So two weekends ago, I took the bike out to give it a good run now that I'm no longer limited to 5,000 rpm. The motor continues to be very smooth compared to the Ninja 650R's parallel twin. It seems to pull a little harder, too, but that may also be due to being able to rev past 5,000 when accelerating from a stop. The transmission seems to be a little stiffer, requiring a little more "deliberate" action when upshifting. The Ninja 650R's transmission edges the V-Strom here as it was very easy to upshift, sometimes not even needing the slight tug I gave to the clutch lever.
Taking advantage of the new rev freedom, I decided to blast down the interstate towards my riding location of choice, which is about 30 miles away. It's nice to be able to keep up with traffic instead of concentrating on not being run down from behind. Keeping up also meant maintaining higher revs. As a result, the indicated mileage suffered accordingly, dropping from 59.2 mpg (US) to 47.2 mpg. Interestingly enough, my mind has already accepted the upper 50's as the norm and was somewhat disappointed with the resulting 47.2 mpg despite the fact that the Ninja 650R averaged only just above that in highway riding. Part of the decreased mileage might also be due to the fact that for a good portion of the ride, there was a significant headwind. I also can't help but think that the Givi topcase might also be adversely affecting the mileage.
So speaking of headwind -- I'm not quite sure at this point that raising the windshield had the desired effect I initially thought it had. When headed into the wind, I could feel some wind buffeting on the top 1/4 of my helmet. At times, it was bad enough that my vision was somewhat buzzy, which was only exacerbated by the fact that I wear glasses. I can duck my head a couple of inches, and all wind buffeting goes away, but this isn't a comfortable way to ride. I've been eyeballing the MRA X-screen, but Twisted Throttle wants just over $200 for it, so I've been hesitant in pulling the trigger. That is until I saw a listing on the Stromtrooper.com For Sale board for just that very windscreen for $115. So we'll see if that fixes the buffeting problem when I get it. I think there's a good chance it will, because it has the little spoiler/wing at the top that can be adjusted to redirect the air flow off the top of the screen further over my helmet. Hopefully, the side-to-side buffeting isn't a result of the redirected air flow from the hand guards in combination with the paddle-like rearview mirrors.
This highway ride brought the total mileage to 640, which meant that it was time for the V-Strom's first service. Now I know there are many of you out there who believe in doing your own wrenching, but I'm a firm believer that it's money well-spent to have someone with the proper tools and greater experience do work that I could just as easily screw up with greater consequences. So I called around and was quite surprised at the wide variance in prices quoted for the initial 600 mile service. I'm not going to go into the price, because that's just going to lead to comments like "you got ripped off" or "you need to learn to do this yourself". Suffice it to say that I was happy with the job the service guys did and the price wasn't too bad even with the upgrade to Amsoil synthetic. It took less than two hours for them to get to it and complete the service, so my bike was ready and waiting by the time my buddy Erik had come to get me for lunch and dropped me off afterwards.
Hopefully tomorrow will be nice and sunny, so I can enjoy another winter's day ride.
