Interesting ride this weekend

This F6B continues to impress me. Took a ride to the north woods of MI on Saturday morning. Friend lives in the Traverse City area. Weather was supposed to be decent but ended up being s**t. Got rained on for 3 hours on the way up. 50°’s. That was some cold riding. Left my Underarmor at home like an idiot.

The newer E3’s are not quite as stable at high speeds in the rain as the stock Bridgestones. Especially the front. Just my opinion but it seems I’ve ridden this bike more in the rain than nice weather. Still was able to do high speeds, just not quite like I want in the pouring rain. 85ish mph was about all she liked in heavy rain.

Up north was absolutely beautiful. Full color up there right now. Got to watch a couple hockey games for my (say so) nieces and nephews. Got to watch some college football and play some ping pong with the kids. Ate some good food and had a great time. Only spent about a 24hr period up there due to weekend time constraints. It’s about 270 miles away from my place so went up Saturday morning and headed home Sunday morning.

F6B is a phenomenal highway bike. Can do unpublishable speeds all day long. Even in the rain. Started out this morning with 50° and 30mph+ blowing rain off Lake Michigan, lol. That was not the best riding but the faster I went the better the rain protection.

Have a few ongoing issues with the stereo attached to my phone for music. Works for a hour or two then just quits. Unplug it for awhile (like letting it cool down or something). FM stereo still works fine during this time. Then it works for awhile aging before quitting again (iPhone streaming stored music, directions, or Pandora). So far, that’s the most frustrating part of this bike.

This bike is just so much better than my last bikes at doing trips. I really like it :)

Glad you are getting "used to her."
Soon the dating will be over and the real romancing will begin!

Which iPhone do you have and how are connecting it?
USB in the bag or audio IN located in the left cubby?

I've noticed others have had iPhone issues via USB, but the iPhone IOS update seems to cure some of their issues.
I use an old iPod in the USB and have no issues with it.

Cheers,
Steve

First my iPhone 6 and now my brand new 8.

Had to run a Apple brand 6’ cable up to my phone mount from the left saddle bag USB connector (no other connector would even work).

Been stupid busy building my shop here at home this year so haven’t ridden as much as usual. Hit 6k of my own miles on this bike on this weekends trip though (bought it with 4K miles on it).

I just love the fact that I can really take time off a trip with the highway speed and range this thing is capable of. I can get 190ish miles between fill ups at high speeds where my Roadstar could barely get 110 miles from similar speeds. And my teeth aren’t vibrated out of my head at the end. Although, if I had it to do over again, I would’ve worn a helmet. The wind noise in my ears isn’t doing my hearing any favors. I wore a winter hat on the way home and that helped a ton with the wind noise and ear ringing. I should’ve worn my ear plugs for sure

Last week I drove about 8 hours in the rain with the E3 and the tires were great from south Ill to northeastern Wis, bike and tires never slipped and we were moving. We put on over 750 miles that day to get home most of it in the rain.

WRT the tires....

I've had two sets of 'Stones and one set of E4s.
I also found the Stones to be superior in wet weather, but the E4s are amazing on dry pavement and tar snakes.

I got 18,000 out of each set of Stones and at 36,000 I put on the E4s.
The rear E4 was replaced at 18k, the front is still going at 25k.

Cheers,
Steve

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Originally Posted by JackB

Last week I drove about 8 hours in the rain with the E3 and the tires were great from south Ill to northeastern Wis, bike and tires never slipped and we were moving. We put on over 750 miles that day to get home most of it in the rain.

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Honestly no real complaint. Just pushing them to higher speeds in heavy rain. Like torrential downpour where you can’t see taillights in front of you until you’re only a few feet behind them.


Had a few 85+ wobbles that didn’t happen with the Bridgestones. Is what it is. Should just probably slow down a little more in the rain but my head is too hard sometimes:)

The rear Bridgestone were done at 8kish. That was why we were late to Helen GA a month ago or so.

