V7III-D - Accessories and Break-In

Cross post from WG - but figured some of you guys don't make it over there much anymore...

With spring rapidly approaching I thought it was time to get off my butt and start getting Jenn's new V7III-Dark ready and registered.

A large box arrived recently from AF1 containing a bunch of future maintenance items and the first of her choices in accessories.

So it was into the garage earlier this week with Seamus to start prepping momma's bike.

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The first job we tackled was the Sato Racing Sliders install.

A VERY nice piece of kit, and uber easy installation was done in maybe half an hour and most of that was because Seamus wants to help so I have to either do things twice or come up with more stuff so he can participate.

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The second task was probably more important to the little man as it involved installing his grab handles and butt stop, the HB topcase rack. Since my German is a little rusty "ein bier bitte" I mostly looked at the pictures and scanned for any torque specs "nein, nein, ze italians zo not use ze torque wrench, ve vill not botha zo give zuch specs if zey are just going to be ignored".

So instead I went and checked out the rack I installed 5 years ago on my V7 Stone. Ahh, I see, no problem, now where's the loctite?

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Overall another pretty easy task once I realized I needed to remove the frame bolts, not the sub-frame bolts right behind them. Oh, and in order to do so I had to drop the Carbon Fiber rear fender away from the frame. No big deal, just a few bolts.

The good news was that Seamus already FITS! He can sit against the topcase and put his feet on the pegs. So we'll be stopping at Cycle Gear soon for full kit for him!

Bottom line Happy Momma and Happy Moose!

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I also ran a battery tender lead, which meant disconnecting the battery so any trip data was lost and I couldn't verify the first partial tank full of mileage when I had her out a month or two back.

No matter.... with the AWESOME weather that was predicted for yesterday at least I had the bike ready. When the kids were off to school momma and I headed down to the DMV and took care of the final prep (paying the man for the right to ride).

With that out of the way we snuck out to a warming day so Jenn could start getting her break-in miles in on the thing.

After topping off and resetting things on the cluster the next stop was a little mexican place for lunch.

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And after a nice set of curvy roads (yeah, we went to north Jersey for lunch lol), we stopped at a favored multi-brand dealer for work (I'm working on a Grom manual right now) and to kick some Triumph tires...damn still want one of those...

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As mentioned here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (Why Not a Cali1400 Thread) we immediately ran into a Guzzi owner (on a Goldwing) and his friend on a kitted KLR (both in background behind beautiful Guzzis and well...Jenn).

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A little while later we were home again, Jenn now had over 100 miles on the VD....no wait, I'm not calling it that V73D.... ok that's better.

I'm happy to report the following:

* She likes the bike a lot.
* Though not quite as effortless in the curves as her Duc she happily reported to like the handling, says it's close and much lighter than the Sporty (duh)
* Seat feels cush to her - I told her that she likes her Duc seat too which means her ass is disqualified from opinions, that she in fact has "a dumbass" - to which she replied she indeed does, but she still loves me. Guess I should have seen that coming.
* Doesn't think she'll miss the tach at all - sounded surprised the first time the damn shift light flashed - and realized that she probably won't wind this out any more than she does the Duc (which is to say she doesn't).
* Found herself obsessed with trying to get the average fuel mileage to max on the way home. Don't think I'll ever match her numbers. But it will be interesting to see how close the gauge is at the next fill-up.

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Finally momma seems pleased, and I couldn't be happier.

Oh, interestingly she sat on a new Street Twin at the Triumph place and said she thought the new model felt too big (compared to the one it replaced) and was very happy with her decision not to wait and compare the Carbon with it, because she much prefers the Carbon. SWEET!

I will say the Street Twin and the Speed Twin were both drop dead gorgeous and I can see someone being VERY happy with either. I really think Triumph upped their "entry level Bonnie" game with the Street Twin it looked and felt like fine bike. I really must find a way to add one to the fleet someday. Jenn was like "Just sell the Sportster" and I was like "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOO YOU DIDN'T"

My calculated MPG didn't match the reality of what I was putting in the tank. Upon closer inspection I found that the gas setting was on imperial gallons vs. US. Maybe my bike was originally destined for Canada? Could also explain how the odometer was set to Km instead of miles.

egschade wrote:My calculated MPG didn't match the reality of what I was putting in the tank. Upon closer inspection I found that the gas setting was on imperial gallons vs. US. Maybe my bike was originally destined for Canada? Could also explain how the odometer was set to Km instead of miles.

Yeah, I thought I remembered you mentioning something about that.

FWIW, I SUSPECT ours is correct.

1. The odometer came set to the proper units.

2. MY mileage on the 60 miles or so I put on it a month or two ago was significantly lower (in the 50's) and keeping much more in line with what I tend to see on my Stone.

3. Jenn has a particularly gentle wrist and has seen 60+ on her Duc, so it would not surprise me if the is verified as true or close to true at the next fill up.

Where was the little Mexican place?

Never mind>>>I just figured it out by the statue out front!!!!!  Is that place any good??  Them is my old stompin grounds!!! Central Jersey BTW..lol

royaloilfield wrote:Where was the little Mexican place?

Never mind>>>I just figured it out by the statue out front!!!!!  Is that place any good??  Them is my old stompin grounds!!!

Los Pinos
569 Monmouth Rd
Cream Ridge, NJ 08514

Just past Six Flags in a tiny run down strip mall...before you get to 195


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Actually it wasn't bad at all.... not bad at all...

Here's an interesting take on a V7 III paint job. Maybe Jen would like more red?

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Uh I don't think she's painting any of the Carbon Fiber!

But that's a good look for a Stone.

Rear fender still should have been done.

I like it!