“One of these things, is not like the other...”

“One of these things doesn’t belong...”

This past weekend I was over at a friend’s house with a couple other guys, helping to create a new dirtbike trail on his land. We cut down some trees, cleared some brush, that sort of thing. In the afternoon it was declared time to ride a little on existing trails behind his property. Let me state up front that I’m not a big fan of trail riding. Dirt moves. Trails in the woods are seldom laid down by bulldozers and are therefore best traversed by more stable 4-wheelers, and goats. There tends to be mud and water pits and loose sand in every turn, trees just off to each side, and it’s generally something that takes a lot of effort and concentration to get around in tact.

Apparently, I was low on those things. We had made 5 or so laps of a circuit that felt like about a mile of riding, though I don’t know how long it is. Of the 4 of us, I brought up the rear and was always the last back to the rest stop, so as I arrived, everyone who had actually rested, then took off for the next lap. Bastards! After about the 5th lap we ALL actually rested for a minute, then it was decided to try a different circuit, which proved to be too swampy, so the leader spun around and headed off in another direction and we ended up back on the main circuit, running some of it backwards. I finally recognized where we were when I made the sharp left, down the steep hill and through the mud-filled water crossing, up the other side, sharp left-right-left, up the long steep hill, sharp left and onto the long straight for a hundred yards or so.

At the end of the straight there’s a rusted out heap of some very old vehicle, so take a right and start down and back to the resting area. About 15 yards before the end of this straight is an uneven outcropping of slate several inches tall that acts as a ramp when you hit it. I’d already hit it 5 times, landed and made the right turn. This time around: not so good. Part of it was some fatigue and part of it was I hit it in 4th and not 3rd and I traveled too far, fixated on the pile-O-junk car, landed badly and crashed. Lemme tell ya, crashing sux. The bike sort of folded out to the right and I crashed to the left.

                                                                  Wrong foot                            Right foot

Now, as my years advance, I try to be an observer of All The Gear All The Time. I’m going to tell you that I’m very, very happy that I was wearing what I was. Chinbar of my helmet kept my face out of the ground. I have about 6” of scrapes on my left arm/elbow where my elbow/forearm protector was driven into my arm. I have some scratches on my left leg where my knee protector/shin guard was driven into my leg. I threw out the pants I was wearing as the knee was ripped out.

Honda runs an ad campaign that says “Stupid Hurts”. Unfortunately, I was wearing work-boots and did not have on my heavy riding boots. In retrospect, it seems that when I fell forward to the left, my foot did not come off the peg quickly enough and I hyper-extended it backwards as I rotated. A bit unpleasant, that. I stood up and hobbled around doing the time tested “If I can stand, things aren’t broken too badly” analysis. After a couple minutes the others came back to find out where I was, straighten my handle bars and clutch lever and we decided to call it a day and rode back out.

I loaded up, drove my manual tranny truck home 30 miles, which meant clutching about 500 times, unloaded and then swelled, not in a good way. I went to the emergency room Sunday morning just to be sure, and after a few relaxing hours of sitting around, I was told my X-rays looked okay, just a bad sprain and take this aircast with you. Later, the ER Dr. called and said bad news, the Radiologist looked over the xrays and sees that there’s a fracture of the Talus which could mean a hard cast, and why don’t you come on back in for a set of crutches and get follow-up on Monday. I said okay, I’ll think about coming back in to the hospital.... and then I went to a birthday party instead.

Monday I snapped these pics before going off to see the family Orthopedic surgeon, 'cause doesn't every family have one, just in case I ended up with a cast. It may not be a good sign when these guys know you by sight, and asks how the kids are doing (who he has treated....). I told him what had happened. He looked over the xrays then back to me and said "How old are you?".... and said the “fracture” was merely a chip off the edge of the Talus from when the two bones came together. Nothing for it, otherwise just a bad sprain. Get rid of the dirtbike and you should be fine. I said okay, I’d think about it.

GSXR - Phase two

Now that I have the 750, what would I do with my 1100? Obviously, I could continue on with both bikes on the road. I certainly know many other people with multiple road bikes. In fact, most of the people I know who own motorcycles own multiple motorcycles. There are other motorcycles that I hope to acquire some day -- new, late model and decades old -- and I fully expect to have more than one bike registered most of the time.

Point being that while I could keep it on the road, I probably wouldn't ride it too much and I'd feel badly about that. I had this mental picture of my bike sitting neglected in a garage gathering dust.

And then a couple of years ago, back at our last house, I came up with another idea.

What if I retired this bike? What if... I put it in my home office? How cool would that be? I don't know anybody who's done that... What if this bike that I've enjoyed for so many years came inside and was effectively immortalized? Could I do that? I think I could. I think I will. I took the bike to the shop that I bought it from in 1991 and told them my plan. They prepped it for indefinite storage and detailed the bike.

The only door wide enough to come through is the french door around back. Plus, it has the benefit of only one stair so it was easy to put ramps from the ground up to the threshold.

Roll up the carpet and push the couch, chairs and table out of the way and the bike just sailed right in, with far less effort than I ever thought. A little maneuvering in the living room and then roll into the kitchen. It took some effort to get the bike around the Island so that it was in position to back through the dining room, past the front door and into place in my office, but the entire process took all of 5 minutes to complete.

It took two tries to get the bike up on the rear wheel stand as close as possible to the front windows. Now just try and tell me that isn't cool.

I have spent a huge amount of time admiring this bike while it was not moving. I've sat in my garages of numerous houses over the years, either on this bike, or off to the side, admiring the lines, the colors, the posture. I now sit in my home office and do the same thing. Constantly. Whenever I'm in the room. And this can add up to a lot of time on days when I work from home. I often will sit on it with my headset on, looking out the window, while I'm on work conference calls. 

Indoors, the presence of this bike seems greater.

Go fast, look sharp

It has been quite some time since I've gotten a brand new street bike; about 15 years. Riding Joann's bike and taking out the latest and greatest at Americade every year shows me how far motorcycles have evolved. It was long past time for an update.

Fresh from the dealership, with all of seven miles on the digital odometer. This is state-O-the-Art. 750cc's of perfection. Quoting the cover of the December 2006 issue of Sport Rider "BEST Sportbike Ever?" Hmm, could be.

When you set them in proximity, it quickly becomes apparent that a few things have changed. From a purely styling standpoint, the newest generation of supersports have adopted a Bird of Prey look that is pointier, airier and cleaner looking.

Beauty shot

Go play in the dirt

As Colin's 5th birthday approached, I started to consider getting him a dirt bike partly since he was so adept with his bicycle and partly to ward off his unnatural desire for a quad, like everyone else on our street had.

I went in early that week and bought the Yamaha PW50, a bike that has remained largely the same for over a decade, since it gets the job done. That job is of course, introducing new young riders to the sport. Automatic clutch; 1 gear; point, twist and go.

A day after buying the PW50, it occurred to me that I was going to need some way of hanging with Colin as he was riding. As a friend of mine relayed having gone through this himself years ago, and the idea of jogging after him or chasing him from the pedals of a bmx bicycle didn't hold much appeal. So back to the dealer I went ...

We are very lucky to know someone, who knows someone, who has his own dirtbike track. Just short of actually having your own land with your very own track, this is the next best thing.

Having mastered the loop and hill in the backyard, it was time to move on to something a little more challenging. This section of the track serpentines around within a couple of acres. It had some nice 3 - 5' banked turns and several tabletop jumps that probably average around 4' in height. Hit a 4' tall pile of dirt at 15 - 20 mph and you will get some air.

Looking again to his rear wheel, you see the compressed suspension and the dirt kicked up upon landing. Boy, if only I'd captured some of the actual jumping. He was pretty amazing for a first time.

Americade report, 2005

Warning: Another Long Post

I spent Wednesday and Thursday at Americade. Made a run up Tuesday afternoon with my brother to get advance registration. On Wednesday we met up at a Hess station at exit 8 around 07:00 and were standing in line at the Triumph demo rides by 07:50. I'd estimate that there were maybe 40 people in front of us. Triumph hasn't been up there for 5 years or so and I thought it would be interesting to ride the Daytona 650, though with the dealer in Albany closing up about 3 years ago, the closest place to buy one is down towards NYC. They all start the registering at 08:00 and the first ride of the day leaves around 09:00. They had the expected 2 people working the desk, but the line was moving very slowly. Very slowly indeed. This fact was not lost on anyone in the line. We all wanted to get through and get into someone else's line, but we're all dying on the vine here. One of the Triumph clowns seemed to occupy his time passing out the waiver forms. He would load one on a clipboard and then walk it back to the next person in line to fill out, who then for some reason would hang on to the clipboard until reaching the desk where the two people were processing. One took the form and driver's license and made sure it was filled out correctly. Then after passing that test, he filled out a time-slip, put an ink stamp on the back of your hand and passed the form to the #2 clown who then asked what you wanted to ride and when. Once the monumental task of identifying a time was done, #2 transcribed a lot of the information from the form onto the OFFICIAL SIGN UP SHEET, while the original jerk put another form on the now empty clipboard and walked it back to the line.

