A week of riding in a glance.

So it's been a week since I've been riding Kyoko (the name of my bike) on real roads in real traffic.  I must start by saying that the mobility and accessibility with her is simply amazing.  I can park right next to where my classes are, and I can park at Northgate (bars, food, and social center of College Station) without paying.  In addition, I can park close to the REC center and work.  It encourages me to go work out, and anything that does that is worth its weight in gold.

Traffic has been pretty quiet.  I'm getting better at following a vehicle.  I either was lagging from a start or was riding too close for a stop.  Friday's lunch traffic was the first congested traffic I've been in, and it was fierce.  Regardless, I managed to get home just fine.  

I've noticed that the brakes, while good, are not rated for my weight.  I could use bigger discs/calipers, but we'll worry about that when I graduate to a 600SS in a few years :D.

I really want to go try riding some local twisties, but I have to finish a Maymester course (cramming 1 semester of class into 2 weeks.)

Later

Finally Licensed and Ready to go

This is going to be a long post.

After about an exact year of waiting, I have my license. I would have had it sooner, but college sucks. The licensing went easier than expected. I went and did the written test Wednesday, and took the driving test Thursday. Basically it was about 10 minutes of riding down a 50mph road, turning to a neighborhood, getting back on the fast road, and parking at the DPS. No hard U-turns that I was expecting. Comparatively, getting the license was 10-20x easier than taking MSF, but I still intend to retake it.

Brought it to college Saturday, and I've been doing easy riding. College Station is a ghost town after semesters and during summer. Sunday: I rode a couple miles to work, then went to the REC to work out. I didn't have a parking pass. The violation would cost $40, but ironically, the permit till August was $11.

The bike does good. I might like a bit more power in first and second gear. I have to be in 4th to be moderately revved @45-50 MPH. When I launch, to be swift enough, I have to race and shift fast to get to speed. I've learned that I need to allow more stopping distance as well.

I was sitting at a light for a good 5-10 minutes waiting to make a left turn. I guess there wasn't enough weight to signal the light to change :D. Now here's a pic of my babies: