[ADVNTR]

Well, actually, no I’m not a cute young girl who just bought a bike. I just wanted to see if I could snag seven pages of greetings like speedprincess did. (I do have a real cute daughter and she rides dirt bikes. You stay away from her.)

But let me introduce myself anyway so I don’t have to be an anon lurker: Just gave myself a 600RR for my 44th birthday, which prolly places me in the Senior cohort on this board. It is red, which everyone, even a rank noob, knows is the fastest color. This bike is Honda number 14 for me, my first being a Mini Trail 50 when I was nine years old. Honda number 13 was a street-legalized XR650R that landed me in an ambulance. (Lucky number.)

I’ve done most every kind of riding, from trials to mx to touring, but I have never raced. And the whole HD thing also never did anything for me (sorry). For the last few years my main interest has been adventure touring. My mount is the mighty BMW R1150GS Adventure, all goobered up in typical BMWphile fashion, with aluminum bags, guards, knobs, aux lights, GPS, iPod, heated Corben, yada yada yada. But it’s a great bike, and I did an 800-mile day on it last season, coming back from fireroading in the Beartooth range. Not quite ironbutt -- maybe aluminumbutt.

I’ve owned six BMWs, including an R1150R, R12C, 650 Dakar, and even a K1200LT touring bike. I’ve also had all the japanese brands, and three KTMs. No Italian metal, though. And no HD.

I ride about 14,000 miles a year, not counting dirt bike miles that don’t get logged since there ain’t no odo. Been away from sportybikes for awhile, and am really looking forward to seeing what the latest and greatest will do.

Hoping and planning to get the first ride on the 600RR any day now. Just waiting for temps above 40 degrees so I can be reasonably sure there will be no black ice. (Yes, I am in flyover country, deep in the snow belt.) But even when it does warm up, there is the typical winter crap on the road, so no fast twisties. At least I will get to run it through the gears and make sure everything works.

BUT FIRST, some typical noob questions:

SPEEDO ERROR: Anyone tested their speedo against a GPS or timed? What is the typical accuracy?

QUIRKS: Does this bike have any common quirks/flaws/weirdness that I should expect to encounter?

TIRE PRESSURES: Are you following the recommended pressures for normal sport/street riding? If not, what do you recommend?

MEANING OF LIFE: What’s it all for, and why are we here?

Any help would be appreciated.
ADVNTR

 

[ADVNTR]

And has anyone else noticed the distinct similarity between the back of our bikes and the south side of a northbound terrier?

 

[calicolin]

Geez, you're rich. Your list of bikes reads like the number of guys jocking speedprincess. :mrgreen: I've only had an F4i (stolen) and a 600RR soon. I am a long time lurker as well, waiting for delivery of my beast. Only BMW I've had is my cage :wink: Welcome!

 

[toro168]

welcome

 

[daleCarlsbad]

I have 1800 miles on the bike and have found no problems....just lots of fun :wink:

1) The GPS says 80 mph when the spedo indicates 84 mph.

2) Quirks (not really related specifically to the 600rr) Adjust ALL the slack out of the throttle cable and gear shifts will be alot smoother.

3) I run 32 psi front & 34 psi rear.

Enjoy the bike.

 

[ADVNTR]

1) The GPS says 80 mph when the spedo indicates 84 mph.

Wow. That's almost as bad as a BMW speedo (usually 5 mph optimistic). Is that common to all 600RRs?

 

[cosp600rr]

Welcome, My bike reads 5 mph off as well but only test against a recallibrated bike so wasn't to sure about it. Sounds like his bike was right. Have fun on the new bike. I love mine.

 

[Guest]

ADVNTR,
Welcome.
daleCarlsbad,
Welcome.

 

[Guest]

ADVNTR and daleCarlsbad.

Welcome to you both!
Great first post. I hope you bring a wealth of info (it seems you could) and also get a wealth of info from the rest of us.
Enjoy!

 

[daleCarlsbad]

ADVNTR and daleCarlsbad.

Welcome to you both!
Great first post. I hope you bring a wealth of info (it seems you could) and also get a wealth of info from the rest of us.
Enjoy!

Thanks......nice site and I enjoy the bike related discussions without too much of the BS (like some sites )

 

[Showmemuny]

welcome all, I got 4500 miles on the beauty and only one problem so far. Im going to the dealer next week to get it checked out. My idle bounces after its ran good. Other then that its been fun.

