Bandit Alley
REGIONAL FORUMS => CANADA => Topic started by: stormi on August 30, 2011, 10:45:30 PM
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Looks like work is sending me to London on Sept 10 and 11 for the Parts Canada Show and Tell.
I'm going to try to get there Sept 9th, so I can be relaxed for Sept 10th.
I've never been there, hell, I've never been east of eastern Alberta.
What's to see? Anyone want to get together for snacks or a drink?
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Honestly, I don't think there's much in London. It's kind of a small university city. But I haven't been there in over a decade, so it might have changed.
Too bad you're not coming to Toronto because then I could give you lots of recommendations.
If I wasn't in the middle of moving I'd go to London for a beer... but the boxes aren't packing themselves. :(
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Go to the Ace Cafe!! :motorsmile:
OOPS! Wrong London. :stickpoke:
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Honestly, I don't think there's much in London. It's kind of a small university city. But I haven't been there in over a decade, so it might have changed.
Too bad you're not coming to Toronto because then I could give you lots of recommendations.
If I wasn't in the middle of moving I'd go to London for a beer... but the boxes aren't packing themselves. :(
LOL! If I thought I'd be allowed out of the security area, I'd say I'd meet you in Toronto for a beer. I don't think they'll let me do that though. IIRC, it's a 3hr layover in Calgary on the way there, and a layover of some time on the way back in Toronto.
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Go to the Ace Cafe!! :motorsmile:
OOPS! Wrong London. :stickpoke:
LOL! Yeah, I told r_outsider that I was going to London for the Parts Canada thing and he goes "England?!?!?"
Uhm,.. no. I thought the "Parts Canada" part gave it away personally, but I guess I could have been clearer. :duh:
Looks like I'll be rolling into London at about 7:30 am too on Saturday, so I'll have some time to wander, since the show doesn't start til 6pm,... unless I wanna do some of the demo rides,... KTM, Kymco, Triumph, Traxx, nothing interesting at all... :stickpoke:
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unless I wanna do some of the demo rides,... KTM, Kymco, Triumph
Hey Stormi
With your dirt bike experience, it might be a great time to try out the new Triumph Tiger 800XC...looks like a blast.
I used to have relatives in London, but I never did visit, so sorry, no suggestions.
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unless I wanna do some of the demo rides,... KTM, Kymco, Triumph
Hey Stormi
With your dirt bike experience, it might be a great time to try out the new Triumph Tiger 800XC...looks like a blast.
I used to have relatives in London, but I never did visit, so sorry, no suggestions.
Hah! This is a question you'll be able to fully appreciate (since we have met in person)... will I be able to touch the ground on it any better than the KTMs? I can't even brush the ground gently on the KTM Duke, or 990 Adventure.
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Well, here i am in ontario. So far so good. I didn't get lost but the price of a cab was a little shocking. I'm waiting for the shuttle to the demo rides this morning. Looks like suzuki and ktm will be here at the least. Shoukd be an interesting day, especially with the 30 mins sleep i got on the plane. I'm thinking its going to be a redbull day. :stickpoke:
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How were the demo rides? Did you find anything else to do in London?
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I've been to London as part of a weekend in Waterloo. The only interesting thing anyone came up with was having brunch on Sunday.
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Didn't spend as much time doing that as I thought. (92 vendors take a lot of time to see and talk to). Did get a chance to ride the KTM 250SX and the gixxer 750.
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Did get a chance to ride the KTM 250SX and the gixxer 750.
Don't tell us what you thought of them. :stickpoke: :bandit:
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LOL! Oh, did you want to know that too?? :stickpoke:
OK,.. the KTM first, cos I rode it first.
I've never been on a full sized 4 stroke dirt bike before. I doubt I will be again. In all fairness though the bike wasn't set up for me, so due to height, I threw a leg over it, and when I stretched to get my right foot on the ground, I immediately gave myself a charlie horse in my right calf. (and in borrowed boots yet. PC supplied us with Thor boots, men's only of course, so they were heavy and bulky) That didn't start the relationship off well. :banghead: It was sheer fear of being "that girl that dropped the KTM before she even started it" that kept me upright.
Power delivery is significantly different from what I'm used to because of the 4 stroke and the SX type tuning. I found it more abrupt than the 2 stroke I'm used to, and it seemed harder to haul my ass around the track they'd built for the event than it usually is to ride my own KTM. The other thing that didn't help the test ride was the fact that I had been up for about 28 hours by then, with a 20 min nap on the puddle jumper plane from Toronto to London. Throttle control was not really in my bag of tricks that day. It felt like the bike was dragging my butt over the jumps and the landings were not that of the "nimble" 200EXC that I'm used to. I also learned while you can get away with it (as in only multiple bruises and a bit of torn muscles) to chop the throttle if you find yourself a little too hot into a jump at take off, doing this on a 4stroke can be a lesson in self mutilation.
Now, the GSXR750: It was an interesting "Controlled" ride,.. with speeds up to 160kph (100mph for you metrically challenged). This in a province I've never been in, on a bike I'd never ridden. Oi!! I was at the back of the pack, on purpose, especially because I wasn't riding a demo bike, I was riding the "personal" bike of the Suzuki rep. Getting on the bike it felt comfortable right off the bat. I could touch the ground with both feet, it seemed a little taller than my VFR was stock, so I was a little over cautious because of that. I especially didn't want to be "that girl who dropped the Suzuki Rep's Gixxer....". It corners beautifully. Of course I didn't push it too hard in the corners, I know that the Suzukis prefer to make life interesting more than the Hondas that tend to wait for the rider to do it. ;) Acceleration didn't seem as abrupt as the CBR600 I'd ridden, but I suspect that's on purpose with the bigger engine, more torque, etc. Braking was far more abrupt than m VFR's linked ABS brakes. In fact the first stop bordered on terrifying for me, but I quickly adjusted to it after that. Over all, it was a well behaved bike that I could see myself riding for shorter rides. For longer, I prefer my slightly higher riding position and smaller ground clearance.