'Round The Campfire > Cool Rides & Adventures...

what do you use your ft500 for? type of riding, etc?

(1/2) > >>

troy_mclure:
what do you use your ft500 for? commuting, touring, dual sport, jotting about town, etc... ?

i bought my 82 with 12,300 miles for $1000. added $350 to it in parts.

now its my daily commuter bike. 500 miles a week. im hoping it lasts me 2 years.

i currently get 65-67 mpg.

40 of my 94 daily miles are interstate, 65-70 mph @ 4700-4900 rpm.

J6G1Z:
I am fortunate enough to own a couple of bikes, but my FT500 Ascot is my "Go To" bike & my favorite. I feel more confident in my riding skills on my Ascot. I think it's because I grew up riding Dirt Bikes & my first Street Bike was a VT500FT Ascot. The ergonomics of the bike suite me the best & it's just an easy bike to ride well. I have a set of Avon Road Rider tires on it that seem plenty sticky in the turns & I've folded the foot-pegs in a turn on more than one occasion. I live on the edge of town & there is a great little mountain road/scenic highway that I like to ride, out back. Plenty of turns with a great decreasing radius S-turn in the middle of it all. Depending upon traffic & the time of day, I sometimes have the road almost to myself.

I've never been on a long, all day type of ride on my FT, but I rode my VT500FT Ascot from Arizona to Southern California back in '87 or '88 & it handled the ride just fine. The VT is a much better open road bike than the FT is. You just shift into sixth gear & let her lope along at 80-85 or so.

Both bikes are great bikes!

J.

Street Tracker 37:
Have not got to ride mine yet still needs registration and tires at a minim. My plans are a street tracker with rides in the wine country and coastal fun. The bike is small enough where my wife can rid it also. I really look forward to this project.

J6G1Z:

--- Quote from: Street Tracker 37 on August 16, 2013, 09:48:01 am --- Have not got to ride mine yet still needs registration and tires at a minim. My plans are a street tracker with rides in the wine country and coastal fun. The bike is small enough where my wife can rid it also. I really look forward to this project.
--- End quote ---

They are great bikes for exactly that type of riding. I went all street with my tires & had some sticky Avons mounted up. These bikes handle the turns real well. There no crotch-rocket by any means, but in the 35 to 80 mph range & through the turns, they're awesome fun. ;D

J.

Dougie:
Hi,

I use mine for commuting, road use and recently converted it to enable me to take in light trails/ offroad.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page