My two Ducs and 70 degrees

After exclusively riding the XT225 for the last few weeks and 500 miles, I needed to take the ST3 out for a ride today. I haven’t been on this bike since October 14, the day I picked it up from the dealership after the install of the new ECU and exhaust springs. I only rode it 2 miles to the house and it’s been sitting ever since. The truth….. well, it’ not pretty, but having four bikes means that now some of them sit for a longer period of time, as I only have weekends to ride. But I can’t let them sit too long, gas does go bad after two months usually, so sooner or later I have to empty out the tank and fill it up with new gas by riding the bike. Actually I could siphon out old gas and replace it with new gas, but gas is so expensive, why would anyone want to do that if they could ride the bike.

So I take the ST3 out for a ride today. The sky is cloudy but the temperatures are warm. Some of the bank signs are reporting 71 degrees. Today was the warmest day yet this Thanksgiving weekend. At one point I was a bit too warm, but as soon as I got out of the suburbs the air felt a lot cooler. Either that or the roads opened up, free of traffic and I could increase my speed and not stop so much.





Look at the one cow on the left, looks like a kitty cat, turning around to look at me



My ST3 on Tower Road near Burlington, IL

We've got a curve or two here

The adjustment period. I’ve noticed in the past, when I ride the 954RR a lot and then I jump on the ST3, I notice the added weight of the ST3 right away, I always need about 15-30 minutes to adjust to the ST3 after I haven’t been on that bike a while. But I’ve never had as big of an adjustment as today jumping from the XT to the ST3.

Pulling out of the driveway was almost scary, and I’ve gotten so used to sitting upright on the XT that leaning forward on the ST3 seemed almost exaggerated, I felt as if I was lying down on the tank with my arms stretched out forward, like superman. Right turns felt strange, oh yea, I kept reminding myself “you have to lean to turn”. I almost forgot, since on the XT I actually turn the handle bars to make slow right turns. After about an hour I was in sync with the ST3 and it felt like my bike again, not some weird contraption that I’ve never operated before in my life.

It’s so weird how I get used to my bikes and the longer I spend riding one, the harder it is to adjust to the other. The adjustment from dual-sport to sport-bike or sport-touring bike is a bigger adjustment then from sport-bike to sport-touring bike.

Holiday lights on Fox River in St. Charles, IL

So I headed west. Today as yesterday, I noticed a lot of activity around people’s houses. May were putting up lights and Christmas decorations, I also saw many Christmas trees on top of the car roofs. When the night fell, there was noticeably a lot of Christmas lights, that always reminds me of Texas over the Holidays, since I’m not able to ride around Illinois during the holidays due to cold weather and snow.







900SS and holiday lights, still warm at 8PM