After a few hundred miles of riding this bike, I've been observing some rather interesting handling characteristics.
I can butt steer this bike. I've never ridden a motorcycle I could actually steer this way. Hands in my lap, and not only can I lean the bike into turns by leaning myself over a little, but just by shifting and flexing a glutus maxis I can turn the bike. Fascinating! All the other bikes I've ridden required a turning of the handlebars in order to get a turn to happen. I've hung off the sides of other bikes trying to make them turn, nothing.
While in a turn, the bike angle varies tremendously in response to my body angle. In other words, COW (chin over wrist) results in the bike leaning over quite a bit less. Maybe it's because of the very low center of gravity that this effect is far more pronounced on this bike than it is on the other bikes I've ridden. This is quite usefull on this bike because it's wide and low and prone to scraping in turns. Keeping the bike more upright gives more ground clearance, which is usually a very good thing to keep.
foxtrapper wrote:
it's wide and low and prone to scraping in turns.
You know how to fix that right?
Please don't do what a coworker did and go into a corner too hot, scrape a footboard, freak out and throw yourself over the guardrail at speed.
Thank you.
In reply to 914Driver:
"... and all those Comedians out of work."
I wonder if this is a steering geometry thing or a my seat is wider than my bars thing.
While on vacation, I rented a new UltraGlide Classic. I was impressed with the low speed handling. It felt light and easy to handle and reasonably well balanced, while riding in the parking lot to prove to the dealer I could in fact handle the bike(his request). Unfortunately, I don't ride at creeper speeds in parking lots. Once out on the road, any semblance of handling went out the window. Lumbering is the word that comes to mind. There were many other nuances, but I the bike did what it was designed to do...highway touring. Better than some, not as well as others. It did have the most comfortable seat I've ever seen on a motorcycle, but the ergos were not to my liking.
