12-28-2022, 02:58 AM
The owners manual says break in is best on hilly twisty roads. So if that’s what I must do then who am I to argue.
Today I did just that. I went for a little ride through the mountains. Temps were supposed to be in the mid 50s and it was clear. Put on my adventure suit with all the liners and headed out at 40 degrees, calm and sunny. Filled up the gas tank and thought “115 towards Penrose sounds nice.”
115 heads SW from Colorado Springs and is a pretty nice hilly road with sweeping turns that brings you to the truck stop town of Penrose. Nothing remarkable just a nice ride.
It was 66 degrees by the time I stopped in Penrose and grabbed a drink and snack. The RS had started to show me what it was all about. Silky smooth and fairly comfortable. She’s got pretty long legs and cruises at the bottom of the rev range but with more than enough roll on torque to pass without down shifting. The suspension in Road mode is also on the stiff side of plush but that’s ok with me. So far so good.
From Penrose I turned west and cruised on to Cannon City. The wind was picking up but me and the RS didn’t care. The wind protection and overall stability are awesome. I had planned on a side trip up Skyline drive but with my fear of heights and the wind I decided against it.
Past Cannon City I continued to make the route up as I rode along. Very little to no snow here so I thought I would try to go higher and headed north on rt 9. Nine is a gloriously fun climb out of the valley and up into the hills. One of my favorites. Plus it’s higher altitude and cooler for my multi layered suit. Heaven forbid I stop and peal something off.
On a little further I turned towards Cripple Creek. Still no snow but I started picking up more sand on the road from the previous storm. Nothing critical, just needed to be more careful in the corners. As we climbed the temps did drop until at Cripple Creek it was 44. No problems. I just turned the grips back up to 2.
I’m very familiar with this road and know where it might be icy. 41 degrees above 10k feet on the other side of Cripple Creek and a little slush in the middle of the road but my lane was fine. It was all downhill after that and temps climbed accordingly.
Overall it was 150 miles and I really got comfortable with the RS. She is not a flickable sport bike but today she was totally in her element. The up and down sweepers were just what she likes and by the end of the ride I had bonded with her and felt confident and comfortable doing what we were doing. I have absolutely no issues with the much maligned quick shifter. I used it as well as clutch shifts and both worked equally well. The boxer is awesome and silky smooth. There is some vibration in the pegs and grips at times but for me it’s well below any intensity that I would care about. The brakes are phenomenal. I only hit the ABS once on a quick stop where I was just exploring the limits.
After this ride I know more of what we can do and I am really looking forward to getting out on a longer ride once the warmer weather comes back. This RS can gobble up miles effortlessly and I’ve got exploring to do.