As said I will post here and then post over on thumpertalk.com as well. Well no exciting race action (its me, HR, please!) but I did do something I hadn't planned on actually to the Dale..tried to boil her over all day! (not on purpose).

So here we go....

Another ride....need to get some dinner in me and the kids,had a wonderful day riding with all 3 of my kids....loved it!

This is post leaning out the FI again...think it is about set/perfect now. rode with my 3 kids today, all day, bout 5+ hours in the saddle, and only 28 miles, if that tells you the pace!!! monkey butt was just about to set in!...

Hit the trails for the first time with my two youngest...rather scary at times I am sure for my girl on her XR100, but she troopered on. ...slow...total run time was 95 minutes...but stalling, crashing, steep hills and roots...well....its all good and was an awesome ride.

1. I got the bike hot...hot hot hot, did I say I got the bike hot??? ...idling and waiting idling and waiting. Never did anything weird, never hinted at overheating nothing....but she got hot.

2. The e start/battery is sweet. The charging system is pretty incredible too. I must have spun my e start 100 times today. No misses, not once. I was wondering if I was pushing my luck though...but she spun just as fast the first as she did on the last run before we headed home.

3. Power is extremely crisp. Dealer down at South Sound Honda nailed it this time. He was leaning me out real slow, being very careful and not taking big jumps...and I think it is about as good as it is going to get. I find myself running out of gears fast though on the fire roads the couple of times I got to open her up...didnt hold it in 5th...just ran her into it...checked my MS on the panoram...77 MPH with ease...so I figure if you had the room or the desire..she will hit in the high 80s or right at 90 MPH.

4. Its time to start messing with the suspension. She is broke in and with my weight I am carrying pretty low in the travel. Spring is pretty stout, so I think a turn or two and I will be set. Maybe one click or two on Rear rebound and one on comp up front and I will leave her be. This stuff is magic. Crawling, roots etc. Just nothing but pure suspension Magic.

5. didnt check on milage, although when we got back from the first loop...and remember this thing was idling all freakin day....I might have put a liter or maybe a bit more in the tank....but that is a Swag at best....so wont say any more on that.

5. Cleaned the contacts on the Panoram with some solvent, and a new battery...she ran like a champ all day...no freakin out... nothing. No resets....so that is it.

6. Ran into a guy in the parking lot (actually he ran into us on the trails and followed us back) and wanted to know where the Cannondale was! Damn now they are following us back to the truck! He started to ask questions bout the dale. He had a very very tricked out KTM 520. Very nice ride. Suspension was all re-done, aftermarket pipe, Scotts damper etc. He let me take it out for a good woods romp. Now I ride open bikes, the 650 berg, my CR500 etc...so I am used to big bikes....

Very very impressive power on the 520. Not as much torque as my Berg (but then what does?), but very impressive. Mid wasnt scary, but there and pulled with authority. I have ridden the 520s before, but had been a while. Started very easy with the happy button. Weight was about the same (felt) as my dale...riding position was very tight and cramped for me. .but I am 6'3".

The suspension though, I didnt care for at all (okay, I am spoiled!). I was way into the travel as he had it set for about 185-190. I was a bit more than that (no comments are needed or required thank you)....but the rear was good...liked that...the front was very mid stroke harsh and transmitted everything to my arms and hands once I got up to speed at all. I know the WPs are good, and it was set up for him, but it wouldnt work for me at all.

The power though would get old in the woods in a bout 10 minutes. Too much hit down low, although extremly smooth. Very very nice bike..I am again and still impressed with the KTM RFS. I would say that in the woods, the Dale is a better set up for me at least, actually no question, tracked way smoother, handled better, NO hit, the power is smooooooooooooother and does not wear you out at all. Traction was better on the Dale, no rear end smoke the tire everywhere when you got on the gas hard. And if nothing else, my feeling on how great the WPs are didnt change, but the Ohlins are everything anyone has every bragged about and more...no competition at all in the legs of the bikes, none.

My son (oldest) asked if he could ride the 520 and the guy said go for it. He came back with big eyes and just said OMG what a rush down low of power...He said the suspension was pretty good for him (bout 170) so that explains my reaction to it. He said it was a blast and he liked it, but had too much motor, too soon and would be a handful for him in the woods, way to much of a handful. Everything else I will chalk up to him being my son!...

This gentleman had ridden all his life, races Jet skis professionally etc and was really into bikes and asked to ride the Dale...said no sweat. He left for about 5 minutes (no I wasnt worried, you can tell..he was kewl)..he came back, pulled his helmet off and said..."wow...that is by far the best production motorcycle I have ever ridden, period." "The power was flat awesome." He talked about the FI and how it felt, no hesitation etc. He asked me about all the mods I had done to the bike, power, suspension to get it like that etc. When I told him nothing, it was showroom...he just stared at me. We had a great talk there in the pits (and you should have seen the collection of folks that were looking over the Dale, pointing and asking...was pretty funny.

So...great day folks. Dale is still rocking on! No burps, coughs ooops. darnits...nothing. This bike simply rocks! I have put it though the paces pretty good now...from crawl to fire roads to single track, water crossings that would make a combat engineer proud to idling trying to make her boil over, and she just keeps on ticking!

I think I will keep her....now we get to get her ready for the Vantage 100 next week....we will see!...

Later all...time for chow!