[Bone Stockman]

I figured I'd keep a log here just in case anyone cares.

I took Dagmar out on our first "real" ride today (my first since November 20th for anyone keeping score at home). I got right around 130 miles today in beautiful 45-50 degree weather on all sorts of roads. It was really, really good to get out.

I've got my seat in the "tall" setting, and "tall" is a good descriptor. I can flat-foot the thing, but only just so. I can dangle my feet off the pegs while riding, and only my toes hit the ground. The high seating position makes for a nice, commanding view of the road.

The seating position itself is somewhat of a mixed bag. As the day went on and my Motrin wore off, my right knee and left wrist complained a bit. I'll chalk that up to the accident and the fact that I'm not in my usual riding shape, because there's almost no weight on my wrists while I'm riding. Similarly, even with my knees bent and my feet beneath me, I had no issues at all with the good knee. With all that said, I will be adding a peg-lowering kit and some sort of highway pegs.

There are a ton of switches and buttons on the fairing, the gauge cluster, and the hand controls. I figured out how to turn the stereo on, but not how to change the station. There's a TPMS (which is nice), a computer that figures MPG and miles remaining, and a surprisingly accurate thermometer. Then there's the controls for the suspension (preload and damping), the traction control, the heated grips and seat, the adjustable windshield (awesome), the cruise control, the horn, the turn signals, the hazard lights, and the starter/killswitch.

So on to the riding. I took it out without the top case, and I dropped the panniers (saddlebags in BMW-speak) off at Battley to fix a minor issue. This is one (comparatively speaking) light bike. The lightness pays all sorts of dividends, with one major caveat (but more on that later).

Leaving the house and heading out onto the backroads, the hydraulic clutch is light and offers excellent feedback. With the suspension set to "comfort", the bike floats over all but the worst frost heaves in the pavement. Steering is effortless. Seriously effortless. Look where you want to go and the bike just falls into the turn. Full-lock turns are a breeze, even with the higher center-of-gravity. The brakes are nothing short of heroic. The fronts are linked to the rear, the rear also operates by itself. They're throw-you-over-the-bars strong, but easily modulated.

The Caveat....This is a much lighter bike than the BSL, with narrower tires. With the BSL, I could pretty much put it where I wanted it in the lane, and it stayed there. With the more aggressive steering head rake and the lighter weight, Dagmar requires a bit more attention while riding. However I could still ride hands-off, and the bike tracked straight as an arrow.

The power is sublime. The bike's so quiet that i really only hear the wind at lower RPMs. Power is smooth across the rev-band, with a nice surge starting at around 5,000 or so. The motor sends a nice little Softail-like tremor through the grips, and makes for an odd motion down below when rev-matching downshifts (probably due to the boxer layout).

What all this means on the road is that the rider's seat is way more comfortable than it looks and has amazing protection from the wind. The bike runs through corners with ease, and powers out of them better than anything this comfortable should. Running through roads that I'm very familiar with, I found myself braking way earlier than I needed to, and running much faster through corners. If I were at 100% and more familiar with the bike, I could embarrass squids on GSXRs on "my" roads.

So after one day of riding, I can say that I like it. It's got character. It's got soul. It's not a Harley, not by any stretch (with all the good and bad that comes with that). What it is is an awesomely capable sport-tourer. I might have used 40% of that capability today. I'm looking forward to exploring the rest.