Topic: 22 Rides in 2022 - Frank's legacy rides on!

[BenelliSEI]

Damn!  97 acres?!
Thats quite a nest egg, should you decide to parcel it off.

Local zoning does not allow it. Good friends own the “long 200” behind us, and another the 100 acres south…. “No potential development” sits well with all of us.

That is correct. We are in Ontario, Canada, 60 miles N.E. Of Toronto.
So, ya'll couldn't sell off 5 or 10 acre single family residential parcels here and there?

[Trevor from Warragul]

Went on a loop north of Warragul (Victoria, Australia) today (it was either that or go to the movies with my wife and watch "Spencer" - I'm not the biggest fan of Kristen Stewart or Princess Di, so I opted for the ride).  North to Noojee, East towards Mt Baw Baw, South towards Willow Grove, then West towards Buln Buln. Rolling hills, narrow winding state forest roads, the occasional straight bits - motorcycling nirvana! Yes, those are the genuine kilometers on the speedo (+ 99,999.9 & another 5,000 km when the speedo cable broke and I was too lazy to replace it)!

There's heaps of these signs near me!




It's hard to see, but there's a mountain stream down there!


As my wife says (in a droll voice) "Another road, another beautiful view"


30 minutes earlier I was in those hills in the background!


I filled the tank and reset the trip meter at the start of the ride. Bike felt noticeably lighter at the end.

[Terry in Australia]

Beautiful pics Trevor, and a beautiful bike to do the ride on. I had a mate killed in a car crash in Willow Grove back in the early 80's, there are some great roads around there, but some unforgiving corners.

[scottly]

How many sets of alternator slip-ring brushes did you go through over that many kilometers, Trevor? Two of my friend's '79 CBX's brushes both wore out at about 8000 miles, and both on the same day!??

[Trevor from Warragul]

How many sets of alternator slip-ring brushes did you go through over that many kilometers, Trevor?

8000 miles sounds about right!  Another issue is the alternator "clutch" plates.  To keep the bike as narrow as possible, the alternator is placed on a jackshaft behind the motor (the width is only 2 inches more than a 750/4).  Honda were concerned about the forces generated by sudden acceleration/alternator weight snapping the jackshaft, so they incorporated a "clutch", which is basically two round metal dishes (called "plate A" and "plate B") held together by a big spring.  When you accelerate hard, the plates slip.  CBX owners are familiar with a cricket chirruping noise coming from the alternator area, and when it does this, it means the plates are worn, and will slip under normal acceleration.  The 1st solution is to install a bigger washer in the setup, to re-tension the spring.  The 2nd solution is new plates, which are all but impossible to find.  I fitted OEM plates about 30,000 km ago, so I'm okay for a while...

[Trevor from Warragul]

I had a mate killed in a car crash in Willow Grove back in the early 80's

I passed a big tree near there with a newish memorial to "Bec"...

[Terry in Australia]

Yes mate, when I'm driving back from Bairnsdale, just before Traralgon there's a sign that alerts us all to the numbers who've been killed and injured in the Latrobe Valley, and it's quite scary, I don't know why but I always think the majority of crashes are in the city.

[Kevin D]

 I like hearing the foreign place names, so different than what we have here. We have some Indian names: Pontiac, Huron, Saginaw, Mackinaw. Some French names: Detroit, Marquette, Grosse Ile, Bois Blanc, Sault Saint Marie. Mostly English names: Royal Oak, Plymouth, Brighton, Albion, Chelsea, and some American history: Jackson, Wayne, Monroe.
 Of course there are fatal accidents around here as well. Sometimes friends will make a memorial at the accident site. There was a ghost bike on Dexter-Chelsea road where a bicyclist was struck by a pickup. Motorcycle accidents usually make the news and I know of several on the roads I travel. I try to learn what happened so not to repeat.
 I envy you guys with winding roads to ride, it’s too flat around here so curves are not needed! But maybe it’s a blessing and a curse. I’m not a highway engineer, but I have been on mountain roads that weren’t much more than a cart path with a layer of asphalt, and my 750 was a mismatch. Later generation roads might have had some expensive blasting and earthmoving to widen and straighten them, but probably not. So you all be careful out there, enjoy your rides, we are in the deep freeze here.

[BomberMann650]

Two for the show 😎

A balmy 63 freedom degrees in the heartland today. 
Got the miles in heading out to the library and back.
Regailed some impressionable youth with stories of the advances in motorcycle technology.

[Kelly E]

I'm happy that this is open to any bike now. I regularly ride several different bikes. This summer I hope to spend some time on the 80' Suzuki GS 1100E. It should be a lot of fun with the new carbs and exhaust.

[RAFster122s]

Several years ago a bicyclist was killed on the loop road around Sentinel Peak Park, also know as A Mountain die to the large rock A that was formed and painted many many years ago. It is the logo of University of Arizona which is not that many miles away and the painted rock is very visible from Interstate I10 and part of downtown.

