Apologies if I woke you. A big bike tale

[paddy]

Or he's a scrawny pipsqueak.

I don't know that I would call myself scrawny anymore, but lets just say my power to weight ratio isn't what it once was.

[paddy]

Hey Paddy, I hope tomorrow is better for you

Hope the new family situation sorts itself out OK, been there also and feel for you.

First Xmas day apart from your kids is the hardest one. Sorry that you've joined that club. It does get better.

It's probably not much consolation, but the first Christmas is by far the worst. The rest are much easier.

Perhaps you two could alternate Christmas day - that's pretty common.

I just wanted to thank you all for your support and advice. We've been separated for around five months now. I still figuring out how it will all work and how I can still be really active in my kids lives - so I definitely appreciate the advice of those who have been there and figured out what worked for them and what didn't.

P.

[paddy]

I would reccomend that you check tyre presure..the GSF is quite light handling with correct tyre pressure.

Or perhaps just the normal result of going from light bike to heavy bike.

I'll get Dad to check the tyre pressures next he goes out, but I'm thinking it's probably the latter based on what others have said. It wasn't unmanageably heavy, just much heavier than what I am used to.

There is little to be gained by learners riding such a massive machine, except to prove to themselves that its rediculous. Theres a long way to go before you will be comfy on such an animal, but reassure yourself that thousands of others do ride them every day.

Thanks for the write up. That was quite cool to read.

Thanks Steve, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Just to clarify though, I certainly wasn't trying to prove anything - I was just taking the opportunity that presented itself - to experience something different to my bike. So far, I much prefer the way the F650GS rides, the GSF1200 sure vibrates a lot less though... :-)

The 'heavy' steering is just the different weight and geometry between a road and trail bike. It took me a bit to get used to it when I first rode roadies.

Yup - that seems to be the common consensus.

I think you'd find you would adjust pretty quickly to how the throttle operates.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure I'd want to get used to it. I didn't do any overtaking while I was riding it (i.e. I was riding even more Granny like that usual). I did get the sense you could get into real trouble with it though. On my DR you have to really pick your times to overtake. Overtaking is an entire procedure, assess the situation, create some space to accelerate in before moving out, change down several gears, begin accelerating, pull out, constantly re-access...... You get the idea. On the GSF, you could pretty much just open the throttle and blip around someone in a very small gap. Except that you would end up going very fast. A little too easy and too tempting for my tastes.

[cc rider]

Hey paddy, glad to hear Borders went well with the kids, amazingly big stores, aye...do you guys have coffee/eatery bars in them too. They're incase you get lost amongst the books

You're on the right track with the kids....just by the sheer fact that you want to be with them and are trying to do your best by them. Still early days, patrick, so there will always be someone here to talk to when needed.
...and don't forget to be good to yourself, ok.

cc

[paddy]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Hey paddy, glad to hear Borders went well with the kids, amazingly big stores, aye...do you guys have coffee/eatery bars in them too. They're incase you get lost amongst the books

It sure does. It makes me wonder actually, I can clear a novel in a day happily enough. When the lastest Lee Child, Clive Cussler, whatever, comes out in the library and I am hold number 748 of 890. Why don't I just grab the one off the shelf in borders, take it to the cafe. Read it. Maybe move around the store a bit over the course of the day, and then return it to the shelf. Makes me wonder how many of the other people I see in there reading are actually doing that.

[cc rider]

It sure does. It makes me wonder actually, I can clear a novel in a day happily enough. When the lastest Lee Child, Clive Cussler, whatever, comes out in the library and I am hold number 748 of 890. Why don't I just grab the one off the shelf in borders, take it to the cafe. Read it. Maybe move around the store a bit over the course of the day, and then return it to the shelf. Makes me wonder how many of the other people I see in there reading are actually doing that.

Haha! Now who would do that let alone sit & listen to a whole CD of their fav music while having a nice hot long black. Do you have a music/entertainment section? The first Borders I went to was in Singapore yrs ago, 3 floors but now that's common here. If you're an avid reader too, join up on their discount email list...sometimes up to 40% off. You can also get them to order in most books world wide. You buy the coffee, I'll get the cake

[cc rider]

Lee Child & Clive Cussler... that's a freakin lot of books. No wonder you use the library

[paddy]

Lee Child & Clive Cussler... that's a freakin lot of books. No wonder you use the library

I've just recently started all of the Child's from the beginning actually. Cussler's getting difficult to be comprehensive with as he branched out a lot. I'm not sure I like all of the branches but The Oregon Files are good. They are in keeping with his original design patterns. Indestructible protagonists. That sort of thing. Now we're getting off topic though.... :-)

[cc rider]

not really mate, is your thread

....so know any good m/c off road adventure books??

