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Monday, 19 September 2005 |
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Page 3 of 4
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The proposed ride for us was street nirvana in the form of Angeles Crest highway with a nice lazy lunch at Newcombe's Ranch and an afternoon thrash to work that said lunch off. Then a quick bash back to the Sky Bar to try and pull some large boobied L.A chicks. Now we'd seen some pretty iffy weather in "sunny" California recently and it looked like the intro ride might be ixnayed due to those downpours... luckily the day of the intro saw a miraculous change and all was good. However, Angeles Crest's very own Mount Disappointed did deliver in the disappointment department and the road was closed due to various mud slides crossing the crest at pretty much both ends. Our revised route saw us hit the neighboring Little Tajunga Valley area. |
| Setting out on the first part of our journey had us hitting surface streets and freeways. I pulled over almost immediately to adjust the bike more to my liking - remember a comfortable bike equals a fast rider - blah blah. I upped the preload two notches on the ramped preload adjuster and slowed the damping a tiny bit to stop it rebounding back into my bum at every bump. Basically the same thing I do on every bike I ride, in a lame attempt to impress you all with my suspension tuning abilities. Actually it did make it better and a further single click was all it took to make me happy. The front was perfect from the onset so I didn't mess with it. I did however pretend to adjust it just to see if anyone was copying me, which a couple did... oh how I laughed. |
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Just like any six hundred not much is happening below 4000 rpm, keep the Yamaha above that, preferably hovering around the 5 marks, and life is good. Power is perfect for the street and a can of whoop-ass can be dealt out to anyone riding any capacity bike in the twisties. The bike seemed very balanced with nary a nudge on the bars to change direction. The bike responded to mid corner changes quiet nicely too, a feature that'll help keep you safe on your Sunday street ride. |
| This ease of riding paid back in dividends on strange (to me) roads it's nice to know there's some back up to allow for any margin of error. A couple of us cleared off to set a land speed records and came into a corner a little hot and heavy, not a problem usually, however, the road had mud washed completely over it from one side to another into the corner and through it for a couple of hundred yards - I gingerly eased off the throttle and felt both ends sliding, the bike stayed in perfect shape. Consequently I got through - a great testament to my superior testicular fortitude and lovely skills, oh and the balance of the bike was pretty good too. |
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