Camping in the blowing wind sucks. Looks like the rest of the trip was a positive adventure.
How does the strain on the body compare between the dual ride and bagger ride? I figure the off paved road riding is rougher but what about the paved? I'm curious about both. Noise? Vibration? Wind? Temperature?
Don, like the HD's, when properly set up for one's body type the noise and wind are not a problem. Except that being a lighter bike, heavy winds throw the bike around much more. The vibration is notable as normal opperating RPM's are 4.5k + and limits at 10K. Almost every bike is cooler than our HD's
Freeway riding doesn't quite suck but I would much rather be on my CVO with the stereo blasting away, even though we have our phones, ipods or GPS's bluetoothed to our helmets. As far as riding two laned twisties, there is no comparison. Even when fully loaded the DS bikes breeze through with ease. Very little countersteering is needed as head (front end) weight is low and results in very little fatigue. Horsepower to weight ratio is much higher but torque is very low. I do miss that torque! Ground clearance is high making it not quite, but nearly impossible to scrape the pegs and a much higher bike than our HD's.
All said, it's just a different riding experience. We did a mostly two lane 5200 mile trip on the DS bikes last year and had a blast, although any long straight freeway sections were not as comfortable as when on the HD. I've ridden dirt and MX for over 40 years and feel much more at home on my 215 lb. CR250 on the dirt than on my 500lb DS. When I see a gravel road on the HD I think crap, not again, on the DS it's more like Oh boy, gravel and dirt
Roger
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Topic: A Different Kind Of Ride Report (Read 5757 times)