A few hours free on Sunday and excellent weather (mid to upper 70s in November) usually equates to a ride around town.
I left home to get gas at the local Ardenwood station. While filling up I decided to try Fuelly — this website that tracks fuel consumption and mileage for your vehicles. I got 49.1MPG on my last tank. It’s going to be fun tracking MPG over the next several years!
I decided to ride a mix of freeway and twisties, mostly along familiar roads: 800, 680 and Calaveras.
Calaveras was superb! The weather was fine, not too cool but not too warm. There was very little traffic and I could ride at my own pace.
I’m starting to get the hang of this bike now. The engine is incredibly powerful (at least that’s what I think, coming from a DR650 thumper). The bike handles the curves very well. It is easy to lean over and confidence inspiring through the turn. The brakes are solid — in fact, sometimes a bit too harsh — and slow down the bike very effectively coming into a turn. I enjoy the engine braking too, and I’ve gotten used to that riding the thumper. But the biggest grin lingers right after the turn when I’m pulling away. The bike rockets away effortlessly, no matter what gear I’m in. In fact, I kept the bike in 2nd and 3rd for most of Calaveras.
After about 75 miles in the saddle, all I can say is that this is a wonderful machine. Quite comfortable, enough power, excellent handling. Looks pretty too!
Sujit Kirpekar 