CT to Indianapolis - touring on the Ninjette

[adouglas]

In the "not for highways" thread I posted that I'm about to find out first-hand how well the bike does on the open road, by taking it from my home in Connecticut to Indianapolis for the MotoGP race, then back via West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.

This thread is to document that trip, which begins tomorrow. I may or may not post from the road, since I'm not planning on bringing a laptop...just an iPod Touch, which is not conducive for text entry.

So, here goes....

[adouglas]

I just bought my 08 a month or so ago, so haven't done much to it other than ride it about 750 miles. To prep for the trip, I changed the oil at 1900 miles, cleaned and lubed the chain, and that's about it.

I did fit a ZG Double Bubble for a bit of additional protection and maybe slightly better fuel economy. Looks cool, but surprisingly it appears to increase noise and wind buffeting a bit... not enough to bug me much (I don't think... we shall see).

My luggage will be an Axio hardshell tank bag, a Bags Connection Cargobag combined tailbag/panniers and, if everything doesn't fit in those two, an Axio hardshell backpack. Pics to come later.

Day one will be a straight blast out to the Ohio/PA border, a tick over 400 miles and halfway to Indy.

Weather looks good.

Wish me luck.

[kkim]

looking forward to the report.

Good luck, have fun, ride safe.

[smcbride11]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Day one will be a straight blast out to the Ohio/PA border, a tick over 400 miles and halfway to Indy.

Enjoy the ride - I just finished that drive, and man... it's a long one. Which route are you taking?

[Alex]

Have a fantastic trip!

[cifex]

Just finished an 800 mile weekend. Couple Tips: Move your feet periodically so that you are resting the balls of your feet on the pegs. Then move em up a bit and try on your heels for a bit. It does wonders. Also, I find fighting the angling of the seat will only make your ass hurt. Just wiggly your self up to the tank so ur junk is smoooshed a bit and they will actually get smoooshed a lot less.

Oh yea, don't forget a couple glad force flex bags to cover your gear if you run through some storms.

[adouglas]

Touching home base briefly. Just got back and have put on about 2,200 miles since Aug 26.

The bike did GREAT.

It is FILTHY.

Indy was COLD (and rainy, one day out of three).

West Virginia is motorcycle HEAVEN.

The Virginia DOT, curse their blighted souls, put chip seal on a steep, twisty mountain road. Gravel all over the place. Pucker factor 8.5+, easy.

More, plus photos, when I get back from the last bit of my journey...heading to Cape Cod tomorrow for an overnight.

[Alex]

Fantastic! Glad you're home safe and sound.

[noche_caliente]

glad you made it home safe Andrew... is chip seal what I refer to as tar and gravel? if so there's a lot of that showing up around here lately!

[kkim]

chip seal= tar snakes?

[Alex]

Chip seal is close to what noche said. Instead of a full-blown re-pave, the roads is covered with a bunch of tar-like crap and gravel-like material, and pushed down a bit. Over time cars help compress the gravel into the tar and turn it more into a solid asphalt-like surface. It's cheap and sucky, and used quite a bit at least here in NorCal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipseal

[noche_caliente]

ugh - that's the stuff I hate - thanks Alex
we went for a ride last weekend, and the road we were on all of a sudden had a loose gravel sign, and then there was a bunch of patching that had been done in it - EVERYWHERE - there was basically a small strip in the middle of the road that was maybe the width of the tires that was free from it... was just like driving on a gravel road.... that road is now off of my fun twisties route!

[adouglas]

When it's done right, in the right conditions, and allowed to age correctly it's fine.

The problem is, that when freshly applied the gravel isn't fully pressed into the tar. That happens over time, with warm weather and the repeated passage of traffic.

The problem is, if it's applied and it rains too soon, and/or the road is shady and cool, and/or it's steep, the gravel tends to come loose and scatter over the road. If it's hilly, it tends to roll downhill and collect in low spots.

I went down on a bicycle at about 25 mph on some loose chipseal gravel once. Bigtime road rash.

[adouglas]

I packed light... just an Axio tank bag and a Bags Connection Tail Bag (which I really like... I'll write up a review in another thread).


Blasting out to Indy (two long days) lookee what I found, right off the Interstate. Naturally I had to stop. LOTS of bikes in that building. I figured I really ought to buy SOMETHING, so I picked up a mirrored shield for my lid. The retail store, by the way, is no longer affiliated with the mail order business.





If you can't prove you were there, you weren't.



VERY cool machinery. The Repsol bike (Pedrosa) was on pole. The FIAT-sponsored bike is Rossi's.



