New Member

Hi everyone,

I just finished my first oil change on my new 2007 VFR, not as easy to do as my old Shadow, but so much fun I am feeling guilty! I joined a couple of weeks ago, and I have already benefited quite a bit from the excellent discussions I have had a chance to read. I hope to contribute, too, but I'm relatively new to motorcycling. I got my first bike in 2004 at the never-too-late age of 47, a beautiful 2000 Honda Shadow ACE Tourer, which I managed to ride to Minneapolis in 2005, the Black Hills in 2006, and two-up with my son to Spokane last year! (Best vacation to date!) I sold it this fall and got a 2007 VFR, which I am enjoying immensely and looking forward to taking on some longer tours.

Before I lost my soul to riding, I was an avid bicyclist. (I figure over 200,000 miles of bicycling in the last 25 years, including a great ride across country in 1986.) I started bicycling seriously in San Diego where I was a professional grad student for ten years. I also taught cycling classes and did some expert witnessing on the standard of care for bicycling, and generally enjoyed myself while I postponed growing up. That was easy to do in SD. The bicycling helps some with motorcycling, but I have a lot to learn, and I am enjoying learning it, and I think I am regressing again.

Ed

My Shadow in NY on the way to SD:



My VFR gracing my driveway:

 

Hi ewryly,
Welcome aboard. Nice looking set of bikes you got there.
You having any better luck with the weather down in Springfield than we are in NH?
Dean

 

Hi Dean,

The Shadow was a lot of fun, but it is entertaining another owner now. The VFR is a blast, though I don't start to push its limits. Even the 40 miles from here to my brother's place in the Worcester hills can mean a 7 degree change in temperature. Yesterday that meant 40 here and just above freezing there. I'm sure you are a couple of weeks behind us. Of course, I have the happiness of a new bike to keep me warm. Do you still have snow on the ground?

Ed

 

Hi Ed,
The ground is about is about 50/50 here. My biggest problem is I leave the house around 5:15 and it has yet to be above freezing that early, don't really want to risk the black ice. Actually got a couple wiggles this morning in the cage. If it manages to hit 40 here, I'm off. I was pretty much riding daily this time last year.
Dean

 

Dean, 40 is my limit, too, but we have been seeing 40 lately, though not at 5:15. It has been a long winter.
Ed

 

Thanks, MD.

 

Howdy howdy, looks like you have all the bases covered in riding style.

 

Thanks, RVFR. I am serially monogamaous, though, for financial reasons more than philosophy--one kid in college, one on the way. I am loving the VFR, but I'm having to break some habits I picked up on the Shadow.

 

Hi...welcome. I was wondering what habits you were talking about...

 

Mostly shifting too early. The bike also has more engine braking than I am used to, so I was rolling off the throttle too much when I shifted. Getting better with pracitce, but I still need to think about it more than I would like to, given all the other things to think about when riding.

 

Hey Ed, welcome to the forum!!

 

Welcome Ed! I also am an avid bicyclist. You don't need to give it up to ride a motorcycle! They can co-exist. I feel you are right...the bike helps a lot with MC skills. But too much throttle is something that is all motorcycle! Just watch that...sounds like the Shadow helped with your learning curve. ENJOY AND HAVE FUN!

 

welcome, beautiful bike!

 

Nungboy, I did get back into bicycling last year and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. I am hoping the new set of wheels I put on my bike will call me away from the VFR once in a while. Riding certainly helps my touring endurance and concentration. Of course, it is not the worse thing to have two such great pleasures. Plus Western Mass is a beautiful place to ride both bikes--nicer than San Diego!--but the seasons are too short.

 

I love the red, and the hard bags (Jealous). I came ooooo so close to getting red.
Have a good one.

 

Jason, what I really miss from San Diego--other than the winters and the camping rides out to Anza Borrego for Christmas break--are Rubio fish burritos (and the ocean and the mountains and teaching at SDSU in the spring...)

 

Benjammer, I think the RWB looks great, especially in person. I do love the hard bags, thoug. It makes the bike look like it is moving even when it is parked. I'm planning a ride out to Minneapolis in the middle of May to see my niece graduate from college--the first of all the nieces and nephews. That's why I told myself I needed the bags .

 

Wise choice. Again, does not take away from the looks at all.