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Woke up early this AM to do a ride and ended up putting about 50 miles on the bike. Some observations:
1. The bike is really happy all the way up to terminal speed (on today's ride, about 81 mph.) There is some buzziness after 75 mph, but the bike didn't seem to mind cruising with the throttle nearly pinned.
2. I purposely rode the bike over the 73 Toll Road because the hills are about as steep as I'll encounter just about anywhere where I'd ride. (Other steep highways are the 101 in Castaic, and I-15 going over Gorman Pass on the way to Vegas.) With my weight (250 pounds) and no panniers (just top case), I had to drop to 5th gear, but still maintained 62 mph (GPS speed) over the steepest hill on the 73 toll road.
3. I really like the bike's handlng. I only have mild twisties on Laguna Canyon Road, but will try Ortega Highway or Santiago Canyon next time. The bike leans into turns with ease, and the wider handle bars makes maintaining a line (through the turn) easy.
4. The front brakes, as others have noted, are OK. I don't think they're bad, but they just don't give an immediate bite on the rotor. The rear brakes feel great and subconsciously, I was using them a bit more as they were a bit more effective. I understand that CSC is working to bring us sintered metal brake pads and, when those become available, I'll give them a try. I think that's all that's needed to give the bike a bit of an edge in the braking department.
5. Fall is here in Southern Calfornia. It was cool this morning, and I wish I had worn the inner liner to my mesh jacket. But for the next few months, I am seriously thinking that heated grips (that CSC just released) would be a great thing to add. That and the hand guards would make me a (mostly) happy camper. Depending on how cool it gets, a heated vest would be nice too.
Other things I noticed, but not necessarily RX-3 Cyclone related?
1. When I had my previous motorcycles (years back), I learned that Harley riders don't give the motorcyclists' wave. This is still true today.
2. People sure seem to be in a hurry lately. I had a guy in a pickup truck go full-throttle just to get in front of me, only to slam on the brakes and slow to 20 mph. Not sure what that was about, but a little lane splitting up to the traffic light and onto the freeway onramp, and he was behind me.
3. I must be a magnet for really peeved-off Prius and Lexus drivers. In just about any vehicle I have, I always find Prius' flying by at very un-eco speeds. Seems they picked the wrong car for their purposes. And Lexus drivers... just seem so oblivious around me as they cut me off without a second glance and refuse to make eye contact. That's OK, I'm a magnet for mosquitos too... and have learned there's not much I can do about them other than to not put myself in proximity to mosquitoes. Same goes for Prius and Lexus drivers... as much as I can.
4. Just for safety's sake, I'm thinking of replacing the RX-3 Cyclone's horn with a pair of Hella Supertone horns (wired via relay.) I think a dual-tone horn gets cagers' attention more readily. Heck, it's not just the RX-3... I need to add those to my Jetta as well.
Anyway - enough babble about me, more about the bike. I'm still impressed by the RX-3 Cyclone. It's not meant to be a super-slabber motorcycle for triple digit speeds, but it does 75-80 mph, and it'll do it all day long. (Besides, faster than that on just about any highway gets you lots of attention from the constabulary.) And as an adventure bike, knowing it can handle pavement, fire roads, and any speed between 5-80 mph makes it a really versatile machine for my needs. I would not hesitate to take the bike on a long ride up to Mammoth Lakes, and out to Bodie. In fact, that's something I am thinking about for late Spring 2016... a ride out to the Eastern Sierra, and out to Bodie and into Nevada on the dirt trails.
Hope everyone has a great weekend on their RX-3s!
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