I built a CS-1 during the winter of 2015 and got it on the road as soon as the weather allowed in the Spring of 2015. I put it away for the winter last fall and haven't had it out of the garage since. Not that I didn't want to ride it, but my wife opened up a cafe this past March and it has consumed all of our free time. I have several bikes, and all of them have had a lonely 2016.

So this weekend I had some time to ride, and first out of the garage was the CS-1. The bike started right up (I didn't even have to charge the battery) and was eager to be ridden. I warmed up the tires on my way to my favorite twisty roads, and gave the bike and myself a good workout. So my thoughts after an eight-month hiatus from this bike:

- It's a fun motorcycle. It's pure simplicity and honestly draws a great connection between man and machine.
- It handles great. I have the suspension dialed in just right for my weight and riding style. I have a lot of mods and time into my suspension. Do a search on my name to see what I have done.
- The ride and riding position are good. The forks have a good balance, yielding predictable handling with an acceptable compliant ride. Even the shocks, that bothered me so much last season, seem to be just ok this time out. With that said, I have developed a habit of hovering over the seat when I know I'm going over rough terrain (you can get the boy off a dirt bike, but you can't take the dirt bike out of the boy). Regarding the riding position, I'm 6'1" and 53 years old and and have no problem folding myself in to the correct riding position. I've been riding sportbikes since the early 80's so this position is just natural for me.
- Reving the engine beyond 5,000 rpm just makes things shake more. This bike is an ass hammer and it can put your hands to sleep in short order. I wonder if a ported head would help smooth out the power delivery, making large throttle opening more enjoyable? I do find myself short shifting this bike. In any event, I just accept this as part of the bikes strong personality.
- Finally, I love motorcycles. I have since I was 10 years old and I hope to enjoy them until the bitter end.

So I don't think any of these thoughts are any different then my impressions last year. What is different is that I wasn't comparing this ride to a previous ride on one of my other bikes - which I found myself doing last year. On it's own the CS-1 is a great motorcycle. It's not a 100 mile-a-day bike, but it's a great 25-50 mile partner. It's light, nimble and it's just fun. I'll take fun over many other bike characteristics.

Amen.  I did a little over 100 miles last week on some nice twisties and had a blast.  Some of the turns have 10 mph rated signs.  I rode up Boulder Canyon (with a detour up Sugarloaf Road and back down) to Nederland, headed North and back down to Lyons and then back home.  It was the longest ride I've done on the Savage and it was pure joy.  Even though things were a bit cold up in the mountains!  I had on my mesh jacket because it was in the 90's "down" in Denver at 5280' altitude.  I'm 51, just under 5'10" and my bike has stock suspension and seating.  I did need to push back up on the hump occasionally to stretch my legs out and extend the hips.

Here's my route (minus the detour up and down Sugarloaf):
https://goo.gl/maps/5d3hMPt8qvo

Do we have a section on the forum to share rides?  I downloaded Rever this past weekend to track and plan some future rides.

Congrats on the build! I read the stuff you did on the forks over and over.
Question-the folks at Race Tech were hesitant (talked to them on the phone) to go with softer fork springs because the bike was lighter. Their take was that the load on the forks may not have changed much, and the lighter springs might be too light.
Now that you have ridden it, are you happy with the front spring rate?
As far as the shocks go, I find that some shocks need 500-1000 miles to loosen up (seal stiction). Maybe that is what happened.
As for the vibes-a few thoughts:
Did you do a different piston? Any chance I have I use a lighter piston and/or wrist pin. And then I get in there with a die grinder and remove more metal if possible. Less mass flying back and forth is better.
I also did serious handlebar end weights in a few bikes. Def makes a difference. I'm using short aluminum clip-ons in place of the long steel bars. I'm sure that'll make for buzzier bars.
Again, congrats!
enjoy  

Hey Chase, we're at different ends of the state. I'm in Warren County - about 150 miles from Cape May.

Armen, my sag data suggests that RaceTech's spring dyno is right on. During my tuning of the forks I removed 10mm of oil and that helped with the percentage of travel used (less stiff) and I turned the GVE out an additional 1/4 turn from my initial setting of 2-1/2. My gut feel is that I could remove an additional 5mm of oil and still be good.

Handle bar weights are a good idea. Some have suggested filling the bars with bb's. I have the bb's but haven't filled the bars yet. I'm sure this will quell the vibration. I have bar-end mirrors so it's as simple as removing a mirror, laying the bike on its side and filling the bar and reinstalling the mirror BEFORE I stand it up. Got to make sure I remember the last part

Dave, it's not that I made time to ride, but it that occurred to me that I didn't have to ride with my wife to the cafe. So I took the long route (the cafe is only 0.5 miles from our house, so it's a very long detour) there and back. Besides, a cafe racer parked in front of a cafe is just perfect. I spent as much time outside talking to other riders as I did inside - and that's a good thing. We get a lot of motorcyclists at our cafe. If they know that the owner is one of them...I'm sure I'll get a lot more.

Armen,

When you fill the handlebars with lead shot you better hope that your grips last a long time. When you go to replace the grips you will find nothing but powdered lead in the handlebars.

I am not sure how to handle lead powder.

It would be good if you could fill the bars with molten lead.

Kenny G

A lot of guys in the toy model aeroplaning community use lead shot to balance the model. The MO is to mix the lead shot with epoxy to make  a pourable slurry then tip it into the nose. Hold it vertical  to let the sludge settle and it goes nowhere. ( I just pour molten lead into the model but that's another story). Maybe that's an option.

Never heard of that one before. Be good to try it out some time. Thanks  .

So, in it's current incarnation, what weight oil, what quantity or level?
And current settings on the Emulators?
thanks,
-Armen