Some observations from my first long ride...

[laterider]

I've had my Seca II for the better part of 3 weeks now, but with the way the weather's been here in Maine, today was the first day I could drive it to work, which is a 50+ mile trip from Portland to Dover, NH. I have a few observations, and I wanted to get your thoughts on them........some of these are reflections on the awesomeness of this machine, and other's are kind of "what's up with this?"

1. I noticed a slight "whine" in the front wheel. This bike has 27k on it, is that about the front wheel bearing's limit? I'm not sure if it's ever been replaced.

2. I love the riding position. Makes for a gloriously comfy trip. Bike felt stable as heck at speeds that would be considered in excess of the speed limit, but I'm not admitting to anything.....

3. It seems really hard to find neutral. I don't know if that's because I was spoiled by a Kawasaki that was so darned easy to find neutral, but it seems like it's a bit tricky. Maybe I'll just get used to it.

4. I just fueled up and my trip odometer read 116 miles. took 2.78 gallons of fuel which equates to about 41 mpg. Is that what most people get, or should I be getting more in the 50's? It's about 60% highway riding, 40% around town stuff.

5. I'm not sure how else to describe this, but there seems to be a noticeable "surging" at lower speeds, in the realm of 3-5k rpm. The throttle seems touchy in some ways, but it's hard to pinpoint really. I added a bottle of ISO-Heet to the tank when I filled it, thinking that perhaps I had some moisture in the fuel system (it's certainly been moist around here, that's for sure), but I'm not sure what the deal is. I've noticed that other riders seem to have experienced this as well.

6. At idle, I hear a distinct "clicking" noise from the area of the spark plugs. I'm not sure of that's a "pinging" due to octane or whatever, or something different. The plugs are brand new.

7. The seat is quite comfortable, but I wonder what people's thoughts are on Corbin seats and if they're significantly better?



Anyways, that's about it. I had a great ride, but just noticed these little things. I'm not terribly concerned about any of them, because, after all, what fun would it be if your motorcycle didn't have any oddities like this? Just wondering if these are unique to my motorcycle, or if they're more common? I tried searching the forum for some of these types of issues, but really didn't find too much, but my search terms might be different than most......