I spent Wednesday and Thursday at Americade. Made a run up Tuesday afternoon with my brother to get advance registration. On Wednesday we met up at a Hess station at exit 8 around 07:00 and were standing in line at the Triumph demo rides by 07:50. I'd estimate that there were maybe 40 people in front of us. Triumph hasn't been up there for 5 years or so and I thought it would be interesting to ride the Daytona 650, though with the dealer in Albany closing up about 3 years ago, the closest place to buy one is down towards NYC. They all start the registering at 08:00 and the first ride of the day leaves around 09:00. They had the expected 2 people working the desk, but the line was moving very slowly. Very slowly indeed. This fact was not lost on anyone in the line. We all wanted to get through and get into someone else's line, but we're all dying on the vine here. One of the Triumph clowns seemed to occupy his time passing out the waiver forms. He would load one on a clipboard and then walk it back to the next person in line to fill out, who then for some reason would hang on to the clipboard until reaching the desk where the two people were processing. One took the form and driver's license and made sure it was filled out correctly. Then after passing that test, he filled out a time-slip, put an ink stamp on the back of your hand and passed the form to the #2 clown who then asked what you wanted to ride and when. Once the monumental task of identifying a time was done, #2 transcribed a lot of the information from the form onto the OFFICIAL SIGN UP SHEET, while the original jerk put another form on the now empty clipboard and walked it back to the line.
After about half an hour of this, some guy broke from the line, stormed the desk and grabbed a handful of forms and clipboards and passed them around the line, utterly confusing the guy who had been doing it so far. It took 1 hour for us to reach the desk. By that time I had changed my mind and decided to step up to the 955 Daytona, thinking that John could take the 650. But Triumph had thoughtlessly divided the dozen or so bikes they brought into 2 lines and put a Daytona in each. Clearly they were trying to balance each line with a variety of bikes, rather than group them by function: slow people, fast people. So by me choosing the 955, John's choices were severely limited and he choose the Thruxton 900 which is a retro twin, looking to be about 40 years old. Had I fallen back to the 650 Daytona I originally planned to ride, he could have chosen a Speed Triple (same bike line), but apparently all of the time standing in the signup line had broken my mind. I’m a bad man. I apologized a lot over this the rest of the day for what I'd done to him. Our ride was scheduled for 13:30 and we headed off quickly to the Kawasaki line to see if we could still get a ride there.
There were maybe 20 people in line when we got there. 10 minutes later we were at the desk with our completed forms and I chose the newly revised ZX6R and John chose the ZZR600. They peeled the appropriate sticker of the master sheet, affixed it to our time slips, and off we went. I wanted to go back and bitch slap the Triumph jerks. I had expected that there would be multiple of each bike available but there was only one ZX6R. Turns out from talking with one of the Kawi guys, the other one had been dropped Tuesday afternoon and wasn't ready to be put back in the line yet. That ride was at 15:45 so we went down to the vendor area and walked around some with Scott and ate some bad food. It was freakin' hot; pushing 90 and I got a pretty good burn going.
We got back for the Triumph ride to find that the 955 was the first bike in line with the Thruxton right behind it, so John and I were following the lead rider. Pre-ride safety talk and then everyone to their bikes. Wednesday I made the terrible mistake of wearing my leather jacket up to Lake George, and sitting there suited up in the sun with the bike running for 5 minutes while they milled around in their Triumph Cloud of Confusion, was brutal. A great deal of time at Americade is spent sweating like a pig. Finally the leader mounts up and takes off. We get on the Northway at 21 and head south 3 miles to 20 and get off. They then pick up the route that goes up over the mountain into Lake Lazurne and heads north up 9something back to Roaring Brook Ranch. (that little 1' wide babbling brook has never, ever roared...)
