Just FYI

I posted a couple posts to my other blog that were motorcycle related.
Steve, there's one more pic of my bike over there. Stay tuned for more
thoughts on the Boulevard. Hint: its all good. :)

Sent from my iPhone

Oh yeah, almost forgot...

I guess I may have to change the rideblog name to something else. At least if I'm going to post any ride logs with my new Suzuki Boulevard C50 that is! Behold the majesty:

Waiting for roll-out at dealer.

First Day at Home

I suppose you could say that I'm a little excited. To answer the big question most people have had, no, I did not get rid of the DR650. The Boulevard is merely an addition to my stable. And I have to say it's quite an addition. Specifically, it's a 2007 Suzuki Boulevard C50C. I believe the extra 'C' at the end stands for Custom. It's got some extras that the base model doesn't have. Namely, studded seats, a custom paint job with tribal graphics, and mag wheels. I didn't intend to get the Custom model, but the dealer mis-quoted the price based on the base model, and it was too good to pass up. MSRP is $7100. I got it out the door for $7122. Before taxes and all that rhubarb, it was $6299. Not too freaking shabby.

I got it on... Wednesday, I think. (?) Got about 350 miles on it so far. She rides real smooth. Plenty of low/mid torque, and does ok at about 80mph on the freeway. I've wanted a cruiser since about 2001, when I bought my Bandit. The bandit edged out a couple cruiser models I was looking at as I wanted to do more distance riding, and it seemed more suited to that. But, buzzy handlebars made anything over about 90 miles... numbing.

This past little while I've been thinking about a bike to get in the spring that is good for road work. Considered a lot of options, from SV605s, BMW F650s, Bandit 1200s, etc. The Bandit might have been best suited for highway work, but the price tag on it was just too high for me. With taxes I probably would have spent close to $10k, IIRC. So, I settled on the idea of finally getting a cruiser, and among all the ones I looked at, the Boulevard C50s jumped out at me. (Now 3 Suzuki's in my "garage" and I always thought I was a Honda guy. Huh.)

Apparently, since Suzuki only sells motorcycle, (unlike most other companies who also have their hands in ATVs and snowmobiles) they drop their prices in the winter to keep revenue coming in. It could be all dealer BS, but it did result in a pretty substantial savings for me.

So, now that I'm halfway through the break-in interval, what do I think? I'm totally satisfied. Need to get some bags on it so I don't have to carry a backpack, and I want to get a windshield at some point to help with highway fatigue, but other than that, the bike is spectacular. My butt still gets a bit sore after less than 60 miles, but nothing like the DR650. After 3+ hours of riding today, I don't feel at all saddle sore, and that's something I can't say about the DR. Still, they're both great bikes for their own purposes.

I recorded my route today with the GPS. But, it's nothing too fancy. I basically went to Daniel's Summit for lunch, then turned around, went through Heber, and up through Park City to SLC, then back down to the Provo/Orem area. Since the route is pretty well marked (and I didn't take any pictures as the landscape is pretty barren this time of year) I'm not going to bother with processing and uploading the GPS files.

Great day for a ride, though. Probably one of the last best ones before winter hits in earnest. Can't wait for Spring...