Topic: 25 Rides in 2025, Frank's New Years resolution that we can all enjoy.

[BenelliSEI]

Stopped to look at TYM tractors on the way home. Cab with heat and A/C and a front mounted snow blower would be nice, but the price is staggering.......

Is it as much as the Indian that Kevin rode?

With the cab, bucket and front mounted blower, sadly YES! About US$40K…..
there are several other options, and I’ll be checking them all out. There are usually decent discounts in the late Fall. I am in no rush….

[Kelly E]

Kelly, it’s hard comparing apples and oranges, for example: does the tractor have a 400Watt premium sound system with Bluetooth?

The tractor might have a sound system.

[willbird]

#44, 7-19-2025, 121 miles

[newday777]

#44, 7-19-2025, 121 miles

What stat is that in willbird?

[lash]

#64 today 248 km. to Kingspoint, NL. About 45 km. of terrible highway both ways but great day!

[Alan F.]

Ride #5 for me today, 71 miles.
I went to get my bike inspected at a local shop but no dice, the inspector had left early. So I stopped at my storage place to bleed my rear brake before proceeding to the next shop about a 35 minute ride south. They had a sign about a bikini bike wash, this Honda Shop opened in 1976, I'm not sure how old the sign was, but it wasn't happening today.
After my bike became legal I headed north on rt28 through Andover, Lawrence, Methuen to routes 110 and 125 and stopped for a drink and a snack in Kingston, NH. Then I explored some new back roads, found a solar farm at the end of a dirt road and rode about a quarter mile of doubletrack near some power lines. Which was fun but my bike is geared much too high for that. Then a few more miles of back roads home. 71 miles and 4 stops in 4 hours. The best part is I'm on-call this weekend and today has been quiet so far.

[Terry in Australia]

Yesterday, Spotty and I did some more work on the GPZ1100, we replaced the shims (7 out of 8 valves had no clearance at all) and I was hoping that cylinders 1 and 2 would now have some compression, but sadly no, I'm assuming that it has a couple of burned valves, so this week I'll pull the head off my 1428 engine and install it on the GPZ1100 next weekend. It's a later model GPZ1100 head, and I believe it has bigger valves and ports, so should give the old girl around another 20 BHP, or more if I use the .410 lift race cams from the 1428 engine.

But I digress. On Friday it was sunny but cold (53 degrees) so I decided to ride back to Broadford and have lunch at the bakery. I bought an egg and bacon pie (quiche) and a little steak "Party Pie", and am happy to report that they were both delicious.

VMax Friday 18 July 2025 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It actually felt warmer than 53 degrees in the sun, but when I rode in the shade it was bloody cold. Luckily the heated gloves were working well, and it was a pleasant 93 miles. The VMax is going great, it really is a beast, and currently my favourite ride. Anyway, that was ride #24, and hopefully I'll do #25 later today, after Bob drops by to pick up a K1 head that he needs for his current CB750 project. I think this is about the earliest I've managed to do my rides, I'm really enjoying my semi retirement.

VMax Friday 18 July 2025 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Kevin D]

I went back a few pages to make a tally as of July 20. Here’s what I have:

Lash                 62 rides
BallAquatics      25+   who’s counting!?!  Hope you’re doing well
Willbird             43
Terry                24
PeWe                19
Kevin D             14
BenelliSEI          13
Newday777        11
Kelly E                9
Gurp                   6
Ofreen                4
Alan F                 4
Denward              2
BomberMann650  2
Jgger                   1


That’s 15 Riders that have posted rides. It’s great to read your ride reports and see your photos.
Haven’t seen PeWe in a while.
Good to hear from you Bud. I was looking for a Budman Blue Scout to ride and photograph but there wasn’t one available at the recent demo rides.
Jgger hope you’re riding and you and your FJR are good.
Terry you’re probably at 25 already.
.