We hit the Northway and gun it taking off after the leader. The 955 is okay, nothing special in the performance dept. I'd say it certainly out-performs Joann's 600 but would be fodder for most race replica 600s. The true joy of the Daytona 955 is that no one else has one (refer to previous sentence). You won't find your bike at every stop light. We start up the mountain. It twists and rolls and doubles back. This is the course I've described many times over the years, including a couple years back when a kid dropped an Aprilia approaching the hairpin. I'm doing my best to stay glued to the leader and notice a couple times that John was pretty far back behind me. I apologized more later. Didn't matter as about 2 miles into the twisties we came upon a Honda Accord doing 10mph. No kidding. They did eventually speed up close to 25mph, but that was it. We followed that car for 12 miles, through ALL of the rest of the mountain roads. I thought I might have an aneurysm.
Our lead rider was swearing at them every time we stopped at an intersection, but he was following the company line and not blowing them off. I assume the reason they didn't pull over was that they were locals who didn't appreciate Americade and were willing to tweak our noses a bit. They finally pull off in the village of Luzurne and we sped away happily, only to quickly come up behind a school bus. The bus was observing ALL posted limits for the couple miles we followed. The bus soon signaled to pull off into the school, but not before -- and I'm not making any of this up, it really happened -- the driver waved a garbage truck out in front of us. We followed the lumbering garbage truck, at a distance, for a couple miles until it pulled off, and we then just followed a group of Harleys back to RBR. We were beaten men.
When we went over for the Kawasaki ride, again strangely the ZZR600 had found it's way up behind the ZX6R I was taking out. I was maybe 3rd behind the lead rider. Kawi took us on a route that was different from what they have done for the past 10 years; it was slightly longer and incorporated more of the back roads. At one point we all formed up waiting to get on the Northway after coming off a 3 mile section of twisty road, and John pulled up alongside and exclaimed "Wow! Is this what new technology is like? This thing would kill the 900." It took me some time to figure out he was referring to the Triumph he took out earlier. I apologized.
John who owns a 600cc v-twin and rode a 900cc twin earlier that day, had just had his senses assaulted by a 600cc inline 4, and it was good. My impressions of the ZX6R weren't quite as favorable. I like the new styling more than I expected to. It is also more comfortable with the revised seating position. But the severely raked windscreen cuts the top off the instrument cluster from your line of sight. I had to make a concerted effort to see how fast I was going or what the tach read. Also, the engine vibrated far too much starting around 8000rpm. I don't know if it was that particular bike or not, since they do take a bit of a beating. It handled like a dream though. It's hard to do anything wrong on that bike. I also tried a series of horribly sloppy downshifts to test the new slipper clutch and it was flawless. You can dump the clutch at high revs and it just purrrrrrrs down in each gear. No blatting, hopping, skipping or jumping. Still, I wasn't ready to run out and buy either bike I rode that day.
I went up alone Thursday and my plan was to hit the Kawasaki line early and sign up for a ZX10 and then shoot over to the ever-so-slowly moving Triumph line and get the Daytona 650. Traveling by myself up the Northway at a slightly faster clip, I pulled into RBR around 07:30 and as I move past the Triumph area on my way to park I see that the line is longer now than it was yesterday. I decide that I'd have to get into the line now if I wanted a shot at the 650. One hour and ten minutes later, I was at the desk. Just before I got up there they called the 09:00 ride and asked if anyone still in line wanted to take out the 955, 650 Daytonas or some 3rd bike. It seemed fairly common that the Daytonas got pulled from the line unused and I could have taken that ride on the spot .... but then I'd never get to the Kawasaki line in time to get anything, so I bit my tongue and signed up for the 2nd to last available 10:30 ride slot.
