Howdy from Austin

Hello from Austin, Texas!

I have a red 2007 GRiSO that I adore, purchased used about 1.5 years ago. It came with carbon fiber Mistrals, black Aprilia mirrors and a tail rack/bag. I've since added a tail tidy, a Givi windscreen (to be painted to match eventually), some color-changing LEDs inside the bodywork to make it glow at night, changed out the levers for some black ones, and changed out the grips for some slightly more barrel-shaped ones.

-Carolyn

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Hey Carolyn, welcome to the ghetto!

I was just in Austin over Thanksgiving visiting my sister. Next time I'll have to come down on the GRiSO... Cool town, I think I'd probably live next door to the Mean Eyed Cat if I'd ever relocate there.

You've got to take some pictures of your GRiSO all lit up, no suspenders or corn cob pipe for you!  

Sure, here's one. The colors morph from one to another so you don't get the full effect from a still but it'll do for now...
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I hate doing this, but you must know my good friend Jenn Swope.

Dulcenea wrote:

Sure, here's one. The colors morph from one to another so you don't get the full effect from a still but it'll do for now...
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Funky! Welcome to the Ghetto.

Brock

Welcome Carolyn
The lights look awesome.
I have a 2006 model and is just perfect for what I do.
Not into 190hp and 300kph.
Screen looks good.
Enjoy.

Harry

Those are cool lights. Are they battery-operated, or do you have them spliced into the harness?

Sorry, Oca, I don't think I know Jenn. I take it she's in the Austin area?

TG, the lights are powered by the bike's battery. Since they're LEDs they draw very little current. The pattern and colors can be adjusted with a remote.

Dulcenea wrote:

Sure, here's one. The colors morph from one to another so you don't get the full effect from a still but it'll do for now...
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Can a GRiSO get any more ghetto than this??? Fantastic!   

Welcome Carolyn.
Nice looking GRiSO. Looks like you've done a few things to your steed that I want to do to mine.
if you are in Austin do you know any of those loonies at AF1??

Ciao Bella

Michael

I know them well Michael. I was just there yesterday! Good guys.

Cewwwl.
Women are as passionate as we are or more about their GRiSO, I see.  
I like that.
They look good on them too, if I may say...  

I am interested in turning my wife loose on my GRiSO but she needs to get more practice in on her Gladius first.
My wife has some reach issues.
She is 5'2" and she needs different brake/clutch levers to get a better reach cuz her fingers are sooo short.
Which is why my house is not bedecked with a woman astride a GRiSO.

DM

DM, I'm 5'7" and could juuuust flat foot mine so I had them lower the suspension. That way I had a little bit more leeway when I stopped. While the GRiSO isn't super tall it is rather wide and carries its weight a little higher than some other bikes, so it may present your wife with a bit of a challenge.

Oh yeah. That seat sure is wide. But it does have some room to cut it down.
The Suzuki Gladius that we did buy for her has a thin seat so there isn't much to cut down on that guy but setting the springs to the softest setting helped her a lot.
I would like my wife to get a feel for the GRiSO but we will wait until she feels that has mastered the Gladius.

DM

The 1200 seat is narrower too. Really though the main thing is to get comfortable with the bike. The idea that you need to be able to 'Flat Foot' a bike is an aberrant perversion that has only really been around since the advent of the 'Chopper' craze most particularly but also the 'Packaging' of motorbikes generally as a 'Lifestyle'.

As long as you realise that once something goes further away from its point of balance it gets harder to hold up you'll quickly understand that the need to keep the machine close to upright by understanding the basic laws of physics that govern the entire universe it becomes obvious that how much of your foot is on the ground is really pretty much irrelevant.

I'm constantly horrified by 'Cruiser' riders in Bungendore who can easily 'Flat Foot' their bikes but who need to 'Paddle' them around when even doing a U-turn in a wide two lane road. These things have a centre of gravity somewhere around their ankles but they still can't control their balance sufficiently to hold their overweight, underpowered pigs upright!

Yup, of course if you can't touch the ground you're in trouble! But if you can, as long as you've got enough practice and experience under your belt, tippy-toes should be fine. Believe me, if you start to tip over to the degree you're going to drop it, (Don't worry, I've done it plenty of times!) being able to 'Flat Foot' it won't help much.

Practice, practice, practice. And start off with a small, light, bike with a low seat height, and work up. It doesn't take long but accept you're going to make mistakes and drop it a few times, we all have and I for one am sure I'll be doing it again! That'll be 'cos I'm a goof though. Not because I can flat foot my bike!

Pete

Pete Roper wrote:

Practice, practice, practice. And start off with a small, light, bike with a low seat height, and work up. It doesn't take long but accept you're going to make mistakes and drop it a few times, we all have and I for one am sure I'll be doing it again! That'll be 'cos I'm a goof though. Not because I can flat foot my bike!

Pete

Exactly.
We have the V65 and Gladius for my wife.
The V65 has a VERY balky transmission. The Gladius is a much smoother machine to operate.
But both need brake/clutch levers that are closer in to the bars (for my wife's petite little hands and fingers)

She spent the day yesterday with her sister. They were both tearing around San Diego on Can-Am Spyders.
Now my wife needs to apply whatever she gained riding that thing around to her bike.
The motorcycle is still a much bigger attention drain than the Spyder.

DM