Anyway, back to the white painted bike memorial that was put up on the side of the road where a drunk driver ran down the bicyclist and fled the scene and then racedoff down the mountain and hit a car before she got out of the park into the neighborhood and away. Well, the people involved in that accident and several whom had seen the aftermath of what she did killing the bicyclist caught up with her and she tried to flee the scene again but she was subdued and stopped from fleeing until police arrived to arrest her.
It is rather heinous for someone to do this in my opinion.
Well a friend and I like to slope soar RC gliders off the north face adjacent/close to where the white bike memorial lives. We saw some international students who didn't know what the bike signified taking photos around the bike with the mountains to the North and overlooking Tucson. It bugged me as I found it disrespectful of what it stood for and so I went over and asked if they knew the purpose of the white bike and what it symbolizes. They did not, I told them I felt their photography with it I found disrespectful and asked them to not take any other photos like they had been doing.
One of the guys (2 young males and a young woman, with one of the guys being an older grad student) came over to strike up a conversation after that. I think he was trying to ingratiate himself and his group with us to not ruffle any feathers. He chatted with us for about 15 minutes. My friend is in his 70s and really wanted nothing to do with them..so he didn't talk with him much but kept flying his glider.

I understood their ignorance but didn't appreciate the tasteless thing they were doing, ignorant or not. Not that I was going to be uncivilized about it ...

FWIW, YMMV...
David

[BomberMann650]

Winter Blast hit the region. 

Think I should hit the road?

[Terry in Australia]

I'm just hoping that the weather is nice this weekend, we've had a 2 week heatwave, followed by storms and rain, and today it's back in the 60's. It should be back in the high 70's by Saturday, and hopefully not raining.

[Trevor from Warragul]

I went for a 181 km ride on my Suzuki Bandit yesterday.  I needed to get some club permit paperwork signed by one of our club scrutineers in Ferntree Gully (Victoria, Australia), as the Bandit turned 25 on Tuesday, and a permit will reduce my annual registration from $569.10 to $81.00.  I came home via Monbulk, Emerald & Gembrook.  Nice ride, but no pictures! Here's another recent one...

[Terry in Australia]

I went for a 181 km ride on my Suzuki Bandit yesterday.  I needed to get some club permit paperwork signed by one of our club scrutineers in Ferntree Gully (Victoria, Australia), as the Bandit turned 25 on Tuesday, and a permit will reduce my annual registration from $569.10 to $81.00.  I came home via Monbulk, Emerald & Gembrook.  Nice ride, but no pictures! Here's another recent one...

Beautiful bike Trevor, there were a couple of cheap Bandits on FB recently and I almost bought one, but I need to sell some bikes to make some room first.

[Trevor from Warragul]

there were a couple of cheap Bandits on FB recently and I almost bought one

Buy one!  It really is a great bike.  Gobs and gobs of torque, and not bad handling.  I put the "DB killer" back in the Megacycle exhaust for the roadworthy examination, and it's improved the low rev manners, so I'll leave it in.  I've also discovered Penrite Petrol Injector Cleaner.  I've tried lots of different fuel system cleaners, which have worked okay, then I thought I'd give Penrite a go (after all, their motor oil is fantastic).  Wow, this stuff actually works!

[Kelly E]

I went for a 181 km ride on my Suzuki Bandit yesterday.  I needed to get some club permit paperwork signed by one of our club scrutineers in Ferntree Gully (Victoria, Australia), as the Bandit turned 25 on Tuesday, and a permit will reduce my annual registration from $569.10 to $81.00.  I came home via Monbulk, Emerald & Gembrook.  Nice ride, but no pictures! Here's another recent one...

Beautiful bike Trevor, there were a couple of cheap Bandits on FB recently and I almost bought one, but I need to sell some bikes to make some room first.

I really like the Bandit's like yours but it's not in the cards so I'll have to settle for our $500 80' GS 1100E.
We're working on putting it back on the road. It's been parked since 06'.

[Terry in Australia]

I went for a 181 km ride on my Suzuki Bandit yesterday.  I needed to get some club permit paperwork signed by one of our club scrutineers in Ferntree Gully (Victoria, Australia), as the Bandit turned 25 on Tuesday, and a permit will reduce my annual registration from $569.10 to $81.00.  I came home via Monbulk, Emerald & Gembrook.  Nice ride, but no pictures! Here's another recent one...

Beautiful bike Trevor, there were a couple of cheap Bandits on FB recently and I almost bought one, but I need to sell some bikes to make some room first.

I really like the Bandit's like yours but it's not in the cards so I'll have to settle for our $500 80' GS 1100E.
We're working on putting it back on the road. It's been parked since 06'.

The old GS (GSX) 1100's were great bikes, they stole the engine design for their first eight valve engines from Kawasaki but made much better frames for them, so they were the best handling Jap bikes of the 70's. The 16 valve engines were animals, and were the drag strip heroes until the GSXR/Hayabusa's came along. I was never a fan of the odd leading axle forks on your model, but that wouldn't stop me from dragging one home if I was lucky enough to find one. I looked at a GSX1100EFE in Tasmania for sale of FB for $1000 two weeks ago, before I decided that I didn't want it (it had been stored in a horrible wet building so everything was rusty or corroded, hence the price) it was SOLD.

