Been a while since I posted here and thought I would share my experiences with my f2 over the past year. I've had my bike for 2 years now. When I got it, it was low miles and very clean for it's age, but need ALL the major repairs, tuneups. I put the all steel, RK chain and sprocket set on (20,000 mile warranty) about 4500 milles ago and it hasn't detectably stretched at all. Very high quality product. Went through the carbs, went through 4 or 5 rectifiers. The main thing was increasing my skill with the machine so that it felt like part of my body when I rode. I haven't dumped the bike because I treat most city streets like they're dangerous. You don't know what's on the ground 'till you're on the ground sometimes. I'm only now feeling truly comfortable with this machine, being able to u-turn left or right in the street at low speed when I need to, dragging knees in aggressive turns and developing my muscle coordination for turning the bike smoothly and efficiently at all speeds. Using my knees and rest of body as a counter balance in turns, etc. This is all just staring to happen after 2 years of lots of riding. I did my best to learn as much as possible about the bike, especially the essentials. One thing i'm starting to really understand is the charging system. These bikes do NOT charge unless they're being driven at 5,000 rpm and higher. Anything below that, is pulling charge from the battery and will result in the bike shutting off, which happened to me a couple times when I thought the rectifier was bad. One time I was out for a slow, relaxing ride out in the country, one was after I had taken the riders permit, after the bike had gotten rained on while waiting in line at the DMV and another beforehand when I was practicing the riding test. Bike died the last 2 times and I was either forced to push it 7 blocks (3 uphill) and the other time, I caught it in time to start riding it fast and got on the interstate to give it some rpm. Great bike, which I still haven't pushed anywhere close to redline. I really like the bike because it's simple, beautiful, mechanically tough and sounds 3 times better than most newer bikes on the road. The new bikes are too quiet, can be a pain to modify some things and too plasticky for my taste. Todays design aren't as attractive to me as pre 2005. Although honda continues to make very pretty bikes, as does yamaha. It's not always about speed.

 

Welcome back, man, it has been a while!!

 

Welcome back to the forum Outsider.

Sounds like you've been concentrating on the right stuff, with regard to riding skills.

Trying to go too fast too soon just reinforces bad habits, much better to concentrate on low speed skills and riding comfortably within your limits and building up gradually. It seems counter-intuitive at first, but you're now reaping the benefits of your patience and will be a much better rider for it.

 

Def, Def. I'm only now really realizing what it is to become acclimated to such a machine. This is an important relationship which must be developed over time so that both man and machine can share the physics of movement when riding. Each day my muscle memory rewards me, the more I ride. On another note, I rode raged (try my BEST to let things go), yesterday, when a large sedan cut in front of me at high speed. I followed him until he hit a stop sign and gave him a piece of my mind. Funny thing was, he had such a THICK irish accent, I had to ask the african american thugs in the car what the heck he was saying. The one thing he did understand is me telling him that he put my life in danger and to get out of the car if he was such a bad a$$. Damn, I try to avoid this type of garbage, but it just happens. Especially when i'm having an exceptionally good day. It's like the devil always lurking around you to kill any enjoyment you may be experiencing. I was able to quickly let it go and leave it for what it was. Stupidity.