New rider in the East Bay

Hi there,

I am new to the 600 Wing, been puttering around the East Bay (that's California ==> San Francisco ==> Berkeley, Oakland etc.) for a couple months now on a 2002 Silverwing. It's fitted with a Givi windscreen and a Givi top box, I believe everything else is stock. Bought it with about 11.000 miles, and have added about a thousand more since I got it in January. I am a repeat offender in Scooterland, meaning I've had a couple of scoots when I still lived in Germany: 1. A rather temperamental silver 150 Vespa Speziale from the 1970s, and a more streamlined Vespa Hexagon 150 in the 1990s. Haven't been on a bike for 20 years, but it still feels familiar of course. Traffic rules are interpreted somewhat differently across the continents I must admit, so there is a learning curve to riding in California (nobody ever uses the turn signal in the East Bay for example, and in Oakland, red lights and other traffic signs are mostly for decoration it seems). We often ride two up, so that influenced my decision of going with the 600, it's a comfy ride all around. I don't plan on making a whole lot of modifications on the bike, except perhaps using LED strips/lights on the side panels for better visibility at night (I ride any time, anywhere). Up in Concord at the Honda dealership, they showed me a couple options from a catalog, it seems there are quite a few choices to go with. If someone here has a suggestion, that would be most appreciated. Also, I do find the stock seat a hair too low (I am 180cm, with longer legs than torso), I heard the Corbin seat adds a bit of height, so I'll look into that. Other than that, this is a heck of a scooter.
Aloha.
Thomas

Hi Thomas and welcome, you will find this forum both friendly and informative!

Hello. Welcome to the forum.

You could adjust the butt rest back further or remove it entirely for more leg room. Two hex bolts on the underside of the seat pan. Remove the bolts, push (push hard) the butt rest back a "notch" further and re-fit the bolts. Or remove the hex bolts and slide the butt rest completely forward and remove it along with the frame/slides.

Tim

Hi guys,
Just wanted to say I am still very pleased with my Swing after a year (well sort of) of riding. I was out of town for a while, so I disconnected the battery, added some recommended mix or other to keep the (almost full) fuel tank from corroding, then came back after almost five months, hooked up the battery again, and it started right up as if nothing had happened. Just had a 15K mile inspection done, no issues at all. This is a low-mile 2002 model, they got it right the first time.

Oh, btw, I spent those five months over in France, where scootering is alive and well, in all shapes and sizes. There's strength in numbers, that's for sure, drivers pay much more attention it seems.

Welcome aboard from o-HI-o enjoy the ride.

Welcome to the site from Arizona.

Welcome!

Hi and welcome - agree about riding in france - I have sometimes been concerned that the car in front will end up in the ditch by the road in its enthusiastic effort to pull to the side and let me pass, you never get frowns when you stop and go into a cafe either.

Welcome East Bay.
I couldn't agree more, Honda got it right first time with the sw :-)

This may (or may not) be the right place for this little story, but I had an interesting experience recently. I was sitting at a red light in Berkeley, and a little red bike pulled up along side. The rider nodded in my direction, I nodded back. He was a big bloke, maybe 200 pounds, all clad in black. The bike was Ferrari red. When the light turned green, he was off and gone. Without a sound. I didn't hear anything at all. He didn't have much use for the local speed limit, either (30MPH), he just kept accelerating. Besides a distinct, muted whir, there was no sound at all. It turns out I was in the elevated company of a Zero SR, a high performance electric bike. No clutch, no gear shifting, no exhaust, no sound. Whew! These are expensive, and rather rare, I had never seen one before in the flesh. Just wanted to share this little story. Interesting, the way the bike world is developing...

Electric bikes are nothing to sneeze at. Consider Kaneda's mythic bike: dual motor electric drive; instant torque; 115 hp @ 12000rpm; two hours running time at wide open throttle; and relaxed feet-forward seating.



I'm envious.

Tim

PS: Rumor has it that several years ago our Mr Grinsel traded his in for a Vespa