I then went and was able to get a ZX10 for 15:45. The Daytona 650 is newly redesigned a year ago and is a nice bike. I'd have to ride it back to back with the 636 to know which is better, but at least it didn't buzz like the Kawi did. I was the last bike in the pack for my ride and since all other bikes in the line were loser cruisers, my fun potential was severely limited. It was a nice bike overall and I didn't have any complaints. I liked the 650 better than the 955, but that could simply be the quality of the ride. No problems over the mountain, but we did have to be the run of the day that stopped at Stewarts to fill up on gas. It was damn hot out and even though I'd worn my mesh jacket, it was still a sweat fest. That stop added 15 minutes to our ride time. Then as we came up on RBR, I crested the final hill in time to see the father of a father/son duo drop one of the bikes right at the entrance to Roaring Brook. I didn't see what caused him to do that, just saw him go down and people run over to pick him up. That event added another 10 minutes of sit and wait in the sun time while the Triumph staff sorted that out. These guys truly are the worst. Then we proceeded back to the parking area.
I had earlier run into Scott who had signed up for 2 deadly dull Honda rides and a Kawi ride, then realized that the 13:30 Kawasaki ride interfered with his 13:40 Honda snooze-fest, which he wanted to take more. I’m starting to have concerns about this boy. He gave me his slip for a ZRX1200R which I'd never have signed up for, but what the hell. I showed up at 13:30 and went out, to find that they had fallen back to the same route they've used for years.
The ZRX is a standard style seating position, which doesn't appeal to me so much as I don't feel like I have the level of control I want outside of being in a tuck. Actually, it's a replica of an Eddie Lawson replica of a race bike. However, the engine was enlightening and the rearsets are well placed. I was soon repeating in my head that there is no replacement for displacement <heel click>... After the okay 955, the buzzy 636 and the pretty nice 650 Daytona, this was more like what I was used to: twist the throttle and go. Now. Doesn't really matter too much what gear you are in at the time either. There are 2 sections of the ride where they get on the Northway at exit 20 heading North and later at 23 heading south; the latter is a very long combination entrance ramp of at least half a mile with a nice left hand sweeper. The bike will power wheelie under acceleration in 1st and 2nd, and it sure got light up front and stretched my arms out in 3rd. That ride got me focussed back on the primal joys of power and psyched up for the monster ZX10.
I met up with Scott later after his Honda rides and he was on his way out, as were a couple other people he rode up with. I said I was waiting around for my 15:45 ride and might wander back over to the Kawi area in case there was any empty ride to get as standby at 15:00, and he said that Luke was bailing on his ride so there would be a ZX6R open. Hot damn, so off I go. Well, I waited through the rider's meeting and then watched as everyone went to their assigned bikes, and a woman went to the ZX6R... but do my eyes deceive me or is one of the ZX10s therefore now sitting empty? I paced the Kawi guy up and down the line as he was taking slips and asked if there were any standbys available and he found out the 10 was empty and I took it out. Well, eventually. I was the last to suit up and get the bike started and they sent out the row next to me, then my row with the middle-pack lead rider on the other 636 -- now back in service and right in front of me -- started moving and I let out the clutch and went nowhere, as I forgot to put the bike in gear... Damn! Clutch in, slam it into gear, let out the clutch and ... stalled it. Damn, Damn! But it was rolling so I popped the clutch and took off. Even though I remembered the problem from riding it last year, I was not initially prepared for the abrupt throttle response of this bike. Something that will do 105 at redline in first gear and hit 180mph is tough to move smoothly at 5mph. It has a bit of throttle lash.
Now see here
No worries once I got it moving, and I concentrated on being super-smooth with the throttle as we taxied out of RBR. We exit out onto 9something and everyone guns it heading toward the Northway 2 miles away. Shortshift to second to bring the front wheel down and start to shut it down at 70mph as I'm coming up on the pack fast. Just before the Northway we turn right onto some road that runs parallel but is 10,000 times more fun as it twists along. The ZX10 is kinda scary here in a couple of places due to the on/off throttle lash, which you really want to get a good handle on before getting into the corner and give real thought to before exiting, as it will upset the bike's stability and you have to anticipate that. On lesser bikes I'd grab a fistful of throttle at the apex and power out hard. Not on this bike. That would either break the rear end loose and snap a high-side get-off or just send you off into the woods. This one you get on the throttle gently at apex and give it a hint of gas while speaking softly and sweetly to the bike, which propels you around the corner very fast and then you can get into it a little more as you straighten out. This bike will do genuine, no clutch slipping needed thanks, power wheelies in several gears.
