banjoboy
Junior Member
A friend & I did a little 330 mi loop through the forest of northern California Saturday, and I just wanta say how impressed I am with this here FZ6. :rockon:
Map
Now 330 mi ain't noth'in, fancy, but this was a lot of goat trails, and 'bout 55 mi. of dirt & slimy mud. T'ain't got no video, but I did get some picz...
It started out goaty great on Leeseville
A urinal with a view...
Leeseville, Ladoga, and the paved part of 162/FH7 were great. Hell even the dry dirt part of FH7 wuz great, but then it started to hail which I thought wuz great too, (keeps the dust down) until, it got worse, and worse, and worse; my visor wuz covered in hail or snow, or sum other kinda white wet cold stuff from the heavens.
We thought 'bout wait'in it out, but see'in there wuz no blue sky or break in sight we had to push on.
Had a few "moments" where the bike went slidewayz, (Maybe Pilot Powers aren't the best tires fer dirt & mud?) but harkening back ta mah dirt roots, I just kept on the gas 'n everythang worked itself out.
But then whilst in 3rd gear at 'bout 35 mph go'in in a straight line, the wheels just slid out from under me! WTF? I tried pick'in the bike up, but wuz laugh'in too hard, plus mah cowboy boots didn't have much grip in the snake snot slime either. Then my ride'in buddy Kurt came along and helped me get the bike up, and told me to SLOW DOWN!!!
So I did, I took off and wuz only in 2nd gear at about 25 mph, and bailed again no more than a mile down the road.
Same thang; go'in straight and the wheels just slid out from under me; there wuz no grip! Kurt wuz shlep'in along in the duff on the shoulder of the road in 1st, so I did the same; for awhile, but then mah bike wuz over heat'in so I had to take off! I figured it wuz just all the mud & snow caked on the radiator, so up at the summit, I packed mor snow all over the motor, but that didn't help. Hummmm?
By now we're on the down hill side, so I coasted with the key on, and the fans cooling the motor. Once it go down to 150 degrees, I fired the thang back up, but it wuz up over 200 degrees in no time. we puled over, (The rain/snow/hail has finally stopped) and I could see where there wuz a hole in the coolant line from my git-off.
"Oh jeez, now what?"
It's sum purdie country up thar!
I coasted fer 'bout 12 mi. down to Indian Dick (Which wuz difficult cuz mah rear brake wuz bent in a weird way) where we fixed the thang, (The hole in the radiator hose was right by the water pump "in" so I just 1/4" off the hose, and slid it back on.) and had lunch with sum hippies. Interest'in thang, all the locals up thar ride KLR650s and they were everywhere ride'in without helmets. True Americans live'in free!:applause
We got ta Covelo, and I called mah friend Duncan to tell him we're o.k. our roadside fix worked.
Even though my pinkie finger, shoulder, hip, and leg were sore, I still found the inner strength ta do HWYs 253/128 on the way home. Itwuz quite an adventure, and the FZ waz flawless! (Despite all the torture I put it through!) :cheer:
Map
Now 330 mi ain't noth'in, fancy, but this was a lot of goat trails, and 'bout 55 mi. of dirt & slimy mud. T'ain't got no video, but I did get some picz...
It started out goaty great on Leeseville
A urinal with a view...
Leeseville, Ladoga, and the paved part of 162/FH7 were great. Hell even the dry dirt part of FH7 wuz great, but then it started to hail which I thought wuz great too, (keeps the dust down) until, it got worse, and worse, and worse; my visor wuz covered in hail or snow, or sum other kinda white wet cold stuff from the heavens.
We thought 'bout wait'in it out, but see'in there wuz no blue sky or break in sight we had to push on.
Had a few "moments" where the bike went slidewayz, (Maybe Pilot Powers aren't the best tires fer dirt & mud?) but harkening back ta mah dirt roots, I just kept on the gas 'n everythang worked itself out.
But then whilst in 3rd gear at 'bout 35 mph go'in in a straight line, the wheels just slid out from under me! WTF? I tried pick'in the bike up, but wuz laugh'in too hard, plus mah cowboy boots didn't have much grip in the snake snot slime either. Then my ride'in buddy Kurt came along and helped me get the bike up, and told me to SLOW DOWN!!!
So I did, I took off and wuz only in 2nd gear at about 25 mph, and bailed again no more than a mile down the road.
Same thang; go'in straight and the wheels just slid out from under me; there wuz no grip! Kurt wuz shlep'in along in the duff on the shoulder of the road in 1st, so I did the same; for awhile, but then mah bike wuz over heat'in so I had to take off! I figured it wuz just all the mud & snow caked on the radiator, so up at the summit, I packed mor snow all over the motor, but that didn't help. Hummmm?
By now we're on the down hill side, so I coasted with the key on, and the fans cooling the motor. Once it go down to 150 degrees, I fired the thang back up, but it wuz up over 200 degrees in no time. we puled over, (The rain/snow/hail has finally stopped) and I could see where there wuz a hole in the coolant line from my git-off.
"Oh jeez, now what?"
It's sum purdie country up thar!
I coasted fer 'bout 12 mi. down to Indian Dick (Which wuz difficult cuz mah rear brake wuz bent in a weird way) where we fixed the thang, (The hole in the radiator hose was right by the water pump "in" so I just 1/4" off the hose, and slid it back on.) and had lunch with sum hippies. Interest'in thang, all the locals up thar ride KLR650s and they were everywhere ride'in without helmets. True Americans live'in free!:applause
We got ta Covelo, and I called mah friend Duncan to tell him we're o.k. our roadside fix worked.
Even though my pinkie finger, shoulder, hip, and leg were sore, I still found the inner strength ta do HWYs 253/128 on the way home. Itwuz quite an adventure, and the FZ waz flawless! (Despite all the torture I put it through!) :cheer:
