Shakedown cruise

[Guidedawg]

I sold my Shadow VLX 600 and purchased a VTX 1800.  Needless to say, there is a considerable size and weight difference.

So on my first Saturday available (Sept 5) I grabbed my copy of David Haynes' Motorcycling Alabama and looked for any nearby loops I had not yet ridden.  I found one that covered roads I had ridden several times but also had some new ground so I made a few modifications and took off.

I took 231 North from Montgomery and went through Wetumpka before turning off on CR 29 to Titus.

The point of this trip was to acclimate myself to the bike.  I had ridden a friend's before test driving this one to make sure I could even pilot the beast and we did fine though it obviously feels a lot different.  One of the hardest things to get used to is floorboards when you are used to being able to immediately drop from a peg.  Still, the bike and I did fine on the often traveled 4 lane highway.

We journeyed on the rural 2 lane road through Titus and up to Kelly's Crossroads where it crosses Hwy 22, a fun road in itself.  I had never traveled any of the 29 north of this point so I turned on my camera and gave it a shot.  As you can see, the theme for me and this large bike was very much "take it easy"

It was an unfamiliar bike on an unfamiliar road and there were times that I wished I was still on my lil' Honda to enjoy the curves, but I was still pleased with how we did.

I finally reached the metropolis of Weogufka where the volunteer fire department was collecting donations in the intersection but the famous general store was not open



But I did take a few minutes to talk to the firemen, one who whom showed me a local sight or two as I stretched my legs.







From there I made my way across the Coosa on Lay Dam road and then into Clanton.  Normally, I would have taken 31 home but I had stuff to do and I expected this bike to not be as buzzy on the Interstate.   As you can guess, that's where it was really at home and I knew traveling 2 up would not be a problem though I would have to get comfortable on twisties.

I went through a bit of rain on the way home so we were both baptized that way as well.

Overall, I am very pleased with the bike and that trip made me comfortable enough to put my wife on the back 3 days later when we went to Washington County for an aunt's funeral.  On that trip we took both interstate and back roads.  Since I was familiar with that route we took that at a quicker pace and did great.

Now I'll have to revisit Weogufka when the store is open and I can twist the throttle a bit more.

[kdtrull]

Congratulations on the new ride.
Nice shakedown report and sights.

[ThumperTriple]

I picked up a copy of that book as well, looking forward to using it.

[springer]

 Thanks for taking us along!

[Bluesman]

One of my favorite loops.Always have to stop at Peach Park for ice cream!!!

[Nice Goat]

I loved my second VTX 1800.  The first one felt strange, but the second one was perfect in every way.