This beast doesn't handle with the 600's (no liter bike can) but will hunt them down later on. I cannot describe getting onto the Northway with this pack of clowns, while on this bike, but I'll try. As I turn onto the entrance ramp at exit 20 north -- a short sweeper to the right, I already know what is most likely going to happen, 'cause after all, I've been on this same ramp dozens of times before taking these rides over the years. I'll never understand why they don't place a fleet of cops there with one of those credit card sliders. All I can think about as I start to roll and turn left from 9something onto the ramp is that I have to stay calm and keep the front end down. Do not, repeat -- DO NOT grab the throttle. Ease up the ramp and into the first turn (at about 50) and accelerate to the right, short-shift to second then straighten out and look ahead to see where you will merge, start winding it up as you look back over your left shoulder to see what was coming -- not that anything short of a bullet train will make any difference -- then as you hit the Northway proper at about 90mph, shift to third and open it up. A massive burst of intake noise surrounds you as you flash by some pickup truck that seems to be moving backwards, and follow the other bikes out across the first and into the second lane. Hold it open for as long as I dare -- maybe another 2 seconds, then cut the throttle and fall into the group doing 130mph. Start to coast down to a more sane 80mph and shift up to 4th. 3 miles down in very short order. Can't even spot the pickup in my mirrors. Off at exit 23, turn around and head back down to 21. Lather, rinse, repeat....
I got the bike parked, got off, got my helmet off and like some newbie, could not stop myself from saying HOLY cow!! much to the amusement of one of the Kawi reps smirking as he walked by. And then, yup -- it's time for my 15:45 ride on the ZX10. No need to adjust the mirrors.... and I was much smoother all around the second time out and figure that after a thousand miles or so on that bike I'd have it down pretty well. If I didn't wad it and paste myself into some immovable object. That bike has no business on public roads. I'm definitely liter bike material. I'm still hoping that next year Suzuki upgrades the GSX-R600 like they did the K5 and brings the 750 along for the ride. A GSX-R750 may be just the ticket, so to speak. So at the end of the day I'd had 4 rides: one 650, 1 1200cc and 2 on the ZX10. I then mounted my 1100 and rode briskly home, having put 250 miles on my bike in 2 days.
When we went over for the Kawasaki ride, again strangely the ZZR600 had found it's way up behind the ZX6R I was taking out. I was maybe 3rd behind the lead rider. Kawi took us on a route that was different from what they have done for the past 10 years; it was slightly longer and incorporated more of the back roads. At one point we all formed up waiting to get on the Northway after coming off a 3 mile section of twisty road, and John pulled up alongside and exclaimed "Wow! Is this what new technology is like? This thing would kill the 900." It took me some time to figure out he was referring to the Triumph he took out earlier. I apologized.
John who owns a 600cc v-twin and rode a 900cc twin earlier that day, had just had his senses assaulted by a 600cc inline 4, and it was good. My impressions of the ZX6R weren't quite as favorable. I like the new styling more than I expected to. It is also more comfortable with the revised seating position. But the severely raked windscreen cuts the top off the instrument cluster from your line of sight. I had to make a concerted effort to see how fast I was going or what the tach read. Also, the engine vibrated far too much starting around 8000rpm. I don't know if it was that particular bike or not, since they do take a bit of a beating. It handled like a dream though. It's hard to do anything wrong on that bike. I also tried a series of horribly sloppy downshifts to test the new slipper clutch and it was flawless. You can dump the clutch at high revs and it just purrrrrrrs down in each gear. No blatting, hopping, skipping or jumping. Still, I wasn't ready to run out and buy either bike I rode that day.
