Had a ride on the Thruxton today. One of my favourite routes down the A49 to the Raven/Midway, then over to Chester before heading home. Only 60 miles or so but nice roads and countryside
I took my Speed Triple out for a short solo spin on Saturday afternoon and decided to hit my two dealerships so I could chat a bit with folks I know and also get a cold drink in the AC in between a few miles in the heat. I started out at the H-D dealership and pulled in to park next to this Kawasaki Vulcan. There was also another non-H-D in the motorcycle parking area, a Victory. I'm not seeing many of those around anymore. I've heard it's quite difficult to get parts these days. This old guy was parked in the breezeway indicating that it probably belongs to a dealership employee. But I'd not seen it before. Snapped a pic thinking of a few members on here who might find it interesting. Tucson H-D doesn't have a whole lot of new bikes on the showroom floor but they did have some that I liked. I love to sit on bikes and just get the feel of them--even if I'm not particularly interested. Actually, sometimes over the years that has made me interested! Anyway, I figured I'd take photos of the bikes I sat on and post them in this ride report. This one is a 2021 Fat Boy. I got to ride a bit older version of this bike for a couple hundred miles in the Texas Hill Country and really liked it a lot. You'd think it would handle like a lumbering ox with that big back tire but it was actually quite a sweet ride! My cut-to-the-chase litmus test on a bike is whether I'd own it or not. This one is a yes. This is a 2021 Heritage Classic. Both the Fat Boy and this Heritage are in H-D's "Softail" lineup. If I could only have one bike, this one would be high on the list of contenders, perhaps even at #1. I've test ridden this model a couple of times since they put the new Milwaukee 8 motor in it and made a major (and very welcomed) change in the chassis and suspension. It handles great both around town and on the open road. One of my best riding buddies has one that he's put over 40K miles on and he absolutely loves it. This is also in the Softail family and is the Street Bob. My first motorcycle was a 2010 Street Bob that I really liked. While this has the new M8 engine and the new chassis, I'm not as big a fan of what they've done to the ergonomics and looks of the updated model. But it would be a fun little bike to bomb around town on. After sitting on all the bikes that interested me and downing a big bottle of cold water, I hopped back on my Speed Triple and rode the five miles to Arizona Kawasaki, KTM, & Triumph (AZKKT) or, as some of you know me to call it, "Triumph World". I hadn't been there in some time so was curious to see what was new at that dealership. When I pulled in I was the only vehicle in the parking lot. Yes, it was hot but, geez, it was a Saturday afternoon. I have to say I wondered where everyone was. After catching up with the salesman, Bruce, who I've known for years, I decided to do the same thing here that I did at H-D, sit on bikes of interest. All of the bikes of interest to me happened to be Triumphs--not a Kawi or KTM in the place caught my eye. This was the first bike that caught my eye, the new Speedmaster! I've been hoping to see this bike for some time and Bruce said that they'd just gotten it the day before. It's a beauty! I felt really comfy on it, too. I'd love to be able to test ride it but they really don't/won't do that at this dealership unless it's pretty much certain that you're going to buy it. Hmmm, maybe........ Thought I'd check out the new Speed Triple RS. Fortunately for me (and my pocketbook), I like my 2019 version better. I've not sat on, much less ridden, a scrambler like this one. My concern is always that exhaust. How in the world can you keep from burning the heck out of your leg at stop lights?! I think this particular bike is pleasing to the eye overall (love the paint job) but when push come to shove, scramblers don't really move my soul like some other bikes do.
And finally--and of course--I had to sit on the Rocket 3. Now THIS bike moves my soul! On a different note, someone (@Dougie D, I think?) mentioned that he thought we could upload more than ten photos in one post now. But I got shut out when I tried to add the Rocket photo which was #11.
Thank`s for the pictures! In my Triumph collection a ROCKET 3 ist still missing. I think this will not change for a while depending of sudden wealth.
In the morning I drove my TIGER back to the office. Like every Monday, the weekly commuters from all the provinces were racing to Vienna. At 140 km/h I sometimes had the feeling I was parked on the motorway! They race like maniacs. Especially VW buses and delivery vans from construction companies.
i'm sure there was one post where they had posted about 15 pics,but i can't remember which thread it was in. maybe they had reduced the size of the pics
10 pics is actually the maximum. You need more threads to post more then 10 picture. I had the same problem in the past.
Went for a blat yesterday up to North Cape, stopped just before there to get a photo, Cape Maria van Diemen in the background.
Took my tiger into her first service, this Rocket 3 R was on the dealership floor, while the service was being done I got my second vaccine dose, went to lunch at the mall, and saw the F1 Redbull that is traveling through a few cities, then went to pick up the bike, nice experience with the first service. After picking up the Tiger I went for rides on Saturday and Sunday 1. It was my first ride with dry weather, I started to ride with a relaxed grip on the handlebars, finally being able to feel comfortable on the twisties. 2. above 120km/h I can not hear the helmet communicator, so I decided to replace the stock windscreen, ordered a replacement from calsci.com, 3. I like how the RPM limit increases as I ride, it is indicated by a yellow color on the screen, I'm up to 8000rpm now, more than plenty.
That's a thought, Dougie. Thanks for the idea. I typically just pull photos from my MacBook Photos program and don't check the size. I have had photos that wouldn't load so usually just open them in Preview, make them a bit smaller and then do a screen shot, then post.
