Well i've got a 'real' bike at last

i'm now the proud owner of a 57plate transalp 650, 1300 miles on the clock,
with the 45 litre honda top box,
not gonna say wot i paid for it as you lot will only tell me i been robbed
(but give us a clue how much i should have paid if you like

Never ridden a bike like that before, rode trails style bikes when i was a
teenager (DT, KMX, TS etc) then rode a yammy virago for a couple of years
till last year, when i got that shite chinkie scoot i hate sooo much.

Had a 135 mile ride from where i bought the bike from to home, along the
A47, **** what a boooooring road that is, think theres 3 bends in it and a
couple of roundabouts, bet anyone who lives in kings lyn and works in
norwich rides a harley or some other bike that dosent do corners.

The seat was kinda comfortable, i'm never going to be 100% sore/num bum free
on any seat due to me medical probs (an no it's not piles, hips are a bit
fucked due to mis formed joints, and back is all screwed up), but the
transalp seat was the comfortablest stock seat i've sat on of any bike i've
owned, and i'm so glad i didnt go for the KLE 500 with it's plank seat.

I just have a little problem swinging my leg over the thing occasionaly (due
to hip joints), i know there's a lowered seat available for this bike, and
it's pretty cheap too, so may try that, but am worried it'll be less comfy.

Impressed with the engines performance, and i know you lot will all laugh at
that, it's only 58 hosses i believe, but thats about 57 and a half more than
that shite scoot i been riding has.

Got 49.22 MPG on the trip home, i've read that removing the cat box thingy
in the exhaust can release upto 10 mpg more on a few transalp forums, but
the bike is still in warrenty, so guess i'll have to wait 18 months till i
chop the bugger out, unless there's a gynacologist in the house who can
remove it internaly through the tail pipe???

Only gripe so far is vibration through the handlebars, and those bloody
awfull grips, gonna fit foam grips (or maybe heated grips if they are
comfortable) and see about maybe some bar end weights?? or would one of
those lead snake things to thread down the bars be better?

Now i've just got to make some friends to go out riding with now that i have
a real bike, but who the **** could put up with me in real life, i piss
enough people off on-line.

 

They hold their value quite well and there aren't that many to start with.

One of the most comfortable bikes I've owned. Not as comfy as my XJ650, more
comfy than my Bandit, reminiscent of my ZG1000 but without the end of day
numb bum.

Less padding and it will alter your knee and hip angles as you sit on the
bike. Unless you are deficient in inside leg, don't bother.

58?, that is very optimistic. Much better than a Chinese POS scooter though.

I never bothered on mine as the cut'n'shut looked beyond me. I'd rather get
a set of headers made up so when it came to selling time I could put the
bike back to stock. They do respond well to some aftermarket tail pipes,
minor jetting work and keeping the stock air filter. Check the forums.
Fuel consumption improves as the bike runs in.

Don't bother.

The fatter diameter grips may suit you better. The vibes also diminish as
the engine runs in. The run in mileage on these engines seems to be about
6,000 and they do need thrashing every now and then to get the best from
them. I never found the vibes to be an issue in the first place.

Not white knuckling the bars is better all round.

 

You've overlooked the economising aspect. Having a KLE saves me having to
pay to get my cods slapped with a plank by the local prossies

 

Wise move. The Transalp is a much better choice than the KLE. It will last
many years if you choose to keep it, or not drop in value too much if you
decide to get a different bike.

Sounds like you need to get to a UKRM meet. If you had got along to the
French run you wouldn't have been out of place. There was another Transalp
rider there and a number of people pissed off others...

 

Plan to keep it, only had it 3 days now, and done 400 miles, but i love the
thing, thank **** i never went for that 125 thing, what the **** was i
thinking of,

I put foam grips on her, and my hands no longer go numb, could do with the
bars being about 2 inches closer to me, so i'm not stretched so much, might
play with some bar risers as the handlebar mounts point backwards a bit,

Thought i spotted a transalp in the photo's,
Problem is i don't drink, or smoke, or owt 'fun' like that, so i'm just a
boring **** that pisses everyone off, so not sure i'd be exactly welcome at
any meets,

Tho i did know someone on here who lives up the road from me where i live
now, unfortunately my GF has decided to latch onto him as an agony uncle
type, and tells him and his missus every single detail of our relationship,
of course doing what women are good at, and making out everything is my
fault, so i doubt he'd want to know me now....

sometimes i do think another GF would be best as suggested to me by a few
people on here, look at the hassle this one caused over the feckin new bike,
only thought of a 125 cos she said she wanted to learn gears and ride sommat
better than the scooter, lost the 100 quid deposit over that **** up.