cfmpilot
Jan 28th, 2007, 8:51 pm
Well, I've got 610 miles on her ( 2006 model purchased new last week)and she's been down twice, both times on her left side. The first time was at a stop sign with a down hill component. I was riding two up; there was a little bit of gravel under my boots. I released the brake to start a right turn and my left boot slipped on the gravel and before I could say "Uh-oh" the bike went beyond the point of control to the left side, so I had to let it fall and was able to prevent a hard impact with muscle and cursing. No damage except the rubber bumper and my pride. Of course, a dozen people behind me saw it happen. My wife and I were able to right it by pushing with our backs against the bike and using leg power.
Today, we are in southern Arizona on a B & B ride for a few days. We were making a tight 180 degree turn on a dirt road and I lost it when it hit a patch of sand at the completion of the arc. It went down on it's left side again. My wife is getting good at bailing off of this bike. Thankfully, it went down in the only soft area of the turn, so no plastic or metal cracked, only paint scratched. Again, we had witnesses which, this time, offered to help. My wife and I pushed it up again with our backs and legs. We are getting proficient at this... Some oil slipped pass the rings and when we started the engine, it smoked like crazy. Recently, in Phoenix, an LT caught fire and burned to the ground for no apparent reason. Because of that incident, I thought she was on fire so I shut her down and we ran before she blew. It's funny now, but not then...
This bike is way different than anything I have ridden before. That would be V-twins of about 550 to 650 pounds empty weight, and crotch rockets weighing about 390 to 450 pounds. The 1200 LT is a heavy beast and the CG is high; if you let it get outside a certain tilt range, you can't stop it. In hind sight, I should have purchased a used LT to get all this out of my system, before plopping down 19 grand for a 2006 model with 13 miles on her. Oh well, as some of my Iron Butt buddies say, "You bought the bike to ride long distance, not to Starbucks. It's gonna get banged up."
Even so, it's only a week old...
Today, we are in southern Arizona on a B & B ride for a few days. We were making a tight 180 degree turn on a dirt road and I lost it when it hit a patch of sand at the completion of the arc. It went down on it's left side again. My wife is getting good at bailing off of this bike. Thankfully, it went down in the only soft area of the turn, so no plastic or metal cracked, only paint scratched. Again, we had witnesses which, this time, offered to help. My wife and I pushed it up again with our backs and legs. We are getting proficient at this... Some oil slipped pass the rings and when we started the engine, it smoked like crazy. Recently, in Phoenix, an LT caught fire and burned to the ground for no apparent reason. Because of that incident, I thought she was on fire so I shut her down and we ran before she blew. It's funny now, but not then...
This bike is way different than anything I have ridden before. That would be V-twins of about 550 to 650 pounds empty weight, and crotch rockets weighing about 390 to 450 pounds. The 1200 LT is a heavy beast and the CG is high; if you let it get outside a certain tilt range, you can't stop it. In hind sight, I should have purchased a used LT to get all this out of my system, before plopping down 19 grand for a 2006 model with 13 miles on her. Oh well, as some of my Iron Butt buddies say, "You bought the bike to ride long distance, not to Starbucks. It's gonna get banged up."
Even so, it's only a week old...