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Thanks for the input guys. I figure I'm at about 70-80% functional right now, I can put all my weight on my foot no problem, with minor pain rotating and bending it to the extremes. Driving is no problem at this point. Physical therapy is working miracles on me, it's great. Walking on it for extended periods and otherwise aggravating it still causes issues for me though, so I take it easy as much as possible. Just stretching it and exercising it as much as I can. I ham it out a bit at work though of course....they let me use a golf cart to get around

Still... you guys are right, last thing I want is for me to tip. Lets face it, I haven't ridden in a while and my skills have collected some dust over the winter. This weekend is supposed to be soggy and not fun anyways. When I do get better I'll probably keep it to my very local training road, get back in riding shape.

Good choice. The weather is just beginning to break so you have many, many riding days ahead of you. Don't rush it.

As far as Deals Gap goes, when you are up to it, it's a must do road. I've been down driving cars and riding bikes and it's sweet any which way you decide to do it. The suggestions to trailer your bike are great. I prefer to ride there, about a 4 hour ride or drive for me from Central Virginia, and stay a long weekend. It's fairly close to Knoxville so there is plenty to do when you are not carving up the countryside.

Well I'm back on 2 wheels. Feeling much better after 6 weeks now. Took a job on 2nd shift, so going home during night was a new experience, should be good for me. I was told there's lots of critters and deer out, so I was glad I had an SUV in front of me. In preparation for doing much more night time riding, I bought a new headlight housing, the other one was getting quite dull and unreflective. The ride was overall uneventful, but chilly at like 55 to 60 degrees. When I got home and got my helmet off, I actually said out-loud, "man, nothing like it in the world." Getting back on just puts a big smile on my face.

I made an adjustment to my clutch handle, choking it up the bar an inch...feels much better using it and the clutch cable isn't as tight on the guides. It does look weird with that gap between the grip and clutch placement but function before form in this case.

Oh, I did find something that really helps with faded plastic, used it on my control switch housings. Can't say for similar products but just rub a little of this stuff on, wipe off the excess, and it keeps that dull fade away. Don't know why it works, I know it's for tires, but it works wonders for me. Below is exactly what I used.
www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G7516-Endurance-...s=Meguiars+endurance

Started using the stuff last year on some exterior plastic on my car, lasted a solid year. I think it replenishes the oils in the plastic, similar to replenishing oils in the sidewall of the tire.

Faced my first deer tonight going home from work. saw one eye on the left side of the road...., "huh? what's that?...then a second eye...."Oh %^&* deer!" grabbed a bunch o' brake, got it down to about 15-20mph....and it just scampered back into the field. Saw a couple other critters on the side of the road too, but that deer really freaked me out after hitting two of 'em in one go in my old Malibu just a few years back. I had NO vehicles in front or behind me all the way home, short of oncoming traffic I felt very much alone. Seriously considering putting on some auxillary or fog lights or something pointing to the edges of the road a bit.

In other news I asked a couple of coworkers (crotch-rocket riders) if it'd be alright to ride with them on the way home, but decided against it due to their aggressive riding tendencies. Could the bike hang with 'em...yeah....could my skill level keep up with 'em...no. Put on the high likelihood of animal encounters (especially after what happened tonight) and it'd just be asking for trouble.

Good luck! I had an 1100 for a few years and loved it. The thing had tons of power. I wouldn't mess with the looks too much since yours looks so nice. I'd probably get rid of the tassels though.

Yetanotherkzrider wrote: Good luck! I had an 1100 for a few years and loved it. The thing had tons of power. I wouldn't mess with the looks too much since yours looks so nice. I'd probably get rid of the tassels though.

I did get rid of those tassels. The lights would definitely be for practicality and function, but hopefully I'll be able to find something that matches the styling of the bike.

As for the power of the bike, I generally try and keep it under 4k rpms. I realize the bike IS older than I am, and I don't wanna break a rod or ruin the clutch or something bad like that. But it's good to know the power is there when I need it.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH eBay just got exciting....



A Z1R 1000.......smh.....unreal. too bad it's not turbocharged, I'm sure that'd make it worth even more.

Well tonight coming home from work I learned a valuable lesson.

I knew the drive home would be close on the gas meter. Looking at the gage I had 1/4 tank left for a 35 mile journey. I kept it at 55mph to conserve fuel, and as the road was quite desolate and chilly. I get into my town, main traffic red light, it turns green I take off, and it's a little hesitant to rev and go. Needle's at 1/8th of a tank, right on that little line above empty. A mile and a half down the road same thing happens again....and it just stops. Having my cold weather gloves on I wasn't about to fumble a dangerous attempt to turn the petcock while rolling along, (not to mention I haven't memorized where the petcock is exactly). So I pull it over to the side, allowing the handful of cars to pass behind me. I concentrate....find the petcock....my thoughts start to turn to panic: "Will it work? is it broken?" I turn it 180 degrees....one way to find out I guess. Turn it over....fires right up. I'm another mile and a half away from my gas station. That woulda been a heck of a push. Odd thing though, the tank only took 3.5 gallons...thought it was a 5 gallon tank...what's up with that? Over a gallon of reserve fuel? Really?



SO now I know the signs of running out of fuel, that my petcock works (a good test to be sure), and what the needle looks like when I should start to worry about fuel. A pretty important lesson I think.

Did you remember to turn the petcock to on when you fueled up ?
Pete

pete greek1 wrote: Did you remember to turn the petcock to on when you fueled up ?
Pete

I did! I think I did it before I even got off the bike to gas up, and I double-checked when I got home too.

You should always turn the petcock to off when you get home or if your not going to ride for a while, like at the bar or your friends house, I mention that , because back in the day before internet & KZR , I didn't know any better & had run out of fuel & went to turn to reserve & was already on it & completely out of fuel, & then came the LONG, HARD, PUSH to the nearest gas station , , Luckely the few times it happened to me I had my wife riding, bitch to help me push it,

Pete

"She use to be so nice."
Steve