[prof_stack]

And here's one for the Professor.

Very nice. 

Yeah, the Connie would have to have the grip warmer built in.  You have one for the seat as well?  That would be nice to have on chilly days.  Plus, you have a windscreen to keep the steady blast off your torso.

I'm jealous!  But I did have an Electra-Glide for 14 years that got me up and down the left coast from Seattle to San Diego and over the Mojave desert.  The highway sleds are sure nice.

[bob bezin]

very very nice.great long distance bike i bet we'll see it at steelville .will you still take an enfield to lanesborough?

[t120rbullet]

Very nice. 

Yeah, the Connie would have to have the grip warmer built in.  You have one for the seat as well?  That would be nice to have on chilly days. 

No butt warmer on the Connie. I guess you have to go up a couple of levels to get that kind of goodies.

[t120rbullet]

very very nice.great long distance bike i bet we'll see it at steelville .will you still take an enfield to lanesborough?

I'm probably going to take the Connie to both the rally's. It was nice taking the pickup to the rally's last year, more creature comforts, food and booze. But..... they are bike rally's.
CJ

[prof_stack]

I rode the Guzzi Breva for 40 miles with hazy sunshine and temps in the low 50's.  The heated grips did their magic and all is good.

[The Garbone]

Took the HD to work this morning for the first time since DST,  it was really dark.  About a mile from work took a fast left turn then I realised my headlight was out.   Flipped to Hi and still no light.   Pulled over, tail lamp was out, fuse.   Took the fuse from the turn signals and put it in the headlamp spot.  Light, sweet,  on Hi so switch to low and pop goes the fuse.   Uggg.. Take the brake light fuse and ride to work on Hi but a least I am visible.       Probably a rub on the bars or in the front of the harness.. Someone paid $8k+ for this thing new and its blowing fuses with just over 11k miles on the clock.  Looking at the one I replaced this is not the first time either.   Great.

Looks like its the sidecar rig for me the rest of the week.. 

[Ice]

Just looked them ( the non R.E.s) while the Bullet warmed up .

[GreenMachine]

I started to charge the batteries for the bullet and yamaha..I did put the fully charged battery in the mower and cut the back yard today....it crazy..I never cut grass in the middle of march....hit 80 today...took a 20 min spin and wrung out the 250 cc hyosung....Felt like summer and granson wnats me open the pool...Love too but reallly it's a bit wild to see summer mid march....I wonder if we'll have a blizzard in April....haaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[scoTTy]

got a kikker 5150 200 cc..  got it running..  foot clutch.. suicide shifter..  fishtailed up my gravel driveway .. went through a mud hole , slung mud up my back... hit the road and the forward footpegs went south for a vacation.. forgot the blue locktite , which I also use on the RE...... so never got out of first gear..  really need to put a hand clutch on this little monster

[2bikebill]

Started the 7500 mile maintenance schedule on the W650. Took off the swing arm to grease the bearings, more straightforward than I expected. There are roller bearings in there! Yet again I'm impressed. Valve clearances next - or shall I just leave that part.....it all sounds ok.......   

[barenekd]

Are the adjusters shimmed or are they screws?
Bare

[2bikebill]

It's shims. I had a quick look at the service manual and put that particular job on the "delay until in the mood" pile....

[barenekd]

Yeah, the shims hold the gap pretty well. Most manufacturers don't even recommend checking them until 12,000 miles. I have had to replace very few in the last 20 years.
Bare

[Arizoni]

Every once and a while I get to thinking that although I have had no real problems with my Royal Enfield G5, if it ever does develop some major problem I'll be without a bike to ride until it's fixed.
That would be a real bummer!

With this in mind, I rode the RE up to the Triumph dealer today to look over the new Triumphs.

I was surprised that the cost of the Bonneville was only $2100 more than the base price for my G5 Deluxe.

I came to the conclusion that the Bonneville was just about what I would want to buy after noting that the next higher priced version was the Bonneville with a two tone paint job on the fuel tank and the addition of a tachometer.
For reasons that escape me, those two features added $1000 to the price tag.
The T100 was even higher priced than that.

The sales guy suggested that I take a test ride on one of their  Bonneville's so I thought "why not?".  It turned out to be the solid gold version and I think if I get one, that's the color I would go for.

I only put about 30 miles on it but that included riding on one of our freeways and I found that running it up to 80 mph was a no brainer.
Just a little twist of the throttle and a click thru the gears and before I knew it I was doing 85 mph.

I must say it certainly has a LOT more power and is much smoother than my RE.
The old "push on the butt" even in 5th gear with just a twist of the wrist was just like my old BMW K bike would do.
No vibration at any speed either.

This model weighs around 500 pounds and the extra 100 pounds of weight over my Royal Enfield does reduce the ease of making quick changes in direction if I'm comparing it to my RE.  It felt a bit sluggish although it was easy to handle.
This sounds a bit conflicting but you guys who have ridden one will know what I mean.

I even got a , "Nice Triumph!" from a guy in a pickup truck while I was getting on it at a local store.

As I was riding my G5 home I got to thinking about the Triumph and my RE.

The Triumph is a great bike and I may even go ahead and buy one but it doesn't seem to have the "character" of the G5.

If I do get a Bonnie, the RE will remain a part of my collection.  That's for sure.

[GreenMachine]

for a second, I thought you were going to do something out of character -  buy the truimph and wave goodbye to your enfield...