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Riding is a huge part of my mental health, I always get a little depressed as winter sets in. Anybody else? What do you do when it's parked for a while?
Bought a salvage '22 Suzuki V-STROM 1050XT for wintertime garage fun. Found something interesting - In repairing a few salvage H-Ds, I've needed a variety of SAE, Metric, Phillips, Torx, Hex, even that funky 12pt front caliper bolt. So far on the V-STROM, I've needed a couple metrics and a couple hex. Nothing is overtightened and over-Loctite'd. Design is simple and intuitive. Unlike my Ducati where the simplest task is a Rubik's cube.
I live in central Indiana and just logged a 43,000+ mile year. A major factor in that has been heated gear. You could easily knock off 15k+ miles if I didn't have it. There were many, many days in the 20s and 30s where we'd ride hundreds of miles or even complete some Iron Butt challenges. When roads are clear, there is no temperature threshold now that keeps me from getting out there. Expensive up front, but a great investment to extend the season.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
Who, Me?
