[JeffL]

Well, cats out of the bag, parents now know I have a motorcycle after the expressly forbid me to have one while living under their roof. They took it better than I thought. And low and behold, as they figured it out yesterday (title came in the mail, they got curious and opened it up) I also go my A* GP-Plus gloves as well, awesome!

So today I threw on all my new leather and squeeked, creaked and waddled my way onto the bike. (A* tz-1 jacket, A* twin leather pants, and the afore mentioned gloves). Took a few minutes to get used to, stalled the bike a bunch of times today because of the new feeling of the gloves as opposed to what I was using previously, and quickly realized that leather pants stick to leather seats.

After getting myself up and going, I.........here we go, made a local loop, starting in Greenfield, MA up 2 west to rt. 112 to Colrain, from Colrain through Leyden on W. Leyden Rd. and from Leyden back down to Greenfield. I stayed in Greenfield a short bit before I turned north on Rt. 5/10 through my hometown of Bernardston, went up into Guilford, VT and took Taylor Hill Rd (pretty fun) to the center of Vernon, VT. Down rt. 142 into Northfield, MA where I turned south onto rt. 63 and proceeded to ride through Northfield, Gill, Erving, Millers Falls center continued down 63 through Sunderland and Leverett and turned it around a few minutes into Amherst.

I then shot back up 63, turned onto rt. 47 and headed down to Sunderland, took 116 through Deerfield and headed up into Conway, through Conway, into Ashfield, and then back towards Shelburne Falls on rt. 112. Hit rt. 2 again and headed back towards Greenfield before going back up 112 and over W. Leyden Rd. again, down through Leyden, back through Greenfield and back home.



All told, ride started at 10:15, arrived back home just a short bit ago. at 3:30 and coursed over 160 miles.

I felt great all day other than the newness of riding in gear, but realized I was pushing it when I jumped on 112 to head through Leyden the second time. My brain definitely wasnt 100% and my muscles were most certainly not either.

I did myself a favor though and was stopping every 30-45 minutes and getting a small snack and a drink and giving myself a rest, I think thats what allowed me to make the trek I did. So starting off new before the MSF I went out 5 times and put maybe 90-100 miles on the bike. And today I outrode that by nearly double.

Sorry for the long post, I just had such an awesome time, and even though I know I'll be paying for it in the morning, I'm so happy I did it.

**Other notes
I'll definitely be looking into another pair of gloves with some actual perforation, the A* gloves I got have 0. My hands werent all that sweaty, but it could have been alot better. Pants were awesome, and jacket was perfect, I didnt do hardly any sweating today, and I didnt even bother taking the frickin lining out of it!

[ChrisNoF4i]

Good times.

[FazerChic]

We're gonna have a great ride this week.

[slingblade]

Originally posted by JeffL
...(title came in the mail, they got curious and opened it up)

See, they decided to do the best with the situation and not go crazy on you because you could put them in jail (or at least give them a very hard afternoon with the police) for opening up your mail


My mom was notorious for this, she'd just open all the mail then seperate it I flipped out one day because I repeatedly asked her not to. Told her I was going to call the postmaster she hasn't opened any since!

[SVixxer]

Good job buddy. It sounds like your are learning the right way to ride.

[Bhavesh]

Meh, it's not really not as much fun as it looks.

[HBerry]

Haha thats how my mom found out about my bike too!

Sounds like you had a great time.

[iwannaride]

I would have to say i feel some of your pain. From friday up till today i rode 1649 miles this weekend, The scary part is i didn't go anywhere special i just got up early and went where ever the bike wanted to go. I have never put so much gas in my bike in three days. Thank God for the comfort of the ZX9 or i'd be in a lot of pain. Hope everyone enjoyed the nice weekend and safe riding to all

[HBerry]

Holy fucking miles! Jesus. I thought 350 a week was a lot of miles for just random riding!! I need to ride with you some!

[stoinkythepig]

JeffL,

Sounds like you are hooked and doing things right. Have fun. Be careful.

If you concentrate on holding yourself up with your stomach and back muscles while keeping your arms loose and elbows bent, you will have much better control of the bike and your wrists will not be sore. You'll also develop "6 pack abs". I now have "pony keg abs" myself, from riding and eating pasta.

Originally posted by iwannaride
I would have to say i feel some of your pain. From friday up till today i rode 1649 miles this weekend, l

Wow! that's some serious mileage. Best I ever did on my 9R was 450 miles in a day (all back roads, including a lot of dirt). Good for you.

I have yet to do a single pleasure ride this season. My 7000 miles so far have all been commuting. I have been spending nearly every weekend on my boat and have gone through 500+ gallons of gas on the thing. Family fun, no regrets.

[bump909]

Originally posted by JeffL
My wrists are sore, my butt hurts, and my legs are jello. Awesome day.

uhh, tmi.




sounds like you had a blast. i'm jealous of the roads you have out there.

[RandyO]

Originally posted by iwannaride
I would have to say i feel some of your pain. From friday up till today i rode 1649 miles this weekend, The scary part is i didn't go anywhere special i just got up early and went where ever the bike wanted to go. I have never put so much gas in my bike in three days. Thank God for the comfort of the ZX9 or i'd be in a lot of pain. Hope everyone enjoyed the nice weekend and safe riding to all

I did that earlier this year, at least I ended up at deals gap

[neuthunder]

isnt it funny how parents get all mad when you talk about getting a bike and when you actually do they dont really care that much.... ie. my dad goes you'd be stupid if you get a bike, day of gettinga bike, "when are we going to ride"?, parents are always major hypocrits.

[richw]

If you were near the speed limit then thats a good distance

when the air starts helping you can double that.

biggest day on 2 lanes this year 546
and another 560 but that was 1/3 slabs

I crapped out this weekend my whole household has a bad summer cold

next weekend in paradise

[JeffL]

Yeah, I always had a 6 pack through high school, I guess 4 years of not exercising and eating like a hog will tend to deteriorate your muscles a little. I'm gonna go for a short ride tonite up into VT where I went this weekend, that one road in particular (Taylor Hill Rd in Vernon/Guilford, VT) is just awesome and I want to ride it again.

Another few weeks of riding and my body will start to settle in and I wont fatigue nearly as quickly.

And yes, most of my riding was at the speed limit due to cars, but when I got to some fun stuff I kicked it up to maybe 10-15 over the limit, but even then it was only for a short bit (a few tenths of a mile maybe at a time).



Lets pray all the rainy and humid crap in the forecast doesnt hold true, I took wednesday off to go ride, and ride is what I plan to do!

[Ducrappy]

Originally posted by JeffL
...and quickly realized that leather pants stick to leather seats.

Use some leather conditioner on the pants so that you won't stick to the seat. Conditioning leather is a good idea anyways. I use NikWax Leather Restorer. Its a great waterproofing, and it softens the leather a bit.

[JeffL]

Originally posted by A996S
Use some leather conditioner on the pants so that you won't stick to the seat. Conditioning leather is a good idea anyways. I use NikWax Leather Restorer. Its a great waterproofing, and it softens the leather a bit.

Thanks for the tip.

Any little tips appreciated, I'm still waiting to see what the lifespan of my pants and jacket will be before they start going funky.

[iwannaride]

i will have to try some of those techniques. I ride about 950 1000 miles from monday to friday going to work. its a long ride but i love to ride and it better on gas thean my truck. lets hope for more good weather and a safe riding season.
Thanks

[Suf Daddy]

Relaxing the grip helps keep the wrists from hurting.

Throttle hand gets the least rest, its easy to get the left hand off and stretch it out on the straights.

FATIGUE KILLS, good idea to stop.

Don't let the gear give you a false sense of invincibility, don't get more agressive becasue of it.

NEVER "armour all" your seat.........

When you feel a little tired, quit, or start home.........

Think ahead of you, trust nobody on the road.
Check you mirrors occasionally, people who sneak up behind you will scare you.

-Suf Daddy

[iwannaride]

Thanks for the tips