nate’s naraku, the blahog

quick-background:
I finally got my brand-spankin’ new 2008 DL650 last week (after writing about only one final contender and two months of waiting for it to arrive from the factory.)

I broke in the first ~50 miles (proper engine break-in is super important) using a combination of techniques found here, here, and the user’s manual (though not really.)

I changed my oil & filter yesterday, accidentally overfilled it then promptly drained the excess (very irritating thing to do..) I’m using a stock suzuki oil filter and valvoline 10w-40 oil for the next ~500 miles - until my 600 mile service which I expect will be by the mid-end of this month.

pros summary:
fucking fun. a very different experience than riding my ‘87 Yamaha Virago (a 700cc.) the handling is very tight and I generally always feel safe on my Wee. the breaks are astounding: I’m much more likely to fly off the bike by breaking than accelerating.

a few cons:
I can confirm that there is a lot of ‘helmet buffeting’ that is pretty headache inducing in large doses. I plan on tweaking to kingdom-come in efforts to fix but at this point, the issue is not so bad reducing the fun I am having is lessened any. milage during break in is crap. there is a lot of vacuum’y sounds from the bike at all rpms that I’m a little leary of. the dealership I purchased from is pretty shitty; also, I didn’t get a great deal on the bike.

my ride to work - through the woods, over the hills and straddle the cliffs overlooking the shore.
absolutely awesome ride for twisties:

link to googlemaps route