Hey fellas,
Long time no post! Been away for the year busy with car stuff. Got a 1996 Miata which I've been running track days in and doing an engine swap on the Lotus Exige. Recently, a friend of mine told me his cousin was getting married in Monterey, CA. Asked if I wanted to come along for shits and giggles. Figured hell yeah, that'll be a great opportunity for a road trip down the coast on the bike! And guess what?
It was spectacular.
Nothing quite like connecting to Highway 1 and immediately seeing a sign that says "Twisty Roads. Next 22 miles." I had driven the coast before in the Lotus and it was amazing. Perfectly laid ribbons of asphalt snaking along miles of gorgeous coastline. On the bike, it was positively dreamy. Not too much SUV traffic, either.
For the trip, we decided that we'd camp. My buddy has a BMW F800. So he was all set with hard cases and tons of carrying capacity. My bike --- not so much. So I ended up getting a Tourmaster tank bag, and the full Cortech saddle bag / tail bag set. Turns out I was able to carry everything but my tent and JetBoil. w00t w00t!
I will say, that the Lightning isn't made for a 2000 mile trip, but it performed flawlessly. For sure, I was beaten around by the wind anything above 65mph, but I suppose that was my fault for not fitting a larger windscreen. How much that would've helped? I can't be sure. I don't think it would helped much with the massive temperature swing going from the coast (55 - 65 degrees F) to a few miles inland (95 - 102 degrees F)!
I do have a question for you fellow Buellsters, though. I noticed that the front brakes, while capable of scrubbing off huge amounts of speed in a short amount of distance, were a bit odd. It seems that in the first cm or so of lever travel, nothing much happens (some stopping for sure, but not much). It isn't until that initial travel that the brakes bite, and they bite hard! After the initial bite, the brakes are easy enough to modulate with subtle input. But this makes for some upsetting of the chassis when braking for turn-in. Does anyone else experience this? If so, how have you guys sorted that out?
Long time no post! Been away for the year busy with car stuff. Got a 1996 Miata which I've been running track days in and doing an engine swap on the Lotus Exige. Recently, a friend of mine told me his cousin was getting married in Monterey, CA. Asked if I wanted to come along for shits and giggles. Figured hell yeah, that'll be a great opportunity for a road trip down the coast on the bike! And guess what?
It was spectacular.
Nothing quite like connecting to Highway 1 and immediately seeing a sign that says "Twisty Roads. Next 22 miles." I had driven the coast before in the Lotus and it was amazing. Perfectly laid ribbons of asphalt snaking along miles of gorgeous coastline. On the bike, it was positively dreamy. Not too much SUV traffic, either.
For the trip, we decided that we'd camp. My buddy has a BMW F800. So he was all set with hard cases and tons of carrying capacity. My bike --- not so much. So I ended up getting a Tourmaster tank bag, and the full Cortech saddle bag / tail bag set. Turns out I was able to carry everything but my tent and JetBoil. w00t w00t!
I will say, that the Lightning isn't made for a 2000 mile trip, but it performed flawlessly. For sure, I was beaten around by the wind anything above 65mph, but I suppose that was my fault for not fitting a larger windscreen. How much that would've helped? I can't be sure. I don't think it would helped much with the massive temperature swing going from the coast (55 - 65 degrees F) to a few miles inland (95 - 102 degrees F)!
I do have a question for you fellow Buellsters, though. I noticed that the front brakes, while capable of scrubbing off huge amounts of speed in a short amount of distance, were a bit odd. It seems that in the first cm or so of lever travel, nothing much happens (some stopping for sure, but not much). It isn't until that initial travel that the brakes bite, and they bite hard! After the initial bite, the brakes are easy enough to modulate with subtle input. But this makes for some upsetting of the chassis when braking for turn-in. Does anyone else experience this? If so, how have you guys sorted that out?
