Road Test!

On Sunday I managed to get out early on the 888 on damp roads for a wee test. I did a 50 mile loop with some bumpy twisties and dual-carriageway.

As I'd felt a few weeks earlier when taking her for an MOT, the combination of lightening the primary gear/flywheel/clutch basket, the close ration gearbox (tall first gear) and moving some of that mid-range torque/power to the top has made her an awful road bike :-(

She needs at least 5000rpm and a slipping clutch to get her going without stalling. Around town I use first gear... a lot. She's not the most comfortable to ride stop-start and under 40mph. But... get her wound up... and she flies! She is so sweet between 8 and 10k :-) She feels like she'll pull 10k on the gearing I'm running - last year she could only got up to around 9750rpm. We'll see what she does on the IOM through the fastest sections - past the Highlander pub (just after Wagon n Horses Leap and before Greeba Castle) and just before Brandish.

I also tested a data logger I'm borrowing - a Vbox Sport. More on that in another post.

Nothing broke or fell off :-) She worked well. I'd jacked up the front and rear to try give a bit more ground clearance - this has increased my swing-arm angle as well as my squat on acceleration so under power the forks are a steeper angle leading to less stability (one change affects all!). For a short circuit she'd be mint - turns in real easy :-) (higher c of g will help this too). A bit too flighty for IOM, so I lifted the front a bit more - the short test ride in the afternoon was more stable.

One thing that you can only start to get a feeling of on the roads it the sensation of very high speed just feet away from the road furniture. It gets scary pretty quickly. Because I hardly ride bikes, it's something I need to get used to quickly on the IOM. Looking forward to it!!