Hello from Santa Fe (soon!)

I'm a total newbie; this is my first motorized two wheel vehicle, although I've been an avid cyclist for years. Retiring from Washington, DC April 1st and moving to Santa Fe! I just got a 2012 SW from a dealer in Pennsylvania; great deal, trailered the SW back to Washington, got it titled and registered and got my learners permit. The "M" on the license will have to wait until I get to New Mexico, but I've already gotten a few miles on the bike. Quite a switch from a 15 lb road bike to dealing with the 550+ lb SW, but I'm learning fast.

Posts on this forum have already been useful. I've gone from "How the F*** do I get this thing up on the center stand?" to getting it on the first try.

Super excited and already thinking of Givi top case. This will be instead of a 2nd car once we get to Santa Fe.

   You'll really appreciate that motor when you head across the Rockies! Enjoy the rides!        

chuckb84 welcome to the best Silverwing forum on the web. Be careful with your "new" to you scooter, it has a lot of power for a first bike.  
If you plan on doing your own maintenance you'll find you can do anything you need or want with the service manual and help from this forum. I add the paragraph below for most new members because there's a lot of information in the links and may save you some work.
Here are some links(3 below in blue)that will help you learn a lot about your Silverwing. If you can't find what you need in the links below the search on this forum works good, and if you still need help just ask and someone will do what they can to answer your questions.

Maintenance, Tips and Hints
Maintenance "Pictorials"
Accessories-Modifications

Chuck, welcome! Take it slow and easy and the Silver Wing will be VERY good to you. Just a bit of practice is required. You can putt around town or ride it cross country! Lots of cool country near Santa Fe to explore! Colorado, Arizona and Utah are all close for you to explore!!! Party on!

Update after (almost) 2 years. I trailered the swing from DC to Santa Fe, which was a little tedious with 40 mph headwinds in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle (there's a reason for all the wind turbines there!), but we got here, and...it's been great.

No overnight tours yet, but many, many day expeditions all over northern NM. Albuquerque, Taos, Las Vegas (NM), Chimayo, Bandelier, etc, plus this scoot is the "2nd car" almost the entire year. The only thing that stops me riding is the occasional snowfall, but that's very rare.

About 4500 miles on the scoot now and the good news is that, other than oil changes, I've done nothing to the bike. Added a -very- cheap top box, $20(!), and it is fine, although quickly showing wear in the intense sun here. I'll replace with a givi soon.

Bad news: The bike fell over twice when I parked it overnight in the gravel outside our house. It rained, side stand slipped and over it went. Also, I dropped it in a thankfully slow speed turn, again on a gravel road. I jumped off, but the bike is scratched up. Sigh. Perhaps I'll replace the plastic, but haven't felt motivated yet. Where to buy?

I've learned a LOT of caution in dealing with drivers here, and wondering if it is this bad everywhere!??! The ABS brakes have saved me 3 times.

All told, I LOVE IT. Perfect starter bike, and the more I ride it, the more I realize how capable it is. I think I'm keeping this for a while!