Summer rides?

As summer is nearly upon us, how about some ride reports? Most of us buy our scooters to RIDE so let's share! I know adding pictures on this forum is a pain but try anyway?

My favorite thing to read is ride reports with pictures!

Hint hint?

I agree there isn't really much riding with SilverWings going on in US----put them in good stock condition and use them. I do not have one-----heavy weight and age got me out----waiting to buy Honda Navi....after hernia surgery, but will ride it to Hyder AK at slow speed with dog. Not planning on croaking---need to stay alive for at least 10 more years to collect all the money owed me!

I’m on my silver wing all the time, however, in all the riding that I’ve done, I’ve never seen another one. Some people have approached me to look at it I guess because they’ve never seen one up close.

We are indeed riding rare beasts! Summer Rides? It's a great idea. I sometimes find myself riding through some nice backdrops for a SW but I don't want to interrupt my ride...doh!

Of course, adding any brief points of interest about the place you're at always helps.

Cellphones at the ready.

Loosemarbles wrote:

Cellphones at the ready.

Although it's a lot easier to upload pics to Facebook and other social media sites than it is to motorcycle and maxi scooter forums.

Almost all of my rides since late last September have been to photo, eat, and review the same meal in different informal eateries in my local area, the rest of the county, and a couple of neighbouring counties.

To me it's no different than going to different National Trust properties, museums, breweries or distilleries.

So almost all the pics I take these days are of my latest meal for a FB group I'm in.

Don't ask because I'm not saying.

If anybody has trouble uploading pics to this forum, PM me. I just plug my phone into my laptop and do 'drag and drop' to make them accessible to upload from my Laptop library.

Let's get to work  

No photos unfortunately but we had a ride out last weekend through the North Yorks Moors following the little roads adjacent the railway from Stokesley to Grosmont. Lovely, glorious weather and very little traffic.
What set this ride apart was seeing another Silverwing, a Burgman and a couple of unidentifiable maxi-scooters out doing the same thing. Waves and smiles where exchanged

I rode down to Cambridge last weekend for the Birthday Weekend - sister and two nieces have birthdays on consecutive days.
It wasn't a rideout as such since it was mostly on motorways, time being of the essemce.
I rode back on Sunday in fabulous weather; my journey down was very wet then wet.
The Forza performed perfectly and covered the total distance of 452 miles with ease although at motorway speeds it is a tad thirsty.
I look forward to a more leisurely ride later in the month.

It's interesting reading that the Forza 350 is a tad thirsty at motorway speeds. My Forza 300 is basically the same scooter before they enlarged it to a 350 and gave it a slightly larger fuel tank.

As you say the Forza 350 handles motorways easily, as does the Forza 300. Fuel range wise the novelty of getting 200 plus miles from a full tank on my 300 wore off long ago and I'd fill up at the next set of pumps with the reserve light blinking.  

I've since stretched that to 232 miles on one occasion when I miscalculated how far the next services would be.

Meldrew, I was 'making progress' as my police instructor said one should on a motorcycle when I did BikeSafe some years ago..
With the sun behind me it was difficult to read either speedo or satnav.
I'm not proud of it exactly - I try to adhere to speed limits - but the traffic was flowing, I just opened the throttle and the Forza flew.

Not quite summer but, I took a ride over to Surrey yesterday, 160 mile round trip. I wanted to have a look at the house I lived in as a child while my Father served in the RAF. It was a private hiring because there were no Married Quarters at the nearby RAF station.

I took the scenic route there, dropped into a biker spot and then took the fast route back. The SW behaved perfectly which is rewarding after all the work I've put into her. Great riding weather apart from this easterly 'stiff' breeze which has plagued the South East for about 3 weeks now!

I need to stop and take some photos next time put 1,100 miles on in the last four Sundays! Weather has been great so far ride some miles before the heat kicks in. Almost got a nice deer missed it by 10 feet or so brakes work good never felt the ABS kick in despite full pull on levers. Ran across 4 lanes and decided to double back across had a good view and slowed as much as possible more worried about the cars behind me close one.

My SilverWing is long sold but here are some happy memories. I only ever take photos on sunny rides, and stay home when it rains.

We've had a couple of weeks of decent weather here in the UK and yet the vast majority of riders I see are still riding round in heat absorbing black gear. The same gear that was OK in the colder months but must be sweaty and uncomfortable now.

I was out on a ride to the coast today and it was 28°C on the Forza's temperature gauge, that's 82°F in old money. Remembering past rides in unlined jacket and jeans in similar weather were hot and sweaty, I've dug out my light coloured mesh panelled textile suit.

