Rocking the Cascades and a Review of the Suzuki GS500F

Rocking between the Fringes of the North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker National Forest, on my new bike; the Suzuki GS500F. Given that this trip was basically the shake down cruise for my new bike, with the break in for the engine and getting to know the characteristics of power and handling, I was in my element. Soaking in the stunning scenery; Mount Baker putting on a show in the gleaming sun light as I skirted the western side of Mount Baker National Park, the rim of the North Cascades National Park was no slouch either on visuals, with breathtaking jagged peaks and the road weaving between the river and old homesteads with open meadows.

While this trip may have been to break in the bike, I found myself getting broken in as well. Due to starting on the Honda Rebel I found that the riding stance that I am used to puts a great deal of strain on my wrists not to mention the lean towards a more aggressive riding stance compared to the Rebel. This coupled with trying to learn the leaning and turning tolerance of the bike made for quite a sore body afterwards.

The six speed transmission for the GS500F shifts smoothly and is a nice upgrade compared to the five speed Rebel, I found that at the final shift down from 2nd to 1st - there is a slight shudder as gears grind - if you are too gentile in changing. I can not speak for the power for now as I am trying to stay under 5500 rpm as much as possible during the break in period that coupled with my tendency to ride in a higher gear than normal - usually results in less pull from the engine until I shift down. However that tendency has resulted in a little more than 62 mpg after the first major fuel up and that is even during the break in period before max efficiency. Nice. That gets me to one of the things I did appreciate, the 20L or 5.3 gallon gas tank couple that with ~60 mpg - I can get over 300 miles on a tank! After being used to the 2.7 on the Rebel, the nearly double volume with that extra 2.6 gallons is amazing. The brakes work well enough, a little squeaky although it may be a little dirty so a nice cleaning should take care of that, time will tell how good they are as I get more chances to use them. Things that I would change/add, to personalize my bike include some luggage storage, I may put in risers for the bars to get a better seating and feel, and maybe get a gel seat as well, again time will tell, but I can say this bike make a good first impression and it is growing on me.

Revamp and Reorganization

Completely reorganized and labeled a great deal of the posts as well as fixed the dates on the older posts that I had to migrate from my old blog. More updates and posts to come.

Around the Island and Back Again - Day 2

The next morning after waking up I stroll down to the seawall and look back at the hostel, a non-discript building in the cityscape. Getting packed and ready to head out to breakfast, I find out that overnight the battery has finally died, having the to start a 150cc engine with a battery only rated for a 100cc bike has its consequences. So we get on the other bike and head out for a bite to eat, Almond milk, a Chinese donut and a steamed bun. After breakfast, I push my bike a little under a mile to a near by bike mechanic shop, we find out that the starter motor is drawing too much power from a battery not design to power it, and since the bike is modded we can't get a replacement part in any reasonable time frame. The mechanic calls up his contact and gets the starter motor disassembled and cleaned out by hand on special order! Had this been in the US, this would have cost as least a round trip plane ticket back to Taipei. We get out for under 50. AKA if your ever down in the area this is the place to go.

After a slow start to the day we head out and ride along the coast, there are clam & fish farms and so for lunch we stop at the edge of town at a seafood restaurant and have a bite to eat. With the smell of salt brine in the air we press on toward one of the notable temples in the southwest. The temple and adjacent garden are huge and in the background is a multistory hotel under construction to be run by the temple to accommodate visitor and pilgrims during holidays. My favorite feature is a the stair case for one of the watchtowers.

With the afternoon upon us we make a stop at the famous "Salt Mountain" a former salt farm, where sea salt was harvested, the place is now a theme park of sorts. The central building sells many salt inspired novelties, from salt toothpaste (which as expected tastes like a mouthful of sea water) to the famous salt ice cream bars. Being a fan of dessert tofu I couldn't pass up try a cup.

Late afternoon just outside the city we make a stop to check the prices at a temple hotel, unfortunately being a relatively new facility the prices are comparable to hotels, So we press on. In Tainan we settle down with a bowl of beef noodle, priced at only 50NTD, only to find that a buffet at a department/mall was only 199NTD remarkably well priced. Too bad we were already full. After checking out the night scene we turn in for the night at a youth hostel. [On a side quest I find out that while 7-11 the local get everything store does not stock ear plugs! In fact had to pick them up at a domestic store, what would look like a Japanese/Taiwanese themed "dollar store" in the US except they sell all domestic items.]

Pictures after update.