I decided to take the 650 Standard on a bit of a run down the Rhein. London-Eindhoven-Koblenz so far. My mate is on a 950 Guzzi. Touch wood its been going great.
I can't help but marvel at how competent it is even today as a (niche) tourer. Happy at motorway speeds, with plenty left for bursts up to 90. It must have been really something in it's day...
Only changes are a concentric carb, belt, commando clutch. And a TLS brake- the latter i love. Boyer, powerbox and LEDs help- till they don't...!
Andy
I have been riding my 650 SS quite a bit this summer , venturing further and further afield with it. In the past I have just motored about the valley on backroads, 100 mile round trips were probably the maximuum.
In July I rode to a friend's Memorial Service. He was killed on his Thruxton R by a zoned out Driver on Cellphone.
I decided to ride the 650SS but wasn't too sure how it would feel on a freeway with lots of traffic moving at substantially over the 100 kmh speed limit. The slow lane moved at about 110 kmh , so around 70 mph is the minimum safe speed where you are going with the flow.
The 650ss has good power and speed but I thought the vibrations might be bad for sustained 70 mph.
It does vibrate a bit more than the rubber mounted Commandos, but it was OK for an hour or so at speed.
The mirrors are easy to see out of at 70 mph, not blurry at all. On one section where the traffic was light I rolled it on in top. It didnt take long to pick up from 70mph to 90 mph ( GPS). It has quite a bit more speed than that, if needed, but it's not needed. 90 mph here will get you a big fine and the bike impounded!
Before the end of the season I plan to ride it to the east end of the valley and just into the Coast range of mountains.
60 miles away, near the town of Hope, BC there is a good long climb into the mountains. It is miles long and at an 8% grade, which is typically the steepest to be encountered on our Mountain highways. If it handles that well I might use it instead of the Thruxton R for next year's big ride thru the Rockies into Alberta.
