SuzukiSavage.com - Big Mountain Thumper

philthymike

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Philadelphia Area
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Big Mountain Thumper
09/21/20 at 17:48:26

This past weekend I rode Thumpy further and longer than ever before. We went out to the mountains of Central Pennsylvania on an overnight ride.
Mind you, I always looked at Thumpy as a local bike. Commutes, backroads and errands. Anything longer distance than that I took my Ducati. But the duck is still under the weather and I wanted to ride my butt off so Thumpy got the job!
And did a great job. Buzzed the hell out of the mountains like nobodies business too. One big mountain, where my ears were popping hard, got Thumpy to spew some oil on the way up but we still passed all the cagers on the way up it. So all in all the trip required a 3rd of a quart of oil and tightening one of the tank bolts that vibrated loose. Besides that no worries. Even got down a couple miles of dirt roads including one washed out rutted mess even the Duck would have had issues with.

The wider bars I put on were a big help. Wouldn't have made with the original narrow bars. But got cramped in the groin after a 4 hour stretch of high mph highway. Might need to look at some extensions for the pegs.

But on those tight twisty little mountain backroads I had a freaking blast grinding metal off them pegs.

Also, once again surprised at my engines performance. A few times had some Harley dudes trying to hang with me and they just couldn't hang. Maybe it was the riders to blame but Thumpy made em look sad. Once that main jet kicks in its all she wrote for those fellas.

An hour straight at 85 mph is punishing. I do that speed commuting to work but is only 9.5 miles away. But for an hour with a heavy backpack on I really started missing my Ducks touring windscreen and longer legs. Them old country highways have seen better days and having to keep that pace up to avoid 18 wheeler turbulence is brutal on this bike.

Sore as I am now it's all worth it!

Picture is Thumpy looking at Bald Eagle Mountain across the lake.

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07 S40 (Thumpy): 666cc big bore, stage 2 webcam, dyna muffler, 412 shocks, Barnett clutch, Kawasaki ZL900 FE

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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #1 - 09/21/20 at 18:00:06 Thank God for this state park bathroom. The dirt road shook something loose
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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #2 - 09/21/20 at 18:03:02 Beef jerky picnic.
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MMRanch Serious Thumper Offline Evil flourishes if Good Men do Nothing. Posts: 5737 LYNCHBURG TN Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #3 - 09/21/20 at 18:21:13 OK , I'm ready for a PA. ride !
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philthymike

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Philadelphia Area
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Re: Big Mountain Thumper
Reply #4 - 09/21/20 at 18:41:22

MMRanch wrote on 09/21/20 at 18:21:13:

OK , I'm ready for a PA. ride !

It's pretty country. The roads are outstanding in the central part of the state. Very little traffic and there's tons of highways so when you've exhausted all the little mountain roads on one ridgeline you can scoot real quick over to the next and ride the crap out it.
I stayed overnight in Bellefonte which is a darling little town with friendly people and amazing Victorian architecture. There's a Cider House there I recommend. Good stuff!
https://goodintentcider.com/

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07 S40 (Thumpy): 666cc big bore, stage 2 webcam, dyna muffler, 412 shocks, Barnett clutch, Kawasaki ZL900 FE

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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #5 - 09/21/20 at 18:54:43 More pictures
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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #6 - 09/21/20 at 18:55:39 Purdy
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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #7 - 09/21/20 at 18:57:34 Across the street from cider house
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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #8 - 09/21/20 at 19:02:00 Bridge stop
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justin_o_guy2

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What happened?

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East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.

Re: Big Mountain Thumper
Reply #9 - 09/22/20 at 10:38:47

Ive never tried wearin a pack riding. How is that? What kinda compensating and style changes does that require?
In the FWIW department, I had an 05 model, and the seat made me squirm after 30 minutes,, The bike I stuffed into the car was an 02, with the 2 piece seat. Much better ride.
Whats it like without the fender> ? Ive never tried that, and even With it, Ive had annoying bits of sand and stuff in the road find their way up under my chin,, and of course, without a mudflap, the tire is Gonna sling water all up the legs,, so I was wonderin what happens on a wet road, sans fender..

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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

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philthymike

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Re: Big Mountain Thumper
Reply #10 - 09/22/20 at 14:50:16

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 09/22/20 at 10:38:47:

Ive never tried wearin a pack riding. How is that? What kinda compensating and style changes does that require?
In the FWIW department, I had an 05 model, and the seat made me squirm after 30 minutes,, The bike I stuffed into the car was an 02, with the 2 piece seat. Much better ride.
Whats it like without the fender> ? Ive never tried that, and even With it, Ive had annoying bits of sand and stuff in the road find their way up under my chin,, and of course, without a mudflap, the tire is Gonna sling water all up the legs,, so I was wonderin what happens on a wet road, sans fender..

The pack is fine for running errands locally and commuting but for a long trip it's gruelling after awhile. My shoulders are still sore from it. When it's wet I have to stop because water sprays off the top of the tire too and blows into your face. Generally I try to avoid riding in the rain (or threat of) because PA cagers all lose what little driving sense they had and become insane kamikaze maniacs and try to kill themselves and everyone else around them too.
I always rode my Duck if weather was iffy because her ABS and TC but now I may have to reevaluate putting the fender on. For some reason the ZL900 fender I bought to match the front end does not fit. Haven't had time to figure out the issue.

I'm really thinking a seat upgrade would be a smart move too. This one is ok for an hour. Afterwards you begin to feel like a prison b1tch Undecided

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07 S40 (Thumpy): 666cc big bore, stage 2 webcam, dyna muffler, 412 shocks, Barnett clutch, Kawasaki ZL900 FE

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #11 - 09/22/20 at 15:18:03 Since I Never carry a passenger Im thinkin I want a tractor seat style saddle,, Paladin had a Great lookin seat on his. Just dont want it to take up too much room behind me, so I still have room for the milk crate.
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MMRanch Serious Thumper Offline Evil flourishes if Good Men do Nothing. Posts: 5737 LYNCHBURG TN Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #12 - 09/22/20 at 18:43:04 I saw Bad-Wolf's bike with a solo seat and it looked good. The fuel tank is longer so the seat is set back a bit. I should have took a picture . Maybe BadWolf will post a picture. It looked really comfee
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badwolf

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Ridin' my Lil'
Bagger - 153k miles
so far

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Palm Beach County, FL
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Re: Big Mountain Thumper
Reply #13 - 09/22/20 at 19:06:16

I caught this just before I leave for N. Fla. in the morning for a couple of days.
I built the seat from foam kneeling pads from Home Depot garden dept. A alum. seat pan on 4 inch springs mounted over the shocks. With the stock shocks AND the seat springs the ride is wayyy better.
Tough to see the seat springs in the photo cause they are black.
With the box on the back as a backrest I can carry enough krap to travel and get back support. It is basicly a small bagger, a far cry from a bobber, but to each his own.
I know the box would be out of place on a bobber, but you could make a removable mount for trips. Once you ride with a backrest you will always want one!
( god, I hope I'm not starting a backrest war! )

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philthymike Serious Thumper Offline Wallowing in my own crapulence Posts: 1413 Philadelphia Area Gender:	Re: Big Mountain Thumper Reply #14 - 09/23/20 at 06:25:49 Nice luggage setup. Can't see it too good, what rear wheel are you running?
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