I went up alone Thursday and my plan was to hit the Kawasaki line early and sign up for a ZX10 and then shoot over to the ever-so-slowly moving Triumph line and get the Daytona 650. Traveling by myself up the Northway at a slightly faster clip, I pulled into RBR around 07:30 and as I move past the Triumph area on my way to park I see that the line is longer now than it was yesterday. I decide that I'd have to get into the line now if I wanted a shot at the 650. One hour and ten minutes later, I was at the desk. Just before I got up there they called the 09:00 ride and asked if anyone still in line wanted to take out the 955, 650 Daytonas or some 3rd bike. It seemed fairly common that the Daytonas got pulled from the line unused and I could have taken that ride on the spot .... but then I'd never get to the Kawasaki line in time to get anything, so I bit my tongue and signed up for the 2nd to last available 10:30 ride slot.
I then went and was able to get a ZX10 for 15:45. The Daytona 650 is newly redesigned a year ago and is a nice bike. I'd have to ride it back to back with the 636 to know which is better, but at least it didn't buzz like the Kawi did. I was the last bike in the pack for my ride and since all other bikes in the line were loser cruisers, my fun potential was severely limited. It was a nice bike overall and I didn't have any complaints. I liked the 650 better than the 955, but that could simply be the quality of the ride. No problems over the mountain, but we did have to be the run of the day that stopped at Stewarts to fill up on gas. It was damn hot out and even though I'd worn my mesh jacket, it was still a sweat fest. That stop added 15 minutes to our ride time. Then as we came up on RBR, I crested the final hill in time to see the father of a father/son duo drop one of the bikes right at the entrance to Roaring Brook. I didn't see what caused him to do that, just saw him go down and people run over to pick him up. That event added another 10 minutes of sit and wait in the sun time while the Triumph staff sorted that out. These guys truly are the worst. Then we proceeded back to the parking area.
I had earlier run into Scott who had signed up for 2 deadly dull Honda rides and a Kawi ride, then realized that the 13:30 Kawasaki ride interfered with his 13:40 Honda snooze-fest, which he wanted to take more. I’m starting to have concerns about this boy. He gave me his slip for a ZRX1200R which I'd never have signed up for, but what the hell. I showed up at 13:30 and went out, to find that they had fallen back to the same route they've used for years.
The ZRX is a standard style seating position, which doesn't appeal to me so much as I don't feel like I have the level of control I want outside of being in a tuck. Actually, it's a replica of an Eddie Lawson replica of a race bike. However, the engine was enlightening and the rearsets are well placed. I was soon repeating in my head that there is no replacement for displacement <heel click>... After the okay 955, the buzzy 636 and the pretty nice 650 Daytona, this was more like what I was used to: twist the throttle and go. Now. Doesn't really matter too much what gear you are in at the time either. There are 2 sections of the ride where they get on the Northway at exit 20 heading North and later at 23 heading south; the latter is a very long combination entrance ramp of at least half a mile with a nice left hand sweeper. The bike will power wheelie under acceleration in 1st and 2nd, and it sure got light up front and stretched my arms out in 3rd. That ride got me focussed back on the primal joys of power and psyched up for the monster ZX10.