Underneath I wear a an evaporative dry cooling vest I bought a few years ago and has been a useful piece of kit, especially when the large D30 vented back protector in my jacket covers the surface area of my back I’d normally perspire through. Summer gloves and short boots completed my outfit, the only dark item was my open face helmet which is due for replacement.

I called in at a motorcycle clothing store on the way home and looked at a couple of helmets, but they didn't stock the brand I was interested in. I'll keep looking.

Yesterday, my son Chris and 5 friends took a ride to Nelson, Nevada. 177 miles round-trip for me! Nelson is a ghost town/ tourist trap near the Colorado River. Here is an excerpt from Wiki:

"Nelson's Landing, about 5 miles (8 km) east of Nelson at the downstream end of Eldorado Canyon, was the village and landing established on Colorado River reservoir, Lake Mohave where the canyon had its confluence with the lake. The wharf area of Nelson's Landing was destroyed during a flash flood on September 14, 1974. 35°42′27″N 114°42′42″W

Nelson's Landing washed into Lake Mohave after a strong downpour in the regional mountains sent the runoff down the channels and produced a flash flood. There are five wide channels that run from the local mountains toward the river, all of which converge into a small outlet where Nelson's Landing was. The entire landing and village was destroyed and nine people died when the flood came through the wash. Among those killed was Ted Ducey, head coach of basketball at Claremont Men's College, now Claremont McKenna College.[7] The wall of water and debris was reported as about 40 feet (12 m) high as it reached the river. "



My son's Africa Twin and some of the bikes.


Me with my Black Beauty!


My Silver Wing looking over the River near where the flood happened.

Rode for more than three hours, 150 miles (obviously not all on the highway) as I continue getting used to this unusual beast.

Such comfort! The ability to get those feet forward: priceless. Seat seems like it would be ok all day; 3+ hours, no problem.

Bit of wrist fatigue from holding the throttle. Looked into some kind of throttle lock. The bar ends on my Swing are full of bar-end weights, and other alternatives seem wackily complex. Nothing I saw on a quick Google look like the simple clamp I had oh so many years ago--set throttle, set with thumb with a downward motion, disengage with a quick upward flip of thumb--probably considered hilariously unsafe now.

Handling seems great. I can't be sure from the owner's manual what the rear suspension is set at--I think 4?--because it isn't explicit. I think the dotted line in the diagram indicates the setting. If that's the case, 4 seems to be right for this here 230 pound rider.

How much down should I be able to get from pushing down the front? Seems like I get a pretty easy downward shove in the front when at a standstill and shoving on it.

As others have indicated, a big woggly on grooved pavement, or on expanded grate, but I've had worse on other bikes.

NJ has plenty of fine roads--it is the Garden State, so no matter everyone sees the same 8 mile section of Jersey Turnpike on TV with the refineries, much of the state is perfectly lovely for side-roading. I managed to get semi-lost on and off for hours, crossed over to PA to show the scooter to a motorcycle buddy over there (I test rode his 1996 BMW oilhead, wow what a bike but wow so big so heavy, 1200RT I think it is, happier by far with a Swing). Up to 80 on a stretch of divided highway. Seems there's a zone of buffeting wind 40-65 ish, I wasn't being a scientist but around in there somewhere, but it seems to smooth out at the higher speeds. I'm still looking forward to the laminar lip that's on the way, that or a bigger windshield but I'm doing this whole caper on a budget so I can stay married.... I keep reading how these bikes will do 100, and I believe it, plenty of accel up to 80 and smoooooth.

I watched the gas bars drop one by one. Not a huge range, but at my age, stopping for gas isn't just about fueling up any more. Gotta get the kinks out.

Stopped for a bite to eat and was surprised when, key on, the fan for the cooling system kicked right on.

Looking forward to some light touring over the summer months....

Oct. 1st a mighty fine Sunday ride up in the hills of central PA. RT 554 a short road up over the hills only 125 miles to get there and a few more to return, just south of Williamsport PA. 3 nice switchbacks and lots of curves going up and over the hills and valleys.

West on RT 654 over to Jersey Shore and Rt 44 south another hill to climb up and over nice road down to the farmlands.  

I had the opportunity to meet with fellow Silverwing rider Glenn (GHM) last week and we rode together to the Great Basin National Park and related areas. It was a great day and I want to thank Glenn for being a great host and tour guide.

AzKicker wrote:

I had the opportunity to meet with fellow Silverwing rider Glenn (GHM) last week and we rode together to the Great Basin National Park and related areas. It was a great day and I want to thank Glenn for being a great host and tour guide.

It was a great day of riding! About 180 miles through wind and rain but awesome nonetheless. From 5000 feet to around 11000 feet!  Not bad for my little Forza!  The Silver Wing was safely in Arizona. Thanks for the ride, Mark! Maybe this fall we can ride the "Wings" in Arizona when I get back!!!