I took my wife out last night to the local "bike night" for a little fun. I rarely ride two-up and this was the first time I've had her on the back with my new suspension (I put softer springs front and rear and Matris kit up front). I put an additional 10mm and 5mm of preload on the rear and front respectively just as a guess and dialed up the dampening to hard. The bike handled pretty well, a bit mushy but not horrible. The ride up was nice, about 25-30 miles through rural county roads, afternoon sun and temps in the high 70s, really perfect. Upon arrival I looped the bike around to the last spot in line of about 10 bikes and parked. I was a bit nervous parking since I don't ride with a pillion often but I managed to avoid disaster and we dis-mounted. Almost immediately, the small group of guys that were on the far end of the lot migrated up to greet us and of course ask about the bike. I think my wife is now starting to understand why a Guzzi isn't just another motorcycle. The guys were all interested and asking questions and they clearly thought this was a bike I built. I told them, you can go buy one right now, it's basically a stock machine. They were quite shocked. The one guy who said he had a 850T years ago admitted he hadn't kept up with the brand. Their parting comment was if I had my choice I'd pick this one! We strolled though the lot and checked out the other bikes (probably about 50 or so). Just about every genre represented, race, adventure, touring, chopper, bagger and 1 really nice antique. Some ratty, some lit up like Christmas trees. I snapped a few pics along the way but missed my fav of the night a 1947 flathead HD that owner has had for 41 years all original. We had a nice bite to eat, listened to some live music and took the freeway home to avoid twilight deer encounters and enjoyed a really beautiful sunset. Life is good.
I passed my 6200 mile mark so I'll most likely be doing that service this weekend. I thought some idiot light or MAINT indicator was supposed to light up at this time? My rear tire will need replacing soon so I'll most likely head down to the "Farm" next month and let Jim do the fueling update at the same time. How many miles are you guys getting on the front tire (sport demon)? The bike really seems to be breaking in nicely, at 70mph I'm turning about 4200 rpm in 5th gear which seems about 500rpm lower than last year but I could be mistaken. The kids and trikes stayed home.
