Joy Dutta’s blog

Seeing a stranger ride my connie away brought some definite sadness in my heart. Almost two years of riding, tinkering and having fun on a reliable motorcycle will bond you very closely to the machine, no matter how much you want it to find another home and partially fund the next bike. It took me more than a month to sell it, but patience, like always, eventually pays off.

I am happy that my trusty concours now belongs to another experienced rider who will take good care of her, and more so as he owns another legend of a bike - an older KLR650. I test rode that bike for the first time yesterday and liked it very much for the kind of ride it offers, not to forget the unmistakable single cylinder thump, my first love from the royal enfield days. Definitely not the machine for me on the long road trips which is what the ST13 is for, but for some offroading and adventure riding. This will be my future toy (as a 2nd bike) if I get so inclined.

Some guy wanted to buy my concours and he drove down 250 miles from Redding on a pickup truck with his 16 yo son. I even knocked off a few hundred bucks from my asking price. He took a short test ride and came back with a disappointed face, claiming too much rattle in the fairing. It was nothing less than a surprise when I found out the fairing belly pan had 2 screws missing from the ends, a common problem on the concours. He declined the deal and drove away.

Today I found a pair of machine screws at home depot which matched the threads of the fairing screws, and had a beautiful fit with washers I already had at home. Problem solved, and all for 45 cents.

I feel really sorry for the guy, he must have spent near 100 bucks on gas and 10 hours of driving.

A shiny spotless like new red Honda VFR with abs and 4k miles. We both liked it, despite our limited knowledge on VFRs except that they are Honda’s legendary sport bikes with touring capabilities. Besides, owning a V-4 bike I know the beauty of a motor in that configuration, delivering smooth power all the way till redline. A VFR is for SPORT-touring whereas my ST1300 is made for sport-TOURING, and the difference in seating is night and day between them.

To avoid the nasty bay area traffic, we started late for Clayton CA, around 8:30, for the 60 mile drive. Took us over an hour, and we passed through some rainy patches which almost made us include a nightstay at a motel in the plan. After the deal, I did some quick drill to get to know the bike enough to take it down the street. We hunted for a cheap motel but two attempts got us atleast $70 rooms, and by that time we could see the sky clear up. We just hit the freeway and to our surprise it was already dry and clean. Had to stop twice to make some temporary earbuds out of tissue papers as the wind noise bothered me a lot. I forgot to bring mine from home, and it was a big mistake. I would have enjoyed the ride more if I had them.

The motor is absolutely a beast. Acceleration in lower gears is something I never experienced before. It gains speed like a rocketship, and pulls like a frieght train. I thought I would be rather slow on this new-to-me-bike but before I knew I was zipping at 70-90mph. At speed the wind tends to lift up the upper body and the hands feel less pressure. Nice, but still the body posture is a lot closer to sport riding and could only be good for moderate distance riding.

Now my only worry is how much control Piyush can learn and in how much time. Just one wrong wrist action can do a lot of damage, not only to him, but to me too. Seeing anything happen to a friend while riding is disastrous enough, let alone a roomie.

Photos: ST1300 Fly-n-Ride - Oct 07
Thread about this ride on ST forum: Getting my 06 abs this friday !

A fly-and-ride is one of kind of fun trips. I loved the whole thing, the great deal on a sweet bike, flying with full gear and riding 1320 miles, 5 states (CO, WY, UT, NV, CA) back home. Here is the trip in short:

Day 1, Friday, Oct 12:
Flew to Denver CO where Rod (seller) picked me up and drove to Loveland CO. The bike was in pristine condition, shining like new. We closed the deal, loaded the bike up and I hit the road around noon to avoid the bad weather looming over CO. Managed 200 miles before getting completely exhausted. Effect of 3 hours of sleep the night before ! Stayed at Rawlins WY at a super 8.

Day 2: Saturday, Oct 13:
Did not expect the wind chill down to 34F in the early morning. Started at 4:30am for maximum distance, but froze up till sunrise. Used up all warm stuff I packed, 2 fleece jackets under the aerostich and somehow I could ride on. The aerostich jacket sucks in cold weather as it is not tall. I had to use the rain pants to cover up the gap. Now I know why LD riders like the 1pc aerostich suits. The heated grips installed by Rod were god sent. The ST has less weather protection than my connie in stock form, but it can be fixed by some deflectors. Crossed over to Utah and got rained hard in the provos and lamb canyons before Salt Lake City. I kept moving as the bike felt sure footed and comfortable, and I was dry. Met up with Surya and Sara at univ of Utah. Surya plans to shift to bay area soon and get back to riding, so am hoping good company like the riding days in Bangalore. Had some excellent food cooked by Sara which fueled me for the next 370 miles. Went by the amazing salt flats of Utah and saw the Bonneville salt flats. That was a mesmerizing experience. White salt as far as the eye can see, like a sea of salt. Halted at Winnemucca NV for the day after 670 miles in 14 hours. Nice small gambling town, but too tired to explore.