After about half an hour of this, some guy broke from the line, stormed the desk and grabbed a handful of forms and clipboards and passed them around the line, utterly confusing the guy who had been doing it so far. It took 1 hour for us to reach the desk. By that time I had changed my mind and decided to step up to the 955 Daytona, thinking that John could take the 650. But Triumph had thoughtlessly divided the dozen or so bikes they brought into 2 lines and put a Daytona in each. Clearly they were trying to balance each line with a variety of bikes, rather than group them by function: slow people, fast people. So by me choosing the 955, John's choices were severely limited and he choose the Thruxton 900 which is a retro twin, looking to be about 40 years old. Had I fallen back to the 650 Daytona I originally planned to ride, he could have chosen a Speed Triple (same bike line), but apparently all of the time standing in the signup line had broken my mind. I’m a bad man. I apologized a lot over this the rest of the day for what I'd done to him. Our ride was scheduled for 13:30 and we headed off quickly to the Kawasaki line to see if we could still get a ride there.

There were maybe 20 people in line when we got there. 10 minutes later we were at the desk with our completed forms and I chose the newly revised ZX6R and John chose the ZZR600. They peeled the appropriate sticker of the master sheet, affixed it to our time slips, and off we went. I wanted to go back and bitch slap the Triumph jerks. I had expected that there would be multiple of each bike available but there was only one ZX6R. Turns out from talking with one of the Kawi guys, the other one had been dropped Tuesday afternoon and wasn't ready to be put back in the line yet. That ride was at 15:45 so we went down to the vendor area and walked around some with Scott and ate some bad food. It was freakin' hot; pushing 90 and I got a pretty good burn going.

We got back for the Triumph ride to find that the 955 was the first bike in line with the Thruxton right behind it, so John and I were following the lead rider. Pre-ride safety talk and then everyone to their bikes. Wednesday I made the terrible mistake of wearing my leather jacket up to Lake George, and sitting there suited up in the sun with the bike running for 5 minutes while they milled around in their Triumph Cloud of Confusion, was brutal. A great deal of time at Americade is spent sweating like a pig. Finally the leader mounts up and takes off. We get on the Northway at 21 and head south 3 miles to 20 and get off. They then pick up the route that goes up over the mountain into Lake Lazurne and heads north up 9something back to Roaring Brook Ranch. (that little 1' wide babbling brook has never, ever roared...)

We hit the Northway and gun it taking off after the leader. The 955 is okay, nothing special in the performance dept. I'd say it certainly out-performs Joann's 600 but would be fodder for most race replica 600s. The true joy of the Daytona 955 is that no one else has one (refer to previous sentence). You won't find your bike at every stop light. We start up the mountain. It twists and rolls and doubles back. This is the course I've described many times over the years, including a couple years back when a kid dropped an Aprilia approaching the hairpin. I'm doing my best to stay glued to the leader and notice a couple times that John was pretty far back behind me. I apologized more later. Didn't matter as about 2 miles into the twisties we came upon a Honda Accord doing 10mph. No kidding. They did eventually speed up close to 25mph, but that was it. We followed that car for 12 miles, through ALL of the rest of the mountain roads. I thought I might have an aneurysm. 

Our lead rider was swearing at them every time we stopped at an intersection, but he was following the company line and not blowing them off. I assume the reason they didn't pull over was that they were locals who didn't appreciate Americade and were willing to tweak our noses a bit. They finally pull off in the village of Luzurne and we sped away happily, only to quickly come up behind a school bus. The bus was observing ALL posted limits for the couple miles we followed. The bus soon signaled to pull off into the school, but not before -- and I'm not making any of this up, it really happened -- the driver waved a garbage truck out in front of us. We followed the lumbering garbage truck, at a distance, for a couple miles until it pulled off, and we then just followed a group of Harleys back to RBR. We were beaten men.

