And Then......

Where was I?  
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Oh yes, gearing up to ride out for the maiden voyage.

What you can't see in the above picture is the audience that gathered to watch me ride away.  You know, the men that stand around with their legs spread, arms folded, wanting to see "if she really knows how to ride that thing."  Yes boys, she really does.

Once we left we were heading across town to Cycle Gear to see if they had any grip heaters in stock.  We were anticipating the 300 mile ride planned for Sunday and thought we'd best spend the evening doing some wiring and installing.  No luck - they were out of stock.  Apparently head office is in California and gosh they couldn't possibly need heated grips in May.  Face palm.

First impressions.  Shifter was a little high and the turning radius wasn't as tight as Max.  I felt that I went back to being a greenhorn when trying to park it. What I could do on Max in a smooth tight turn, turned into a 2 to 3 point turn on the Bonneville. When the steering is turned to full lock it isn't turned as tight as it is on Max. I also noticed that my riding pants kept getting snagged on the rubber foot pegs and that the kickstand placement was just damn awkward.  It didn't matter whether I used the actual kickstand or the helper post on the kickstand, I could not put it down all the way because the foot peg was in the way.  The kickstand didn't come out wider than the foot peg. This was just annoying.  I pretty much had to start booting it with some good effort with my toe to get it beyond the foot peg and extended all the way. That was fine to get it extended, but didn't work for retracting.

(taken in garage - trying to put kickstand down)

(kickstand doesn't stick out further than foot peg)

(pants/boot catch on foot peg putting kickstand up)

From Cycle Gear we decided to head for home.  It was almost 5 pm and we knew we'd hit rush hour traffic soon. Salem is the state capital and always seems to be busy.

We took some twisties on the way home and I noticed how smooth the bike was in corners.  It just felt planted.  Pick a line and take it.  No gentle input/correcting needed. 

(Photo by Troubadour)

Before long we'd made it to Corvallis and stopped for petrol so the tank would be full for morning.  Who was it at Triumph that decided that they'd put a full sized fuel cap on the tank, but the actual nozzle opening should be the exact size of a fuel nozzle?  Want to see how full the tank is as you are filing it?  Too fricken bad, you can't without removing the nozzle.  And you'd better be able to anticipate when it is almost full because it will splash.  Luckily Troubadour warned me of this or it could have been bad. As it was, it was frustrating.

(Fuel cap on)

(Nozzle hole and tiny breather hole for extra splashing)

We made it home and parked the bikes in the garage.  Like it wasn't full enough with two bikes, now there are three for a while.

Over dinner we discussed the bikes and the differences between the two.  Troubadour asked me if I had thought of a name for the Bonneville and the conversation went like this:

Troubadour: Have you thought of a name for the Bonneville yet?

     Me:  Been thinking but nothing has come to me yet.

Troubadour:  You could call it Beauregard.

     Me:  Wasn't that the janitor on the Muppets?

Troubadour:  Yes it was.

     Me:  (bahahahaha-snort)  That would be perfect because I like to ride sweep.

Troubadour:  That isn't why I thought of it.

And that is how the Bonneville became knows as Beauregard or Beau for short.

(Photo by Troubadour)

We went out and adjusted the shift lever to move it down a bit as I was really having to raise my foot to shift down.  All other controls were fine where they were and placement of them seemed a good fit ergonomically although the seat to foot peg ratio was a little short for my legs so my hips were a tad sore coming home. It was almost as if my legs were perched on the pegs and I had to hold them up.  Sounds odd I know.

*          *          *          *         *          *

We woke up at 5 am Sunday morning to a chilly 35˚F (1.6˚C).  Brrrr.  We made some sandwiches for the trip and packed some water and munches.  We layered on our gear and I also put some heated disposable insoles in by boots.

We met up with Josh and Meg at 7 am.  Much to their surprise I wasn't on Max. Although I sure wish I'd had his heated grips. I think Josh liked the sound of the aftermarket exhaust.

The shifter on Beau had been lowered too much and I was having to point my toe at an odd angle to shift up.  From the start I had to keep looking at foot placement, something I'd never had to do on the Gladius even when new.

As you know from Troubadour's post we made it to Amity and then turned around.  It was just one of those days that wasn't meant to be.  We were home by 9:30 am.  Josh and Meg finally made it home at 8:30 that night traveling a total of 411 miles (661 km). Holy crap that was a long ride they had. It would have been shorter but they had to back track because of an accident blocking one of the major East/West highways.

(Photo by Troubadour)

Later in the day when it warmed up and Troubadour felt a little better we decided that I needed to ride the Bonneville and the Gladius back to back.  You see, I just wasn't feeling the love for Beau. I was quite distraught over that fact since I'd wanted a Bonneville SE for years.

We started out with me on Beau and Troubadour on Max and headed south to Bellfountain and Alpine.  Roads we know very well and travel often.  When we arrived in Alpine we stopped for a few pictures and to discuss.  

(Max & Beau in Alpine)

We decided it was a nice sunny day so we'd go a little further up the twisties to Alsea Falls and then switch bikes at that point.  When I got back on Beau I noticed what I thought was the fuel light had come on.  I confirmed with Troubadour that is what the light was for.  There was only 112 miles on the trip meter.  That was a big surprise, and not in a good way.

Beau has a bigger tank than Max by a half gallon (2 litres) and Max's fuel light doesn't come on until at least 150-160 miles (140 if Troubadour has been riding it).   For the riding we do I can't be looking for gas every 100 miles.  I think Sonja's Rover can probably go further than that with his peanut tank.  We assumed that the remapping after the aftermarket exhaust installation changed expected fuel mileage. Doh!

Not knowing if Beau had enough fuel to hit up the twisties we switched bikes and rode home.  This way we each rode a different bike to and from Alpine.  

We got home and parked the bikes in the garage.  (Yes Bobskoot they were magically backed into their spots) 

More discussion ensued.  Be watching for the next and final chapter for pros and cons and comparisons of each bike and my final decision if you haven't guessed it already.  I will hopefully have the final post up Sunday if I have time.  Our weather is supposed to be in the high 80's all weekend, so I might be playing outside instead.

- Au Revoir
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" Good night, good Night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow."  Juliet - Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2