Saturday 24 May 2014

New Bike, Same Adventure

I guess it's time to introduce the new bike to you properly now. Everyone please meet Huckleberry, Huckleberry .. everyone.


Let me tell you a little bit about him. First he is a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom, and he has a few very cool features that made me fall for him, the colour would be the first thing I guess. Isn't that just the greatest green you've ever seen?!?! I also love the blacked out bits, and the streamlined features of him, it's a big change from the chrome and the large guards that I'm used to.

OK that's the looks, then there's the other things, well he has certainly got more grunt than the baby 400 had, the first time I went to overtake I almost forgot how much more power he had, and he pulled me back on the seat when he took off.

Handling is something that I've been very pleasantly surprised with, he just seems to love corners .. either that or all the practise I got on those mountains recently did some good. I also wonder if the wider rear tire has something to do with it, he just seems so much more stable then I'm used to.

He is a bit taller then Roxy was, about 20mm, so not that much. But I did have Roxy's seat modified to make me closer to the ground so it's probably a bit more. When I stop I am ballerina tippy toeing if with both feet, but here's the wonder for me, I can flat foot if a stop with one foot down, and I can do that with Huck and he just stays there! I used to feel when I tried that on the shadow as if I would topple at the slightest provocation. Not now, sometimes I even wonder if he'd just stay up if I put both feet up .. nah don't think I'll try that.

He also has a very handy petrol gauge, love that! The instruments are a bit lower on the tank though, one thing that annoyed me a bit before, now it's kinda worse having to look down to see things, and you cant see any of the lights, like indicator light, without feeling like you are trying to look at your belly button. I've left the blinker on a few times, lucky Terry is there to tell me.

He is also a bit beefier, at about 30kg heavier than the shadow. At the moment I do have to give it two tries to get him off the stand sometimes, and if I park wrong I have had to get Terry to give me a little push as well. I've worked out the parking on roads now, I just back him in straighter so that he's not leaning too much on the stand.

What else to tell you, he has more fuel with a 20l tank, but it doesn't actually feel wider, must be deeper. I also love his switches, yeah I know now I'm getting picky, but I noticed on the return trip from Newcastle that we did the weekend I got him, that the high beam switch is really easy for me to reach and flick, but doesn't seem to get in the way so I'm not accidentally flicking high beam all the time when trying to turn on/off the blinker. Little things count eh.

Hmm too much writing here, time for a pic!


Terry and I went for a little ride today to Gilgandra. It's a little town about 60km from home, and just far enough for me to get up the k's for 1000km service. I'm getting the service done next week as well as having him lowered, have been waiting for the linkages. Now's a good time to talk about the place I got him, Robertson's Motorcycles here in Dubbo. The service these guys have been giving me has just been fantastic! They lowered the front of the bike when I picked it up, after seeing me sit on it and struggle a bit, since I was expecting it to already have the lowering kit on. Then when I was chatting after the Newcastle trip with them about how hard I was finding it to reach the clutch, he told me to bring it in the next day and he'd fix it for me. All this and every time I walk in I get a smile and asked how the bike's going. There's nothing like that kind of personal service.

More pics I hear you scream. .. yeah OK here ya go ...


We went for a little ride round Gilgandra after grabbing some lunch, Terry went up a dirt road to check out a job he has, I waited by the tarred road, huck's great on gravel, so much better than I'm used to, but I wanted to grab some pics too :)


Then it was time to head home, and I did not get lost, I was following the signs!!

We stopped along the back road to take more pics :)


Did you notice the new helmet? Yep Terry and I both got new helmets, but I'm saving that for another post. I did have to get something with green in it though :)


Terry took the camera for a while, and took about a million photos of me and my new baby.

At the moment I have no where to put anything so I'm loading up Terry's saddlebags. My tank bag doesn't fit him because of the longer instrument panel, and I don't have racks yet. The Kreiga bags will probably be able to be fitted to the back seat, there's nothing there for the straps to be attached to but I think that when I get the back rack I can fix at least two of the four to that somehow, at least that's what I'm hoping. The other two will just go round under the seat. And that brings me to another thing I love, the seat comes off using your key, no more undoing bolts and then having to line them all back up every time I have to get under there.

And then we just rode home, haven't managed to wipe the grin off my face yet!!

18 comments:

  1. Yay! Congratulations. I hope you two have some fun adventures in the future.

    My first bike was a Vulcan 750. They're very reliable machines and great to ride.

