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

[Kevin D]

Great rides, and great pics guys, well done! It's been a really busy week for me, flew to Queensland (Mount Tambourine) for my son's wedding reception on Saturday, flew back Sunday.

Great ride for you as well Terry. Nice photos as always, and congratulations to Sonny.
 The big Kaw is looking good and it gets down the road like it should, a winner.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Kevin, yeah, after owning an earlier “C” model ZZR1100 I swore that I’d never buy another one, but this thing has restored my faith in the model and I can’t see myself selling it anytime soon, it’s just too much fun.

On Tuesday I installed some 25mm “bar risers” to reduce the pressure on my left wrist (not sure why it’s only my left wrist, I’ve broken both over the years but the left one just doesn’t like the angle of the bars) and apart from the seller (in China, of course) supplying mounting bolts that were only 10mm longer (or 15mm too short, if my maths are correct) necessitating me to use some longer bolts to install them, they look and feel fine, but I haven’t had a chance to ride it, so won’t know if there’s any real improvement until my next ride.

I’ve also ordered a taller screen for the fairing, to reduce the wind blast at “Go straight to jail” speeds. It wasn’t awfully expensive, and surprisingly it’s made in Britain, so should be a good thing, and of course, it’s black, so will look cooler than the clear one on it now.

[Kelly E]

94' was a good year for Kawasaki. They did the Concours update in 94' and most of the front half of my 94' Concours is the same parts as your 94' ZZR. Heck I even installed a ZZR rear shock on it. I like the ZZR's but never came across a nice one at the right time.

[Alan F.]

#23 for me today 52 miles (calculated) along mostly the same route I've been on for the last few rides.
Temps ranged from 36-40°F and winds were gusting to low 20s mph. But it was sunny.

[Kevin D]

#23 for me today 52 miles (calculated) along mostly the same route I've been on for the last few rides.
Temps ranged from 36-40°F and winds were gusting to low 20s mph. But it was sunny.

Alan, you have the 21” front wheel yes? How much does that decrease your indicated mph/odometer?
I have seen tire circumferences published in tire manufacturers specs, but not all the time.
Do you have accurate mileposts? a measured mile? GPS?

Two more to go, and a month to do it!
But likely not today.
We have 4” of the wet and heavy, coming your way.
A load of salt to follow.

[BenelliSEI]

Kevin…… Never got the “last one” in. Must be 6-8” of snow here today and plows throwing sand/salt everywhere. The Varadero is still sitting patiently in the shop doorway but realistically: probably not. Here’s the view from where I’m sitting!

[Alan F.]

#23 for me today 52 miles (calculated) along mostly the same route I've been on for the last few rides.
Temps ranged from 36-40°F and winds were gusting to low 20s mph. But it was sunny.

Alan, you have the 21” front wheel yes? How much does that decrease your indicated mph/odometer?
I have seen tire circumferences published in tire manufacturers specs, but not all the time.
Do you have accurate mileposts? a measured mile? GPS?

Two more to go, and a month to do it!
But likely not today.
We have 4” of the wet and heavy, coming your way.
A load of salt to follow.

I swapped back to stock tore size on 23 July.
The 21" front made my speedometer match Garmin and Google maps speeds, with stock tire sizes readings show nearly 5mph slow, I'm not sure how or if that affects the odometer reading. I'd only had 5 rides this year with the non-stock tire sizes, the shortest one was 71 miles, the others were all long day rides.

I'll be looking at the weather here in a few minutes, trying to figure out if I'll go out or not.

[PeWe]

My K6 speedo shows ca 5% too much.
The odometer usually matches the distances shown on road signs rather well.

If I see a speed warning sign without camera that show my speed and flashes text like your are driving too fast is a good opportunity to check the speedo.

Important to not have any slow cars in front that usually stand on the brake when it flashes.
If speed is 30 to 60 kmh I'll try to ride as fast I can to see my measured speed with smallest error.
I keep stable 60, warning sign will flash 57 kmh..

My front wheel tire 100/90-19 on 2.15" rim. I think it does not differ on my K2 with stock rim and 3.25-19 tire

[Alan F.]

OK that's #24 today 59.6 miles
I took off around 10:15 this morning heading east on MA-133 and took it all the way to Gloucester, the same ride I did this summer on a sunny 100°F day. I pretty much had the road to myself, some local traffic but nothing compared to last time I was out here. Forecast called for overcast skies and rising temperatures with rain later in the day. It was 36°F when I left home and I'd guess from the way my fingers felt that temps might have gotten up to 41 or 42° in Gloucester, and it was 42° at home when I got back. Thankfully I didn't see any rain.

Definitely a warmer ride than I've been having lately, I'll be able to shake off the chill before too long.

[PeWe]

Alan, only one ride left to get this years award!
26 next year?

I'll ride as often as possible early in next  season.

[Alan F.]