[PeWe]

Hi Kevin.
Weather and homework (install new floor in the kitchen) have been my obstacles for any rides the last month.

I have only 6 rides left to do this year

[jgger]

Kevin, good job tracking the rides. It sure makes me look like a slacker though. After doing the opposite of Terry and going back to work ( I question my judgement)  it has cut into my riding and spare time. BTW congrats or condolences to ya Terry, whichever fits, on the employment change.

Reading about everyone's rides has helped me keep what little sanity I have, thanks everyone! I actually have 9 rides that could qualify, but all except # 9 has expired on the time limit to post them. I have started riding to work for the last 4 or 5 weeks and doing about 85 miles round trip per day but I don't think that commuting really fits the spirit of what Frank was aiming for.

My ride #8 was out for a night of Speedway races and as always it was great. This was July 12th, so it is expires.🤧 but still fun.

[jgger]

I will bend my own rules about the commute to count last Friday's ride to work. What stands out as not my ordinary day of lane splitting,  which I'm getting pretty good at ( knock on wood). But it rained! I know that doesn't sound very special to most of you until you consider it is in Southern California in the middle of July.

The morning ride started out absolutely beautiful and it was just about 4 miles to the job when it started to mist. I pulled onto Balboa Island with just a tad of mist and by the time I parked and got all my junk inside we had real rain, so I got a free bike wash.

Now my #9 or #2 (depending on how we are counting) is in the books. If i counted all my commutes my count would be abour 34.

So I think that this year i will post when I can, but I'm thinking that I'm pretty much disqualified for not following the rules. Anyhoo here is a couple of pics from my " rain storm" bawhahahaha!

[Alan F.]

I snuck my 5th ride in on July 19th, not sure if you spotted that one Kevin. 😉

[BallAquatics]

BallAquatics      25+   who’s counting!?!  Hope you’re doing well

LOL  Hi Kevin,  I'm doing well, but my latest blood work says otherwise.  I've been riding almost daily, but nothing of real interest to anyone but myself.  Picked up a new bike to wrench on.  Mom's still in the care facility so that has also been keeping me occupied.  Weather has been mostly unbearably hot and humid, but early morning rides help to alleviate that.

As you said, it's great to read the ride reports and see the photos.  Frank would be happy to see that he had an impact on getting us off our butts and riding!

[willbird]

#45, 64 miles, got rained on a bi over by Buler, IN but not too nad :;;-).

[Kevin D]

Ride #15  87 miles

The weather is terrific again today so I planned for another ride. I read a FB post about a soon to be closed intersection on my route: 7 mile and Sheldon to be closed for traffic circle construction. That’s right at the big Northville housing project. Soon to be a cluster f from now until forevermore. I thought I’d better go see what’s happening. Some foundation work near the parking deck, I believe these are the commercial buildings. A couple bulidings near finish at the perimeter and some models across Center street. Streets laid out and staked, sewers buried, streets not poured yet. No work or closures on traffic circle at 7mile/Sheldon. On down 7 mile they’re clearing trees to make a new gate into the State Park off of 7mile road….. soon to be another place to avoid.
 But here and now I’m having a great day, filled with sunshine, no traffic on Seven mile, beautiful majestic horses romping in their pens, I’m on my CB making good time. At the lake, it is nearly flat, only a couple boats out, I can’t make out if there is a fishing line in the water. I do see that the skiers have laid out their slalom course, Theres used to be a ski jump ramp but no more.
 I see that the EB Amtrak Wolverine is an hour late so I rush to the far side of Dexter to get the picture that I missed a while back. I still didn’t quite get the photo. Much better, but I can’t ask the Amtrak engineer please slow down, move the Wolverine a little bit closer, no he’s in the hole an hour and going 80mph, 120fps, no slowing down. I should have used the burst shutter mode.
 At the A&W I got the heavily frosted mug, the frost didnt last too long but the heavy glass mug was cold throughout the meal. Under the orange umbrella, It all looks orange.

