I took delivery of my new SilverWing yesterday morning. It was supplied by Canberra Motorcycle Centre which meant a 150 km ride from home (Batemans Bay) to Canberra to pick it up. Three mates rode up and back to keep me company.

The last ride on my "old" Honda CB900F (919) was spoilt by extremely windy conditions, not pleasant on a 'naked' bike.



The ride home was just as windy but seemed much better than the ride up. At least the wind was from behind.

I had some minor reservations after my initial test ride (obviously not strong enough to stop my purchase ). These included:

• Seating position and arm bend - I asked the dealer to set the rider's back rest as far back as possible. The extra cm or so of seat length makes all the difference for me. My arm bend is much more natural now.
  
• Wind noise - I have a Shoie full-face helmet that was very noisy with the visor closed. I asked for advice on this forum and had settled on getting a Laminar Lip. However, I got some ear plugs (never used them before - but should have ) for the ride up and back. The combination of moving back a little and the ear plugs seemed to reduce the noise quite a bit. I have also purchased a Nolan N41 open face helmet which should be even quieter.
  
• No gears to drop back for cornering - part of the trip from home to Canberra involves crossing a coastal range with some very steep and tight hair-pin bends, coming down was always a nervous experience on the Hornet. Well I was really pleased with the way the SWing just slows as you roll back the throttle. I probably used only about half the amount of breaking coming down yesterday as I would normally do on the Hornet. Also I was able to stick with my riding companions despite being tentative on a new bike. Normally they would reach the bottom of the range several km in front of me; yesterday they were only 500 m ahead and most of that was caused by a slow car between us.
  

I was really pleased with how this bike goes out on the open road; handling is very good and performance is more than adequate. Most of my riding is day runs and 4 to 5 day "lite" touring so the SWing looks to be close to ideal.

The best compliment that I can pay the new bike is that it makes me feel much more confident than the old Hornet - I am really pleased with my purchase.

Regards,
Peter

Peter,
If you are happy with your backrest position that's great.
If you are not, you can remove the backrest completely, or choose from about a dozen alternatives for backrests and positions that you will find on various posts.

Good luck with your new wing.

Dan

Peter,

Congratulations.

I'm sure you know this, but for those who don't - that little piece of carpet under Pete's bike is a great idea as it protects the garage floor from scrapes and makes deploying the center stand a bit easier on a slick floor.

Great write-up of teh return trip. The engine braking is a great feature that makes riding twisty roads a joy. No overheated brakes. The SilverWing is a excellent choice for 4-5 day trips. Everything fits under the seat, unless you're transitioning to bikes from an SUV.

Peter, congratulations on the new wing. I recently collected mine and am more than impressed.

Hope you have many enjoyable miles on your new steed.

Doug

Congratulations!

Thanks for the write-up, too.

As you have the bum-stop at the back, I recommend the Utopia Backrest.

We bought rubber-backed front-door mats to put our bikes on (Silverwing and BMW R1150RT). They work very well, especially on the tiled garage floor! (We rent the house).

Peter,

From one new S-Winger to another congrats. It really is a nice bike. My car was in the shop for service yesterday. It was a nice sunny day, so I used the Wing to run errands. I found myself making up "important" things to do just to stay on it!

Enjoy