When we went over for the Kawasaki ride, again strangely the ZZR600 had found it's way up behind the ZX6R I was taking out. I was maybe 3rd behind the lead rider. Kawi took us on a route that was different from what they have done for the past 10 years; it was slightly longer and incorporated more of the back roads. At one point we all formed up waiting to get on the Northway after coming off a 3 mile section of twisty road, and John pulled up alongside and exclaimed "Wow! Is this what new technology is like? This thing would kill the 900." It took me some time to figure out he was referring to the Triumph he took out earlier. I apologized.

John who owns a 600cc v-twin and rode a 900cc twin earlier that day, had just had his senses assaulted by a 600cc inline 4, and it was good. My impressions of the ZX6R weren't quite as favorable. I like the new styling more than I expected to. It is also more comfortable with the revised seating position. But the severely raked windscreen cuts the top off the instrument cluster from your line of sight. I had to make a concerted effort to see how fast I was going or what the tach read. Also, the engine vibrated far too much starting around 8000rpm. I don't know if it was that particular bike or not, since they do take a bit of a beating. It handled like a dream though. It's hard to do anything wrong on that bike. I also tried a series of horribly sloppy downshifts to test the new slipper clutch and it was flawless. You can dump the clutch at high revs and it just purrrrrrrs down in each gear. No blatting, hopping, skipping or jumping. Still, I wasn't ready to run out and buy either bike I rode that day.

I went up alone Thursday and my plan was to hit the Kawasaki line early and sign up for a ZX10 and then shoot over to the ever-so-slowly moving Triumph line and get the Daytona 650. Traveling by myself up the Northway at a slightly faster clip, I pulled into RBR around 07:30 and as I move past the Triumph area on my way to park I see that the line is longer now than it was yesterday. I decide that I'd have to get into the line now if I wanted a shot at the 650. One hour and ten minutes later, I was at the desk. Just before I got up there they called the 09:00 ride and asked if anyone still in line wanted to take out the 955, 650 Daytonas or some 3rd bike. It seemed fairly common that the Daytonas got pulled from the line unused and I could have taken that ride on the spot .... but then I'd never get to the Kawasaki line in time to get anything, so I bit my tongue and signed up for the  2nd to last available 10:30 ride slot.

I then went and was able to get a ZX10 for 15:45. The Daytona 650 is newly redesigned a year ago and is a nice bike. I'd have to ride it back to back with the 636 to know which is better, but at least it didn't buzz like the Kawi did. I was the last bike in the pack for my ride and since all other bikes in the line were loser cruisers, my fun potential was severely limited. It was a nice bike overall and I didn't have any complaints. I liked the 650 better than the 955, but that could simply be the quality of the ride. No problems over the mountain, but we did have to be the run of the day that stopped at Stewarts to fill up on gas. It was damn hot out and even though I'd worn my mesh jacket, it was still a sweat fest. That stop added 15 minutes to our ride time. Then as we came up on RBR, I crested the final hill in time to see the father of a father/son duo drop one of the bikes right at the entrance to Roaring Brook. I didn't see what caused him to do that, just saw him go down and people run over to pick him up. That event added another 10 minutes of sit and wait in the sun time while the Triumph staff sorted that out. These guys truly are the worst. Then we proceeded back to the parking area.

I had earlier run into Scott who had signed up for 2 deadly dull Honda rides and a Kawi ride, then realized that the 13:30 Kawasaki ride interfered with his 13:40 Honda snooze-fest, which he wanted to take more. I’m starting to have concerns about this boy. He gave me his slip for a ZRX1200R which I'd never have signed up for, but what the hell. I showed up at 13:30 and went out, to find that they had fallen back to the same route they've used for years.

The ZRX is a standard style seating position, which doesn't appeal to me so much as I don't feel like I have the level of control I want outside of being in a tuck. Actually, it's a replica of an Eddie Lawson replica of a race bike. However, the engine was enlightening and the rearsets are well placed. I was soon repeating in my head that there is no replacement for displacement <heel click>... After the okay 955, the buzzy 636 and the pretty nice 650 Daytona, this was more like what I was used to: twist the throttle and go. Now. Doesn't really matter too much what gear you are in at the time either. There are 2 sections of the ride where they get on the Northway at exit 20 heading North and later at 23 heading south; the latter is a very long combination entrance ramp of at least half a mile with a nice left hand sweeper. The bike will power wheelie under acceleration in 1st and 2nd, and it sure got light up front and stretched my arms out in 3rd. That ride got me focussed back on the primal joys of power and psyched up for the monster ZX10.

I met up with Scott later after his Honda rides and he was on his way out, as were a couple other people he rode up with. I said I was waiting around for my 15:45 ride and might wander back over to the Kawi area in case there was any empty ride to get as standby at 15:00, and he said that Luke was bailing on his ride so there would be a ZX6R open. Hot damn, so off I go. Well, I waited through the rider's meeting and then watched as everyone went to their assigned bikes, and a woman went to the ZX6R... but do my eyes deceive me or is one of the ZX10s therefore now sitting empty? I paced the Kawi guy up and down the line as he was taking slips and asked if there were any standbys available and he found out the 10 was empty and I took it out. Well, eventually. I was the last to suit up and get the bike started and they sent out the row next to me, then my row with the middle-pack lead rider on the other 636 -- now back in service and right in front of me -- started moving and I let out the clutch and went nowhere, as I forgot to put the bike in gear... Damn! Clutch in, slam it into gear, let out the clutch and ... stalled it. Damn, Damn! But it was rolling so I popped the clutch and took off. Even though I remembered the problem from riding it last year, I was not initially prepared for the abrupt throttle response of this bike. Something that will do 105 at redline in first gear and hit 180mph is tough to move smoothly at 5mph. It has a bit of throttle lash.

Now see here

No worries once I got it moving, and I concentrated on being super-smooth with the throttle as we taxied out of RBR. We exit out onto 9something and everyone guns it heading toward the Northway 2 miles away. Shortshift to second to bring the front wheel down and start to shut it down at 70mph as I'm coming up on the pack fast. Just before the Northway we turn right onto some road that runs parallel but is 10,000 times more fun as it twists along. The ZX10 is kinda scary here in a couple of places due to the on/off throttle lash, which you really want to get a good handle on before getting into the corner and give real thought to before exiting, as it will upset the bike's stability and you have to anticipate that. On lesser bikes I'd grab a fistful of throttle at the apex and power out hard. Not on this bike. That would either break the rear end loose and snap a high-side get-off or just send you off into the woods. This one you get on the throttle gently at apex and give it a hint of gas while speaking softly and sweetly to the bike, which propels you around the corner very fast and then you can get into it a little more as you straighten out. This bike will do genuine, no clutch slipping needed thanks, power wheelies in several gears.

This beast doesn't handle with the 600's (no liter bike can) but will hunt them down later on. I cannot describe getting onto the Northway with this pack of clowns, while on this bike, but I'll try. As I turn onto the entrance ramp at exit 20 north -- a short sweeper to the right, I already know what is most likely going to happen, 'cause after all, I've been on this same ramp dozens of times before taking these rides over the years. I'll never understand why they don't place a fleet of cops there with one of those credit card sliders. All I can think about as I start to roll and turn left from 9something onto the ramp is that I have to stay calm and keep the front end down. Do not, repeat -- DO NOT grab the throttle. Ease up the ramp and into the first turn (at about 50) and accelerate to the right, short-shift to second then straighten out and look ahead to see where you will merge, start winding it up as you look back over your left shoulder to see what was coming -- not that anything short of a bullet train will make any difference -- then as you hit the Northway proper at about 90mph, shift to third and open it up. A massive burst of intake noise surrounds you as you flash by some pickup truck that seems to be moving backwards, and follow the other bikes out across the first and into the second lane. Hold it open for as long as I dare -- maybe another 2 seconds, then cut the throttle and fall into the group doing 130mph. Start to coast down to a more sane 80mph and shift up to 4th. 3 miles down in very short order. Can't even spot the pickup in my mirrors. Off at exit 23, turn around and head back down to 21. Lather, rinse, repeat....

I got the bike parked, got off, got my helmet off and like some newbie, could not stop myself from saying HOLY cow!! much to the amusement of one of the Kawi reps smirking as he walked by. And then, yup -- it's time for my 15:45 ride on the ZX10. No need to adjust the mirrors.... and I was much smoother all around the second time out and figure that after a thousand miles or so on that bike I'd have it down pretty well. If I didn't wad it and paste myself into some immovable object. That bike has no business on public roads. I'm definitely liter bike material. I'm still hoping that next year Suzuki upgrades the GSX-R600 like they did the K5 and brings the 750 along for the ride. A GSX-R750 may be just the ticket, so to speak. So at the end of the day I'd had 4 rides: one 650, 1 1200cc and 2 on the ZX10. I then mounted my 1100 and rode briskly home, having put 250 miles on my bike in 2 days.

Americade report, 2004

I went to Americade last Friday with Shelley and met Scott and a couple others up there. A primary reason she wanted to go up was to get a jacket and accomplished that. I’m kinda envious. She had signed up for a demo ride, sort of talked into this particular ZZR600 by the guy at the signup table actually. The bike is very similar to Joann's but Shelley was leery of taking it out since it differs so much from hers, and I was just as glad about that since this bike was in the sportbike line-up and not the cruiser grouping, so she would have been on the ride with the people like me. She decided to head home around 13:30 and from following up, claims to have had a good time, so I'll accept that.

Me, well, I went out on the 13:30 ride on the ZX-10R, and it is without doubt, the most amazing motorcycle I've ever been on. It is far too much motorcycle for street use, but I could make due in a pinch. It is 20lbs heavier than the ZX-6R but they claim 184hp (more like 164 bhp, but who's counting) . This thing accelerates like a rocket without even getting into it's powerband, has great brakes to haul it back down and handles phenomenally. You can make the numbers on the digital speedometer spin up in a blur and it was kinda mesmerizing to watch them move. Only problem I noticed was that it's just about impossible to be smooth in 1st gear. Going in and out of Roaring Brook Ranch (where the demo rides start/finish) in first, the drive-line lash is pretty severe, so if you just think about the throttle the bike either lurches forward or falls on it's nose. I guess that's a function of so much power, so just put it in second.

I sat with Scott and Luke after my ride was over, regaling them with tales of the ZX10R, which neither had ridden all week. As we waited around for my 15:00 ride, the one in-between came back and a few seconds later we heard this woman in 1-piece leather riding suit bitching loudly to the the factory guys about some slug she got stuck behind. It's possible that she was behind him all along or maybe worst of all, he got ahead of her when they bunched up at the first stop sign. She was livid. Going on about how this guy couldn't ride in formation and couldn't corner and couldn't ride worth a damn and you aren't supposed to pass in line and why doesn't Kawasaki monitor who they put out on their bikes and on and on for I'll bet 3 solid minutes. Then about a minute later we could hear her again as she was walking away and someone made the mistake of asking how she liked the bike and she said the bike was great and then launched into her issues again. I've had that happen, so I can feel her pain....

I took the ZX-6R out at 15:00 and there was a no-show for the ZX-10R in line right in front of me and the ZX-12R in the other line, so Scott got the 12 and Luke got the ZX-10. I was the 4th bike behind the lead rider and our group split at me. The guy behind me on the ZZR1200R faded like a distant memory about half a dozen turns into the ride, and before he disappeared, I could see in my mirrors that the ZX-10R behind him was falling back... We were flying down the road to exit 20 and even with one 1/4 mile stretch couldn't see anyone behind us. We slowed down to a crawl about a mile before the exit and then finally had to pull off the road to let everyone regroup. We subsequently got split *ahem* just behind me again as we were taking the light to get on the Northway for a blitz from 20 to 22. Since there were only a handful of us through the light, and the lead rider deduced that the other 2 factory riders got stuck, back there, he opened it up to around 100mph on the Northway.

Except for the part out on the Northway, anytime we were on secondaries or even the ramps, I could easily keep up with Luke and since I often corner faster, I was constantly having to make sure I didn't run him over as we approached the turns. I could have taken him anytime with the 6. I love that bike.

From my own back to back rides, I was very careful with the ZX-10R (though the guy behind me was never on my tail....) but with the ZX-6R being tamer, I was able to ride that much more aggressively; just crank the throttle open and the power was much more manageable than on the 10. But alas, the 6-series has been supplanted after all these years by the ZX-10R. While I still had a blast on the smaller bike, the 10 is soooo nice and it just feels so much more substantial all the way around. It is The Bike. I still think a 750 would split the difference nicely though.

I didn't get any other rides as no one else had the courtesy to not show up. Oh, I could have had some 1600 Mean something or other with floorboards that went empty, but I would have just been a menace out there, wallowing through the corners, trying to figure out how to steer the thing... Homey don't do cruisers   :)

After that I ate a bunch of hotdogs and worked on my sunburn and Scott and I headed back around 17:30, after they all went out on a Honda snooze-fest. While I was waiting for them to return, I sat on the CBR1000RR Honda brought along, but never lets anyone take out. It would be nice if the others brought the serious stuph to compare against the Kawi's. I'd reeeeeeally like to run the new GSXRs, but only Kawasaki brings the real bikes and lets Joe Public at 'em. Even Americade isn't perfect.

Americade report, 2003

Warning: Another Long Post

I took 3 days off last week and went up to Americade Thurs & Fri. Thursday was forecast to be showery and it had rained overnight, so roads were wet. It was misty when I headed out around 07:30, but by the time I got up to Clifton Park and was getting onto the Northway, the sun was periodically peeking out. I got up to Roaring Brook Ranch and in line for Aprilia demos by 08:25.

I asked for the sportiest thing they had and was signed up for a one liter RSV1000R Mille at 10:00. Then I shot over and registered for a Suzuki SV1000S for 11:00 and then managed to catch a Kawi ZX600R ride at 15:00, mostly due to low turnout because of the gloomy weather. Ducati and Triumph were not there.

While I was milling about (ha!), waiting for the ride to be called, there was a younger guy and his friend sitting on various bikes and snapping pics. When we left on the ride, I was 4th, behind some guy on a less sporty bike who wasn't that great a rider. Behind me were the two guys I mentioned.

Aprilia uses the same course mapped by BMW, which starts off taking a twisty road running parallel alongside the Northway, from exit 21 down to 20. Then it turns right and heads towards Lake Luzerne.  About 12 miles into this ride, you make a right onto a road that heads up the side of a mountain, making a series of switchbacks. There are a couple lefts and rights and then a longer sweeping left which leads to a 110 degree hairpin to the right. All of this while climbing. We were moving at a fairly brisk pace, though not the fastest I've gone since I had to keep slowing for the guy in front of me.

So we are in the long left, the guy in front of me slows for the hard right and I start to slow and am looking at some sand that has washed across the right side of the lane we are in from all of the rain and then I look towards the upcoming right turn and start to setup when I hear a loud BASH type noise. I look hard at the guy in front of me to see if he had touched down in the turn or something when I see peripherally, a bike sliding from right to left across my right mirror and then right to left across my left mirror, and I look back in time to see the bike go off into the woods. The guy behind me had gone down.

We were motioned to keep on going and we stopped to regroup about 1/2 mile up the road at a stop sign. The entire way there I'm trying to figure out what happened and am hoping that I had nothing to do with it. I asked a few others who were farther back what they saw and one guy says he was hard on the brakes and went down and another says it didn't look like he braked at all, just tucked the front end. A minute later the guy comes in on the chase rider’s bike and the factory guy has the downed one. It didn't look bad at all and the guy wasn't visibly hurt, and didn't walk over to punch me in the face, so I assumed I wasn't the cause.

A few minutes later and I'm over at the Suzuki ride and they use the same course. The guy gives the pre-ride talk and describes the course and says we'll be taking a nice ride and the usual about not going in over your head, it's no embarrassment to slow down; you don't want to crash and have to ride back in the "Van of Shame". This time I'm the first bike behind the leader and figure I've got it made with no possible clowns to get in the way. The SV1000 is also a 1 liter V-twin, like the Aprilia, but noticeably smoother. I don't care how much it costs, I wasn't that impressed with the Aprilia. Don't get me wrong, it was nice and all, but not with my money. As we are suiting up, I tell the guy getting on the bike behind me what had happened earlier.

Well, I've got position, but no where to go. The leader is riding like I'm on a Honda run or something. Too slow; everyone is bunching up. The most interesting thing that happened along the ride was trying to match gears with the leader as he rarely used his brakes. He did launch away after making a couple turns and I went with him and got up to around 80mph, but it was short lived. When we got to the spot of the crash, I pointed out the parallel lines running off the road, from where the engine guard and footpeg dug in.

Next day and I'm thinking about that. I told Joann that I had time to take my hand off the bar and point out the lines. A lot of time, before making the right turn. Okay, we were going kind of slow and it felt like I could have stopped, jumped off, flagged people to the marks on the road like I was directing planes on a runway, then got back on and made the turn. What I realized was that these marks began significantly before the right hand turn, so the guy couldn't have been leaning for the turn and lost it. That brought me back to the braking issue because of the guy in front of me. I later realized that what could have happened was that the guy saw the sand across the lane and either got into it and lost the front end or panic braked and swerved to avoid it. Either of those and not my fault.

I took out the ZX6R as I do every time I'm up there. I always enjoy that bike. Both Scott and Luke said they hated the redesign of the 6R due to severe, um, seat ergonomics.The 6R was upped to a 636cc this year and the seating position is pretty radical with big tank and low bars. The footpegs are pretty far up and rearward as well -- similar to my own bike. I think it’s really good looking this year, and am hopeful for the ride. It was a light turnout for the ride and several bikes were pulled from the lineup, including the 9R which I wanted to ride also, but I stuck with the ZX6. It's tradition. They had 2 of them and they were both at the end of the line so I took the last one figuring I could at least hang back a hair and give myself some room, particularly since the chase bike was a 500.

Kawasaki takes the twisty road to exit 20, then gets on and blasts up the Northway to 22, off and back on and down to 21. It's a fun ride. This bike was a blast. Totally dedicated riding position forces you to sit up on the tank and hang off, which is where you want to be for maximum control under hard cornering anyway. Not much fun under other circumstances though, so keep moving. This bike is so light and so nimble and so much more powerful, and in that position you feel like an extension of the bike. The guy on the other one was at least my age and a very good rider and we managed to have a blast, stay up on the pack and still leave the chase rider for dead the whole time. Part of the fun I have while riding is watching the rider I'm following, as it gives you a sense of watching yourself 3rd person. It was another great ride. I had much more fun than I did on either liter bike ride earlier in the day. Just wish Kawi would adopt the long course ...

Friday was a sunny day and is always crowded. I signed up for the ZX9R at 15:30 and then went to Suzuki and got a SV650 at 14:20. By the time I got back to the Kawi line, all good bikes had been taken and there were only abundant cruiser rides to be had. Against my better judgment, I was talked into and signed up for a 16:45 ride on a Mean Streak, which is some 1500cc sport cruiser. Scott and Luke raved about how much fun they had on it, but I sat on one and didn't even like that feeling. Good looking bike though (I've spent too much time watching Discovery Channel lately...).

So the morning went by and we were down in the village at the vendor area. Not much happening there anymore. Over the years, I've had tires put on my bike, Joann and I both bought seats from Corbin Saddles there, I've gotten gloves and Joann bought a leather jacket. Now it's acres of junk jewelry, cheap black leather -- mostly with fringe and tassels and low IQ tee-shirts. I did manage to buy another set of overpriced sunglasses though.

Some bad food and back to the tent. At 14:00 I realize I should be at Roaring Brook and head off, knowing full well there is no way I can make it in time. Long walk back to the field where we parked. I actually found my bike first try, which is much more impressive than it sounds. Idle along back to the beach. Idle along to RT 9. Back to Roaring Brook just in time to meet my ride going out. Killed some more time until the ZX9R ride.

The 9R is a more comfortable riding position. The reach to the bars isn't as extreme as the 6R and the pegs are lower and more forward. I was the 2nd to last bike in the line, followed by a ZX11. The 9R under way felt almost as light as the 6R did, though not quite. But the engine is far more powerful. This was also a lot of fun to ride. Kawasaki makes nice bikes. If I had to choose, I'd go with the bigger bike. It wouldn't be as sharp in the tight stuph, but would keep right up just by it's power and is a far more practical bike. You could ride this one for several hours whereas the ZX6 is one you'd like to trailer to the twisties, ride 30 minutes and trailer it back.

I waited around to see if there would be any no-shows for the final ride and the ZX11 was empty, so I took it out. This is not at all a dedicated sport bike, but was developed several years ago (7?) as a killer sport tourer. It's big and heavy and bulky and has a very mild riding position, which didn't fit me as my knees were hitting part of the frame and my left heel kept hitting the tang of the -- gasp! -- center stand. Sport bikes don't have center stands... The engine was a monster. Like the ZX9, I just put it in 3rd and left it there.

I don't know why I bother riding bikes other than what Kawasaki brings, as I always enjoy theirs the best. The European v-twins are not my thing right now, and until Triumph returns, I don't really want to ride many others. I definitely prefer an in-line 4. Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda never bring their serious sport bikes.