[newday777]

Kevin
That's a real Sub Compact car! You must be fast to catch one of those!

[Kelly E]

I got in ride number 10.

My buddy and I rode up to Anacortes for lunch at the Rockfish Grill. We had halibut and waffle fries.
I rode the 77' KZ 1000LTD and he rode his FJR 1300. It was 74° with a light breeze and a perfect day to ride. I rode a total of 85 miles.

[Kevin D]

Kevin
That's a real Sub Compact car! You must be fast to catch one of those!

Segway truck model

[newday777]

Kevin
That's a real Sub Compact car! You must be fast to catch one of those!

Segway truck model

😝

[Kevin D]

 
Lash                 62 rides
BallAquatics      25+   who’s counting!?!  Hope you’re doing well
Willbird             43
Terry                24
PeWe                19
Kevin D             14
BenelliSEI          13
Newday777        11
Kelly E                9
Gurp                   6
Ofreen                4
Alan F                 4
Denward              2
BomberMann650  2
Jgger                   1

I’m sorry if this list isn’t as accurate as it might be, but I was hoping to find all the participants and a reasonable count of their rides. Allan, sorry, yes I missed your ride. I missed a couple of Lashes rides. It’s an ever-changing count and you are doing your own count. I did read your post about the bikini car wash and regretted no pictures. Jgger I know you’re working, and riding, not slacking, that’s a terrific photo of the speedway rider. Riding to work counts, yeah it’s not as fun as a joyride, but you’re riding a motorcycle face in the breeze shifting the gears lean in the corners rev the engine, that counts. Dennis glad to hear you are riding, my boss had a blue SL175, front Ceriani forks rear Konis for 100 mile trail rides through the Michigan woods, seeing yours is taking me back to 1971. Per, my handlebar mounted voltmeter told me that my headlight was burned out last ride. I am missing your panoramic hi-res photos.

[scottly]

I will bend my own rules about the commute to count last Friday's ride to work. What stands out as not my ordinary day of lane splitting,  which I'm getting pretty good at ( knock on wood). But it rained! I know that doesn't sound very special to most of you until you consider it is in Southern California in the middle of July.


Now my #9 or #2 (depending on how we are counting) is in the books. If i counted all my commutes my count would be abour 34.

So I think that this year i will post when I can, but I'm thinking that I'm pretty much disqualified for not following the rules.

Jim, you deserve hazardous duty bonus points for commuting through SoCal traffic!!

[jgger]

Scottly, I have a 45mph max that I hold myself to. Also I keep it to about 15 mph faster than the cars I'm passing, anything more than that and I just fall in line. It is pretty cool following a motorcycle cop who is lane splitting, or passing a CHP  cruiser that is stuck with all the other cagers though.

[Terry in Australia]

Good to see you here Jim, and Thanks Kevin for confirming my rides, I have a memory like a sieve nowadays. I don't know if I'm retired yet, my combination of long service and annual leave ends around mid week next week, and then I'm "On the bench" which doesn't appeal at all, but after 10 years working for this company, I'm entitled to a "Golden Handshake" if they have to let me go, so I'm not going to blink first, I'll just keep hanging around and drawing pay until they realise that I'm "surplus to requirements" and let me go. As long as I can stay home and continue to sleep in each morning, and ride my bikes, while still getting paid, I'll take it.

Spotty and I got all excited last weekend with my GPZ1100, I'd found a supplier of 29mm valve shims and had replaced 7 out of 8 shims with thinner ones. We reinstalled the cams (easier to remove the cams than try to compress the buckets for that many shims) and set the valve timing. We got the compression tester out again, and .... nothing. Still no compression in cylinders 1 and 2, as opposed to 150 psi in 3 and 4. We checked the valve clearances again and we had plenty of clearance, so this weekend we'll be removing the head, and hopefully I'll just need a couple of new exhaust valves. I might take the head off my 1428cc KZ1000 engine (later model GPZ1100 head) and install it, we'll see.

