it being may and all, a time when people move onward and upward, i decided to do a little personal advancement of my own. some people get a PhD, others an MBA.
me, i got an S2R
so after 2 years on the 620, and many months of quietly watching the market for used S2R1k's, i found a deal that i could not pass up, right here on the DMF, courtesy of Chris from Ca-Cycleworks.
on sunday night i took delivery of an '06 S2R1k, black with white stripes and black wheels. it rained here monday and tuesday, so my experience on the bike so far has been limited to some trips around the block on sunday night, plus this morning's inaugural commute to work. all i can say so far is, hoooooleeeeeee crap.
talk about night and day. i commute on my bike daily, and know every single bump and pothole b/t my house and the office. on the 620, i have to stand up on the pegs for some of them. on the s2r, i barely know they exist.
likewise, commuting on the 620, i use all 5 gears. this morning i only needed 3 of the s2r's 6. the shifting on the s2r is just so damn precise. i love how the clutch engages so crisply.
one other huge difference that is really due to my own ignorance rather than a change in bikes ... the s2r came with bar risers, which i never had on my 620. i'm about 6', and man it makes such a huge difference. my wrists are far more comfortable and counter-steering is so much more natural.
the power difference is of course enormous. the s2r is so smooth and effortless, while the 620 felt like it was working very hard. oddly enough, i seem to ride more slowly and calmly on the s2r. it's almost like i had a napoleon complex on the 620, whereas on the s2r i've got nothing to prove.
overall it feels like christmas in may and i could not be happier. i've attached a pic that chris took before delivering to me. mods pending: removing the front faring, swap out the mirrors to CRG bar-end's, tail chop, replace tail light w/ integrated light/turn signals.
as a side-note, does anyone have experience with the mirrors currently on the bike (see pic below)? they are not quite the stock mickey-mouse mirrors, but chris described them to me as "low-profile lane-splitting mirrors". my issue is that they don't reach out past the bars, so no matter how i position them, all i can see is my shoulders. my visibility to the rear is extremely limited. just wondering if i'm doing something wrong.
thanks again, chris for all the help!! thanks Goat_Herder for the input on the 620-->s2r transition. and thanks to my wife who, when i pitched this idea to her, despite the fact that we just bought a fixer-upper house, responded "go for it".
Now to find that guy in the WRX Sti that took me off the line on the 620
