Mountain Jam

Greetings, all. Finally got a chance to wring the SWing out on a decent run today. Weather was sunny, roads dry (mostly), temp was about 66 degrees. My resolution before I left was to do three things:

1. See how the new Givi Airflow works.
2. See how the new mirror extenders work.
3. Get the bike in some windy roads, scrub the tires in a bit and get comfortable with the cornering qualities of the machine...in other words, acclimatize myself to the bike's nature.

For you Sacramento/Central Valley types, the route ran from Orangevale over the hill on Sierra College, then backroads up to Camp Far West and on into Marysville. After refueling and taking a break, then ran up 20 to Marysville Road, crossed Bullard's Bar Dam and then hit Moonshine Road south to 49 east of North San Juan. Took 49 to Nevada City and on into Auburn, stopped for lunch and then took Folsom-Auburn Road back home. Total was about 183 miles.

Short story is that all three goals were met. The Airflow is, for me, so much better than the stock windshield that it is simply amazing. Yes, there's still a bit of noise, but it's not excessive or oppressive. There is no buffeting with the upper windshield set where I have it. The Airflow is a bit heavy and shakes a bit, but so did the stock windshield. I see no evidence that it's vibrating out or having any other problem. Interestingly, I wicked the bike up to 85 on one of the back roads (no worries...no cross streets, driveways or ranch entrances) for a short minute and the Airflow actually seemed to help the front end stabilize a bit.

The mirror extenders work great as well...can actually see behind me now!

With regard to the bike's handling characteristics, I found that it effortlessly maintained freeway speeds (65-75 mph) with good reserve available if needed. I find the cornering characteristics of the bike very superior to the cruiser I had...low COG, the tires got scrubbed in a bit and suddenly, the bike was cornering like a champ. It was an absolute blast running up and down the mountain roads, never worrying about gear selection and having decent engine braking so that I didn't have to ride the brakes much.

I have only two minor beefs and they're no big deal...the bike sucks some fuel down at 75+ and the seat gave me a bit of monkeybutt after being on it for almost two hours. The latter was my fault, as I usually get off the machine at least once a hour, but was having so much fun that I forgot to do so.

I now understand why you all dig these bikes so much. I am sold and I'm very happy I bought the SWing. It rocks!

Looks like I can only attach one photo of the voyage today...it's a photo of the bike at a vista point above Bullard's Bar...

Here's another photo showing one of the goat trails I was on today...

And last photo: The bike on the north side of the bridge at Camp Far West...

Oh, how I can't wait for spring to come. Glad you are having fun. Swing looks great. Ride safe.

Cathy

Jinglebob wrote:

I have only two minor beefs and they're no big deal...the bike sucks some fuel down at 75+ and the seat gave me a bit of monkeybutt after being on it for almost two hours.

Those are probably the two most common complaints from Swing owners. The solutions, as I'm sure you already know, are:
1) Slow down
2) Take a brief stretch every 90 mins

Your descriptions of the merits of the Swing are universal among owners. I am jealous reading your descriptions. Only 66 more days before winter is over for me and I should be back on the road.

Looks and sounds like you had a great ride! Almost enough to make me want to move to California. Almost.

Many people get after market seats, or modify their seats and/or add pads, etc. Honestly, I don't know how anyone can ride the stock seat for more than a couple of hours. It's a killer.

Hey Bob,

Nice pictures. I'm not sure if you are aware of a "Maxi-scooters" group in the Bay Area/Central Valley but I have a Yahoo group, but I'm not too involved in it as much anymore since I have this site. But here is the address:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/BayAreaMaxiRiders/

We have a quite a few others in the Sacramento/Tracy area that would probably like to ride with you. Just thought you would like to know of others in the area to ride with.

Thank you, Jeff...I'll make contact over there....if I can figure out how to use the Yahoogroup thing...that system is not very user-friendly...

Would definitely like to find some other riders here in the Sacto area...