SupaMotar

I will never again complain about the 30 mi freeway commute to work on my KTM 640 thumper and will stop shopping for a nice used sport tourer.

Wind protection, smooth motors, comfy saddles, highway pegs, and hard bags are for sissies.

pdad13

Wha? What did I miss?

EthanR

Thanks for the comments, folks. It was quite a fun ride and I'm glad I was able to share it with you.



I've contacted the organizers re setting up some more interesting alternate routes...something a bit more suited to the Buell, which isn't exactly the ideal long distance superslab burner (though I love it for multi-day backroad sport-touring). Much as I enjoyed it, unless they add more twisties I'll take my Valkyrie next time. My knees will still hurt, but at least they'll hurt in more than one position.

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Spec sheets don\'t impress me. You can ride beyond your ability on any bike.

sarnali

How's the Buell held up overall?. The XB12s is the model I'm most interested in as a playbike, if it can handle Arizona weather it should be fine for the PNW. Have you had any problems or concerns with the bike?

DaveFla

The first mod I made to my XB12R was to change to S pegs- one inch lower, less than $30 and worth every penny.



I made a 300-mile round trip last year during break-in with the stock pegs, all two-lane highways. It was sorta like being in a yoga class for three hours...

EthanR

I've put 11K miles on it in 7 months and have had zero problems. New tires and oil changes have been the only expenses.



Of course your climate is a wee bit different than mine. You might want to ask around on the Bad Weather Bikers' board to get comments from Buelligans that experience rain more often than a few days a year.

__________________
Spec sheets don\'t impress me. You can ride beyond your ability on any bike.

jungkvist

If you live in Hawaii, I Hate You!

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Yeah, well, you can get up and leave, DEAL WITH IT!

freewaystreak

I love it when someone rides a Buell. The Harley guys aren't to sure about you and the sportbike guys feel like you are challenging their masculinity! I sold my M-2 about a year ago and miss it. I rode from El Paso to Durango with my broken wrist in a cast. Buell just brings out the beast in all of us! I had 40,000 miles on mine and just felt like I wanted a slight change, now I ride a Sv 1000s, but still wear my Buell gloves. Ride On!

stollerton

Well done!!

It seems today like you have to have a bike for a particular purpose, if you believe the manufacturers. But you guys showed that If you put your mind to it and keep your eyes on the target you can go anywhere.

I am very envious of your desert & mountain roads.

Over here in the UK it seems like we need Moto-Cross Stealth bikes to avoid the lousy road surfaces(all ripped up to put in cable TV) and speed cameras (most put in to raise more revenue for government advertising).

Despite all this, your adventure does encourage me to make an extra effort to find something similar in the UK. I'll let you know how it goes.

Best Regards

Stan Tollerton