It was the first sunny weather for weeks here and 5 degrees (about 40F) so I went out for a blast of around 50 miles. The bike started first time; it lives outside under a cover, and sat for 3 weeks in the snow, but no problems starting. Just lots of white smoke at first.
Roads were still quite wet and a bit of mud around, so I took it easy, but wound it up a bit on the clear stretches. There's a national speed limit road (60mph) I ended up on, with a line of 12 cars stuck behind someone doing 40mph, so I got some nice overtakes in - 3 cars at once, then another couple, and finally a burst of acceleration and the road was clear ahead. It still amazes me how quick the FZ6 can take off in third... and the speeds you can get up to in just a few seconds.
I've discovered the rear shock is set to position 4, which feels pretty good (I'm 12 stone - 170lbs) so I'll leave it at that. Tyres I set to 34 front, 36 rear which is less squirly than before. They are Dunlop Qualifier RR, very grippy, but the rear has worn down fast in maybe 4000 miles. I'll need a new rear tyre for spring, and was thinking of getting the Dunlop Roadsmart on the rear for treadlife and leaving the RR on the front. I've read up a bit on using unmatched tyres, and the consensus, such as it is, seems to be that if you're going to do it, keep the stickier tyre on the front as that's less likely to break traction.
Anyway, it was great to be back riding again after a few weeks off. Roll on the spring.
opcorn:
