My covered bridge tour

[nhpony]

So, I rode to see two covered bridges in Shuylkill County, PA today.  It was a fun ride.  I think I'm going to try to see a bunch this summer on my Nighthawk.  It's a great chance to practice riding and see some history.

I'm really starting to get the feel for my Nighthawk now after about 1000 miles.  I've test driven some other cycles -- a BMW R1100R, Harley Sportster 1200 and a Triumph Bonneville.  All were great and handled a bit sharper than the Nighthawk, but, then again, they were pretty much NEW, except for the Beemer.  The Sportster was nice, but the Bonneville handled superb!  I think if I had to replace my bike today it would be with a Bonneville. 

Anyway, after riding the bonneville I figured my bike should handle at least close to as good as it, so I upped my rear shock settings to 2 clicks (had tried it at 0 and 1) and it's MUCH sharper -- still not a sportster or a bonneville, but much better and much more confident in the curves.  I'm about 200 lbs, so maybe that's a more appropriate setting.  Right now I'm running a Shinko TourMaster up front, which is new, but an old (date says 01) Dunlop GT501 on the rear, so I think a new matching Shinko on the rear would help matters.  That'll be my next upgrade.

It was windy today and I got blown around a little by sidewinds, nothing too bad or scary, but a little.  Are there any ways to make the bike less likely to get blown around?

[genespleen]

Hi there,

You don't have a big windscreen or fairing, so there's little you can add (or remove) to diminish crosswind effects.  But as you continue to ride, you'll gain more confidence about riding in windy weather.  Don't forget, in the wheels/tires, you have two powerful gyroscopes there.  Your bike wants to be stable.  Also, consider picking up Hough's fine book, _Proficient Motorcycling_ (http://www.soundrider.com/archive/safety-skills/proficient_motorcycling.htm): he has much to say about riding in less-than-ideal conditions.

best,
David

[ariwhiteboy]

Very nice report, thanks for sharing.

[Bad Boy]

Excellent choice in a bike.  You did well in finding one that had been taken care of.  The few hundred dollars and extra time searching it takes to get a good one is well worth it.  It will take you a few years of practice and good instruction to reach the limitation of this bike.  This Nighthawk will out perform the other bikes you listed if you get the suspension set up and get the right tires mounted.

Set the rear shock preload to 2 and damping to 2 for touring.  Up the settings to 3 for rough road or aggressive riding.
Set preload to 5 for carring a passenger.

For tires you can greatly improve handling and ride by replacing that heavy cruiser touring bike front tire with a lighter sport touring tire designed for a lighter bike like yours.  Something like Bridgestone Spitfire, Pirelli Sport Demon.  If you go with Shinko the 712 series tire would be more appropriate for a lighter bike. I am still skeptical of cheap Shinko tires though, but the 712 should get you by.  The Dunlop GT501 is a good choice for you but 9 year old rubber gets too hard
to be safe.  It wont grip when you really need it.

As for wind the trick is to relax the death grip, let it blow you around, you will realize that a strong gust may move you a foot at most.  Fight it and you will move around more and wear your self out.

[highwayjamin]

Nicw bike and thanks for the report