[kevfromcoro]

not really mate, is your thread

....so know any good m/c off road adventure books??

Hot.. just read the thread about hot.. its hot here...........about 25 at the moment..

Anyway.. back on topic....

M/C off road adventures....

Have a look at Twisted Throttle.

African odissy.

course... long way down.. and long way round....

All come out on DVD....

Just joined the libary here.. so will sort a few more out.....

[cc rider]

Hot.. just read the thread about hot.. its hot here...........about 25 at the moment..

Anyway.. back on topic....

M/C off road adventures....

Have a look at Twisted Throttle.

African odissy.

course... long way down.. and long way round....

All come out on DVD....

Just joined the libary here.. so will sort a few more out.....

is you pychic kev....was just in the middle of a PM reply to you when the power went out
So will write to you tomorrow if that's alright hun, much to catch up on.
Ta for book ref/s.
We need to start a library/book thread
I got some old triumph manual/workshopy books brought in by the Vic State Library. Ones that were out of print. Since I don't think there was a manual for my old thing, I've been using what ever I can find.

Tis 16deg here...

cc

[paddy]

not really mate, is your thread

....so know any good m/c off road adventure books??

I quite enjoyed the Long Way Round and Long Way Down books. They expand quite a bit on the TV series. Twisting Throttle and the Gary Morgan series are also worth ready but I didn't find them quite as well written (probably because the McBoorman books are ghost written by a professional author).

[paddy]

Thought I would add some pics of Da's first day out.

[paddy]

I think Dad's planning on riding into work tomorrow - or was it the 3rd - I can't seem to remember. Anyway, I thought I would head out and fill the tank for him so that he is ready to roll in the morning. Obviously I went the long way (via Army Bay) to the petrol station. I have some more observations:

You definitely do start to get used to the power - although I am still not sure what you would do with it all. The engine really starts to smooth out around 7K or so but even in first gear you are going quite fast then. I think I would prefer more torque and less revs. Perhaps I need to get out on a DL1000 and see how they compare.

Dad checked the tyre pressures the other day - both wheels were at 33 PSI. He bought them both up to 36 PSI as that is what's printed on the plate for the bike. I think I was getting used to the weight a little more. One thing that I did notice is that the throttle has a much great affect on the steering that on my DR. I have always read about people doing things like "trailing" the rear brake to tighten their line in the corner. I've experimented on the DR and it doesn't seem to make any difference at all. On the GSF I was quite surprised - throttle/brake control makes a significant difference to the way the bike handles/steers. I especially noticed that the bike felt a lot better if you were accelerating out of corners reasonably positively whereas on the DR you can be fairly neutral the whole way around. On the DR I might be riding at 50, brake down to 40, ride with corner with a neutral throttle and accelerate back up to 50 KM/h post apex. On the GSF, it felt a lot better to decelerate down to 20 so that I could have a 30 KM/h acceleration post apex rather than a 10 KM/h acceleration. Altogether too much braking and accelerating for my tastes though. :-)

It was nice riding back from Gulf Harbour. The sun was setting and I was really starting to feel comfortable on the bike. I could have kept going all the way to Hamilton. Not really sure what I would have done when I got there. Probably eaten McDonald's and ridden back up I suppose. Anyway, just thought I would add to my earlier observations.

[Ratti]

First...Hang in there with Christmas. its been our first one since my hubby died, messy too as his first wife served me papers on the 23rd. she wants me to sell our home and give the money to his young adult sons...go figure...sigh.Firsts of anything are the worst, good on you to stay positive with your kids. They learn from our example and we owe it to them to teach 'em well.

second...thats one heck of a big bike your Da has bought. I joined up with Ulysses recently and am delighted to find they have several mentors in the branch that are keen and able to assist in a spot of retraining. Perhaps something to check out in your part of town? If nothing else, a great bunch of folk on the whole and its nice to hang out with bikers who are pretty much over the testosterone fueled riding style of our mis-spent youth.

third...yes yes yes to library book title thread. dvd's too please? the only one Ive watched was something about Che Guevera and a ride through South America. Cant recall the title but I enjoyed the flick.

take care Paddy and take the bad days with the good, it'll even out eventually.