First ride: 900SS

A new bike to ride waiting in the garage, and I wake up to rain. It rained, it stopped, it finally dried out and I took off in the afternoon. Since it was late already I guess it was going to be a short ride. The weather people were still forecasting scattered showers in the area and the temperatures were only going to be in the high 50’s and low 60’s.



I geared up and took off toward the west. For the first time ever I actually enjoyed sitting at red lights, each red light was an opportunity to enjoy the sweet music of the dry clutch. That thing is loud. The exhaust starts to sing at 5,000 RPM’s, sounds like a cross between a hippo and trumpet, or a hippo playing a trumpet? Maybe not. The stock exhaust is not very loud and it’s kind of high pitched, I’d like it to be deeper, like the exhaust on my ST3, which is also stock.

It’s amazing that 80HP’s can feel so fast, I guess it’s all the torque. The thing really start moving at 5,000 RPM’s, for cruising 4,500 - 5,500RPM’s is sufficient, just like on the ST3. This bike has a lot of pep, and passing multiple cars was effortless, I wound it up to 8,000 RPM‘s and it shot forward nicely with plenty of power. The bike is peppy, light and nimble and a lot of fun. It corners pretty darn well too, although I didn’t go though any tight corners today, only medium ones and a bunch of sweepers. The cornering was very precise, I pointed the bike and it stayed on course effortlessly. I’m sure the 170 back tire allows the bike to turn in quicker too.





Off route 2 in Grand Detour, IL

The amazing thing is who ever had this bike before me, must have had small hands, both the clutch and brake levers are at setting #2 and the shifter fits my big Lady Daytona boot, I didn’t even have to move it, it was perfect. This bike is as tall as my lowered 954 and the ST3, which has a shaved seat.



I did about 250 miles today and since the sitting position in the 900SS is more aggressive then on the 954 and the ST3, I feel a tiny knot in my lower back, I’m not used to leaning over so much anymore. It’s still a very comfortable bike, I can’t imagine not having Heli-bars though.



Lowden State Park

I arrived home at night, the headlight was pretty bright. I was sort of cold only having on two layers and the jacket. Yep, I said I wanted to do a short ride today, but I was just enjoying myself too much to stop. Even when it started raining, I didn’t want to go home, it didn’t rain much or hard, but the clouds stayed with me all afternoon and evening.



A nice clean mirror window in Oregon, IL

I’m very happy with this bike so far, it’s such a sweet ride. Totally different from my ST3 and 954RR. The only thing is, I feel the bike just doesn't lean enough while it's on the kickstand. This one is even worst then my ST3.