| Author | Message | ||
     Fltwistygirl |
FWIW...here's my take on Bikeweek so far. Spent the last 2 days at the speedway, and this past Saturday in DeLand (one day only event), which was fun. We got in early enough to eat a real meal in a real air conditioned (needed this past Saturday) Cuban Cafe with a real restroom. There were definitely less vendors this year than in years past, and despite the sometimes chilly weather (by FL standards) we had a great time doing demo rides and checking everything out. We only rode Can Am, Aprilia, Buell and Triumph. The first three tents are set up on the International Speedway Drive, clearly visible as you head east from I-95 towards the beach/mainstreet area. Demos: Buell, as usual, was a very positive demo experience, especially since they had a blue XB12XT in the fleet. Two big thumbs up on that bike-I loved it even more on the road, it just felt right. My reaction after dismounting was "honey, you NEEED to ride this bike!!!" So we immediately signed up for demo #2, and he liked it as well. I rode the City-X on demo #2, and the transmission seemed a little smoother than mine, and it sounded a little throatier. One of our lead riders was extremely knowledgable about Buell, and a pleasure to talk to. Refreshing! Aprilia put on a good long ride (1.5 hours) and those demos cost $20 and filled up fast. We got in line at 7:30 and all that days demos were filled up by 9:15 a.m. or so. I've never made it to Suches when the Buell demo truck was around, but I'd expect the overall experience to be similar to what we had with Aprilia. A couple nice added touches: Pre-ride hospitality with snacks and beverages, mid ride break at a lake front park with option to switch bikes with one of the leaders or with a buddy, plus you got a swag bag. The mid-point nature spot switcharoo was a cool concept. I'd never looked twice at Aprilias, but I was interested in the Mana and its auto-shifting capabilities because I frequently encounter physically challenged people in Sidecar/Trike and sometimes my MSF classes, and like to have options for those who want to ride but have a tough go with the manual shift process. Can Am Spyders, what a hoot! These are crazy rotax powered snowmobiles on wheels. I rode an automatic. What I liked about this demo is it gives the rider the opportunity to ride on a closed course before taking it on the street. I love watching a pack of them zip around the streets. The hand shift feature is a nice option for those who have problems operating a standard shift lever. The registration process was very high tech, no paper. Effective but kind of big brother. Triumph was a lot of fun, but as usual was set up on the other end of the speedway near Boss Hoss and Harley. I rode a Tiger, he rode a Sprint with full bags. Nice spirited ride, but we a had a guy on a Rocket 2300 behind us who was a little grabby with the brakes and unnerved us with his skidding and lack of control of the bike. Yikes. After that, it was time to leave the speedway, put a fork in me Jerry I'm done. Then to Destination. After paying our $$$ to park near the Dairy Queen, we boogied to see Shelly Rossmeyers Triumph/Ducati/Buell. Damn, those Buells looked right at home next to those trumpets and ducs. Impressed with the set up, reminded me of Ocala's boutique area at their HD-B shop. The place had a great vibe, but we didn't talk to any of the salespeople. I hope they find people who are knowledgable about the brand that care in such a hi-viz spot. You can pay people to work for you, but can't pay people to care. Usual vendor suspects at DD, seems like there were still rooms available in that general vicinity (Ormond, DB). It's supposed to warm up to 70's later this week then 80's, it has been dusty, windy and dry. Hope everyone enjoys it and rides safe. B. | ||
| Dano_12s |
Thanks for the write-up B,are you going back to the speedway for races? | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Thanks for the response, Dano. Looks like we're done at the speedway for this bikeweek so unfortunately no races this year. Never enough time! Back to reality tomorrow-work for him, being a mom for me). I'm back to work this weekend. Maybe by next year, we'll both be on our end-all, be-all bikes and can spend less time with demos, and more time enjoying the races. Are you coming down for the races or any of the Bikeweek craziness? | ||
| Dano_12s |
I'll be watching on Speedtv Fri.Won't be making the trip this year. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
nice little right up and unfortunately that's as close as i want to get to daytona anymore so living it through you will be good enough for me. we test rode the spyder a couple of weeks ago and your right, they are a hoot. the wife did the auto and i did the manual. have a safe ride back and if i'm still in town during leesburg bike fest i'll probably run up that way. haven't been there for a few years. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Dano- I live for speed tv, what would I do without it...maybe spend more time doing yardwork and less time watching the Alice team and those ducs....? 2 wheel tuesdays on speed tv were part of what got me back into this motorcycling thing. Miss that line-up. Wonder why they did away with it? BTW Jason Britton of Superbikes is gonna be at the Speedway this week, (I think on Friday) saw that on the ROK sign. My son would think that was cool, he likes stunters, but is the first to tell you its ok in a safe and controlled environment IF you are wearing all the gear. Good Boy!!!! Nevr- I understand not wanting to be anywhere near Daytona for the madness. Much of what I see over there makes me cringe and at a minimum validates the need for the mandatory MSF class in FL to get the m/c endorsement. Please let me know if you are going to be in the area during Leesburg Bikefest...it's a nice little gathering and only about 5 minutes from the house so as long as I am not working, I'll be prowling around town on the City-x or whatever Buell I am on at the time!!! It'd be nice to meet another Bueller, and with 5 bikes in the stall myself, I do appreciate your badweb name. I'm sure this would be a more interesting thread with photos...took some, need to figure how to upload...maybe tomorrow....B. | ||
| Seanp |
Great write-up, thanks. I wish I could be there... | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Seanp- Thanks for your response! BW was a lot of fun this year, maybe you can make it next year or just zoom down to Leesburg for the bikefest in late April and hang with 249,999 of your best friends (including a half a dozen or so Buellers). Its usually a Friday-Saturday-Sunday deal. I'll try to post that link in a couple different badweb areas. Just read your "why I do/why I don't ride a Buell" in your profile, and I agree 100%. When I ride in to work and students are checking out my well-loved mutant bike someone usually asks whose signature is on my Airbox and asking if it came with the bike. When I tell the story of meeting "the man" at Seminole HDB, and telling the story of how Eric checked out my son's winning pinewood derby car (painted in "Buell blue", with a big ole Buell pegasus logo) and signing it as well, they are amazed. One groovy cat, that Eric Buell  . | ||
| Nevrenuf |
it's a shame that you didn't catch the tenn. to fl thread and meet up with rpm and his buddy up at gainesville buell/hd. you would have met a few badwebbers plus a few from the buelletinboard. if i had the extra cash on hand, i would have bought the 049r that was for sale on the other side of lakeland but that's the pitfall of working in florida and not being on the road. and i'm glad someone get's the badweb name. of course as soon as i can, i have to get the wife a new scg to replace the one that i totalled 1-1/2 yrs ago at the first buelltoberfest. of course she does like the new blue one very much and so do i. |