[Trevor from Warragul]

Yep, the GS and GSX's are great bikes.  I used to spend ages staring at a brand new 1100 Katana on the showroom floor back in the 80's...

[Terry in Australia]

I was lucky Trevor, my cousin had a Suzuki dealership and let me ride the new bikes, plus the trade ins. I could have bought a shiny new GSX1100 in 1981 for $2000 (cost price) but I was getting married so had to be content with my faithful old K1. My 40th anniversary is in a couple of weeks, I wonder if I would have kept that shiny new Suzy for 40 years?

[70CB750]

I went for a 181 km ride on my Suzuki Bandit yesterday.  I needed to get some club permit paperwork signed by one of our club scrutineers in Ferntree Gully (Victoria, Australia), as the Bandit turned 25 on Tuesday, and a permit will reduce my annual registration from $569.10 to $81.00.  I came home via Monbulk, Emerald & Gembrook.  Nice ride, but no pictures! Here's another recent one...

Pretty

[Kelly E]

I went for a 181 km ride on my Suzuki Bandit yesterday.  I needed to get some club permit paperwork signed by one of our club scrutineers in Ferntree Gully (Victoria, Australia), as the Bandit turned 25 on Tuesday, and a permit will reduce my annual registration from $569.10 to $81.00.  I came home via Monbulk, Emerald & Gembrook.  Nice ride, but no pictures! Here's another recent one...

Beautiful bike Trevor, there were a couple of cheap Bandits on FB recently and I almost bought one, but I need to sell some bikes to make some room first.

I really like the Bandit's like yours but it's not in the cards so I'll have to settle for our $500 80' GS 1100E.
We're working on putting it back on the road. It's been parked since 06'.

The old GS (GSX) 1100's were great bikes, they stole the engine design for their first eight valve engines from Kawasaki but made much better frames for them, so they were the best handling Jap bikes of the 70's. The 16 valve engines were animals, and were the drag strip heroes until the GSXR/Hayabusa's came along. I was never a fan of the odd leading axle forks on your model, but that wouldn't stop me from dragging one home if I was lucky enough to find one. I looked at a GSX1100EFE in Tasmania for sale of FB for $1000 two weeks ago, before I decided that I didn't want it (it had been stored in a horrible wet building so everything was rusty or corroded, hence the price) it was SOLD.

I'm not a big fan of the forks either but they still handle great. They are hard to find here as well, many of them got parted out for the motors by drag racers. We bought ours after we resurrected an 81' for a friend because we liked it so much. After we got ours someone requested that we find them one but there were no more to be had. I hardly ever see them out on the road.

[Terry in Australia]

Today was a great day. After a breakfast of peanut butter on home made wholemeal toast the doorbell rang and to my surprise, it was the UPS man with 3 boxes, one huuge, containing the Kawasaki Z1-B OEM bodywork and fenders that I'd bought from Nils Menten a couple of weeks ago.

Z1-B bodywork 6 Feb 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It was actually better than I'd expected. I've always liked black Z1's, so I think I might put the bodywork on my 1428 build when I restificate it back from the dead next. I also had a mate offer me a used Z1 front brake MC (mine's a repro) for $100, so I grabbed that too, just to go in the "OEM box" for if and when I ever sell it. Anyway, I hid all the parts and drove over to the self storage place, so I could go for a ride on the magnificent K0. I rolled it out into the sunlight and fired it up so the engine would have a chance to warm up while I put on my jacket, helmet and gloves.

I'd filled it up on the return leg of my last ride, so I didn't need to stop for fuel which was good, because it was ridiculously expensive out on the highway. I stopped at a little town in the middle of nowhere and took a couple of pics as I gave my poor back a rest, the "Road less travelled" is my favourite, but it is also the "Road most pot holed"

K0 Sunday 6 Feb 2022 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Sunday 6 Feb 2022 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Sunday 6 Feb 2022 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I rode on to Heathcote and stopped at the bakery for a meat and vegetable pastie for lunch. I wandered back out to the bike, and a Harley guy was admiring the old red rocket. He was a bit younger than me, but obviously liked old CB750's, so we had a yack before we hopped on our bikes and roared off in different directions.

I got back to the self storage place after another really enjoyable 130 miles and realised that I've now done 2400 trouble free miles on the K0, and as the last oil change was at 500, I'd better order a new filter and this time I might even pony up the dough for some "Motorcycle Only" oil, instead of the car oil that I've been using, without issues. All in all, a great day!  

[spotty]

went for my first ( longish) ride on the rocket 3 yesterday, about 70 miles for the afternoon, with the new mrs spotty on the back and its got that much power/torques that it made no difference

( ignore the dodgy wogcati and bsa in the picture, they're someone elses problem...)

[Gurp]

The other day before the snow i seen a guy out riding. It was in the high 30s. Props to him. tougher than I.