[Monterey10]

Vivi and I went out to Panoche' for a soda pop. On the way home
we had another big valley to ride through. I could see the mountains
way ahead, and those way behind. The row crops stretched for miles.

http://www.ihns.net/fortordpl/images/sa ... aug_01.jpg

This afternoon we had a stiff 25 mph wind at our side. I had the burger
leaned quite a ways over. I steered towards the up wind side of the road
to stay away from the on coming traffic..I got one puff that pushed me 3' to the center of the lane. Otherwise, the wind was steady.

I've done this on plenty of bikes. I could feel the wind pressure on my right side, but I could also feel it venting past the opening by my knees. Mmmm, perhaps this is another obscure benifit to owning a super scooter.

One of the "gotcha's" that can happen, if you're not paying attention,
is the occassional farm house that blocks the wind. One minute you're
leaning into the invisible hand of the wind gods, next the hand is jerked away from you.

It never looks pretty, wobbling to get the tires under you. And of course,
just when you're thinking you've recovered, you've passed the house and
the blast resumes.

Anyway, I'm very pleased with passing the "Nasty side wind test"
The Burger handled it well.

 

[pauljo]

As with other cycles, the Burgmans also benefit from running the maximum recommended pressure in the rear tire, and from stiffening up the rear shock settings, when you are going to be encountering that sort of wind dynamics. That tends to bias weight distribution toward the front tire and keeps it planted better. At certain times of the year where I live, 25 to 30 mph crosswinds are common. Never a joy to ride in of course, but easily manageable with the tires and suspension dialed in right.

 

[billmeek]

Great hint Paul. I'll have to try that next time the winds are up.

 

[Monterey10]

Good Tip

Paul, Good tip on the rear shock.
I may have had the shock adjusted right, but as time is progressing,
the shock is beginning to sag. I'll have to get down there and crank it
up.

 

[pauljo]

Another option as the shocks on a 650 wear, is to replace them with Ikon shocks. You start out with a stiffer (progressive rate) spring, plus they have adjustable damping. I weigh 225 lbs, and the Ikons are fine on the lightest preload setting and damping set at 2 (highest is 4). Gives a lot of range to dial them up higher as they wear - and they shouldn't wear as quickly as the stockers anyway. I just change the preload to the 2nd ramp if I'm going to be carrying an adult passenger.

 

[skootertrash]

wind

same thing happens when you pass a trailer truck. no wind then all of a sudden yeeeow!!!

 

[Monterey10]

You can imagine

Well, I weight in at 280lbs. My 100 lbs wife accompanies me quite often.

I can see the factory suspension needing upgrades in the future.

Who has good deals on the Icons?

Heck, even the Gold Wing needed springs, the steering head bearing tightened and thicker fork oil.

 

[pauljo]

Re: You can imagine

Who has good deals on the Icons?

The Ikons are not widely sold in the USA. They are the old Koni shocks - Koni got out of motorcycle shocks and sold their tooling to an Australian firm, who changed the name to Ikon.

The USA distributor is Eurotech Motorsports. That is who I bought mine from. Chris at Eurotech was very good to work with. The shocks need a special spacer to fit the AN650, which he machined for me on his lathe. I found that the easiest way to communicate with him was by email - he always answered within 24 hrs.