Well, that was disappointing!!
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Yamaha announcing their demo bikes being at the Laughlin River Run Rally. Among the cruisers, they listed the S10, the FZ1, the FZ8 and the R1. I wanted to ride the S10, FZ1 and FZ8, and Patch wanted to ride the R1.
So...Upon arriving in Laughlin on Thrusday afternoon, we got our stuff unpacked, and then took a long walk looking for the Yamaha tent. We finally found it on the other side of Laughlin, but there it was. The guys were really nice and explained the sign up process telling us to come back in the morning as they were closing up and we didn't have any of our ridng gear on us. The S10 was out along with the FZ1, R1, FZ8, and an FJR.
We got there just after they opened in the morning and began to sign up. I heard one of the guys tell Patch that the R1 wasn't going to be available to ride, but I figured it was a bike problem. I signed up for the S10, and told them I wanted the FZ bikes for my 2nd and 3rd ride. I was told that all the sport bikes had been put away by the manager because he didn't think the sport bikes fit in at a "cruiser" rally. I got his name, figured out who he was and was told to try and convince him to put the bikes back out. The guys in charge of the ride had tried, but no dice.
So...I took my ride on the S10. It was actually pretty nice. It was lower than Patch's GS-A, so I could almost flat-foot it. However, that means it's giving up ground clearance. The bike didn't have any bags or protection mounted, but it was smooth and torquey. I thought it had more torque than the GS, and it felt like it wanted to wheelie a couple of times. Patch said he thought it had less torque than his GS, and he rides the GS way more than I do, so I'll take his word. However, it felt like it had plenty of power. The power bands were also noticible between the touring mode and sport mode.
The brakes were great, and the bike was thin and comfortable to ride. Seeing as how the handlebars were Yamaha, they were very familiar. The bike ran smoother at speed than the Ducati did, and I really liked the windshield. If I didn't already have an FJR, I might really be thinking about getting one...However, its still missing bags and protection.
So...When the ride was over, I ended up finding Joe, the manager. I asked him what the deal with the FZ bikes was and he explained to me that Laughlin is a cruiser rally and he does not want to cause any conflict with cruiser riders. He stated that 99.9% of the people at the rally ride cruisers and are not interested in sport bikes. I reminded Joe that Patch and I don't ride cruisers and with the other two guys standing in the tent that I saw get off crotch rockets, half the people in his tent rode someting other than cruisers.
Joe was an idiot and had made up his mind. I reminded Joe that my email from Yamaha specifically stated the bikes I wanted to ride would be available. Joe then told me that if I wanted to ride a sport bike, I could go to Laconia because the sportbikes would be available there. Apparently this ******* doesn't know that I have a job. I asked Joe where the FJR went. He stated, "It's not a cruiser." I told him that it is not a sport bike either, so maybe it should never be out. I reminded him that people like him are the reason everyone thinks I ride a BMW. Very few people have seen FJRs and when Yamaha gets a chance to show one off, it gets trailered.
I told Joe that before my FJR, I rode a cruiser and asked him if he really thought all the die-hard Harley fans were going to give up their Harleys for a clone made by Yamaha. I then pointed out to him that his guys were leading rides of 2-3 people while the Victory guys were emptying their lot of 15 bikes every ride. Joe was a ******* and I'm kind of irritated. Irritated enough that I'm gonna send an email to Yamaha.
BUT, I wonder why the S10 was still out at a cruiser rally...I bet someone at yamaha would have had Joe's ass if had trailered the new Adventure Touring bike. Idiot.
