Love the bike Jimz. Currently working on doing some sport touring mods to my 03 Z1000 for an upcoming trip a few weeks from now from Vancouver, BC down through Washington, back up through part of the cascades and then to Banff and back. Already have heated grips, just installed USB chargers (on the handlebar and under the seat), Ordered a Puig windscreen and I'm currently fabricating a rear rack to use my Cortech saddle/tail bags. Just finished one side and part way done the other and it's turning out really good so far. I'm also contemplating swapping out my bar end mirrors for weights from my Katana and putting the stock mirrors back on but I hate how those things look, lol.
Recently got back from a trip to Deal's Gap, good time ! Great roads coming and going, found some stuff I'd love to revisit. Ended up with 1335 miles, 1/8 inch chicken strips and great memories. Back roads all the way, only had to jump on the 4 lane for a few miles.
It was Mazda Miata weekend at the gap, awesome good looking sport cars, club members said about 450 - 500 were expected to show, all hotels in the area were sold out. They were a good bunch and allways used the pullovers when I came up on them. On the down side, I didn't see a single other Z bike all week.
I pack 4 sets of undies, socks and t-shirts, shorts, sweats and shoes, toiletries; it's really all I need, traveling light but comfortably. I squeeze an electric vest in there for the fall weather.
I’ve used my gen3 for several trips to deals gap and a week in Colorado. Sometimes we do point to point and most times we’ve stayed in one place and done day trips. I have some saddlebags and brackets.
There are a bunch of stellar rides in the smokies. The map listed above has the best ones color coded. We’ve been using them for years to plan our daily routes stringing the best spots together.
Another trip into the appalachia’s mtns last week, 1020 miles total. We based out of Elkins WV, took the long way there.
I think RT 250 over the mtns is one of the best roads there is, I always love taking it. RTs 33 and 39 are two others going directly across both ranges, I definitely enjoy this area even more than the Deal's Gap area.
(Ash Cave area of Hocking Hills St park in SE Ohio)
Looks like you've been on some wicked trips this summer Jimz! My trip through the Cascades and Alberta was awesome. Other than a loose fuel line that made itself present just before hitting the border everything was smooth sailing. Definitely planning to do some more touring on this thing next year. Think I'll look into getting a Corbin at some point soon. My butt will appreciate it.
Great pics First, looks like some epic views in that area. Is that a sportster I see in the group pic ? I dig sportsters, had two of them, raced both, set a record at Bonneville on one of them.
Get the Corbin, expensive but worth it, I generally prefer Sargent seats but Corbin's the only game in town for our 1st Gens. I like mine, my bony butt hated the stock seat, replaced it first thing after buying my bike.
I like your bag setup, definitely allows you to take a lot of gear with you. Nice fab job on the brackets, are you a welder ?
Btw my rear rack mounts to the bolts on the rear passenger pegs and the license plate holder. It held up quite well but I think I'm going to try and reinforce it some more and I'd love to come up with a way to mount a fuel canister somewhere. Sorry didn't really take many pictures when I was fabbing it up but you can kind of see here how it mounts.
Wow completely missed that. My bad, better late than never, haha. That's actually my friends heavily modified Virago 750 with a Yamaha Seca tank but I can definitely see how it looks like a Sportster. I'm not actually a welder. Just a hack who has access to one, lol. I'm planning on making some modifications to the rack for this upcoming season and I'd like to modify it to mount a small fuel canister on each side. I actually discovered I can use it with my Cortech bags to carry my fishing gear which I'm quite stoked about. Btw I'm from good old dirty Surrey British Columbia.
Just got back from a last minute 3 day trip into SE Ohio. I had a really good time exploring new (to me) roads that I've never traveled before. We based out of Marietta (2 nights) and took roads between the Ohio river and the two ridge lines. Very tight and technical in most spots, decreasing radius turns and wide coal trucks on narrow roads kept us on our toes. Bikes ran great great and I came upon a realization.
I would have to invest a lot of money to have a bike that is significantly better than my Gen1.
This was my 3rd major trip of 2020, first was Deals Gap (1200 miles) then another to the WV - VA (800 miles) boarder area. I am wondering if I'll be able to squeeze another trip in before it turns too cold. Planning trips gives me something to look forward to, something that takes my mind off this non-operable cancer I am carrying around in my lung.
Oh yea, at the hotel on Fri night there was a large group of Harley riders all gathered around my bike looking at it. They thought it was brand new and were shocked when I told them it was an 03 model. They all thought the paint was something I did myself and the exhaust was aftermarket. They were amazed it had around 120 hp while under 500 lbs. They ignored my buddy's 1290 GT.
Thanks for the update Jimz. That’s great that you’re doing sport touring on a Z brother. it’s inspiring. Hopefully next year I’ll be physically able to do some sport touring too.
