First Group Ride/Back Road drive

[strat1701]

Yesterday all in all a great experience. I went on my first group ride and back road twisties. It's a sin having that much fun, and thanks to Squeaky for inviting me. Chris and Vitorio (don't know you guys board names) went too so thanks to you guys for letting me tag along. Even met up with Tourmeister and Snoopster at Kings. Thanks to you guys for getting me back to 45 South! Nice to put a face with the names, and a great bunch of people on here. :chug: BUT (there's always a but) to complete the experience had a little spill on a right turn! I'm with Squeaky, fast and left turns! Cracked some of the fairing and tore off the right winky blinky light on the front. Fixable, and rather get my spills done with on a used bike than when I get my new 04 Ninja! :-D Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to all involved yesterday for making it a fun day alltogether. Till next time!

strat1701

[Tourmeister]

:tab Was nice to meet you as well Steve. Wish it had been better circumstances for you. We peeled off of I-45 to hit Motorcycles Unlimited. Then we shot down to Cycle Gear before heading home.

:tab Any soreness? Bruising?

[Squeaky]

Steve - Glad to see you took the positive from the day. Yes, it was a great ride and thanks for joining us! Sorry it didn't end as well as it began, but from the sound of it you didn't let the spill ruin the day.

Still downing the ibuprofin? How bad is the hip?

We should probably find a big empty parking lot and practice those rights. Scott gave me a tip this afternoon - somehow although we think we're looking through the right turns like we do through the left, we are looking at the center line. When I went out this afternoon, I made sure to tell myself (yes, out loud sometimes - hey, nobody can hear me) to keep looking through the turn. It was true, I was looking more to the left. Only by making myself aware of it did it really do any good.

Oh, and I took all the rights at just over the posted suggestions. That helped too.

[Anonymous]

Yes, amazingly enough no bruising on my right hip, a tad sore, still taking a fair amount of anti-inflamatories, but I'm not limping nearly as much as I was on saturday afternoon. I probably have bruised the muscle or soft tissue damage. I also think I pinched a nerve in my left arm, probably due to having my left hand coiled around the left bar all day. Didn't think I was hanging on too tight like Squeaky says she does, as my hands don't get numb. Can't play guitar which sux cuz I might have to bail on a gig this weekend cuz my pinky and ring fingers just don't work too well to bend strings! BUT, I can still ride just fine :lol: gassed the bike up on sunday and rode around for a bit. No leaks or running problems on the bike. Just cosmetic scratches on pipe and fairing. I think I should name the bike "timex" cuz it obviously takes a lickin and keeps on tickin!

Hey Squeaky, there's an under developed part of the subdivision where I keep my bike at that I use as my own "private" track with some good tight turns, it's an excellent practice road (it's how I got so good on left turns). I think I'm doing the same thing you say you are, looking at the line on right turns and not looking THRU the rights. I did execute some of them perfectly and it was when I ignored the line! It's a great little area, no cars, no houses or people. I always take a slow pass on the whole road before I RUN it to scope out any road debris as they have dump trucks droping mud and crap in the road as they circle around. If ya want to run it sometime, let me know. We can work on negating our respective "chicken strips"!

strat1701

[Squeaky]

Riding around those turns sounds like some fun practice. We'll figure out a time and do that. You might need to store your bike closer if you're going to have it out on the roads more now.

Glad you're back on the bike so quickly, sorry to hear you can't get the fingers around the guitar though. We ran up through some of the same turns again yesterday, and today (since I don't work on Mondays) I went to DPS to replace the license, went to the bank to settle that, etc. After that, it was back home for a nice looooong nap.

Still some good daylight left - think I'll go give the bike a bath!

[Rdslvr04]

Steve glad you're ok. Sorry to hear that your fingers are still sore. Hope that you can fix the bike w/out any hassels or delays.

It was really great to ride w/ you. Pls feel free to tag along anytime.

Vittorio

[strat1701]

Well I already poped back in the winky blinky light and I'm debating on getting a replacement fairing and repainting it as the stock decals might be hard to come by. Probably get some high temp paint to coat the pipe with, reverse the clamp to hide the rashes on the pipe clamp. Since I'm working on saving as much cash for a new 04 I may let this one sit as is for a while! Oh and I ordered some riding pants with ce hip armor! Lil late than never!

strat1701

[pdef]

www.tapeworks.com

They have great decals, although I did not check if they had them for your bike.