shady28
03-11-2004, 12:41 AM
Well, I'm back from a trip I started Saturday, the day after picking up my new DL650. This was definitely a good break-in on the bike =)
The trip started in Ft Worth, TX. For those that aren't familiar with Texas, the Ft Worth/Dallas are in the northeastern part of the state. That portion of the state is mostly flat with few hills.
From Ft Worth, I headed south where the elevation changes in what we call 'texas hill country' in the area of Bandera. This area is a major biker haunt due to its winding roads, beautiful scenery, and hilly terrain. On this leg of the trip I was mostly staying around 65mph, as I had not yet passed the break-in period of the bike. Once I reached the Bandera / Medina area I was able to indulge in some really nice twisties. Probably the best area in Texas if you like varying elevations combined with many curvy roads. The DL650 did much better in cornering than I though it might. It's probably the most confidence inspiring bike in corners I've yet owned; it makes it easy. It was always predictable, and response to input was lightning fast. That quick response takes some getting used to - you dont mash down on the handlebars very hard on this bike to make it turn.
The route from there had me taking highway 90 along the US / Mexican border at Del Rio up to Marathon, a city north of Big Bend national park. At this point I had hit nearly 800 miles on the bike, a bit past the 600 mile recommended oil change mark. A quick oil change in Marathon and I was ready to start letting the bike unwind a bit. I also took the opportunity to raise the windscreen to its medium height position - a change that resulted in noticably less wind buffeting. Buffeting was not bad to begin with though. That 5000 rpm limit on break-in is very limiting on this bike - it really doesnt produce much power until it actually hits 5000rpm.
From Marathon, I headed south to Big Bend national park. This is a huge park on the southern edge of Texas, something like 120 miles across. I went through most of the paved and some of the unpaved areas of the park. Now that I wasnt rev-limited, I got a much better feel for the bike. The engine is real beaty - much more powerful and smoother than the small displacement would suggest.
The even power curve combined with lightning fast response from the bike to rider input makes this a true canyon carver. Steep grades and rapid direction changes are no problem on this bike. I weight in at 230lbs, and the bike had no problem maintaining 80-90mph on 30+ degree inclines.
There are a number of long gravel / dirt roads in Big Bend which you can take a vehicle on, so I took the opportunity to take the DL down one of the longer roads. It was 10-15 miles, quite a ways travelling at 10-20mph. The area is mostly broken and pulverized rock, so calling this a gravel road is not quite correct. In a number of araeas, the road was quite soft and I had some trouble from anything more than a couple inches deep. By soft, think 'sand', which is actually some kind of metallic ore (I found that out when I sat my tank bag down and found the 'sand' stuck the the magnets). Even so, the bike was much more composed on gravel and loose rock than any streetbike I've taken into such terrain. Still, it's not a dirtbike by any stretch of the imagination, it's much more at home on the street.
Eventually I came out on hwy 118 and headed to Alpine, then Ft Stockton, and around through the west Texas badlands back to Ft Worth. This was a long stretch, much of it flat and unpopulated. It was around here that I was able to let the DL unwind a bit, with some long runs at 85 and 90 mph. My impression here is that while the bike is stable and comfortable at these speeds, perhaps more stable than most bikes, the bike really isn't geared up for anything over 85mph (about 135kph) for long periods of time. Once you get over 85mph, the engine gets a bit buzzy, although it seems quite comfortable in the 80-85mph range. Despite the buzziness, these speeds plant you right inside the best part of the bikes powerband. Popping up to 100mph from 80mph in 6th gear is quick and no fuss.
I should add, much of this time I was beset by very strong winds from the south - hitting the bike on the right side. I would have thought a tall bike like this would've caught a lot of the wind making it hard to keep upright, but that was not the case. Controlling the bike in the strong winds was really an afterthought. I suspect this may have been due to the light handling of the bike, making corrections for wind easy and fast enough to nullify its effect. It was much easier to control in the wind than my old zrx1100, which itself was pretty immune to wind.
My overall impression with the bike is exceptionally good. It's comfortable, wonderful handling, stable at speed, and the engine is a real champ. I've never been on a bike with such a smooth power delivery before, and that's a true asset when hitting the twisties where a sudden power surge can be bad news. Once I got accustomed to the throttle, power was easy to control on this bike.
For the whole trip, there was only one big quibble Ive had. If you bring the bike to a halt without downshifting to first gear, it can sometimes be difficult to get back into first gear. I'm not sure why this is, but I had a number of minor glitches with shifting. On a couple of occasions, it seemed that pulling out after a stop and what shouldve been first gear (shifting down as many times as it would allow) I wound up in 2nd gear instead of first. Possibly my clutch needs adjustment, something I'll have to check on.
That one quibble aside, the bikes character and handling are exactly what the reviews have said it was. It's great fun, nearly the comfort of a touring bike with the light handling of a sportbike and the utility of a standard. With hard luggage, this could be a truly nice low budget sport-tourer that can eat up most of the touring bikes in the corners.
