dturpen, moopie, and friends take a ride!

[dturpen]

My wife, a couple of buddies of mine, and moopie and her husband all went on a ride from Russellville to Hot Springs on Highway 7, and we all had a blast.

Before the ride even started, one of my friends lost an exhaust trim piece that we has just painted on his Honda 599 . And moopie somehow managed to lose her license plate. They were able to somewhat fix it, then decided to just disconnect everything and fix it later.

Other than those two issues, we really had a great time. This was the first big ride on my FZ, and even though I was riding 2up (wife on the back), the FZ was more than capable. (I even scraped my shoes a few times, it was AWESOME!) I also was able to get rid of most of my chickenstrips.

Can't wait to go for another ride sometime soon! Maybe it will be a little cooler next time.:thumbup:

Now for the pictures. First few are some of my bike the day before the ride. I decided to paint my handlebar clamp black to match, and it came out pretty good. I also got the Yamaha belly pan installed, and I have to say, I think it makes a HUGE difference. It really cleans up the look of the bike.

The next few are of everyone's bike at our first stop where we had to wait on moopie, since they had stopped for the license plate incident. Had a drink at the restaurant and a little break. I was beginning to get a little worried as one of my buddies, Michael, and moopie's husband had gone back to look for them. But thankfully, no one had any big accidents, and I was glad that it was just a little problem.

The last few are of what's left of my chickenstrips on the rear tire.
:thumbup:

 

[dturpen]

Heh, I just noticed I can see myself in the mirror in one of the pictures.

Edit: BTW, I forgot to mention that moopie let me test out the Top Saddlery Seat on the way back. It definitely helped out with the comfort level. What's weird for me was the fact that my butt still hurt after about an hour or so, but I could feel a difference in my overall fatigue level. My body as a whole felt less fatigued when I rode with the TS seat. It's a little expensive for my taste, but it definitely has been added to my wish list.

 

[moopie]

That was a great ride yesterday and even greater company! dturpen showed some seriously awesome riding skills for being 2 up. :rockon:

My whole fender eliminator kit did fall off. Both bolts seemed to disappear and it was just hanging by the electrical wires. The rider behind me happened to notice right as it fell and told me to pull over (I never felt or heard a thing). It was hanging off to the left side and all bent out of place. We managed to get it strapped back up in place for the next 5 miles where the rest were waiting for us. Again it fell off but to the right this time. It managed to get stuck underneath the rear hugger and the tire wore away at it (silver bits in picture). It could haven ended up much worse so very I'm very thankful for David's help!

dturpen also took a hit from my smoking hot pipes while trying to unhook the FE. I owe him one now! :thumbup: We're definitely looking forward to the next ride together!