I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Honda Fury and had the chance to test ride one yesterday. Last weekend I saw it live and was happy that it looked as good in person as it does in the pictures i’d seen online.  Naturally i had to take some of my own: left side, rear, right side, front.  Yesterday  I was still impressed with the looks; it's a really good looking machine.   I think they nailed chopper look spot on.

The Good

Smooth is the word that keeps coming to mind after riding it at surface and highway speeds.  Shifts smoothly, accelerates smoothly, turns...yep smoothly.  Did a couple of u-turns without a problem and it was my first time on a chopper. It's fuel injected so acceleration was like butter and the engine just purred.  They did a good job of disguising the shaft drive to look like a frame rail.  The suspension smoothed out bumps very nicely and i never felt jarred. The narrow tank and seat don't have you spreading your legs like the grand canyon and the forward controls were comfortably easy to reach.  Brakes are top notch.  And i like how the hide the indicator/dummy lights behind some smoke plastic so you only see them when lit making for a clean instrument panel.  And the price is nice starting out at i think $11500 and going up to $13900 for the limited edition with ABS.  I could be off on the pricing but for sure cheaper than any Harley.

The Neutral

The pipes.  They sound better than most stock pipes but really; that's like comparing vanilla ice cream to french vanilla. I didn't care for the handlebars and thought they either needed to be straighter or more bent and my left arm/hand never got comfortable with them. The clutch seemed to need more pull than other bikes I've ridden and the aftermarket seat was not good for more than short hops though maybe it just needed breaking in.  The tank size is 3.4gal so what contributes to such a great look (hour glass taper) also limits it's capacity.  But the biggest thing was that i really expected more of a kick in the seat from the motor.  I thought it would accelerate harder/faster and it just didn't do it for me.  In fairness, after getting back on my 1100 Shadow, it felt sluggish so clearly the Fury had something going on but i really wanted it grab me hard and tweak my nipples.

At the end of the Day

Riding for me isn't just about being on the road, i want to look good and really have a connection with my bike.  Sometimes that connection happens when you first see the bike and you fall in love or it's after you spend some time with it the connection grows.  I fell in love with the CBR and was done for after riding it knowing i HAD to have one for sure.  With my Shadow Aero 1100 i loved the looks but it's not where i want it to be so i am spending the money to get it looking how i want.  With the Fury, i really expected the ride to grab me more given the aggressive advertising, name and looks.  So i am really torn.  I don't want to write it off because i do love the looks and hey, it's a Honda so you know it's going to be bullet proof.  But at the same time I'm thinking I'll need to install some mini apes, fishtail pipes, new air box, and a power commander to get somewhere close to what i want.  Then I'm in the Harley range and they hold their value nicely so why not get one those.  Always wanted a Harley!  We'll see what tomorrow brings.  I'll go out and do some more test riding till i find the one that grabs me by the heart and balls.

Intially, wasn't going to name who this entry is directed to because frankly I don't care to contribute to increasing his exposure. He writes for a great magazine and the continued inclusion of him as a contributor is the only complaint I have with Computer Power User content. But I won’t ever ask them to get rid of him or stop reading his editorials – I’m not a big fan of the fingers in the ears “I’m not going to listen to you” some like to employ as a response to something they disagree with. I may not agree with the crap he types but I will defend his right to have a crappy opinion.

Yes, I work for Microsoft; have for the last 12yrs and have nothing but pride in my company, my team, and the scores of fantastic, smart, passionate, customer focused people it's my privilege to spend the majority of my waking hours with.  If you think the criticism people such as himself level at us are harsh, it is nothing compared to the lens we apply to ourselves. What I say here is my opinion only, not those of MS or my coworkers.

Alex St John, you sir can straight up suck it. I have yet to read an editorial from you in which you don't tout your working at Microsoft and how everything that MS has produced since then has sucked, continues to suck and well, sucks.  I find it funny how genius your contributions to DirectX were and how wonderful it was yet zero recognition of anything else being as worthy, better or just plain good.  You toe the easy line of MS is evil, sluggish, and not innovative instead of actually being objective but I suspect you don't get paid to be objective.  I'm sure your hating on MS makes you very popular those who have negative opinions based on half-truth views such as yours and Mac ads. 

Mojave

Let's be clear; this was not a campaign to make users feel stupid as you like to sensationalize but rather demonstrate Vista is a good product if you get past the crap associated with the name and look at it without a prejudiced view.  But you know that.

Windows 7 will suck less

Hmm, a company that listens to feedback, responds to customers, makes improvements based on that feedback. A company that is self-critical, recognizes where it’s misstepped and works to not repeat mistakes of the past.  A company that looks at what others do, incorporates the best of those things and provides an improved product and experience.  And you characterize this as "Windows 7 will suck less"?  You have firmly established beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are a hater.

Innovation

Photosynth, Surface, Xbox 360 NXE, Office Live, SharePoint, Live Mesh, Azure, Autocollage, Songsmith, WorldWide Telescope. And it's not just our products.

Fix-it, Pinpoint, Test Drive Vista

Remind us again what you have produced?  I remember a plug-in to Winamp about 7 years ago that brought my pc to a crawl with your company name on it but can't recall anything since then.

Enjoy that cigar and I’ll see you next month

Ben

It's a shame, an end of an era, it just won't be the same but i am glad i managed to get one last visit in before the doors closed.  They need to auction stuff off.

El Pasoans mourn loss of Chico's on McRae - El Paso Times

It's now 2am in Shanghai, China and I have just rolled in from the bars where I spent an awesome evening with my friends. Wow, I never thought I would be lucky enough to be visiting this part of the world let alone with such a great bunch of people. Shanghai is not at all what I expected; it's more than I would have expected frankly. I had read how it's very cosmopolitan but having experienced it, it's so much more than just a big city. The people are friendly, the food is awesome, the hospitality gracious.  The streets are crazy but learn the rules and its fine - the cars may stop, the buses won't so pay heed when crossing the road.  The food can be had for so cheap and be so plentiful and delicious, i could stay for it alone.  This is one of those places I could live.

I finally decided to set up a presence on MySpace but it's just a shell right now.