Day 3, Sunday, Oct 14:
Another early morning start at 5am. Dodged the wind chill being fully prepared, made good time. The sierras near Truckee CA were even colder, touched 28F once when my feet started to go numb. Went through some dense fog and suddenly came into bright sunshine and warmer temps. Reached Sacramento well before noon and waited till Jeff showed up at Brookfield’s restaurant. Ken from COG forum also showed up on a shiny new KLR. Visited Ron’s place thereafter and had a short ride together. A group ride in a long time. Reached home around 7:30, clocking 450 miles for the day.

The ride bonded me well with the bike, and it rides like a dream. The most credit goes to the ST forum, which convinced me to get this bike even without a real test ride. I am glad I made this choice. Still soaking in the feeling of ownership of this incredible touring machine.

On a side note, the iPhone rocks. Internet and email is now everywhere, WiFi or not. Also, a small camera like a canon powershot is much more convenient to use on a bike trip than toting a digital SLR. I can’t remember how many photo ops I managed to lose due to my laziness. Getting the SLR out from the trunk every time I stop is a pain by itself, not to mention the pain to compose with helmet on. Unless quality is first priority, a small digicam on tank bag or pocket is just the way to go.

The day has finally come. Flying at 6am from Oakland to Denver to pick up a black Honda ST1300 motorcycle with 20k miles and tons of extras, located at Loveland CO. The seller it a 63yr old gentleman, and a member of the ST forum. He has owned 5 ST bikes before, and currently owns so I am feeling confident that this one is maintained well enough.

This is my first fly-and-ride and I am pretty much excited now. Since the cold weather has almost started in the mountains, I will just take the boring I-80 and arrive home safely rather than risk getting stuck. Here is my packing list:

One duffel bag check-in:
- clothes for 2 nights, fleece jacket, rain gear
- small toolkit, electrical tools, tire repair kit, 12v compressor
- bungee cords

One small tank bag carry-on:
- camera, sunglass, gps, iphone charger

Wearing full riding gear on the flight, with helmet is an additional carry-on.

Hitting the road in about 7 hours from now on an unfamiliar bike, far from home.

Here is the original ad on Denver craigslist:

2006 Honda ST1300 ABS For Sale

20K miles – original owner (bought new in March of 2006) - Balance of 3 Year Warranty.
Many extras/upgrades, including:
Pan-European (HondaLine) Tail Trunk
Sargent Seat (black w/silver welting). OEM Seat included
ClearView (w/cateye cutouts) WindScreen. OEM WindScreen included
Quartet Accessory Harness
12V Socket in RH Fairing Pocket
Brand new BT020 Tires (Front and Rear)
Fresh Oil&Filter Change (Mobil 1)
Helmet Guardian (mounted under Tail Rack)
RKA Bag Liners for Side Bags
Tip-Over Bars (”bygdawg”)
HVMP Bar-End Weights
Symtec (Dual-Star) Grip Heaters
BMW Grips
Vista-Cruise Throttle Lock
Spare Oil Filters
Service Manual

Cosmetically and Mechanically Perfect – Never Down - Always garaged/covered. Valves checked (all in spec) @ 16K.

Reason for selling – Too many bikes! This has been a GREAT bike!

Bike is READY TO RIDE!

Piyush, my apartment mate and co-worker, finally bit the bullet and took the basic rider course for a motorcycle license. Needless to say he passed with flying colors and zero mistakes in the final test. We are going to pick up a nice used Honda VFR800 from craigslist, hopefully this week. To comply with ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time) principle, he is gonna order some gear from newenough.com tomorrow. I am gonna cut the fuel line if he fails to comply 100%, I told him already.

I have had a few friends who kept talking about getting a motorcycle, but none of them actually made it to action. I completely gave up the idea of influencing a friend taking up riding, and a while back I even tried to discourage Piyush from motorcycles because I feared that like most young guys he would fancy a 100hp 400lb sportbike and indulge in some risky maneuvers influenced by the typical weekend SQUID (Stupid Quick Underdressed Imminently Dead) crowd of bay area.

A VFR interceptor is a sporty yet comfortable bike for moderate distance riding. We plan to do a few short jaunts at first to get him used to riding in this country. Some long rides can happen after that if his back permits. While I would have been totally happy to see him choose a Honda ST11/ST13, I understand they are too heavy for a starter bike. A VFR is not a bad choice after all, and there is always scope for upgrade if he finds riding really enjoying. Way to go Piyush !!!