Went on a short trip Sun -Tues, just a little over 500miles total,
We took a leisurely route to the SE corner of Ohio to Marietta, cool little town on the river surrounded by the mountainous area of OH. We took some roads new roads and some old favorites. If you ever get the chance 550, 676, 26 and 800 are nice routes. There were some pop storms from the heat Monday but we ran into an unexpected hailstorm. Rain was coming down in buckets, large streams of water were coming across the road, vision was minimal due to my face shield being battered and getting wet on the inside (and this is a new helmet) but I was still able to keep a slow pace until the road disappeared. At first I didn’t grasp it because it just blended into a sea of green and brown. A huge tree had just fallen off the side of a mountain and lay across the road. I hit the brakes and barley kept it from skidding stopping just about 10 inches short of a large branch. About 2 seconds later I see my buddy’s headlight on the tree as he didn’t see it either and stopped just short of a crash. We just looked at each other for a few moments then saw some emergency vehicles coming from the other side. We were getting pelted by the hail and turned back up the way we came for about 3 miles until we got to this historically restored state landmark wooden bridge that had just enough of a footpath that allowed us to ride our bikes up on it. We sheded our wet jackets and tried to shake off this interruption to our journey. We waited about 90 min or so until we saw some traffic coming through and by then it had quit raining so we rode back down and talked to some emergency workers who told us this was the site of a mudslide the day before. They had one lane open and we made our way into town. But you know what I was thinking when I tucked under that bridge and out of the hail was “This is still way better than being at home watching TV”
just another day out on the road
My friends KTM GT caught a nail and we couldn't get it to seal correctly even after using rope plugs and cartridges (it took 6 of em to get the 190/55 to 30 lbs), it just had a real slow leak to it, we even redid the plug and put slime into it but it still had a slow leak. We nursed it home stopping along the way to top it off. That GT displays his tire pressure and even told him he had a puncture before he felt it.
sounds like an unforgettable adventure jimz. the ride is never really complete unless there’s a breakdown at some point.😉 makes for some of the best memories. the way you described it, you guys must have ridden through practically a tornado. my dad lives in ohio, so i know how ugly the weather can be. glad you had such a fantastic trip and your Z was reliable as always. i was looking at this tire repair kit on amazon. only comes with three cartridges though. good to know i’ll need another 3 at least.
I've already got replacement cartridges (std 16 gram co2 stuff), if you're looking for a good kit check out these "Stop and Go" units made for motorcycling. There are two main types it seems, std rope plug or these mushroom inserts.
Got back from South Western Virginia and a couple days of riding, got in a a little more than 1100 miles on this trip. Great weather (slightly overcast so it wasn't too hot) and near empty roads (passes were easily made when needed) lead to a great time. The part they are calling the "Back of the Dragon" was pretty good, lots of hairpins and switchbacks with elevation changes kept it interesting. Lot's of 2nd / 3rd gear sections and most of the other back roads we used were 3rd / 4th / 5th gear stuff, most I've been on before but a few new ones too. West (by God) Virginia is always a good time and I really enjoyed it it this time as well, sweeping corners and good clean asphalt were a real confidence builder and I felt on top of my game. I tried to concentrate on keeping my revs between 4500 and 7500 rpm so I had both instant accel and engine braking on tap. The Pirelli Angel tires griped very well but I still left about an inch worth of chicken strips. That GT was still able to get away from me when he tried but my near stock Gen1 made a real good showing. We only climbed onto the interstate for about 20 miles once as we always try to avoid it. We did get rained on once back in into Ohio but we just drove through it and dryed ourselves out riding on the other side of it. The bike ran flawlessly, not even one hiccup, well I did blow out my low beam bulb on the last day so no big deal. I really like my bike.
I'm already making as list of things to address right away so I can have a quick turnaround for my next trip, you got to live while you're alive !
sounds like some epic riding. have to appreciate good roads not all crapped out with pot holes and tar glue over the cracks. the sweeping corners sound like a lot of fun. 1100 miles is iron butt impressive!
Got back from a trip to Appalachian Mtns and I had a great time. Roads were good and traffic was light. What a great area to ride. I tried keeping the bike at 5k and above, it felt good using the lower gears and powering out of the apex’s. We cut our trip a day short because of incoming thunderstorms but still rode wet for about the last two hours of our trip coming home. After finally coming out of the WV mountains and back onto the relatively flat Ohio farmlands, 6th gear felt like an overdrive. I like the Michelin Road 5’s just fine and it did feel different running a 120/60 at the front, just a little more input needed on the initial turn in but then it seemed to cut in very well. I don’t know if it was a different aspect ratio or just a different tire profile. The rubber felt planted and I built up some confidence in them and was impressed by their performance in the rain also. I’m not sure if they are better than Pirelli Angel GT’s but they cost almost $80 more for just the rear. Speaking of, I've still got about a 3/4 inch chicken strip on it.
We got 950 miles in and I’m already staring at my maps planning my next route, be it this year or next.
sounds like another epic ride jimz! glad to hear you are out there put miles on your Z. post some pics of the trip brother. i take it no flat tire on this one? i’ve been looking at michelin’s tires. those road 5’s are super popular with tons of positive customer reviews.
Here's my bike at my garage, patiently waiting on me
I swear I can hear it saying "C'mon dude, Let's GO !"
at one time I had 8 bikes in here
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