Mexico Road Trip!

MarinaFazer

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So last weekend I rode 2-up with my girl down to Rosarito Mexico from Los Angeles, California. A total of ~350 miles were put on the bike and we loved every minute of it from the cool wind of San Diego and arriving at Sunset along the Mexican coast to the ride back where 3 riders passed us going about 120mph and my girl squeezed and dared say, "Catch up, catch up!!!"

I'll give pics, but my review of the FZ6 as a sport touring bike is as follows
Pros:
1. Personally I find the seat comfy (but you have to work up to longer rides)
2. Smooth on the highway (cruising at 75-80mph indicated got us 55mpg while being 2-up with loaded saddlebags and a backpack)
3. No traffic (our friends who came in a car arrived an hour and a half later than us
4. No return border traffic (our friends waited in border traffic to come to the US for 2 hours and we spent a total of 10minutes cutting through traffic and the vendors)

Cons:
1. I guess if I really get into touring on the bike, I'd shell out for a cushier saddle
2. windscreen too small (although better than my last naked bike, I still took lots of wind and was jealous when a goldwing would pass us with no wind hitting the helmets)
3. front end felt really light with rear shock on 7 (not sure if that's just because the shocks aren't great or what)


Overall:

Great bike for touring, and then when we took off the bags and went in to town, we parked right in front of Macho Taco on the curb and stuffed ourselves to the brim with tacos and a dinner at El Nido (best place in town) oh, and lots of Tequila back at the beach house!!!

**If you plan to go to Mexico:
1. You need a passport to return
2. Tequila and beer is cheaper across the border (buy it in Mexico)
3. You need Mexican Car/Motorcycle Insurance
4. Eat at legitimate places like Macho Taco or El Nido (for Rosarito) to avoid Montezuma's revenge or make sure to bring heartburn, diahrreal and gas medicine.
5. Don't let the club people hassle you if you're young like us (20 and 23)
6. Take the coast route (toll road) for safe roads and maintained roads ($2.60 per booth) and keep the receipt as it is your extra insurance on that stretch of highway.
7. I hope I'm not forgetting anything.
 

D-Mac

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So last weekend I rode 2-up with my girl down to Rosarito Mexico from Los Angeles, California. A total of ~350 miles were put on the bike and we loved every minute of it from the cool wind of San Diego and arriving at Sunset along the Mexican coast to the ride back where 3 riders passed us going about 120mph and my girl squeezed and dared say, "Catch up, catch up!!!"

I'll give pics, but my review of the FZ6 as a sport touring bike is as follows
Pros:
1. Personally I find the seat comfy (but you have to work up to longer rides)
2. Smooth on the highway (cruising at 75-80mph indicated got us 55mpg while being 2-up with loaded saddlebags and a backpack)
3. No traffic (our friends who came in a car arrived an hour and a half later than us
4. No return border traffic (our friends waited in border traffic to come to the US for 2 hours and we spent a total of 10minutes cutting through traffic and the vendors)

Cons:
1. I guess if I really get into touring on the bike, I'd shell out for a cushier saddle
2. windscreen too small (although better than my last naked bike, I still took lots of wind and was jealous when a goldwing would pass us with no wind hitting the helmets)
3. front end felt really light with rear shock on 7 (not sure if that's just because the shocks aren't great or what)


Overall:

Great bike for touring, and then when we took off the bags and went in to town, we parked right in front of Macho Taco on the curb and stuffed ourselves to the brim with tacos and a dinner at El Nido (best place in town) oh, and lots of Tequila back at the beach house!!!

**If you plan to go to Mexico:
1. You need a passport to return
2. Tequila and beer is cheaper across the border (buy it in Mexico)
3. You need Mexican Car/Motorcycle Insurance
4. Eat at legitimate places like Macho Taco or El Nido (for Rosarito) to avoid Montezuma's revenge or make sure to bring heartburn, diahrreal and gas medicine.
5. Don't let the club people hassle you if you're young like us (20 and 23)
6. Take the coast route (toll road) for safe roads and maintained roads ($2.60 per booth) and keep the receipt as it is your extra insurance on that stretch of highway.
7. I hope I'm not forgetting anything.

Sounds like a blast!

I never seem to get that kind of mileage. Maybe it's because my bike is still new (2500 miles).
 

VEGASRIDER

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Were you ever worried that your bike would be stolen? Did you get Mexican insurance for the Fizzer? I've been down to Rosarita Beach as well, but drove down a few years ago.
 

MarinaFazer

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My bike has 7,000 miles now with another 1,000 coming this weekend for my Nor Cal Tour up to Sacramento to visit my girlfriend at her internship.

As for theft, I had mexican insurance (required) which also covered theft, and a disc lock. I kept my bike in the beach house garage at night which is also in a gated community. And when I parked in town, the bike was in front of Macho Taco, which has a parking attendant that costs $5 for cars right up front. Since I parked on the sidewalk by those cars, I figured it'd be safe in front of the restaurant on the main boulevard with tourists walking by and the Macho Taco attendant guy watching the cars next to it. :thumbup:

My brother (who rode with us), stayed an extra day and he rode about 45 minutes south of Rosarito via the free road and he said it was so beautiful that it would have been awesome to do together on bikes for the lobster lunches and what not!!! Perhaps a road trip would be in order lol
 

bmccrary

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Cool deal man!

Sounds like a great trip. I had no idea about the insurance for mexico and all the little rule of thumbs you mentioned.

Great post!

As for the light front end. I have the same problem with my bike when my g/f rides on the back with gear. The bike handles a bit different from when it just me, but I have only had one case where I lost front bite mid corner with her on the bike. That was part due to some debris. However the traction came right back a second later once I cleared the debris.

