Thoughts on the Ranger
I bought my Ranger 300 several months ago but I have been working a lot. Yesterday, I was able to do a full ride at Loretta Lynn's Fall Ride. When I got on the trail it felt very stiff on small stuff b/c the KYB wasn't broken in at all.
It took me a little time to get comfortable on it. I was running the stock Michelin tires with tubliss. I had heard that they weren't very good but worked fine in these conditions.Our conditions were very dry with a lot of roots and rocks. The seat height is lower, its an advantage, its just a little lower center of gravity so it turns sharper. If you need to put your foot down to dab its easy,almost like riding a mountain bike but not quite.I had worried about the seat being iron hard like the old gassers. Surprise, the seat isn't too bad at all,its decent but not super cushy like my modified seat on my 2011 gasser, but good.
As I got further into the loop, the KYB suspension began to loosen up a bit the further that I got into the loop the better it felt,plush,progressive, no spikes with good traction.The starter worked great, the clutch has a super 1 finger light pull,the front and rear brakes are progressive and very good. I haven't installed my Ohlins damper yet but I didn't have any headshake but that is on the to do list.
At about the halfway point, I finally started to gel with it a bit and I picked up the speed. Its typical gasser, it turns just like my 2011 Gasser(which means better than anything else on two wheels). It is kinda strange that it turns so well with a unique feel like my 2011.Overall, the Ranger fit and finish is great and the bike is a ball to ride.
Other stuff. I took my cross bar off my handlebars,I am going to toss the rekken grips and replace with progrip rally grips,I am going to keep an eye on my spokes(they have been fine so far)and I need to lower my shifter 1 spine.