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    1. Ta Ally!!

      Good to hear from someone who has had one that they are reliable, thanks.

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  2. Nice, the first 1,000km quickly put away! It sounds like you've made a good choice and are enjoying the beastie. Have fun!

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    1. Ta Andrew,

      Well not as quickly as I could have, was putting off riding a bit cause I wanted to wait to get the lowering kit installed at the same time as the service .. trust me if I'd had my way I'd be at least twice that by now!

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  3. Conratulations on your new baby. I think your going to like riding him much more than roxy. The larger capacity makes it much easier for overtaking or for getting out of sticky situation.
    And a nice shiney new helmet, you have been busy haven't you.

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    1. Ta Steve.

      Yep I already know I'm gonna enjoy him more, not just the extra power, which is going to my head a little bit at the moment, I overtook Terry yesterday and blew him outta the water (he reckons he let me pft), but also love the way he handles so much better.

      I have been busy .. spending money! But I did need a new helmet, not just for looks either, the lining was starting to come apart in my old one and I think I'd bought the wrong size, it was starting to really wobble round on me head while I was riding. Post on it soon.

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  4. Very lovely! Loving the green. About your stopping with one foot down, that is how I was taught at my riding school, shifter foot. Keep practicing and it becomes second nature and you are really stable stopping like that. Trust me I've been doing it for 3 years :) enjoy your new baby!

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    1. Thanks Dar .. the green is pretty awesome isn't it!

      Yeah I always practiced that with the one foot, thing is that Roxy just kept wanting to lie down. I think it was either a really unstable bike for some reason, or I've suddenly got better at keeping a bike upright. Also I wonder about something you said, shifter side might be different here, either that or the camber on your road is different, cause if I tried that on some roads no matter what the lean on the road would put me over in seconds.

      Anyway, I'll enjoy, and be ready for heaps more posts about it!!

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  5. Hi Brenda, congratulations - I know you'll really enjoy getting to know your new ride. You'll also find your skills improving to match the performance of the Vulcan. Looking forward to checking it out in Queensland next AGM.

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    1. Thanks Theo :)

      Already seeing improvements, and the fun has just started!

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  6. So glad you are enjoying the new bike. Very photogenic too. I thought that looked like a new helmet that matched the paint job on Huckleberry.

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    1. Thanks Brandy :)

      I thought he looked good in the bush setting eh.

      It was the closest that I could find to match him, green is a hard color to come by in helmets it seems, and it's not actually green, it's yellow .. well chartreuse. But it's also the helmet I wanted for the features and comfort so I got a win I think.

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  7. Brenda:

    Your new bike, Huckleberry is looking very snazzy. Power is addictive. I keep thinking about the SRA, Now you'll have to find another group . . .

    Generally a larger bike is easier to ride due to more momentum, being heavier, especially at lower speeds and more effortless on the highway. What luck in finding a helmet to match. Too bad they don't make bikes with mounting points for bags. They force you to have to find other alternatives

    Love your helmet hair !

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. Hi Bob,

      Well I'm still a member of SRA , the first thing that I did when I was planning to buy Huck was to send an email to the president explaining what was happening and that I'd understand if i was asked to hand on my badge and leave the group. I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not required to leave ... Ever! That made me feel good I have to say :) they're a great group of people and very helpful too. I have looked at a couple of Kwaka forums based in Australia, with the thoughts that they would know more about my bike than i do, but so far haven't actually joined another group.

      Hadn't thought about the heaviness helping with the ride, only how much harder he is to get off the stand, what you say makes sence.

      I'm working on luggage options, just ordered a back rack and back rest for longer trips, and will be looking at a seat bag soon.

      I figure you can either have great hair or ride a bike ... I'd rather ride!

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  8. I love the looks of your new steed, especially the rims look very handsome. Nice to see you in a pic for a change, thanks Terry!

    Wishing you lots of miles and smiles on Huckleberry!

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    1. Thanks Sonja :)

      Those rims look pretty good don't they, i've seen them with white walls on it and it does look fancy but I think that the bike doesn't really suit them, just a bit too much with the green on the rim as well.

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  9. Very nice! Very very nice :) Enjoy!

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    1. Thanks Zoe :)

      This one is getting closer to your style of bike .. oh well a little bit maybe .. not quite cross country riding but at least it will go on dirt for a little bit :)

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