Saving a '81 KZ750-E

How to pass on a motorcycle.  Last Saturday I spent all day passing!  Simee Dimeh Pass, Monitor Pass, and Ebbetts Pass, that is.  I had a friend from out of state tow his motorcycle here, and we took off into the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Had a great time cruising around some great scenery.  The KZ didn't care for the higher elevations, just with the idle (which it didn't want to up there).  It ran fine with a small amount of throttle while coming to a stop.  We ate lunch in Markleeville before heading back to my place.  The trip logged 130 miles of riding, and many more smiles!  

On March 16 my worst nightmare happened.  I was awoken at 10 pm to find my shop engulfed in flames.  I have never experienced a disaster this close and personal in my entire life.  45 years of accumulating tools and equipment, gone in 45 minutes.  One of the few rays of sunshine in all this - my Green Monster was in the front garage at the time and was spared.  Three other vehicles (two projects, and my Baja) were not so lucky.  Everything in the building is a total loss.  The investigation is not complete yet, but everything so far is pointing to a Ryobi cordless battery I had on a charger that was plugged into a power strip on my workbench.  Don't leave your batteries on charge unattended, or overnight.  Something I was far too complacent about.
 

Man that's horrendous, so sorry to see it. I can't imagine how you are feeling right now, so much of the work we do is irreplaceable 

Well, dat suxs!!! Sorry for your loss...

 

So, so, sorry to read this.  I just got back from the garage, after having unplugged all my charging batteries!  

At least big green was saved!  Thank heaven's for that!  

Wow, that is awful.

Sad to see your loss.  We're thinking of you.

That is awful. So sorry to see that. I pray that you will be able to bounce back from this. 

What an absolute horror!
and I left a Ryobi battery in the charger yesterday. Guess I will drive over to the bike cave tonight  . 
Really sorry for your loss.
/A

That is horrible

We always try to remember to remove batteries from the charger and unplug it.

I was really sorry to hear about this. Glad that the 750 survived and that the shop was far enough away from the house so as not to cause more damage. Still awful though, can't imagine how you're feeling...

A lot of the shock and depression has worn off.  We will rebuild.  Shop 2.0 will be improved.  It's just stuff.  I know it was 45 years of tools and equipment acquisition, but we have our home and our health.  It's just a speed bump in life.  Granted, a SIX FOOT TALL speed bump, but it's just stuff.  One of the first projects in shop 2.0 will be replacing the right crank seal in the Green Monster - it let go on that last mountain ride.  Luckily the amount of oil loss was not enough to be a concern (my right boot thinks differently!).  Thanks to the Japanese engineers, the case needs to be split and the crankshaft removed to replace this seal.  Funzies...