Ride Diary

Wintertime Cruise and Connie Trial

Matt Patton and I, along with Matt's friend Jim on a '00 Ducati Monster 750 and Dan on his Kawasaki Concours, headed down to an open house at Morton's BMW near Fredericksburg, Va. yesterday. Dan, Matt and I wanted to get together to swap bikes because Dan is considering buying a Nighthawk. Dan posted a note to this effect on CB-750 a few weeks back. We got to Morton's and checked out the line up for the test rides. Unfortunately, there was quite a backlog for the hourly group test rides. I did sit on the R1100R and the F650GS and might want to check out these bikes in the future, perhaps when the dealership is less busy. We did commune with the BMW faithful and enjoy some pork sandwiches. Aerostiches and BMW clothing with a generous helping of electric garments were the uniform of the day and for most of these folks winter riding is a walk in the park.

Dan wanted to get a feel for the Nighthawk, so the three of us went on a forty-minute loop and Dan rode Matt's NH and then mine, while we swapped on the Concours. I'd never ridden a larger faired bike before, so it took a little getting used to. It makes the bike seem top heavy, until you realize it's mostly air and plastic and then you begin to relax and enjoy being out of the wind. Acceleration is very smooth and nearly silent, but not pulse-quickening either. I did keep the revs down in deference to Dan's break in period. I did find the ergos a bit off, perhaps because the bike was not set up for me. I felt like the handlebars were a bit of a reach and that my legs were folded up a bit uncomfortably. The angle of clip-ons made my wrists, especially on the throttle hand, sore after only a few miles. Presumably this is adjustable. And, I can report little of the highway-speed buzz that people complain about. Maybe a longer ride would bring this out, but I didn't notice it, or maybe a little footpeg buzz seems normal to me from the NH.

Overall the ergos seemed cramped, which I thought a bit odd for a much larger bike than the NH. I felt like I was riding on the front of the bike, rather than in the middle as you do on the NH. Part of that is the reach for the grips, which put me in a slight crouch. You don't get a lot of sensory input (vibration and wind) from the machine, so it's a bit hard to judge speed. Hopping up to 60-65 on the highway is effortless and the transmission was butter smooth. There's no prominent click into the gears as on the Nighthawk. Steering is pretty much of the lean and go variety, even though the closely spaced grips on clip-ons seemed cramped to me. I didn't feel like I had to wrestle the bike into a lean, which was a pleasant surprise. I would definitely need lots of practice in low speed manuevers if I ever bought one. Seat height and flat footed stops were not a problem for me. Being of average height and build does mean that I can flat foot just about any bike.

Overall I could see the attraction of a Concours for highway use, but for commuting and city riding, I still like the nimbleness of the Nighthawk. If I have to keep only one bike (my current situation) I don't think the Connie would be it. I think I see myself moving in the more sporty direction rather than the touring direction. The hard luggage is a big plus though. The NH felt like a comfortable old shoe when I got back on it. Thanks Dan for the test ride and I hope you enjoyed riding the Nighthawks.

After our test rides our little group headed west one a two-hour jaunt through some twisties, ending up at Pig'n'Steak in Madison for juicy racks of ribs and steaks and generous mounds of French fries. I don't think the temperatures topped 35 degrees all day long, so the Gerbing heated clothing definitely earned its keep. It was about 300 miles for me yesterday, including a quick ride out to Chantilly, Va., where a bike shop was having a clearance sale.