Indy wouldn't be Indy without hot women in skimpy clothes...




Thursday practice. The weather guy LIED and it rained a lot... the only real rain I encountered the whole trip, though I did get misted on a bit the second day. The red X flag means "Water on the track."



Obligatory cool track shot, from Friday practice. You're looking down the short chute between turns 1 and 2.


Race day. Top row seats are the best because you can see a lot of the track and the catch fencing doesn't obscure much. This is row RR. After the cold front that produced the rain had passed, it was FREEZING. Note the gloves. I was wearing a mesh jacket.


After Indy I spent a solid day at the USAF museum in Dayton, OH. If you're an aviation nut like me, this place MUST be visited. The Smithsonian Air & Space museum in DC has lots of sigificant aircraft. The annex at Dulles airport has more... and pretty much everything that isn't in one of those two places is here. I got to walk through all four presidential aircraft (Air Force Ones) from Roosevelt through Kennedy and beyond. Incredible.



Mmmm... juicy.... bring lots of lens wipes and take every opportunity to wash your visor.


New River Gorge bridge in Fayetteville, West Virginia. WV is MOTORCYCLE HEAVEN. Mile after mile of twisty undulating mountain roads in excellent condition. The kind of roads where the speed limit is 55, but every half mile or so there's one of those wonderful hazard signs with a squiggly line and a recommended speed of 30, 25 or even 15 mph.


Skyline Drive in VA. More great, twisty roads, but the speed limit is 35. Fantastic views.


Last night of the trip, up on Cape Cod.


Taken immediately after returning. When I left this read a bit under 2,000 miles.

[smcbride11]

"Climb On"...

Great pictures, and that looks like one hell of a trip!

[adouglas]

I see you're in Providence. I-95, especially eastbound, SUCKS through there. Really punishing bumps (the mile or three heading up to the giant blue termite). I spent a lot of time looking for telltale signs of a bump and lifting myself out of the saddle.

You have my sympathies, having to deal with that all the time!

[cifex]

They ride slicks in the rain!? Isn't that....ummm....dangerous?

[adouglas]

They have rain tires.

If it starts getting wet during a race, the team sets up the spare bike for wet conditions and the riders come in and switch bikes. That happened at (IIRC) Donnington this year.

[adouglas]

Having just completed a tour of nearly two weeks and 2600+ miles covering terrain from dead flat and dead straight to very mountainous and twisty, and from urban Interstates to remote mountain roads, I think I now have enough first-hand, real-world experience to make some valid comments regarding how well this bike does over long distances and on highways.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this, given that I've spent many, many hours in the saddle over the past couple of weeks with nothing but my own thoughts.

First, some vital statistics. These are important, because they play into my conclusions. I'm a short guy -- 5'7" if I eat my Wheaties. I'm slightly overweight for my height -- between 170 and 180. I packed light -- didn't weigh my luggage, but I'm guessing it totaled between 30 and 40 pounds, tops. Add in my personal gear and the total load on the bike was a maximum of, say, 225 pounds.

Power
On the whole trip, I never once found myself needing more power than I had. I was always able to make a pass when I needed to, even at 70 mph. From time to time I'd downshift to get what I needed, but this bike likes high RPM so that's how I rode it. There isn't a lot of torque, but I'm completely used to that since I've driven 4-cylinder Japanese econoboxes for decades.

I refused to allow myself to get sucked into situations where I felt I HAD to ride fast. If somebody came blasting up behind me, I'd just move over and let them by. If I was in a place where I had to pass a truck or something to get over into the right lane, I would. It was NEVER a problem.

I think my satisfaction with the available power is due mostly to my expectations... I know this isn't a rocket ship and I'm got going to get G-force induced tunnel vision even at wide-open throttle. The bike is faster than my car, and that's entirely sufficient for my needs.

A secondary factor is that I'm not a big, heavy guy, so that little engine isn't being asked to accelerate a lot of mass. With the low power and light weight we've got, the whole system (bike plus rider plus luggage) is going to be very sensitive to extra mass.

Suspension
I put the preset on 2, and it was fine. I could feel the difference caused by my luggage, but the bike did fine. This may be because I've never experienced a really great suspension, but I've got no complaints whatsoever. Again, I think this is in large part due to the fact that I'm not a big, heavy guy.

Wind
I had plenty of opportunity to interact with 18-wheelers. Sure, there's wind buffeting, but my distinct impression was that the wind was kicking ME around more than the bike. The bike itself felt relatively stable. Never a problem, not even once.

The worst place to be is on the rear quarter of the truck, 40-50 feet back. More turbulence there than directly behind it. Alongside there was very little buffeting.


