Bought my red F6BD on Feb 1 and the weather immediately went downhill..sigh. But, today was pleasant, so my wife and I decided to get out and put the first real miles in the saddle with the bike bone stock. Lubbock, TX to Littlefield, to Hereford, to Canyon, and then back down I27 to Lubbock, 258 miles total and 37mpg. Max sustained speed = 85mph. 20-30mph crosswinds when we were going north or south. Handled the crosswinds well--I mean it is a barn door from the side, but I’ve had other bikes with less plastic and smaller cross-sections that were worse in crosswinds. Did everything I asked of it without batting an eye—what an engine! Seating was comfortable for the both of us. My wife said the backrest was functional enough but it will definitely need to be raised before our big trips this summer. I didn’t mind the stock windshield so much. There wasn’t much buffeting but without earplugs the wind noise would have been maddening, so I can see a slightly taller windshield in the future. I didn’t mind the lack of cruise control, the throttle springs are a nice level of resistance (certainly not like my K1200RS where the throttle springs were made out of old bear trap springs). Overall, what a beautiful machine. This thing is made for 2-up.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what it does on the old Devil’s Highway: US 191 Springerville, AZ to Clifton, AZ.