-Shady
The trip started in Ft Worth, TX. For those that aren't familiar with Texas, the Ft Worth/Dallas are in the northeastern part of the state. That portion of the state is mostly flat with few hills.
From Ft Worth, I headed south where the elevation changes in what we call 'texas hill country' in the area of Bandera. This area is a major biker haunt due to its winding roads, beautiful scenery, and hilly terrain. On this leg of the trip I was mostly staying around 65mph, as I had not yet passed the break-in period of the bike. Once I reached the Bandera / Medina area I was able to indulge in some really nice twisties. Probably the best area in Texas if you like varying elevations combined with many curvy roads. The DL650 did much better in cornering than I though it might. It's probably the most confidence inspiring bike in corners I've yet owned; it makes it easy. It was always predictable, and response to input was lightning fast. That quick response takes some getting used to - you dont mash down on the handlebars very hard on this bike to make it turn.
The route from there had me taking highway 90 along the US / Mexican border at Del Rio up to Marathon, a city north of Big Bend national park. At this point I had hit nearly 800 miles on the bike, a bit past the 600 mile recommended oil change mark. A quick oil change in Marathon and I was ready to start letting the bike unwind a bit. I also took the opportunity to raise the windscreen to its medium height position - a change that resulted in noticably less wind buffeting. Buffeting was not bad to begin with though. That 5000 rpm limit on break-in is very limiting on this bike - it really doesnt produce much power until it actually hits 5000rpm.
From Marathon, I headed south to Big Bend national park. This is a huge park on the southern edge of Texas, something like 120 miles across. I went through most of the paved and some of the unpaved areas of the park. Now that I wasnt rev-limited, I got a much better feel for the bike. The engine is real beaty - much more powerful and smoother than the small displacement would suggest.
The even power curve combined with lightning fast response from the bike to rider input makes this a true canyon carver. Steep grades and rapid direction changes are no problem on this bike. I weight in at 230lbs, and the bike had no problem maintaining 80-90mph on 30+ degree inclines.
There are a number of long gravel / dirt roads in Big Bend which you can take a vehicle on, so I took the opportunity to take the DL down one of the longer roads. It was 10-15 miles, quite a ways travelling at 10-20mph. The area is mostly broken and pulverized rock, so calling this a gravel road is not quite correct. In a number of araeas, the road was quite soft and I had some trouble from anything more than a couple inches deep. By soft, think 'sand', which is actually some kind of metallic ore (I found that out when I sat my tank bag down and found the 'sand' stuck the the magnets). Even so, the bike was much more composed on gravel and loose rock than any streetbike I've taken into such terrain. Still, it's not a dirtbike by any stretch of the imagination, it's much more at home on the street.
Eventually I came out on hwy 118 and headed to Alpine, then Ft Stockton, and around through the west Texas badlands back to Ft Worth. This was a long stretch, much of it flat and unpopulated. It was around here that I was able to let the DL unwind a bit, with some long runs at 85 and 90 mph. My impression here is that while the bike is stable and comfortable at these speeds, perhaps more stable than most bikes, the bike really isn't geared up for anything over 85mph (about 135kph) for long periods of time. Once you get over 85mph, the engine gets a bit buzzy, although it seems quite comfortable in the 80-85mph range. Despite the buzziness, these speeds plant you right inside the best part of the bikes powerband. Popping up to 100mph from 80mph in 6th gear is quick and no fuss.
I should add, much of this time I was beset by very strong winds from the south - hitting the bike on the right side. I would have thought a tall bike like this would've caught a lot of the wind making it hard to keep upright, but that was not the case. Controlling the bike in the strong winds was really an afterthought. I suspect this may have been due to the light handling of the bike, making corrections for wind easy and fast enough to nullify its effect. It was much easier to control in the wind than my old zrx1100, which itself was pretty immune to wind.
My overall impression with the bike is exceptionally good. It's comfortable, wonderful handling, stable at speed, and the engine is a real champ. I've never been on a bike with such a smooth power delivery before, and that's a true asset when hitting the twisties where a sudden power surge can be bad news. Once I got accustomed to the throttle, power was easy to control on this bike.
For the whole trip, there was only one big quibble Ive had. If you bring the bike to a halt without downshifting to first gear, it can sometimes be difficult to get back into first gear. I'm not sure why this is, but I had a number of minor glitches with shifting. On a couple of occasions, it seemed that pulling out after a stop and what shouldve been first gear (shifting down as many times as it would allow) I wound up in 2nd gear instead of first. Possibly my clutch needs adjustment, something I'll have to check on.
That one quibble aside, the bikes character and handling are exactly what the reviews have said it was. It's great fun, nearly the comfort of a touring bike with the light handling of a sportbike and the utility of a standard. With hard luggage, this could be a truly nice low budget sport-tourer that can eat up most of the touring bikes in the corners.
-Shady