Hoping to get some more out of these E3’s but would’ve picked E4’s if I had the chance. We will see what happens:)

Some responses:

1. I got 11,500 out of the original Bridgestone rear.

2. Currently have 15,100 on the original Bridgestone front, and its down to the indicators. I have a new one, just have to swap it and end of season (coming soon)

3. Replacement Bridgestone rear is already starting to howl a bit in the lean, with about 4,000 miles on it. Just like the original. It doesn't really bother me; the tire is a good value IMO.

4. My iPhone 6S causes issues with the USB in the saddlebag. It seems to work best with an Apple branded cord. I tried a $5 cheapie from Five Below; big mistake. I now use an "Amazon Basics" brand retractable cord and its better, but when I "Shuffle All" it will play one album only or will stop playing in the middle of a song, or go silent. These high tech devices are awesome...when they work!

5. I never had any issues with using the 3.5mm jack in the fairing pocket, with female-to-male cord extender that allowed it to reach the Ram Mount...but...I only use the Sirius XM app with that, since you can't control the order of songs playing off your iTunes. Hopefully the new Wing addresses this; the current Wing and F6B uses previous generation tech.

6. 85 mph...in the rain...no helmet? :yikes:

Nah, don’t wear a helmet here in MI. I know, I know, no lectures. Thought about it this time due to the cold and rain but maybe one of these days.

The speed in the rain was more of an experiment on what the limits of the bike/tires are in those conditions. That and I don’t like being passed when it’s raining. The spray off of vehicles is terrible. Heavy rain got a little sketchy but I had no problems with normal/light rain. I mean, they still race motorcycles in the rain so I know it can be done. I just wanted to see where the line started to get a little fuzzy:icon_mrgreen:

On another note, I had to get an Apple branded cord for my phone to work with the stereo thru the USB thing (6’ cord run up under the seat to my RAM mount). No other aftermarket cord worked at all. It almost acts like something is overheating and after cooling down for a period of time, works just fine again. Until it overheats again. Not sure if that makes sense or not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deerkiller

Nah, don’t wear a helmet here in MI. I know, I know, no lectures. Thought about it this time due to the cold and rain but maybe one of these days.

The speed in the rain was more of an experiment on what the limits of the bike/tires are in those conditions. That and I don’t like being passed when it’s raining. The spray off of vehicles is terrible. Heavy rain got a little sketchy but I had no problems with normal/light rain. I mean, they still race motorcycles in the rain so I know it can be done. I just wanted to see where the line started to get a little fuzzy:icon_mrgreen:

On another note, I had to get an Apple branded cord for my phone to work with the stereo thru the USB thing (6’ cord run up under the seat to my RAM mount). No other aftermarket cord worked at all. It almost acts like something is overheating and after cooling down for a period of time, works just fine again. Until it overheats again. Not sure if that makes sense or not.

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No lectures, to each his own...I've been on jet skis caught in the rain, and going 50 mph into rain hurt like hell...couldn't imagine 85! Also, seems as though it be tough to see. Goggles?

Thinking about the phone thing...What might be overheating is your phone. My phone is always warm when I take it out of the saddlebag, and it always &^%$s up after its been running for awhile.

But...then again...the phones draw A LOT of power for charging and playing tunes. I plug mine into a speaker dock and it runs the fan on that, where an iPod doesn't kick the fan on.

I rode pretty hard in the rain for about 200 miles a couple months back. But my question is; How do you know when it"s getting a "little sketchy"? On two wheels there's not much distance between Fine and OH F#%&!!!

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Originally Posted by Heatnbeat

I rode pretty hard in the rain for about 200 miles a couple months back. But my question is; How do you know when it"s getting a "little sketchy"? On two wheels there's not much distance between Fine and OH F#%&!!!

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The front started feeling a little loose, particularly when changing lanes one time and then it was in my head for the next couple miles. Almost felt like a front tire very low on air. That’s when it was really coming down. I think bikes are capable of more than most of our minds think they are. One of the reasons I like pushing a little past comfortable. Let’s you know where the real line might be. I never knew what front brakes were even capable of until I started riding a super bike on a racetrack. My mind would never let me apply that much pressure on the street several years ago. A ton of what I learned on the race track has made me a much better rider on the street over the years.