The first 100 miles - RT Road Test

[Jimbobvfr]

So, I received delivery of an 04 RT Saturday morning. Put it on the charger, and went out. Came back and invited the wife for a ride, curious to see how this thing does. The following is my impression of the bike, review, and some input for others considering the push towards the touring side of spourt-touring.
First impression on seating is that it has plenty of front end play, as in it shifts 6 or 7 inches from side stand to straight up, I also noticed this on braking, thinking that the paralever would reduce the dive, it still seem to bob a bit(aftermarket upgrade for later). The bike hadn't been ridden in a while, so I knew it might be a bit stuffy, but it pulled away smoothly, and once I'd figured out the shift sequence, I could execute my normally linear acceleration giving the passenger the feeling that we are just motorvating along instead of up/down shifting. I had the feeling that we were just cruising along on a nice 2-lane road when I realized we were going 70! The bike leans over nice enough and absorbed any mid-corner bumps with aplomb. I held it at a constant 70 or so, and I can tell the need for an MP3 player as this was way too smooth to keep my wife awake. A quick dab on the front brakes explains the whole servo-controlled affair - as in they are grabby! I'll use mostly rear for normal slowdown at lights, but will need to go and test out these brakes in some faux-emergency situations. When I had the 04GT, I had the privilege of being able to test the ABS on a closed track and was mightily impressed at how they worked. I was doing E-stops from 50mph with no drama, I look forward to seeing how this one does. On the way back, I did a little superslab action just to see how it cruised. Upon raising the w/s up to max, I felt a very negative wind flow that actually put pressure on my hands by pulling my body forward. Dropped it a bit and the wind over my helmet offset the vacuum, and it was fine. Plus I could use the resistance to work on my abs! At 80 or above, the bars got a bit buzzy. I put on the cruise, and watched the bars vibrate a bit with hands off - Would a steering damper/better front suspension get rid of that? For reference, tires are BT020(A long time fav of mine on my VFR) with plenty of tread left. Accel was on par with a 95hp engine, it did accel, but I wouldn't exactly call it mind-blowing. If I down shifted to 5th to increase the oomph, the buzziness was uncomfortable and I put it back in 6th. A little city traffic and I noticed it changes lanes smooth and quickly. I also did a few rabbit starts running it up to redline(it already has 12k), and while the accel was ok for the size, the vibration was a bit much. I would compare it to my RSVR in level of vibration, but not even close to the level of zing. On one or two dips, I could feel the bottom touch, so increased the rear once I got home to near max. I'll try it later to see how it feels.
Riding impression: Overall, a very solid, very comfortable touring bike. I managed to consume 2 bars of fuel, so more testing to see what equals in mpg. Could I ride this fast? Maybe fast enough to keep up, certainly fast enough to leave the Hardley guys I rode with last week while carrying over 100 L of baggage. Will I sell my VFR or RSVR? Most likely not. They provide that contact with the sport side that I've grown an addiction to. The good news is that this bike has enough sport to keep me at bay without making my wife feel like a gymnast on a balancing beam.
Upgrades include: Something a bit stiffer on the front. Possibly a rear shock after 30k or so. Screen is fine and I can adjust it from Lt to max coverage. Big kudos from the wife as she is comfy, backrest works great, no vibes from the pegs and she has a place to grip during stop and go. Now she wants an autocom bad to support her introduction to music(last week's ride).
Now, just one more thing. Someone said the RT had a muffler system like a Nun's fart. My wife thinks it sounds like a moped - both damming praise. While she likes the twin Giannellis on the Aprilia, she usually goes away after a minute or two. I figure I had two options: go with the full header and Remus pipe to save weight and pipe up the sound a bit, or just get a Cali tag that says NUNFRTN and live with it. Your thoughts?

[boxermania]

First impression on seating is that it has plenty of front end play, as in it shifts 6 or 7 inches from side stand to straight up,

Don't quite understand what you mean by the above statement.......OEM shocks are usually done by 30 K miles, specially on the heavier bikes.

Regarding the last sentence....do a DJ mod....remove the can (~9 pounds) and install a short downturn tail pipe on the cat.......it removes the weight, lets you view the one sided wheel in all it's esplendor, gives you a throatier sound and costs $4.......

[Jimbobvfr]

Thanks BM for the quick reply! By shift, I meant the distance the front fork travels when going from the side stand angle to seated, straight up, the bike is a bit pogoey. It felt more like a caponord/dual sport bike.
As for the downtube? $4? I would like some more details on this!
Thanks!
James