Picked the Paso up from Wales yesterday and had an fairly uneventful 290 miles ride home to Kent, which certainly gave me time to think...
I've definitely gone soft in the last few years riding a modern BMW touring bike, what with big protective fairing, ABS servo assisted brakes, radio, heated grips and seats, etc!!!!! Certain the Paso gives that feeling of being in touch much more, though am definitely going to have 'Paso braking distances' which will be somewhat longer than the Beemer ones..
The bike itself I am so happy with. OK, there are a few things to sort but in the main it is in pretty good condition and, so far as I am concerned, I am happy with what I have got for my money.
The fuel gauge needs sorting as at first it didnt register at all then it was half full (after completely filling the tank) and then it didnt work again. this was a little bit of a pain in the ass on way home as I had no idea of the fuel consumption to expect or of tank capacity. Still it was just a simple case of stopping every 80 miles and putting some more juice in. No point in trying to be a 'press-on hero' and running out of fuel!!
I had one tiny carb glitch in the whole 5 hour journey, after about 40 miles when i braked for a roundabout in 5th and the engine sort of died, but after dropping a few gears it picked up no probs and ran like a dream for the rest of the way home. The light arent brilliant (but i have been used to exceptionally good BMW modern headlights) but they are actually better than I thought they would be. The instrument lights are poor (bulb off on one side?) and will need to be improved. Oh, and the clock doesn't work but at least it it totally accurate twice a day..which is more than can be said for just about any working clock in the whole world :-) Oh and the mirrors arent as bad as had been lead to believe, with careful adjustment can see behind enough to be useful, but lifesaver looks are part of my motorcycling anyway so no problems here.
I wasnt sure what to expect from the handling so took it steady and approached it with an open mind. I found the bike to feel very stable in a straight line (fine on the way home as it was mostly motorway cruising) but... how shall I put it?.... 'interesting' on the twisty bits. Am still trying to find the right words to sum it up. Slightly resistant to turning, with a feeling of the front wanting to turn in to the corner, skittish when leaned in and somewhat imprecise. Close inspection in todays light of day reveals it is still Michelin A59/M59 shod with dates of 189 and 289 on front and rear tyres respectively. The tyres have loads of tread on them and the pressures are fine (I checked before I rode home) but they appear to date from 1999 so no wonder they arent much good!!! Would be interested to hear from experience 750 riders if they think the cornering 'fun' is purely down to the age of tyres or is some of it down to 16"wheels. Would be great to swop rides on a sorted 750 to get feedback. Guess am going to learn about 16" tyre replacements pretty soon.
The bike has custom stainless exhausts and they sounds fantastic, if a little loud! Hope this wont cause any problems around MOT time.
And do you know the nicest bit of my journey home? At two of the petrol stops i made people came over and asked questions about the bike. "I've never seen a Ducati like that, what is it?", "How much would it cost to get something like this?", "Oh that sounds nice, what is it?".... and in all my recent BMW riding years that's never happened to me. And speaking of BMWs, am off to Google what one of these weird chain things is... am not used to that way of making the back wheel go round...... :-)
Sounds pretty typical.
