yesterday I went to demo ride up in houston, it was a yamaha demo ride, don't see many of them, see a bunch of harley demo rides all over the place, but rarely any metric demo rides. they had about 12-18 bikes for rides, the V-Max, Raider, Styker, Venture, Roadstar, VStar 1300, VStar 950 etc. . .  Fz1 I think, the R6, not sure on all the models but about 3-4 for sport bike looking ones maybe even the FJR, and the rest were the Star Cruiser line up, they had the new FZ8 out but not for demo, and the Super Tenere also but not for demo. nice looking bikes though.  

I rode the V Star 950 Touring, it was really pretty nice, I could barely reach the forward shift nob and had to scoot forward to press the rear brake, I'm way way too short for most bikes so that was the only one I could really ride there, well I think they had a VStar 650 there but I wasn't interested i riding the 650.  the wide handle bars gave me pause for a bit but I could turn them the whole way so I went out on the 950.

First time I've ridden a bike with toe/heel shifter set up, good thing too cause I had to use the heel to shift up, couldn't reach under the toe to pull up, but I could stomp on the toe shifter to push down. I was told it was an easy fix to replace the shifters with shorter ones that would bring them closer together if I wanted to buy the bike, but, I'm not ready to buy a new bike yet or even close to buying a new bike. The heel/toe shifter was kinda nice, but had a hard time finding a place to put my foot between the shifter, just not used to it.  

the 950 handled awesomely, we didn't go through any twisties, cause well, there aren't any around here, so I don't know how anything about lean angles on it but that's not my style of riding anyway. The stock windshield cut through my line of site but wasn't as bad as I thought that'd be. My helmet made more noise on the 950 then it does on my bike though, because of the windshield I guess the air flow is different. It was a totally different experience than on my S 50, the 950 is much more like riding a couch but this time that was pleasant, very very smooth, I've ridden the super glide at harley demo rides and that wasn't nearly as nice of a ride as the 950.

for a wide bike the 950 handled really good though it stretched me out a bit it wasn't uncomfortable. During the demo ride the leader who I was behind in staggered formation had to make a fairly quick stop when the light changed on us and I got to squeal the 950's brakes, but it was a smooth deceleration, just a lil noisey, the leader was riding the FJR I think so he had no problems stopping easily. when I got back on my S 50 after riding the 950 it was really weird, I kept over reaching the foot controls and notice how small the S 50 really is

the dealership that had the Demo Ride also had Hyosungs for sale on the showroom floor, the 650 vrod looking thing, actually looks pretty neat in real life. so with all that I rode about 120 miles yesterday, to houston is 30-40, then the 12 mile demo ride, then back another 30-40, then I went to order some parts about 30 more, etc. . . I've decided that long trips on the S 50 are probably out for me, at least until I get some better ergos going with risers or something, I have a Corbin seat which is very supportive but has almost no padding, going to change it to a stock seat, probably sell the corbin seat maybe replace the stock seat with a mustang or something, maybe, if I have issues with the stock seat. I almost never ride more than 70 miles in a day though or 30 miles at a time, just because I use my bike as a commuter and not a trip rider.

I demo'd a Triumph Thunderbird last week.  Very nice bike.  Very tall and upright seating position for a cruiser.  Not as fast as I thought it might be for a 1600 twin.  The rear brake didn't inspire confidence but the front was great.  Very smooth over all.  I could live with it.  Then I got back on my S50 and felt like I was in the fetal position.  

BarneyBWilde wrote on 09/28/10 at 09:07:21:


Yeah, me too.  We gotta start telling each other when stuff like this is comming up!

For instance, Anybody going to the Houston Biker Jam at the Reliant Center 8-9 Oct?  or has anybody been to one and can give me a review?

Tanker2Biker wrote on 09/28/10 at 10:03:16:


looks like the Biker Jam has been postponed  
http://www.reliantpark.com/events/consumer-shows/houstons-1st-annual-south-te...

Quote:


also this looks like the first year for it too, it looks like a cool idea too  

FSO = former savage owner, coulda had that thing all but paid off by now and started on some cool custom shizit on it, but I traded it in for a S-50 and there's nothing besides a paint job that I want to/can do to my s-50 and now I don't think I can even do the paint job because the frame is red, I want a yellow bike, not sure how I feel about yellow against the maroon/red frame, I'll figure something out though. I'll have the s-50 all but paid for after my tax return this year, money I coulda spent on paint for the s-40 I had.  anyway, live an learn, I like the s-50 though

this weekend in the houston area

http://www.tnmrally.net/

might try to go, depending, need to check with friends

LostArtist wrote on 09/29/10 at 10:54:28:

Cool,.. Sponge is playing Saturday night...
Wish I could be there...

Was the 950 nice and smooth?  What's the list price?

Is the 650 heavier than a Honda Shadow?