Thanks Per!

I'm hoping to get that 25th ride this year, I've been participating in this thread for a few years but without enough time or the ability to use it wisely enough I've fallen short. Maybe teaching that was Frank's intent?

[willbird]

#93, 55 miles, november 29th 2025. Got home from work and took a ride, it was 28F, heading west some kind of cross wind was freezing the back of my neck :-).

[Kevin D]

Alan, you have not fallen short, you have done what you can, and it’s all been good.
I’m hoping for a December heat wave although it’s 15F here this morning.
I know a little bit about being on call and working too much OT and have been fortunate to be retired at this point. My CB was laid up for 15 years.

[PeWe]

A ride is perfect after a day of working.
Just cruising around and let the mind let all stress to disappear.

I have only 10 minutes away from home to ride on a smaller country road.
10-15 minutes more and not much traffic.

[Kevin D]

I had to put some post-crosscountry ride embellishments on newday777’s virtual highway badge.
I’m pretty sure there were a pair of 500 milers, 511 and 566 I think.
Thanks for taking us with you.

[newday777]

Yes there were a couple of the 500 mile days, though nothing compared to doing a 900 mile day back in the 70s on my CB750, crossing Kansas starting at sun up in the eastern time zone and falling asleep on the road while riding in eastern Colorado waking up hitting the rumble strips and stopping at 2-3am (I wasn't wearing a watch). I was trying to make it to my friend's house in Boulder, but still had another 3 hours the next day.

[jgger]

Looks good Kevin. Stu earned it for sure.

[jgger]

Got one more done on Dec 4. This makes 9 for me, I won't get 25 but will post as they happen just to keep the snow out of your thoughts.

So, I had a chance to pick up some riding gear for a good price AND a good excuse for a ride. It was all pretty much freeway, well ok it was all freeway, so not alot of exciting stuff to look at. But it was a perfect day. I left home about 8:30 wint to the ATM machine then air check and i was off. It was 55° when I left and warmed up to min 60's to low 70's for most of the day. I met the guy at his house in Carpenteria ( just below Santa Barbara) around 11:30. I thought that wasn't too bad for a 145 mile trip and getting lost for about 20 minutes. Anyhoo he had a heated jacket liner i wanted and a 2 piece rain suit for $165, which i thought was pretty good. I forkred over the cash jaw jacked about bikes for a half hour, shook hands and headed home. Noy knowing the area i thought it would be a good idea to give Eeyore a drink of gas before hitting the road. It ended up drinking 4 gallons in my 6 gallon tank.

On the way up there i saw a sign for a beach at Bates rd that brought back some memories and decided to take a rest break before heading south. It used to be a nude beach but they outlawed that and that's a good thing. They had some chairs and tables so I decided it was a nice place for my cookies and coffee and to stare out at Chanel Island.i did get a couple of pics including a gopher rearranging the landscape, pretty exciting, huh?

I left the beach a little later than I should have and maps said it would be a tad over 4 hours to get home (that sucks). But being it is California where lane splitting is legal, I copiously exercised my rights through L Aand Pasadena.  One thing that is cool is to get behind a motorcycle cop and follow them, those guys are good at splitting. I was following one and as traffic started moving about 60 mph, he kept white lining and I stayed with him. I looked at my speedo and we were doing 85 mph, that was a bit too much for this old man and I chickened out. So #9 is done, only 16 more to go. Bawhahahaha! A few stats and dull pictures.

Start temp 55°
High temps 75°
Lowest 57°
Home 62°

Perfect clear weather the entire trip.

Total distance 301 miles

I'm ready for more now!

[Kevin D]

Jim what’s the speed limit on SoCal freeways?
Around here 70 is standard
75 in designated rural sections
55 urban
60, 45 construction

Actual speeds higher +10~ +15 common
90 will get some attention
Me and my CB are usually on the 2 lane 45/50/55
No splitting allowed

[Alan F.]

I'm still waiting and watching the weather for my chance at #25.

[newday777]

I'm still waiting and watching the weather for my chance at #25.

Hopefully it'll warm up and get a good rain to wash the salt off the roads for you.

[BallAquatics]

It's cold with snow covering everything here and I'm already looking towards 2026.  I asked Google's AI to make us an image and this is what it came up with...

[Alan F.]

I'm hopeful Stu, temps seem to be 6-8°F below average lately. I'm planning on riding back to Gloucester, temps toward the coast are warmer and they use less salt.

[jgger]

Kevin, California freeway speed limit is technically 65/70 but if it's open nobody goes that slow. When it's clear 75/80 seems to be the norm. Back when I was commuting 85 or more was common in the Diamond lane (carpool lane).

[Kevin D]

Dennis, is that you on the red CB?
It’s certainly not Blue.

I went by the Post Office for a special stamp necessary to mail these awards.
It’s good to be ready to ride, also good to be ready to send awards.