After several years of lust and desire, and after convincing myself that I did NOT want, need, desire an HP2, I spazzed out and went and bought one. It was in Denton Texas and I needed to get it to Las Vegas before the snow hits. Here is the narrative. I bought BikeForever's HP2 a couple weeks ago in Denton.. I rode it back to Las Vegas. I had planned on doing a leisurely 4 day ride to cover the 1350+ miles, but once I got on, I didn't want to stop! Ever have that happen to you? I did the ride easily in 3 days. My longest day was 533 miles from Pecos, Texas to Tucson with an hour stop in El Paso at Barnett's Harley Davidson for coffee and a warm up! They have BMW's there too so there was more to look at that appealed to me than just the shiny chrome. I discovered that even on high, my heated jacket wouldn't keep my core sufficiently warm while running 85-95 in the COLD (think 32 degrees) West Texas desert. Speedlimit was 80 so 85 -95 wasn't unreasonable. And given that I was on an HP2, I felt like I was holding her back! I have a nice tank-bag that was inviting, so I laid my chest down on it and discovered how comfortable it was. With my XD3 visor sticking a few inches above the small windshield, it was a quiet comfortable ride and I jammed on to XM AltNation. I discovered that something cool happened around 100 mph. The air around me kinda of sucked in and there seemed to be a bubble formed. It got quiet and turbulence lessened noticeably!:huh It was awesome. I wanted to stay there but my brain took over and I throttled back after a few minutes. I tried it several times when the coast was clear and it happened every time. Damn this ride is sweet I thought! Another funny thing happened passing through Midland. There was some traffic on the freeway, so I was behind a semi, tucked in close enough to not have people just cut in between but far enough back to give me a safe space, or so I thought. As I was riding along, I just had that feeling that something was up. The semi sort of jiggled a small bit but no brake lights came on. Just as I drew the conscious thought, hmmm?....?, a coyote comes rolling right down the center of the back axle! As luck would have it, I was dead center of the lane because riding the sides left me in a terrible buffet, and dammit, I was getting cold! Mr. Coyote was having a worse day than I was and he comes rolling sideways window shade. I guess my "safe distance" wasn't so much because I only had the time to draw the breath to say "Oh Shit!" I also heard Hawke, my instructor at RawHide, saying in my head "The Bike Wants to STAY UP!" I just stayed relaxed on the handlebars and watched as my front tire went right over Mr. Wile E. Coyote, center-of-mass. I felt a couple gentle thump-thumps and that was it. I laughed like the madman I felt I was. Wile E. Coyote continued his window shade roll and disappeared under the car that was running up just a lil too close to me. For the record, I believe in Gardian Angels! Whew! I got into Tucson and spent the night at the Radisson Suites. It was a welcome stop and a LONG hot shower followed. After several drinks at the bar and dinner, I got a good night's sleep. I decided that I was NOT going to get up early and hit the road in the cold. I slept in and got on the road at the crack of 11 am. I rode on through the city of the sun and found a delicious road north towards Kingman! It was a divided highway with the coolest up and downs and corners. The HP2 begged to be let loose. I let the dogs loose a few times but mostly kept it near the speed limit. I didn't want Mr. Poaleeceman chasing me down. I rolled into Las Vegas, riding the last hour in the dark. The HID headlamps on the HP2 lit up the dark and it was easy-peasey. 1350+ miles. 3 days. What a ride! After getting it home, I took the GSA out for a spin. WOW! They really are two DIFFERENT bikes! The HP2 is raw! It is pure power and sport. It vibrates, it's LOUD, it's immediate in all aspects of it's personality. The GSA is refined. It is quiet. it is powerful, but deliberate in it's delivery. As has it has been said before and loosely translated by me: The R1200GSA is your wife. She has been faithful and loving for years, and in your heart, you know she will never leave you. She has born you children, and yeah, her hips have blown out and she's packed on a few pounds since the wild days of your youth. But she looks on you with love and will let you ride her to your heart's content. The HP2E is that 19 year old street hooker in Vegas. She catches your eye every time you see her. Your heart is filled with lust and desire. You know it's gonna be a helluva ride and you will probably have a few bruises. You know it's going to hurt. You know you will never satisfy her deepest cravings. But doesn't stop you from WANTING her! :eek1 I have a few pics I'd like to post but need to get onto a photo account. I'll try to get that done and post a few. Cheers! Arn
