400 mile ride on the 1974 z1 900

well this past weekend i hode the old girl over 400 miles in 2 days. she rode great with no problems. it rode really strong i was going at 70 mph the whole time, i got right around 40mph. oh yea by the way she turned over 17,000 about 250 miles into the ride. have any of you ever went on longer rides with your old kz's? i hope to hear about the rides

Back in 92 I rode my 75 900 from Spokane to Portland when I moved down. I could have put it in the truck but for some reason I wanted to ride. Took off by myself with no tools, no phone and about $100 in my pocket. The bike had superbike bars on it and a really loud exhaust. I had to stop after about a half hour to put cig. butts in my ears. I rode about 2 hours to the Tri-cities in WA. As soon as I got into OR my neck was killing me. I had to kep pulling over about every half hour after that. About 2 hours aoutside Portland it started raining-HARD. That with having to keep stopping turned a 6 hour trip by car into a 10 hour trip by KZ. The only things I would have done different are rain gear, ear plugs and taller bars.

I take my KZ on 800-1200 mile trips several times a year. plus all the 200-300 mile local rides I do. I would not think twice about riding mine anywhere. Good maintiance and a good pre-flight check makes for a trouble free trip.

My brother and I rode from Cocoa Beach Florida to Anchorage Alaska in 8 days back in late 2006 stayed for a week and came back, round trip was 29 days and the final milage was almost 14,000 miles, 4 oil changes and 2 tires,( the al-can hwy is not tire friendly) I rode my 74 z1 that has a 1088 big bore kit, nitrous and an air shifter(left the bottle and shifter at home) and my brother rode his 72 cb 750 four, I had just got back from Iraq and wanted to see some friendly country. Man what a ride.

Post edited by: partsman, at: 2007/05/31 14:12

Rode the KZ1100 from Lawton, Oklahoma back to hear when I moved back, about 400 miles. Couldn't leave until my brother could follow me which meant I got a late start and wanted to be off the road by dark. Couldn't stop for rest much and was really worn out afterwards. I've ridden my KLR several times there and back and have felt much better afterwards. Planning so you can get off and rest once an hour or so helps.

I drove the Alcan highway in february '93 and then back down in June of '94. Left from central S.C. on the way up and took about nine days with one day being wasted in Granite City, illinois. You must have really hit it hard to do that trip in eight days.

yea, on the trip up we were on the road by 6am every morning and rode until 9 and 10pm every night,we stopped every 2 hours for 15 minutes too stretch,fuel up and grab a bite to eat, we were in a hurry to meet up with some old army friends stationed in Anchorage, that were hosting a big rally. The ride back home was MUCH more relaxed! It was definitely a trip I would recommend to anyone who truly loves riding. You have'nt experienced true motorcycling until you've dodged a moose at 6am.

I went on a 925 mile trip a few weekends ago on the 650. It was a poker run called The 5 State Poker Run. Anyway the bike ran great, had to stop about 100 miles into the trip to fix a bad connection in the reg/rec section that was MY screwup from 2 years ago.
I realize my butt is not ready for another 900 miler anytime soon, especially on a 650 model B seat. :lol:

partsman wrote:

My brother and I rode from Cocoa Beach Florida to Anchorage Alaska in 8 days back in late 2006 stayed for a week and came back, round trip was 29 days and the final milage was almost 14,000 miles, 4 oil changes and 2 tires,( the al-can hwy is not tire friendly) I rode my 74 z1 that has a 1088 big bore kit, nitrous and an air shifter(left the bottle and shifter at home) and my brother rode his 72 cb 750 four, I had just got back from Iraq and wanted to see some friendly country. Man what a ride. <br><br>Post edited by: partsman, at: 2007/05/31 14:12

Sorry to get off topic, but many years ago there was a big bore dirt bike called, I think, a Yankee. A 500 single..so the editor of a bike mag got two of them and invited his 15 year old neighbor kid to ride the Alaska highway one summer. I always thought that guy would have been the coolest neighbor in the world to have, because I was about 15 at the time. It was a great story.

Certain times of the year, you could basically drive 24/7 if you could stay awake. Those long days in summer when it never gets dark are cool.

When I drove in in summer, I remember very long stretches where you had to wait for a pilot car, sometimes like 20 miles or more with no pavement. I'd do it on the KLR, did the KZ hande that OK?

My wife's dad was at Elmendorf AFB in the early '60s. He and four buddies bought an old Packard when they ETS'd back to the lower 48 and drove with four spares tied to the top of the car. Went more than 2,000 miles with no pavement and by the time they got to Whitehorse, they had to buy new tires. The Alcan is easier now I guess. I made better time on it in winter than in summer. No Winnebagos to follow through British Columbia and no road construction.

My oldest son was born there and I have tentatively promised him we'll take a camping road trip up there someday.

Like JT said, regular maintenance, and a good pre-flight check are a must. A 3 day, 900 mile was my longest last year, and did a 2 day trip last week, almost 800 miles. If my ass could talk, though, it complained all the way! :laugh:

speaking of sore butts
we did stop about every hour to streach our legs.

I will be ordering a new corbin seat to only be used for trips.