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Rebecca "Squeaky" Nelson - Houston (SW Side)

Now that is a nice loking ride (now that I can see the pics) congrats.

Tourm wrote:
And After you get good gear (including a decent rainsuit if your gear is not waterproof, spend the money on suspension before the exhaust.

As a current SVS owner I think the first thing to get would be a Suzuki Gel Seat for your contact point :oops: . If you go to Ron Ayers.com you should be able to get a great deal (usually around $80-90) and it will be money well spent. Then the frame sliders might be the best idea.

Once again, congrats and enjoy. :chug:
 
Cool bike.

Get the suspension upgrade before the exhaust purchase.

On Sunday morning, saw what looked to be three sporty standards pass by me on Crabb River. You wouldn't have happened to be in that group, would you?
 
As a current SVS owner I think the first thing to get would be a Suzuki Gel Seat for your contact point

:tab Softie!! I actually liked the stock seat on the 01 model. However, it did not have those funky sharp angles on the seat either :roll: We put a Sargent seat on the SVS. Beth loved it. It put a lot of pressure on my fellas :shock: I never tried the Gel seat but have heard good things about it.

Adios,
 
Red5 said:
On Sunday morning, saw what looked to be three sporty standards pass by me on Crabb River. You wouldn't have happened to be in that group, would you?

I think I was - 10:00-12:00 Sunday down in Ft Bend off 36 and around there. I don't know where Crabb River is, but it sounds familiar. :-)


The frame sliders are already being looked into, as is a gel seat (those angles on the seat really just get 'ya! :moon: ). My new jacket is being delivered Thursday, so is the disc lock, and I'm shopping for better fitting gloves and new boots.

I was thinking of adjusting the rear suspension first to see what that will do for me. I don't really think it feels "soft" the way ppl say, but I really don't know what it "should" feel like.
 
Howdy,

:tab The first thing you need to do is set the sag on the suspension. You'll need help as this is hard to do alone. But basically, you are setting the amount by which the bike settles down when you sit on it with all your gear, luggage, etc,... This is done by adjusting the PRELOAD on the front and rear. I don't know if your front is adjustable or not, but the rear should be. This is what we did to Chris's bike when he was up here for the Butt Burner ride right before ya'll left to go home. Maybe someone here on TWT that lives in your area can help you get it done.

:tab Once you get the preload sorted out, the next thing to do is just go for a ride. If you hit bumps and the rear feels really harsh, like the shock is not absorbing any of the bump, then the DAMPING is set to high. You'll want to back that down. If you feel like you are bouncing up and down after hitting a bump, like those old smoking cars you see bouncing down the road, then you need to crank up the damping. You want to be in the range where a bump makes the bike go up and down maybe 2-3 times at most before it settles back to normal. This is a feel thing to some degree and you may just have to fiddle with it. Normally, there is a little dial on the side of the rear shock with a slot for a flat blade screwdriver. It will often have the letters H and S on either side of it. H for hard, S for Soft. Turn it all the way to one side, then turn it all the way to the other and count how many full turns it takes to cover the entire range from one end to the other. After that, set it in the middle of the range and go for a ride. Adjust it in half turn increments either way until you get the bike feeling like you want.

:tab Once you have done all this, you really won't need to mess with it anymore. I had to mess with it on the VFR all the time because I rode with such a wide range of loads ;-) Having it set correctly will dramatically improve the feel of the bike. This is why I made the previous post about getting the suspension done before the exhaust.

:tab A word of warning about the disk lock. It is convenient to carry around and use, but if you ever get on the bike and forget to take it off... Well, it is a common source of bikes being dropped, and also of rotor damage. So just be real careful! I have a cool litte "Remove Before Flight" banner like the ones used on airplanes. I'd be happy to let you have it. YOu can put it on the lock so you are less likely to forget about it.

Adios,
 
Wow, that's a lot of great info.
I'll see if Chris can help me out since he did the preload on his.
 
Hey Rebecca,

Congrats on the new bike!!! :lol: I can't wait to see it in person. You are soooo brave to riding around so quickly. Scott & Beth had to practically drag me out of the parking lot. I don't even like riding 610 in a cage. I haven't had any riding experience w/ heavy traffic yet but I guess it probably doesn't bother you as much living in Houston. Looking forward to seeing ya soon.
 
Snoopster said:
Scott & Beth had to practically drag me out of the parking lot.

I remember someone having to coerce you into riding the ETBB ride. And, you smiled the whole time...

But, I avoid driving into Houston when ever possible. TOO MANY idiots.
 
I think my enthusiasm has taken over and the fear is all but gone.

The way I see it, if I don't get out there and do it now, I'll never build up the nerve to do all the twisties and stuff that I got the bike to do.

I am bored at 64mph on an empty freeway! Breaking in a bike requires soooooo much patience!
 
Tourmeister said:
Howdy,

...I have a cool litte "Remove Before Flight" banner like the ones used on airplanes. I'd be happy to let you have it. YOu can put it on the lock so you are less likely to forget about it.

Better yet, put it on your throttle whenever you use your disk lock so that you can't avoid it.

P.S. I agree that you should get good gear and a bunch of other more practical things before you get a pipe, but you should still treat yourself to a nice-sounding pipe like Chris has on his SV ...someday. ;-)
 
I'm also trying to negotiate with Chris for that sweet pipe - he's contemplating a different one, and who better to get that one (cheap) but me!
 
Well, I think Chris' pipe would make a fine gift, don't you? :-D ;-)
 
ABSO-SMURFLY!
And what do you know... My birthday is right around the corner!
 
Your b-day is coming up? How conveeeenient! :mrgreen:
 
STrider said:
...Wilbur???

Ok, fair enough. Here is an update to my TWT profile...

Throughout the miles, Ally performed outstandingly. Arkansas, Hill Country, Austin, and many parts in between visited along the way. Two flat tires, one a nail and the other what seemed like a piece of a razor blade. No mechanical trouble. I learned how to change my own oil, install (and uninstall) Helibars, chain and sprockets, frame sliders, and I managed to strip a screw on the easiest mod around - putting on a gel seat. I learned how to ride on this bike, and I learned what I loved about it and what I would look for in my next bike...

A big Thanks to everyone that allowed me to take their bikes for a spin over the last year. I got to ride (whether for minutes or hours) about 15 bikes (and most of them included shoes :oops: ). I got to feel things about how the bike and I "fit", and I learned that I really liked the upright riding position that I got on Scott's GS. So there I was, bitten by the bike bug at the tail end of 2004. I found and bought a bike, and put my dear SV up for sale.


And so Wilbur was born - a gently used 2003 VStrom 1k. I had the most fun I could have possibly had going out to Austin to pick up the bike. The Austinites got themselves gathered and we made a fun day of it:
groupatrock0gh.jpg


The name Wilbur is a throw back to the movie/book Charlotte's Web. It was suggessted that I call the bike a WIDE array of things - pork chop, Earl, Grumpy, piggy... because I'm supposed to take the bike through the mud like a pig :shock: . Well, I could never call a bike piggy and I'm not going wallowing any time soon. So a clean pig... and Wilbur came to mind as a clean 'lil pig that was, as the spider put it, "Terrific". It also has a great memory of watching the movie with my big sister, so that helps. :-D
 
Hmm... should she change her name from Squeaky to Squealer? :-P

Adios,
 
Well for a clean pig it could have been Arnold, wasn't that the pigs name in Green Acres?
 
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