Ohai. Been a while.
First, some words!
The rear shock preload adjustment was a great idea. I cranked it up all the way to 10 (no, not 11) and it feels much better. I didn't notice any decrease in comfort, but the bike feels far more stable.
The tank grips make a huge difference. I really felt like I was about to slide right off at every take-off, and I no longer do. Riding in general is easier with the extra grip, obviously.
I installed the protection kit and it was immediately useful, as I dropped the bike at 0mph during
Ride to Live the very next day. Minor scuffs on the exhaust and brake lever, and a barely noticeable scrape on the frame slider, so all good. Fantastic class, by the way.
I did a 400-mile day soon after getting the bike, and it was fine. Sure I was tired and sore, but mostly from the wind on the freeway. Such is naked bike life. Ideally I'd love to get a giant touring windscreen that isn't too difficult to install and remove, so I can use it only for longer trips, but I'm not touring enough to warrant solving that problem just yet.
A real luggage solution is still TBD as well, though I did get some
ROK straps, so my (rather small) passenger seat is now a tiny bit less useless. It's a reasonable solution in a pinch, as you can see in the pictures below. Currently leaning toward this
SW-Motech SysBag 15/15 setup and their
Rearbag for more frequent use. This also isn't critical, and is certainly pricey, so I'm not in a huge rush.
Stepping back away from farkles, I've really just been riding a lot. I'm up to nearly 1,400 miles in two months and change, which isn't bad given my short 8-mile roundtrip commute. I now default to the bike just about wherever I'm going, and it's awesome. I've said before that motorcycling really unlocks LA, and I'm now even more convinced of it. I'm happy to take on a cross-town 15-mile trip at rush hour. Yes, it's still slower than at 3am, but a far cry from the hour+ it would surely take in a car. I have a hard time imagining myself really loving this city as much as I do if I didn't ride.
I'm hoping to do some more longer rides later this year. I'll tentatively be going to a conference in SF in August, which might be a good candidate for a bike trip. I might ride up in a day (400 miles or so), enjoy the weekend conference, and then take a multi-day stroll back down the coast. The XSR may not be ideal for super long tours, but for a short trip like this it should be just fine.
At some point I'll write up more of a review (like
this), but now let's enjoy some pictures!
The T-Rex protection kit looks awesome, honestly:
And I had to get a bit creative while installing it:
(The lean prevents oil leaks while unbolting things.)
Found a matching big boi (XSR900) at the office:
And not a matching big boi, but looks
great in the bright-as-fuck red:
Those ROK straps? Brilliant:
No, seriously, they're kind of amazing:
Though I spent way too much time figuring out how to secure them when not in use, so nothing would flop around at speed:
More motorcycle logistics (which is an
actual subreddit):
Aforementioned 400-mile day with frenz (Yamaha FZ-09 (aka MT-09), Honda NC700X, my XSR, Yamaha R6):
Old vs new light bulb comparisons (order: OG low, OG high, new low, new high):
Nighttime beach parking, a frequent thing for me:
Speaking of parking, the perks are
fucking real:
Last shot with the predecessor: