A Kick In The Pants !!

FZ1riderNY

FZ1riderNY

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Well, it finally happened today. I have had the bike since last October and since that time I have put on about 1200 miles. In all those few miles I have never had the bike up over 5 grand.......... until today that is. I took the bike to work today figuring that I would take a short ride after I got off. I left at 2:00pm and first headed over to Staples to pick up an SD Card for the GoPro camera.

I headed for home because it had gotten a bit chilly. As I headed down the parkway I had an urge to feel what it was like to get the bike up over 8,000 rpm's to experience the so called rush of power that everyone talks about. I rode past my exit and headed for a sevice road which runs along side the parkway over by the Whitestone Bridge which connects the Bronx with Queens. It is rarely used this time of year because nobody uses the park that heads out to it. I rode through the park and circled around to the northbound side. I wanted to start from a stand still so I parked for a second past the toll booths and made sure I was on clean pavement. The tires were up to temperature by this time so I took off slowly, leaned as forward as possible, grabbed the tank with my knees, and let it rip!

I quickly passed 5 thousand and held on as the tach rose, 6,000...7,000....8,000....9,000...Whammo!!, Jesus! wasn't expecting the rush as my arms were straightened out as the tach reached just over 10,000 rpms. I shifted into second gear and rolled back on the throttle to wide open. No guys, no power shifting. I didn't have the ballz this time to have the front wheel off the ground unexpectedly. I was well over 100mph and shifting to third I had this weird visual with the bike just gobbling up tons of real estate really fast. It seemed that in a blink of an eye I had run out of service road, about a half mile of road. I rolled off the throttle and slowed down to the stoplight at the end of the road.

I do not remember my Gixer750 having that kind of raw pulling power. I was really surprised to the surge that wants to pull your arms off at the shoulders. If your not holding on, there is a real chance of you exiting the rear of the bike. The GSXR had a solo seat and rear cowl which made me feel planted on the bike so you didn't have that uneasy feel like you were falling off the back. Even though I was totally prepared to do what I did, I was still quite surprised when the power surged in after 8 or 9 grand.

Now that I have felt the power of the bike, I realize that I will need more time on it before I start getting on it again. Thats for sure. I must be getting old or something. Twenty years ago I would have been wheelying this bike every chance I had. I have since gotten either sensible or soft or both so it seems. Regardless I had a real blast today. Now when I read these posts about the "8,000 rpm" boost, I will know what everyone is talking about. Also, a little part of me really can't wait to do it again. Billy.:D:D:D
 
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Similar experience when I had my first race on a back road while I was coming home from work.

Oh, BTW, that 200 mile/tank your were experiencing -- say buh-bye to that kind of mileage as you find yourself using the powerband more and shifting less.

Adam
 
Oh and Adam, you gotta be careful bro. I just read on AOL this evening that your state just made number 2 on the list of most traffic fatalities for 2008. Mississippi was the number 1 state for fatalities.
 
Well, if you see the blatant disregard for high powered bikes and lack of any riding gear, I'm sorry to say that I'm not shocked. It is not just sportbikes, it is all makes and all age ranges as well.

Albuquerque, COPS favorite place to shoot
Gangs
Slew of dead bodies popping up in a given area -- think its even made national news
Ruidoso, NM. has a rally every year and that probably contributes to the count as well as you have everyone traliering their bike in and really don't know how to handle it. Especially when you add in a mountainous terrain with something other than a straight line.

.....it is no wonder that I even stay here....it is just a great place to call HOME! (guess that is why I'm looking for another place to live....)

Adam
 
Really? I am sorry to hear about that. I truly didn't realize that it was that bad out there. We here in the northeast think of the rest of the U.S. as real Americana, white picket fences, big white churches, and the county fair complete with the hot chilli contest. Wow, I am shocked.
 
Well, it has its upsides. Just got through watching the news and so some of the above was fresh in the noggin'.

Some of the high arid desert is beautiful. Fairly decent climate (although I swear it has gotten hotter in the summers since I've been here (although I do wish we get more snow) One hour or so drive and up above 7000 ft in National Forest. Lets just say that my excursions out take me North or Albuquerque and not South.

Not meaning to rain on your good vibes from today's experience.....

Adam
 
As another northeast guy I have to say ditto to the above comment about us thinking the rest of the U.S. is a much more peaceful and serene place.

Hey, Billy, great description of your ride. I felt like I was on the back seat.

I just went over 1400 miles on mine today. I haven't been much above 8k rpm yet. But I remember hitting 8k on the NJ Parkway and I did notice the rush. It was like something inside the engine just opened up and another whole level of performance was there to be had. At this point I was going about 95mph and didn't have the room, nor the balls, to take it any higher.
 
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Steve F said:
As another northeast guy I have to say ditto to the above comment.

Hey, Billy, great description of your ride. I felt like I was on the back seat.

I just went over 1400 miles on mine today. I haven't been above 8k rpm yet.
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Well all I can say is that when you are ready to go where few men have gone, make sure that you duct tape your wrists to the handlebars. And I ain't lying brother. Even knowing it was about to happen, it still scared the piss out of me!
 
I am only asking because this Spring, we are going to meet up near Englishtown with the guy I bought my bike from, and go for a ride plus lunch. He lives just off exit 2. So I am riding down 9 exits and he is riding up 7 exits to more or less meet halfway. Maybe we can include you in the mix. The more the merrier.
 
L.O.L, Sounds like the old joke "You're from Jersey? What exit?"

I'm just south of exit 11. The Englishtown Market is about a 20 minute ride for me assuming no traffic. Sounds like fun. Please keep me in mind when plans firm up. Thanks
 
Man! How lucky are you!! Your that close to the racetrack. Lucky Stiff. Yeah, twice a year there is a 3 day swap meet and car show. One in April and one in September. I haven't missed a swap meet there for probably 15 or 20 years. I love that place. I'll be there in a few weeks. I believe its April 17th,18th, and 19th this year. I am going on Sunday. I think we will definitely keep in touch with you since neither myself or my buddy Dave whose at exit2, knows any good roads down there. If your familiar with any good routes which could equal about a 2 hour ride both ways, please let me know. I am a whiz with maps so just name some routes for me so I can check them out. Thats if you don't mind and also at your convenience. Thanks Steve.
 
FZ1riderNY said:
Oh and Adam, you gotta be careful bro. I just read on AOL this evening that your state just made number 2 on the list of most traffic fatalities for 2008. Mississippi was the number 1 state for fatalities.
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Mississippi #1? Maybe for a ratio of drivers to fatalities. CA, TX and FL are 1, 2, 3 for the total # of fatalities. Have been that way for years.
 
Billy,
Glad you were able to feel what these FZ1 bikes can do.

Maybe you ought to look at Cooper Dawg for a rear seat cowl. Looks pretty cool, gives some storage and will keep your butt in place next time you hit that powerband around 8,000 rpm.
 
Billy
Yea, I live pretty close to the track. But to be honest I’ve never been to any motor sport event there. The only time I was actually on the grounds was for a Grateful Dead concert way back in 77 or 78. I have a buddy at work I see every now and then. He would race motocross there. I kept meaning to go see him but I didn’t run into him for almost a year. When I did see him he told me the reason I hadn’t seen him was because he crashed and was laid up for 6 months. Needless to say, he’s given up motocross and I never went to the events. The swap meet sounds interesting though. I’ll try to make it and say hi.

I’ll look for some routes and let you know. Life in general usually takes me north or much further south. I don’t know that area all that well. I’ve been having fun on the FZ just getting lost in that neck of the woods and eventually coming out to some major road where I know to get home. I haven’t found anything I would call a great route with twisties or anything like you’d find in the Catskills or Vt., N.H. It’s mostly relaxing country roads, which I enjoy.

Try this, Google Map on Hopewell, NJ. Then zoom out far enough to see New Hope, Pa.(which is west) and New Brunswick, NJ (which is to the northeast) and Lebanon (which is to the north). A lot of those roads in between those points are nice too and well within your 4 hour round trip timeframe. I haven’t done them yet on the FZ but I’ve driven on them a few times in the cage with the family and told myself to get there on the bike.

If you want to rip it up in NJ I think the better places to go would either be in the northwest part of the state or south in the Pine Barrens. In the Pine Barrens Rt 539 and 72 are pretty nice.
 
FLFZ1 said:
Billy,
Glad you were able to feel what these FZ1 bikes can do.

Maybe you ought to look at Cooper Dawg for a rear seat cowl. Looks pretty cool, gives some storage and will keep your butt in place next time you hit that powerband around 8,000 rpm.
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I will definitely check that out. I had just thought that there were only rear cowls made for the GenII bike and not for the 01-05 bikes. I'll have to PM him and ask. Thanks.
 
FLFZ1 said:
Mississippi #1? Maybe for a ratio of drivers to fatalities. CA, TX and FL are 1, 2, 3 for the total # of fatalities. Have been that way for years.
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Yes your right. It's a ratio thing. I think if I remember correctly it was 31.7 per 100,000 for Mississippi making them first on the list followed by New Mexico with I think 29.0 per 100,000. I am pissed because when I went back to AOL Today to get the particulars for Adam, they had changed the page with newer stuff and now I can't locate the friggin article.:confused:
 
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