandit it works better if you keep your weight back from the tank just a bit. I haven't ridden a 750 GIXXER, so it's likely you are right to move forward on your bike, but the shape of the tank & the riding position of the Bandit make it harder to hang off if you get to close to the tank, and getting weight to the inside is much more important when cornreing hard.

ORBrit, for what it's worth, I think you will like the Bandid more & more as you get more miles on it, it really is a much, much better handeling bike than your S50.

I find that with all that sweet torque you have under your right hand, you might want to experiment with intering a corner a gear higher than you would on your S50, that motor pulls hard even down at 2500 rpm.

Also with just a bit of time in a parking lot, you shouldn't have any trouble doing full lock turns, I can do figure 8's on city streets with no problem on mine.

[wiggiebear]

I went through the same process--swapped out my M50 for a Bandit. I haven't regretted it for one second.

I've done some fairly long (long for me anyways) rides--300 mi in a day, a couple of times. A couple of weekends ago I headed from Seattle to Pullman for the WSU-Oregon game (please don't bother bringing up the score--I'm numb to this season at this point) and loved the trip. The bandit was great on the freeway (not something I can say for the M50), and it was all kinds of fun on the 150 miles or so of two-lane traffic on WA-26. That road can be kind of busy on a football weekend; on the M, it was sometimes dicey getting around traffic--not so on the Bandit. My biggest worry on the Bandit is keeping the speed below "felony" when passing.


I'm really looking forward to my next trip through the Eugene area and up into central Oregon somewhere. I had a great time there last year and am excited to take the Bandit through there.

[ORBrit]

Let me know if you want some pointers for great roads around here!

[Davecm203]

Originally Posted by Rickster

Dave, not trying to start something here, but on the Bandit it works better if you keep your weight back from the tank just a bit. I haven't ridden a 750 GIXXER, so it's likely you are right to move forward on your bike, but the shape of the tank & the riding position of the Bandit make it harder to hang off if you get to close to the tank, and getting weight to the inside is much more important when cornreing hard.

No, no problem. I have never ridden a Bandit. I have owned only sportbikes except for one cruiser many years ago. I am planning on buying a new bike next year and a Bandit is on my short list. So, good to know.

[ORBrit]

It just gets better and better!
I checked my tire pressure and was a bout 10 psi low on both tires.

Now I'm back up to spec, the bike handles even better! I swear it must be about half the steering effort compared to before!

I treated myself to a birthday ride today once the fog burned off it turned out to be a beautiful day!

Sorry about the picture quality - I took these with my iPhone camera

[ORBrit]

[Rickster]

Nice!

[Davecm203]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

[ORBrit]

thanks
Just had a really nice family dinner - I made my crock pot roast with garlic roast potatoes

I got some cool gifts after dinner.
My wife got me the GI Pro with ATRE

[Thundurburd]

Nice pics. Happy birthday BTW.

Ride safe.

[Davecm203]

You had to cook you own birthday dinner. Poor thing.

[ORBrit]

I know!
Actually my wife knew not to try and disuade me from cooking as she knows I make the best pot roast!

[Davecm203]

Even though you had to cook, it sounds like you still had a great day.