I just returned from a trip to Yellowstone N.P., Devil's tower area of Wy, Black Hills area of S.D. and Badlands N.P. My wife and I carried the S40 (2012) on a Versihaul attached to the trailer hitch on our truck and did day trips from our campsites. We're from N.E. Indiana, so the riding was an eye opener. The bike turned 10,000 mi. on the trip, so I'm sure I'd still be considered a novice by this forum. BTW- I'm 65.

Observations:
I'm 200 # and my wife- 130#- without her weight on the back, I don't know if I could have handled the wind conditions at all- certainly not the 65-75mph postings in Wy. I slow down with perhaps the false sense of having some recovery control in a strong gust. Once in the Badlands, I saw a string of HDs coming up on my rear and frantically searched for the mostly not existent pull-off to keep from getting rear-ended.
I ran into a motorcycle training instructor from WA. on the trip that just chuckled when I recounted the experience and replied I needed to learn to dance with the wind!

Lack of power was never an issue. Even with my wife on the back, the bike never faltered climbing in any of this environments.

Downhill grades were a bit intimidating ( sometimes 7 % for miles), especially with lack of guardrails and tremendous drop-offs, but I managed.

Cornering- I don't know. I would usually find myself slowing to about 5 mph. less than the posted curve speed (ie. 25 posted- me 15-20). Then I'd see women my wife's size or smaller taking turns on big HDs seemly much faster than me. Sharing my observation on this with various bikers on the road gleaned responses such as:

It's an illusion that they're going faster because they're coming at you in the opposite direction.

Yes, they are going faster. It's called more saddle time.

Ignorance is bliss.

The s40 is capable to easily take those turns a 40 mph. ( riding instructor from WA. again)

If you enjoyed the ride and stayed on the road, that's all that's important.

Note on WA instructor- In his courses there, they have 9 levels of training in cornering alone, ranging from courses at a local race track to maneuvering thru multi-story parking garages.

I've read somewhere here on the forum of some woman that cruises at 80 mph (?). A young woman is presently traveling across the U.S. on her S40 (drawingonredwing.com). Maybe I'm just a chickensh*t.

Your thoughts on wind and cornering would be appreciated.

Rick in Indiana

I can't think of a WORSE idea than pushing past your limits to prove you're a better rider than a girl, or a Harley guy, especially with your wife on the back.  

You're riding on unfamiliar roads, unfamiliar KIND of roads, stay in your zone.

Do you usually ride with your wife on, or are you accustomed to riding alone?  I used to give my wife a ride, very infrequently, and it made things tricky, especially the first few miles.  I would want some more practice with a passenger before taking some curves with my usual aplomb.  

Correcting for wind gusts has always seemed "instinctive" to me, but I've probably never ridden in wind as strong as you did.  2 up is going to give you a lot more "sail" in the wind also.  


If I remember from David Hough's book, statistically, 10K is around where accidents "blip" up again; (riders gaining confidence, start pushing the envelope a little)  ("Proficient Motorcycling"  Also has some good cornering info- required reading)


(Never having ridden there, my opinion probably isn't worth much...)

I think you were wise... On unfamiliar roads, it just ain't smart to push...
...(faster people may have ridden those roads many times before)...
You should always ride your own ride...
Besides,... you miss the view... ...

Any pics for us?... ...

Rick:   Not to worry.  Shortly after I got out of the marines I bought my first bike, a brand new 1969 Honda CB450.  I remember being on highway 1, going into one particular corner at 45 MPH "ridding for my life"...  A year later I was relaxed and comfortable in the same corner at 70 MPH (on my new CB750).  
It was 20 years between bikes when I got the S40 and I had to spend some time re-learning how to do the twisties...  But it's "all good" now. In fact, #3 stepson is getting all pi$$y that he has to work his Hardly so hard to keep up with the old (73) man on the thumper in the twisty bits.

I have read that if you enter a corner too fast....the best thing to do is lean that sucker over and "go for it".  Chances are the bike most likely "can" make it around the corner (as long as you aren't dragging anything).....most bikes can corner better than you would expect.  Also it is better to go off the pavement in a low side skid....then to go straight off the road head first.

I hope never to test this hypothesis.

Hello Dave. As you know from watching me, going off the road on a low side at 20-30 mph was not too bad. I do not recommend it but if you are going fall then that is the way to do it.

Like everyone has said so far, ride at your comfort level and enjoy the ride. The more you ride the better you get.

By the way, I was lucky Dave was behind me when I fell as he is skilled enough to not have hit me or fallen himself.

Ride on and have fun.

Thanks to all of you for your replies. All were insightful, valuable and encouraging. It would be so easy to trade in the S40 for a heavier bike base on my vacation experience (my wife calls that buying into the bigger pen*s competition mentality). I truly love the bike's look, simplicity and dependability. I'll seek out some advanced course that focuses on the cornering.

I met a retired state trooper, turned park ranger that is a high mileage, seasoned rider in and out of the U.S. He said that " in general" Americans tend to operate their motorcycles and autos at lower rpms than their European counterparts. That this also plays into the issue here. I know that my truck red line is around 6000 and I rarely reach 3000. The S40 has no tach, but I know I do the same with it. In the mountains I found that I down shifted ( as I cringed) to a lower gear, the engine revving much higher than I normally would like. But my thought was that I could hold the bike back on the grades better, less braking AND have reserve power to work with in a jamb. The engine didn't explode and probably capable of more than I give in credit for.

Thanks again everyone.

verslagen1 wrote on 08/06/15 at 08:23:18:



Dude, I didn't have a clue... I was a roughneck, and rode a ten speed so hard I literally had a front tire shredded in three weeks. I rode the Kawasaki from Odessa out west to Sierra Blanca, tx, worked seven twelve hour days , off a week. I'd get bored riding and lay down on it, right arm under the chin, left hand on the gas and hit it... I'd go exploring the country, dirt, roads while the rest of the crew slept. Found some neat stuff, if you have ever felt frustrated by being held up by a herd of cattle and you were in a car, try it, out where no one would even think about looking for you, on a bike. And when you're tooling along, gawking around and suddenly you see the dirt road is turning to sand,,, hooo, brother, slide back and accelerate gently, and ride the snake.. slow down and let the front tire sink in,  and,Houston, we have a problem.. I never dropped it out there.
That's the bike the snattlerake struck at me on. Took a tour of Ft. Davis going home one week. McDonald observatory is out there, fine winding road. They outlawed bicycles, because they kept going off and getting dead.

I never had a fast bike, never did wheelies, but, i was undisciplined, ignorant of technique and foolhardy, so, yeah, I was a squid.