 

[g.diddy]

welcome

ADVNTR, the only quirk i have, is a slight buzzing noise at around 6500rpm in all gears.. i think it has something to with the gauges, but this problem is sort of like religion... everyone has a different opinion.. seems pretty common to our bikes, so dont think somethings falling apart if you start to hear it

 

[mikesduc]

Great to see more old farts on sportbikes. I think you will really enjoy the bike! I got mine because I missed assuming the "position" and feeling like a badass.

You should try some Eyetalian bikes. The Tuono is flat out the most fun you can have on a bike IMHO. A friend summed it up pretty well, " Doing drugs would probably be safer".

Enjoy the bike and share your adventure touring experiences! Mike :bounce:

 

[natecoop]

welcome aboard! :bounce:

 

[mikesduc]

P.S. Black has been scientiffically proven to be the fastest bike. Refer to American
Technical Journal vol. 16 issue 8. Black produces a drag coefficient 0.754% lower
than red. The theory is that black absorbs radiant energy more efficiently than other colors thereby working with resistance rather than against it. MIke

 

[Wizard]

Welcome!

The 4k-6kl buzz has already been mentioned. Some bikes have a tendancy to burn a fair amount of oil during break-in, so keep an eye on that as well.

All in all, it's a remarkable piece of technology and I'm sure you'll be happy with it. Keep the rubber side down!

Oh yeah, and post a picture of your daughter! :wink:

 

[Guest]

Good call Wiz.
Especially on the pic request. :lol2:

 

[ADVNTR]

P.S. Black has been scientiffically proven to be the fastest bike.

Hey hey HEY now! None of that here. I have argued extensively on other boards that SILVER is clearly the fastest color. That's why they make jet fighters that color. Case closed. (But my GS is silver, and it is glacier slow compared to the RR, so, well, anyway.)

And what's this about 'old farts?' I'll have you know I am a decidedly YOUNG fart. So there.

And I got the first miles on the RR today, even though the temps were still in the high 30s. OH what beautiful music when the revs are in five figures. OH the good things that happen very fast after 9K.

First impressions: VERY stable, surprisingly so. I expected a twitchy, flighty feel. Not so. Also pretty good at low revs, for a 600. Did not need screaming revs and major clutch feathering coming off stops.

But WOW that rear brake is lame. Granted, I am used to killer BMW brakes (HALT uber alles) and I know that sportybikes have soft rear brakes on purpose, but this seems REALLY low powered. Maybe it just needs to run in some more. I was trying to be halfways easy on the brakes, for fear of glazing my fresh new pads. So we'll leave that in the TBD column for awhile...

But Holy Mother Of Gawd this bike is fun! On one clear straight I grabbed hard on the Happy Handle and clicked gears at about 13K and looked down and ... oops ... I hadn't planned on doing 90 in about an eighth of a mile.

But I guess the RR had plans of its own.

I am not a vet (but I am the son of a Marine) so I hate to use a phrase I have not earned, but I can only say this about this bike:

OO Rah!



And after spending lots of hours on a big, tall, in-your-face bike with a windscreen and GPS and everything else up high in your field of view, I LOVE the way the little RR just seems to disappear in the chinguard of the Arai. Unless you look down on purpose, the entire bike disappears, and you have the visual impression of flying. Very low. Very fast.

I love it (can you tell?).

Adv

 

[mikesduc]

No offense intended on the old fart thing :lol2: I'm 37 with 3 girls and a boy due Jan 15 so I like seeing dads older than me that don't conform to mature sports.

You will love the bike! Mike

 

[ADVNTR]

No offense intended on the old fart thing :lol2: I'm 37 with 3 girls and a boy due Jan 15

Hey Mike, no offense taken. Just having some fun backatcha. And whoa dude! Another one? I couldn't imagine starting over with a new child at my age. Too much work. More power to you! (Kids are fun, aren't they? I wouldn't trade mine for every BMW and Aprilia and Duc and RR in the world. I wish I had had four or five or eight.)

But what's with all that eye-talion metal you have? Gotta get you offa that. Now don't get me wrong -- I certainly appreciate the beauty and subtlty of Italian design. I love my Italian guns. But let's be honest -- they aren't known for reliability. And when my Perazzi skeet gun breaks down, it doesn't leave me stranded somewhere in the middle of Wyoming. (And I'll just go get my Beretta out of the truck and finish the round.)

And all you horndogs who want to see a picture of my daughter: Like I said in the first post, you stay away from her. She's got a big brother who rides motocross and has a bad attitude and is real protective of her, and a daddy with LOTS of guns who has no problem going back to prison, if need be.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Adv