Trip Report - 05/27/00 - Picking up the F4

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The plan was to leave at 6:00 AM and take the three hour ride to the dealer with two friends. The late night before altered this, and ended up with one friend and an 8:30 AM start.

The day was beautiful. The was little cloud cover but clear skies all through the day, perfect weather for a nice ride. The drive to the dealer was uneventfull. I wasn't reallythinking about the bike, I was more concerned about the directions given by RouteMap, road atlas cd. Take the FDR, pick up my friend, I95N and then to I91N and we were there. I was concerned about riding back on the F4 through the FDR drive, and told my friend we'll have to go another route on the way home.

At the dealership, I went into the showroom and asked for the salesperson who helped me over the phone. By coincidence he was the person I was speaking to already. He pointed me to my bike and asked to see my registration, he quickly checked this against the VIN#...whooh, everything matched. The bike was near the wall, it was on a red rear stand near the RC51. It had signs on it, "Please don't touch." and "SOLD" ...nice. He asked me if I was trailering the bike, I told him I'd like to ride home, to his surprise. I gave him the license plates to mount on the bike so it can be roadworthy. The mounting holes did not match. We took it off the stand and he rolled it to the service area. While the attendant punched hole is the license plate, the salesperson retrieved the bag of goodies that came with the bike. Inside the clear plastic bag was a small toolkit, mounting screws, a document holder, and a warranty booklet. I was surprised that the manual was not present. The salesperson told me that MV had not provided one yet, I guess Xerox doessn't translate in Italian too well. He also gave me one key, and the other he took for the F4. The owner came by and shook my hands, he tells me that they have eight bikes coming this year, but he was doubtful of the numbers. The license plate was now mounted and ready to go.

The slesperson started the bike and the first thing I checked was the odometer, 14 km. He shut her down and rolled her into the parking lot. First, he warns me about the kickstand. It retracts up by itself and shuts the motor when extended. "It's an Italian thing," he says. He shows me the liquid reservoirs, and controls. He tells me that she was setup for a 150 lb rider, thats where my weight hovers around so it was a perfect match from he start. He tells me that I shouldn't go over 5000~6000 rpm for the first 500 miles. He also tells me to scrub in the new tires and be cautious at turns before 50 miles has passed. He shook my hand and wished me a safe ride home.

My first time stradling the bike, I got very nervous and excited. Can I handle this bike and the power it has? I got off making sure the kickstand was down and my friend hopped on, I tried to start it with him at the cockpit, but he didn't want any of that. I put on my leather jacket, changed my boots, put in the earplugs, put on the helmet and then the gloves. I gon on the F4 and turned the igniton on, the tach moves to 17000 and then rests at 0 again. I hit the starter button and listen to the engine, damn earplugs! I shifted into first and released the clutch. I was on my way home.

The first stop was a gas station down the road from the dealer. I filled up with 93 octane, sine I didn't have a manual to tell me otherwise. I had trouble with the turn signal, since my BMW has it on the right side but I quickly learned this. I got back on and we started onto I91S. My friend would drive in front of me on the way home. I kept the bike in the 5000 ~ 6000 rpm range, as suggested. This equated to 130 kmph or 81 mph. Imagine that past the speed limit already and I still had 9000 rpm left unused. I mostly stayed on 6th gear, since I'm still getting used to the power. My hands started feeling numb at around the 50 km mark, I started to fiddle with my riding position. I would sometimes rest my chest on the tank and get my weight off my arms and wrists. I also straightened my back at some point for the same purpose. I have to learn this to ride this bike properly. I pulled around my friend at the 100 km mark and pulled into a rest area. There I stretched and gave my legs, arms, wrists and back a quick rest. I also started to play with the digital display, I would like to see what 131 km is in mph, but I couldn't fix it. Back on the saddle again, still with km on the display.

The rest of the ride home was pretty quiet also. Still having the aches and pains of the new bike but managing. The were some onlookers, one notable was a Jeep Cherokee with a Ducati Monster on the back hitch. He circled me and kept an eye on, until he exited. I noticed how stiff the suspension was travelling on I95S. Little humps on the road would bouce me off the seat, I started to rise a little when I see imperfections on the road. The foot pegs are very high, I usually would rest the ball of my foot there but on the F4 my ankle was bent too much. My boot would cause my ankle discomfort. I remedied this by resting on my arches instead. But before I knew it, I arrived safely in my garage.

The first ride was somewhat uncomfortable. This is to be expected from the riding position one must get into with this kind of motorcycle. Also coming from a BMW, where the riding position was far from extreme, the F4 feels like a cocoon. I have never felt such oneness with a machine, turning was done with little effort, yet it offered such stability at speed. The power is unspeakable, I don't know what to do with 9000 more rpm, being that 6000 rev were plenty for the street. I definitely must take her on a track. The mirrors were somewhat useless, my massive[sarcastically] arms were always in the way, although I didn't adjust them, stupid me. So I ended up with 300 km [186 miles] on the clock. I definitely would rest properly the night before the next time such a long ride is planned. I need practice and need to find the most comfortable riding position for me. But I would'nt have done it any other way.

-- moderator (mvf4s@excite.com), May 29, 2000

Answers

A couple of comments: You'll get used to the ridding possition. You have to. There is no room to adjust anything. Even after you pull the locating pegs in the handlebars you can only move the controls a few millimeters before things hit the fairing or airbox. Anyway it's actually pretty comfortable on the highway.

Being a BMW guy, if you go to the BMW store you will find that the rear lisence plate bracket from, I believe, an R1100RT or K1100RS is a perfect fit for the mounts on the MV. Makes a big differnce from the hoekey lashup that they come with.

-- Scott Rothermel (jsratcas@aol.com), June 08, 2000.


Two big coincidences: First, I traveled the same distance (3 hours) using the same route I95N then I91N. We probably got our bikes from the same place. Second, from your description of starting point (FDR) we probably live near each other. Hopefully, someday we'll run into one another. I wasn't lucky enough to ride the bike back. I'm still getting some insurance information together. Anyway, it was a washout of a morning to ride the bike back (RAIN). I started my excursion with a friend in a van at 5:30AM on July 28. I hope you enjoy your MV Agusta as much as I will enjoy mine.

Ride safe, Tony

-- Tony Perez (tenorrange@aol.com), July 30, 2000.


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