3 Twisted Sister Ride Report
This is an after action report on my Twisted Sisters ride last weekend. I went with a group of fellow retired firefighters from Amarillo. There were 9 bikes, 8 Harley's, one of those was a trike, and then me on my 2015 RTL. You could also read this as a performance report of SpYder vs Harley. You should also note this is my first bike. I have had it a little over a year and it had only 5000 miles on it when we left. You can see that I don't have a lot of experience.
When we left town it was about 36 degrees which was not a real concern because I dressed for the cool and have some Baker Air Wings. I also have the big F4windshield. We got into formation and drove the first 120 miles to Lubbock wher one of the newest Harley's promptly shut down at the busiest intersection in town. The good part of this is that this guy gave me a bunch of bailing wire "just in case something falls off." After we pushed him out of the traffic I promptly offered it back to him! Some people have no sense of humor. He has a computer issue and it caused his CB to quit. He had to reboot a dozen times before it would finally start. This became a continuing problem. Every time we stopped he had issues.
All of those guys have last century technology for communication between the bikes by using CB radios. I don't have one but I do have a Sena headset. I must admit that the CB was helpful by talking front rider to back guy for lane changes and road hazards. We looked like a snake going down the road doing well executed lane changes. At one of our fuel stops I bought a hand held CB. I could not talk very easy but could listen with ear buds. If the CB for our bikes were not so crappy I might buy one because I doubt if I can get all those guys to change to Sena type system.
"THE RIDE" on Twisted Sisters was outstanding! I have lived in Texas for 60 years but have never been to this part. The scenery is great with nice curves, roads along sheer drop offs, rivers, lakes, big impressive homes and ranches. My SpYder with my experience level vs all those seasoned riders in my group was enough to keep up and stay with them. I did have a few "OH CRAP" moments where I was a little too hot in the turn. I think I should plan on a BajaRon sway bar to improve the tight cornering.
We stayed in Ingram, Texas at the Hunter House Inn. We met up with about 150 other firefighters who were there for their annual conference and ride. We would not ride with that big of a group for safety reasons. We did our own thing. This motel and the town in general are extremely biker friendly. The facilities are not five star but were clean and comfortable with a nice cafe on site. If the bikes quit going to this town it would dry up and blow away.
This is a very historic area of Texas with lots of little towns that played a part in Texas history. Some of these towns are on the ride loops like Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Comfort, Bandera, Boerne, Leakey and of course Luckenbach where Waylon, Willie, and the boys ....... On one of the rides we ended up at the Javelina Harley Davidson dealership so 3 of the boys could get stuff fixed! Austin and San Antonio are 30 minutes or so away.
on the last day we were there one of the guys in my group was backing his Harley into a parking spot and his foot slipped in the gravel and it fell over on his foot. I told him mine backs up just fine and won't fall over. I feel bad now because he found out yesterday he broke a bone in his foot!
BTW, I did see about 18 or so other Spyders in the 4 days we were down there.
My my ride did as good as any of the guys I went with, except for fuel mileage. The best I got was 36 and that was on the Twisted Sisters day and the average is about 28 at highway speeds. I have the extra tall and extra wide F4 windshield so I feel that is the main reason. As far as cornering all the guys were impressed! I could not get anyone to drag race off the line. They would beat me all out because mine goes a lot faster than I am willing to drive it.
The creature comfort of mine vs the newest Harley's .............. Their technology seems to be better in the am-fm radio system, CB, GPS. It is all in the dash screen with the tach and speedo. It is also Bluetooth to their helmets. Can Am should look at this area to improve our stuff. Their headlight system is pretty neat too!
Seat comfort....... About 1300 miles door to door round trip. I have got to tell you that my butt hurts! I got no sympathy from my riding guys..... They said it should hurt because it has a big crack in it!:roflblack::roflblack:
I have no real regrets, issues, or problems YET! It was an outstanding ride to an outstanding place. I was surrounded by people wearing leather and sporting tattoos of which I don't have. Best of all......I did not see a PETA protester anywhere!