Anyhoo, on Sunday Bob came over and picked up a K1 head, and after he left I decided that ride #25 was in order. It was a great day, sunny but not windy, and I had a great 103 mile ride, the furthest I've been on the VMax so far.

VMax Sunday 20 July 2025 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

VMax Sunday 20 July 2025 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

On Monday it was still sunny, but very windy. Being semi-retired as I am at the moment, I had no plans for the day, so when the wife told me that she had a doctors appointment, I decided that ride #26 was in order. I then decided to install the "Morley Muscle" Ignitech ignition with VBoost controller. While there were no installation instructions, it was a quick "Plug and Play" job, and I still had plenty of time to go for a ride, if the bike started.. Well it did start, the VBoost did it's thing and the engine ran OK, so I put all my winter bike clothes on, and headed north. I don't know why, but it felt a bit "Gutless" compared to the previous day. The first opportunity I had to hit the VBoost (which comes on around 6000 RPM, and all hell breaks loose) was utterly disappointing, the ignition was breaking down, just missing and farting, which was really annoying. Apart from that, at sane speeds it seemed to run fine, but really felt a bit "weaker" than with the OEM ignition. Not what I expected at all.

Anyway, it was a crappy day for a ride, the wind was really strong, so riding into it, it wanted to push my helmet into my face, and when riding across it, it tried to blow me off the road, so with the ingnition problems and the wind, I cut the ride down to 63 miles, and that was ride #26. I've sent Sean Morley an email to ask him what the fix is with the ignition, and if I need to send it back I'll be happy to install my stock ignition and have the VMax back the way it was, at the moment it's just too damn "normal", and I want my "Hooligan bike" back the way it was. Hopefully I'll get some more rides in soon.

VMax Monday 21 July 2025 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

VMax Monday 21 July 2025 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

[Kevin D]

Terry congratulations on completion of Franks Challenge 25 rides in 2025. We wouldn’t be here without you steering this ship of adventure and accomplishment. You’re in at the head table.

I’m often amazed at your skills and talents in motorcycle repairs. You tackle difficult jobs with ease on a wide variety of motorcycles.
For me, a burned out headlight is a big deal, you’re about to swap heads on the big Kaw.

I’m seeing 5/20/2021 as your earliest completion date. You were first in.
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,185494.msg2167776.html#msg2167776
Also First In in 2022.
Covid lockdown blocked you in 2020.

Congratulations!

[Terry in Australia]

Terry congratulations on completion of Franks Challenge 25 rides in 2025. We wouldn’t be here without you steering this ship of adventure and accomplishment. You’re in at the head table.

I’m often amazed at your skills and talents in motorcycle repairs. You tackle difficult jobs with ease on a wide variety of motorcycles.
For me, a burned out headlight is a big deal, you’re about to swap heads on the big Kaw.

I’m seeing 5/20/2021 as your earliest completion date. You were first in.
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,185494.msg2167776.html#msg2167776
Also First In in 2022.
Covid lockdown blocked you in 2020.

Congratulations!

Thanks Kevin, I'm glad I got them done, and I'm really looking forwards to some nice long rides once the weather warms up. Re: my mechanical skills, (or lack thereof) well, I had a couple of great mentors early on in my life, and I've always had a weird curiosity in how things work.

The over-riding reason that I drag home bikes that other guys have given up on is all to do with money. I don't have any, so I can only afford bikes that are in less than magnificent condition, and priced accordingly. My VMax was around half the price that guys were asking for good running bikes, but all it needed was a new fuel pump, new plugs and a bit of tinkering. The GPZ1100 was super cheap for what it is, and will need some top end love, tyres, and a few minor things, but the big Kawasaki engines are easy to work on, so no biggie. Anyway, thanks again, and I better decide what I'm gonna do with my day. God I love not working for a living....