The only thing I could think to do other than replace the shock with an R1 shock (R6 shock is shorter and will lower the bike) or replace with ohlins, would be to find a replacement spring. I am not sure on the exact deminsions on the spring or the spring constant (K) either. Here at the lab I could test it and see what it is, but more than likely I will do that over the winter.

Enjoy the bike man. Glad to see you and your girl are enjoying it. I know mine loves riding with me.

Ride safe!

-bryan
 

MarinaFazer

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The only thing I could think to do other than replace the shock with an R1 shock (R6 shock is shorter and will lower the bike) or replace with ohlins, would be to find a replacement spring. I am not sure on the exact deminsions on the spring or the spring constant (K) either. Here at the lab I could test it and see what it is, but more than likely I will do that over the winter.

Thanks for that, but I probably won't be changing it out anytime soon as I have a few other purchases to make before replacing parts on the bike...a better helmet for my girl and leathers for her instead of just my extra mesh First Gear jacket.

fyi: on the RaceTech website, you can input your weight and height and they tell you which springs with which constant (K) you should purchase! If anything, I might switch out my oil, but that's more of a rebound thing. The bike was definately planted the whole time on the road.

I just found out today that my steering head is loose...AGAIN...it was fixed by the dealer two weeks ago, but I was told sometimes the parts inside get oval shaped and have to be replaced...just a factory default I guess...yay for warranties!
 

bmccrary

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Thanks for that, but I probably won't be changing it out anytime soon as I have a few other purchases to make before replacing parts on the bike...a better helmet for my girl and leathers for her instead of just my extra mesh First Gear jacket.

fyi: on the RaceTech website, you can input your weight and height and they tell you which springs with which constant (K) you should purchase! If anything, I might switch out my oil, but that's more of a rebound thing. The bike was definately planted the whole time on the road.

I just found out today that my steering head is loose...AGAIN...it was fixed by the dealer two weeks ago, but I was told sometimes the parts inside get oval shaped and have to be replaced...just a factory default I guess...yay for warranties!

Oil effects more than just rebound, it is your damping coefficient. Between that and the shims or valving in the shock will effect the amount of squat and how quickly you will go through the travel. All tuning aspects of suspension components effect something else, some more than others.

I am going to start looking into different springs and oils upfront. As well as out back. Not sure if the rear is gas charged or not though?

-bryan
 

bmccrary

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Yea I have been searching through at spring rates and such.

Wondering about what weight to enter on the spring seach. When I put my weight for the front it gives a .9 spring needed. When I put in 300, which would be my weight, plus the weight of my g/f and gear it gives me a 1.082 or something like that.

Might I guess I could split the middle and run a spring for about 250 lbs seeing as how she isnt always riding with me.

Sorry about that, we seemed to have got off topic a bit with your trip.

-bryan
 

MarinaFazer

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no worries, Isn't the new spring adjustable like the preload with the stock? So then you could load it more for when she's going to get on? I did that for our ride...up to 7 with our gear and bags...I'd think a replacement or aftermarket one would be more adjustable to accomodate that factor?
 

bmccrary

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Nice pictures! Looks like you had a great time!

As for the spring, you will have the same adjustments in the rear as you have always had, however you will not need to go as high up on on the adjuster to get the needed results. Depending on the stiffness of the spring, you may only need to go up to the 3rd or 4th adjuster instead of the 7th.

-bryan
 

boo68

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Thanks for that, but I probably won't be changing it out anytime soon as I have a few other purchases to make before replacing parts on the bike...a better helmet for my girl and leathers for her instead of just my extra mesh First Gear jacket.

fyi: on the RaceTech website, you can input your weight and height and they tell you which springs with which constant (K) you should purchase! If anything, I might switch out my oil, but that's more of a rebound thing. The bike was definately planted the whole time on the road.

I just found out today that my steering head is loose...AGAIN...it was fixed by the dealer two weeks ago, but I was told sometimes the parts inside get oval shaped and have to be replaced...just a factory default I guess...yay for warranties!

Glad you are upgrading your girls helmet, hopefully to a full face she is a beauty. What are the symptoms of the loose steering head? (should I :rtfm:?) j/k :rof:
 

MarinaFazer

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symptoms of loose steering head:

1. With bike on centerstand, keep front wheel planted and try to move wheel forward and backward. The fork will rock slightly.

2. While riding, going over bumps will cause a slight shudder and a "rattling" noise and a "shudder". The bike won't feel as firmly planted as it should and you'll ride slower thinking "wtf? this blows..."

3. In turns, if you hit bumps, the bike will feel unsteady with a loose front end (no bueno)

4. For Boo: Maybe if you :rtfm: but I dunno, the service manual is freakin' long and having printed it in a binder and what not...I'll look it up if I notice something or want to know how to do it.

5. Also for Boo: Make hubby do it while you :rant: about some girlfriend which will then cause him to :iconbeer: at which point you will :hug: while peeping neighbors :popcorn: followed by the entire neighborhood going :wav:
 

boo68

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OMG you are funny.. Thank you! The reason I was asking is.. the last time I rode my bike it felt Squishy, not as crisp in the turns. It had been sitting on the center stand a few weeks.. so I wondered if it was just that the suspension had 'relaxed' Also, I asked my husband to check the tire pressure, which he has yet to do.. so since you had mentioned something about your steering.. I took the opportunity to ask. I will have my husband check the wheel on the center stand this weekend.. I hope we can ride this weekend. Summer is fading fast.. after this weekend.. the roads should be more clear woohoo!!!
 
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