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Display Mesage #111218


First Ride on my 96 Pacific coast
Written by dave_hiett on 3/12/2012 at 03:08 am

That's OK Ben. I got a lot further with your post than I did with such Writers
Guild favorites Warren Peace or some goofy book about dunces in the confederacy.
Hey everyone's a critic. My only comment is most of us do run higher pressures,
41/41 in my case. Otherwise expect cupping. (I have read somewhere Honda set the
book pressures for ride cushyness, not tire life.) And, like you, I recently had
a pants-loading braking experience, we had several posts about the difficulty of
retrofitting ABS. Anyway your post mirrors my reactions 5 years ago when I first
brought 'Happy Dog' home from the pound. Welcome to the club

Dave Hiett '90PC800 'Happy Dog' '94GL1500 'Lucy'

--- In ipcrc@yahoogroups.com, "ben.zeppa" <ben.zeppa@...> wrote:
>
> Please forgive my atrocious writing skills. I thought that I was posting to
the ipcrc, not the Writers Guild Of America.
>
> --- In ipcrc@yahoogroups.com, "skyeenter" <skyeenter@> wrote:
> >
> > Ben, welcome to the the joys of riding your PC. But I gave you get an F for
run on sentence. I tried reading but gave up after about ten lines. Sorry.
> >
> > --- In ipcrc@yahoogroups.com, "ben.zeppa" <ben.zeppa@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I am sure that what I say here is not going to surprise any of the
> > > readers that lurk on this board. I am in essense, "preaching to the
> > > choir". I did a lot of research before I bought my PC and poured over
> > > many varied opinions. I am amazed that two riders can ride the same bike
> > > and sometimes come up with completely different findings. For anyone out
> > > there that is on the fence and looking for information, here is my two
> > > cents. I have been a motorcyclist for fifty-two years and have probably
> > > owned more than thirty motorcycles in that time. I have owned bikes as
> > > little as a Z50 and as large as an 1800 Goldwing. So, for anyone that
> > > cares, here is my two cents.I will "cut to the chase". The PC800
> > > surpassed all of my expectations, and was only wanting in a few
> > > instances. Those things that impressed me were:It feels like a
> > > mini-wing. That is good for me because I have owned four Goldwings and
> > > believe me, they are nice bikes. The PC has a Goldwings protection from
> > > the wind, low seat height, those great mirrors, and a very quiet
> > > environment to ride in. With a few mods I believe that I could ride
> > > many, many, miles on my PC, in comfort, and protected from the elements.
> > > I had heard that the Dunlops were a little squirrely and tended to
> > > follow grooves in the pavement. Actually they behaved quite well. In the
> > > 140 some miles that I traveled today toward the end I was actually
> > > looking for imperfections in the road to see if I could get those
> > > Dunlops to dance! They were very well behaved and I would not hesitate
> > > to put them on the PC again. One thing that I might mention is the fact
> > > that I usually always run tire pressures higher than what is suggested
> > > from the factory. Today I ran 35 front and 40 in the rear. The only time
> > > that I would use lower tire pressures would be when I am running on a
> > > track. On the street all my tires are run using higher than suggested
> > > tire pressures. I can't believe it, I actually have STORAGE SPACE! And
> > > lot's of it. That flip up tail section is the bomb.I tried to find that,
> > > air pressure thing hitting me in the back, but it was not present from 0
> > > MPH to around 80 MPH. I bought my PC with a Rifle windscreen on it but I
> > > don't know what length it is. Maybe that makes a difference. Some folks
> > > did not like the transmission operation. I guess that I am fat, dumb,
> > > and happy. The transmission, although not silky smooth, would shift
> > > pretty good if you were very observant of the RPMs when you made your
> > > upshift/downshift. Oil leaks? I got no stinking oil leaks. The first
> > > thing that I did when I got home is, I put down paper towels under the
> > > bike so I could see any drips that might make it to the ground. It's
> > > been three hours now, and no spots.There are a lot more things that made
> > > me feel glad that I purchased a PC, I just can't seem to remember them
> > > though. It may be the fact that I am 69 and my short term memory is
> > > really, really, short.I can remember those things that I told myself,
> > > self, it would be a good idea to try to do some mods to change this
> > > characteristic of this bike. The most glaring need, as far as I am
> > > concerned, is the need to stop my PC in a shorter distance. The braking
> > > system is OK in normal every day riding, but is not good enough in an
> > > emergency situation, IMHO. I am five miles from my house coming back
> > > from my ride. I am in dense traffic in the city doing about 45-50 MPH on
> > > a city street. A newer SUV is in front of me and I am probably a little
> > > closer to his rear end than I should be. We near a traffic light and the
> > > light turns yellow, at this point the SUV in front of me gives me what I
> > > call, "a brake check". This intersection has a red light camera and I am
> > > sure that he thought that he did not have enough time to clear the
> > > intersection before the red light camera took his picture. His ABS is
> > > working hard, but not as hard as I am trying my best to not become an
> > > ornament on his rear bumper. He stopped eight feet into the intersection
> > > and I stopped near his passenger door between the two lanes. If I had
> > > not altered my angle when I tried to stop, I would have clearly ran into
> > > the back of the SUV. So what does this prove? It proves that in an
> > > emergency situation, his SUV, with ABS, could stop faster than my PC. I
> > > am going to work on this problem. Maybe better lines, bigger disks,
> > > improved calipers, there must be something. The stock seat? Does not
> > > seem to work very well for me. Maybe Corbin, Mr. Wog, I can fix that.A
> > > little more power would be nice but I think that I will just have to
> > > live in the 4-6K RPM range. That's about it. It is a much better bike
> > > than I had expected and I will probably own this bike until I die or
> > > can't ride a two wheeler.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>

Message Thread for message #111218