I met up with Scott later after his Honda rides and he was on his way out, as were a couple other people he rode up with. I said I was waiting around for my 15:45 ride and might wander back over to the Kawi area in case there was any empty ride to get as standby at 15:00, and he said that Luke was bailing on his ride so there would be a ZX6R open. Hot damn, so off I go. Well, I waited through the rider's meeting and then watched as everyone went to their assigned bikes, and a woman went to the ZX6R... but do my eyes deceive me or is one of the ZX10s therefore now sitting empty? I paced the Kawi guy up and down the line as he was taking slips and asked if there were any standbys available and he found out the 10 was empty and I took it out. Well, eventually. I was the last to suit up and get the bike started and they sent out the row next to me, then my row with the middle-pack lead rider on the other 636 -- now back in service and right in front of me -- started moving and I let out the clutch and went nowhere, as I forgot to put the bike in gear... Damn! Clutch in, slam it into gear, let out the clutch and ... stalled it. Damn, Damn! But it was rolling so I popped the clutch and took off. Even though I remembered the problem from riding it last year, I was not initially prepared for the abrupt throttle response of this bike. Something that will do 105 at redline in first gear and hit 180mph is tough to move smoothly at 5mph. It has a bit of throttle lash.
Now see here
No worries once I got it moving, and I concentrated on being super-smooth with the throttle as we taxied out of RBR. We exit out onto 9something and everyone guns it heading toward the Northway 2 miles away. Shortshift to second to bring the front wheel down and start to shut it down at 70mph as I'm coming up on the pack fast. Just before the Northway we turn right onto some road that runs parallel but is 10,000 times more fun as it twists along. The ZX10 is kinda scary here in a couple of places due to the on/off throttle lash, which you really want to get a good handle on before getting into the corner and give real thought to before exiting, as it will upset the bike's stability and you have to anticipate that. On lesser bikes I'd grab a fistful of throttle at the apex and power out hard. Not on this bike. That would either break the rear end loose and snap a high-side get-off or just send you off into the woods. This one you get on the throttle gently at apex and give it a hint of gas while speaking softly and sweetly to the bike, which propels you around the corner very fast and then you can get into it a little more as you straighten out. This bike will do genuine, no clutch slipping needed thanks, power wheelies in several gears.
This beast doesn't handle with the 600's (no liter bike can) but will hunt them down later on. I cannot describe getting onto the Northway with this pack of clowns, while on this bike, but I'll try. As I turn onto the entrance ramp at exit 20 north -- a short sweeper to the right, I already know what is most likely going to happen, 'cause after all, I've been on this same ramp dozens of times before taking these rides over the years. I'll never understand why they don't place a fleet of cops there with one of those credit card sliders. All I can think about as I start to roll and turn left from 9something onto the ramp is that I have to stay calm and keep the front end down. Do not, repeat -- DO NOT grab the throttle. Ease up the ramp and into the first turn (at about 50) and accelerate to the right, short-shift to second then straighten out and look ahead to see where you will merge, start winding it up as you look back over your left shoulder to see what was coming -- not that anything short of a bullet train will make any difference -- then as you hit the Northway proper at about 90mph, shift to third and open it up. A massive burst of intake noise surrounds you as you flash by some pickup truck that seems to be moving backwards, and follow the other bikes out across the first and into the second lane. Hold it open for as long as I dare -- maybe another 2 seconds, then cut the throttle and fall into the group doing 130mph. Start to coast down to a more sane 80mph and shift up to 4th. 3 miles down in very short order. Can't even spot the pickup in my mirrors. Off at exit 23, turn around and head back down to 21. Lather, rinse, repeat....
I got the bike parked, got off, got my helmet off and like some newbie, could not stop myself from saying HOLY cow!! much to the amusement of one of the Kawi reps smirking as he walked by. And then, yup -- it's time for my 15:45 ride on the ZX10. No need to adjust the mirrors.... and I was much smoother all around the second time out and figure that after a thousand miles or so on that bike I'd have it down pretty well. If I didn't wad it and paste myself into some immovable object. That bike has no business on public roads. I'm definitely liter bike material. I'm still hoping that next year Suzuki upgrades the GSX-R600 like they did the K5 and brings the 750 along for the ride. A GSX-R750 may be just the ticket, so to speak. So at the end of the day I'd had 4 rides: one 650, 1 1200cc and 2 on the ZX10. I then mounted my 1100 and rode briskly home, having put 250 miles on my bike in 2 days.
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