Awesome.. Thanks Greg and also yes it does scare me for sure. I somehow stumbled into reading about Clayton Schwartz last night on ADVrider to the point that it really chilled my bones (to the point it even made me rethink the purchase possibly -
here is the thread, really sad), but I am also obviously pretty excited to keep rolling with it. Carrie for now is also pretty opposed to the motorcycle idea as well in terms of safety mostly and I definitely really need to be careful and know mine (and the bike's) limits. Even the guy I bought it from, who seemed like one of the nicest and kindest and completely understated but complete utter longtime expert rider had two broken wrists and lots of serious injury, mostly from a heatstroke accident on I-70 once on a GS650... So yes it definitely scares me for sure...
The good news on this 650 is it seems pretty torquey so it doesn't feel like it needs a whole lot of throttle to stay alive and get over things unlike the XRLs I rode as well, almost like maybe the more powerful bike might actually be safer (??). It seems to have a sweet spot where it has a little more of the power a little farther into the curve so I feel like I will be "OK" and it also felt slightly detuned compared to the other hopped up XRR I also rode (which may feel more normal now, I dunno), but of course has the power if you need it. Riding it the other day was the first time I actually felt really good (and even comfortable) reving it well and feeling the power, which also felt awesome of course... So the answer is I decided to take (edit - CostalDefender's advice, thanks!) about choosing the one that is a little scary and hopefully growing into it. The big thing I was thinking was doing a couple more technical rides, get putting it over out of the way sooner rather than later (
) and learning slowely but also trying to get a lot of sense for the feel of the bike and what it (and I) can and can't do. And riding with lots of experts as well if possible to get the feel of it. For me I think at least it will be a lot like Mountain Biking for me as well when I was first learning just a couple years ago and it was a steep steep learning curve for me before I could hang and feel it... But obviously much higher risks (of course)..
I was going to seek out a couple XRR guys to get it dialed, it has a really minor stumble off idle sometimes (too rich or too lean perhaps) and some other things, and I was definitely hoping for some guys to ride with and 'pop the cherry' of course.. I won't deny it of course that I am a complete, utter, virgin when it comes to bikes.. I think this thread probably does a good job of illustrating this perhaps...?!
I am really psyched, seems like I already have a pretty good crew to ride with already...