Comfort
To my utter astonishment, my butt never hurt. Not once. I was very comfortable on the bike overall. I think this is largely due to my physical stature... this bike fits me perfectly. A larger person would probably be more cramped.

I did take care to stop and get off the bike every hour, just for a few minutes. Yes, I felt some minor discomfort from time to time, but it was never very bad. I also limited my distance most days to less than 300 miles, so I was never pressured to get anywhere.

A big part of comfort was being able to move around and take different positions. I could allow myself to slide forward on the seat and sit upright, or shove my butt back. I could sit up straight, or I could tuck. I could support some of my weight on my arms, or support it with my back and be totally loose on the bars. I could move my feet back and put the balls of my feet on the pegs, or put the pegs in my instep.

One of the more comfortable positions was actually a full, horse-jockey-like tuck with my chest resting on the tank bag. My butt was as far back as it would go, which placed my weight on my thighs instead of my butt. Elbows were on top of my knees. The limiting factor to riding this way was my neck.

Route, roads
Not Ninjette-specific, but generally useful.

Get off the Interstate whenever you can. It's worth the little bit of extra travel time it will cost you. It's not that Interstates are a problem -- they aren't. It's that they're BORING.

On back roads especially, be extra-vigilant. Chances are good that every road you ride on will be one you've never seen before, and you do not know what's ahead of you. Expect gravel at all times. This is NOT the time to ride fast. I spent most of my time at or near the speed limit and was never sorry.


Hope this is of some use to somebody.

[Alex]

Fantastic post.

[adouglas]

As I racked up the miles, I thought of kkim.

I figure he could do this distance by just riding from Kekaha to Princeville and back, over and over and over and....

25 times.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by adouglas

As I racked up the miles, I thought of kkim.

I figure he could do this distance by just riding from Kekaha to Princeville and back, over and over and over and....

25 times.

If there was a GP race in there, I'd do it, too. Thanks for the photos and the trip report. Sounds like you had some great bonding time with your ninjette.

[KJohnson21]

Sounds like you had a great time on a great trip!

[lockie]

Really enjoyed the report and the review. Thanks

[backinthesaddleagain]

Great post. Love the Big Blue Bug reference as I am in RI. Never rode my bike by there though as I stay in southern half of state.
Posted via Mobile Device

[smcbride11]

Yeah, the roads in Providence are pretty rough... Even my neighborhood's got some pretty big potholes with a ton of loose gravel. I take avoiding that stuff as a good opportunity to get some heat into the tires :-)

It's not all bad, though - I've found that a preload of 4 (I'm about 200#) helps the suspension out. It makes for a much rougher ride, but it feels a whole lot more planted and less floaty over the bumps.

The important question about the whole trip, though - how'd you like the race?

[adouglas]

The race was pretty good. Having both Pedrosa and Rossi crash out really shook things up. Rossi crashed in front of me, but Pedrosa lost it at the other end of the course.

Actually the best racing, I thought, was in the 125 support race. There was this titanic battle at the front, with a pack of five or six guys duking it out the whole time. At the end the winner was so overcome with emotion that he stopped on the track near where I was sitting and was clearly overwhelmed by it all.

[Nevrfastenuf]

Being a big fan of motorsports and aerospace myself, that looks like a great ride I just wanted to say I completely agree with everything you've put in your ride conclusions post. I recently rode the Iron Butt 1000 miles in 24 hours ride with a co-worker of mine and I felt the same way about all of the topics you covered. Having the right expectations as you begin your ride, getting off the bike for just a few minutes here and there, and constantly changing positions on the bike really go a long way towards the long distance comfort on this bike (and probably any other bike for that matter). Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure with us, looks like you had a lot of fun!

[Sailariel]

Andrew, Sounds like you had a great trip and illustrated that a 250 is plenty for most situations. In 1961, I rode a 250cc NSU with 16HP from Syracuse NY to Seattle WA and back with no problem. The Ninja makes the NSU look like a moped. I do remember that going through the Cascades strained the engine a bit. It would be no problem for the Ninja. I definitely agree with your conclusions re the Ninja. This winter I plan to find some hard panniers that can be fitted to the Ninja. The mounting hardware would be easy to fabricate--finding the bags will be something else.

[revstriker]

Wow, great post! Glad to hear the feedback on the bike, the route, and the trip.

I took a trip out to the Air Force Museum in Dayton when I was living in Columbus OH. It was really cool to see all the presidential aircraft, especially the Air Force 1 which transported Kennedy's body from Dallas to DC.

Man, that tank bag looks huge!