Floribama Riders

I'm not much for borrowing bikes.  I'm not even much for swapping rides during an outing.  Not because I don't like variety - I do - but because I would hate to wad up somebody else's bike and perhaps risk a friendship over it.  I mean sure you can take care of the financial aspects but what about the possible bad reaction, recriminations, and judgement?  Words can cut deep and last a long time so if I'm going to ride your bike, I have to trust you a lot.  I have to trust that people mean more to you than things and that your reaction to a wadded bike is going to reflect that - not that I plan to wad your bike of course.

Having said all that, when BD offered the use of his Triumph Sprint for the Brides Ride I felt comfortable in accepting the offer.  It turned out that we couldn't make the ride but I still wanted to try the bike both solo and two-up as I've never had a real sport tourer and Selena would like to ride something more comfortable.

BD left an email saying how to get the bike in his absense and I headed to Birmingham via the very scenic route on the Honda.  After two tanks of gas and 4 hours of riding, I arrive to find no keys where I expected them.  Thinking maybe I had gotten the wrong location I pull out my phone and see that I have a VM from Greg.  He had forgotten to leave the keys but his daughter was going to get the dog anyway and he would let her know to get the keys.  No problem for me as I was in the birmingham area with a bike.  I went for some food  and then for a ride returning a couple hours later to find still no keys and of course Greg was incommunicado being somewhere in rural TN on the brides ride.  There were still some local rides I wanted to do so I took off again and hit Sicard Hollow, 25 to Vandiver and back.  By this time I was pretty tired and decided that I would rest for awhile in the driveway but if an hour passed I would just head home and try another time.

After about 10 minutes an Acura SUV pulls in and a tentative Amy - who didn't know me from Adam - rolls down her window.  I had hoped that Greg had talked to her because it can be disconcerting to come home to strange old men in the driveway.  Fortunately I was on a bike, which quickly erased her apprehension, and we found the key to the bike in short order.

A side note.  Have you ever noticed that the best people have the best kids?  BD and Bekay should be proud and I am sure they are.  Also their grandson looks just like his Grandpa only small and cute - but with the same grin and apparently happy outlook on life.

Finally on the bike I got to wondering why I would even consider spending upwards of ten grand on a new sport tourer when this obsolete lump was so good.  I don't know what year it is 98? 99?  I guess, but it is the 900cc Triple that served Triumph so well before the 955i.  The motor is a bit more coarse on acceleration than the 955i but still plenty strong with gobs of torque right where you need it.  Every time I ride a Triumph Triple I am reminded why I think an inline triple is the best configuration going for a street motor.  Smooth, torquey, and powerful if you go for that sort of thing.

It's heavy too, but once under way you hardly notice and it's happy to go where you point it as long as you're sure and give an authoritative push.  One thing I noticed is that it seems to have a lot of trail because once you let go of the bars the bike quickly straightens out.  It's also very stable at speed and is not easily upset by bumps.  Good traits for a sport tourer.

This particular bike has a Corbin seat.  I've never ridden a bike with a Corbin before and I was somewhat surprised by how hard it was.  Plenty of room though for moving forwards and back and a lot of options for changing the pressure points.  I'll have to give it some more saddle time to decide if I like it.

The stretch to the bars is long for me too.  If I were to buy one of these I would need to budget for risers to bring the clip-ons a couple of inches closer and allow me to use some of the room to the back of the saddle.

I am looking forward to a two-up ride with Selena and mounted a Givi rack and trunk last night so she'll have a back rest.  She's looking forward to it too and seemed to really like the look of the bike - which is always important.

If you have not attended a Rally put it right at the top of your to do list because there is no better way to get to know the many great members of this club.  I didn't really know BD - except as a larger than life guy that everybody seemed to admire - until having the chance to ride with him in Arkansas this spring.  Now I count him among those that I am honored to know and consider him a friend along with so many others I have come to know as a member of this club.

Thanks for reading