nixter
Junior Member
Myself and two buddies had this trip planned for a while. We left June 16th and arrived in Healdsburg on the 19th. I was on the FZ and my 2 buddies were riding an Aprilia Tuono VR4 and an 82 Goldwing. Quite the diverse group!
We set off down the 101 and stopped in Ocean Shores Wa, Newport OR, and Eugene Ca, before reaching our destination. The Oregon Coastline near Canon Beach is some stunning scenery. I highly recommend the ride if you get the chance. It did rain for part of days 2 and 3. We were mostly prepared but at the last minute before the trip I opted to bring a slightly lighter rain suit that turned out to be not so waterproof at the seams at 65mph. My Roland Sands jacket got soaked, multiple times. Nothing a clothing steamer and Lexol couldn't fix. Good as new!
Bike-wise, the FZ6 was nearly perfect. I converted to naked a while back and was a little concerned about wind but I had ZERO issues what so ever. In fact the Goldwing's screen caused a visibility issue in the rain and both my friends were being pushed around quite severely during crosswinds whereas I barely noticed the winds. My new Michelin's performed beautifully. The goldwing had some new Dunlops that were making him feel very nervous on certain types of road conditions, especially raked pavement. The range of the bike was good. We had to stop for the Aprilia to fuel up twice as often as the FZ6 or Goldwing required. That thing's reserve light comes on at 180km! I was using the stock seat and my butt did get a little sore on day 1 but it was better from there on. I also figured out that (thanks to my bike being naked) I could lie down on the tank boogie board style during long, straight, well paved sections of road to give my butt a rest. That was a cool experience as in this position I could only see road in front of me, no bike. Plus I was closer to the ground so it felt a bit like flying. My only other performance comment on the bike was that top gear could be a little taller. Top and second highest gear didn't feel much different and the bike felt like it was screaming a little when cruising in top gear at 6k rpm. Its mostly just an audio complaint though. I had no problems with power or passing with 14k rpm on tap.
For storage I purchased a 3 piece Motocentric soft case set. I only ended up needing the top duffel bag and left the paniers behind. We had some other friends who were driving so we were able to send the rest of our stuff with them. The bag held up great and was easy to remove and attach to the bike in about 5-10 seconds. The rain cover almost came off once because I hadn't tightened the pull cord properly so it's important to remember to do that. I do feel like the stitching of the channel that the pull cord runs through in the rain cover wont last long. That's my only complaint. Otherwise a highly recommended product.
My helmet is a Bell RS1 and it's amazing. Good at everything and a perfect fit for my head shape. I have an optional Transitions lens which proved invaluable with the quickly changing weather conditions. I do wish there was a better "closed airflow" mode for the visor. There's a way to slightly crack the visor open which doesn't quite do enough and the next step open is too much. Oh well, small complaint. During the days where it rained a fair bit some water did get in the helmet. (I had the vents open, duh!) I could feel a little moisture but my head never felt that wet and the removable pads dried out over night in the hotel. Once back home I was able wash the pads and the helmet feels and smells like new.
All 3 of us have Scala rider to rider headsets so we were all able to talk to one another. I have a G9 and my friends have the G4's. The Scala's are generally the best reviewed headsets available but they are still a bit finicky. Connecting the helmets each time they are powered one requires some futzing around. One unit acts as the link between the other two units when using 3 together. That "hub" unit typically runs out of juice first so it's important to charge the unit during a lunch pit stop. I had added a USB connection to my bike before the trip for iPhone GPS duties and it doubled as the mid day Scala charger. There were also some strange static issues that would come and go which weren't due to the environment or distance as resetting the headset would solve the problem. Also, the G4's occasionally had an issue with sound from only one ear. These units do have some room for improvement but I would never go on any type of long ride without one. Being able to communicate changes everything!
That's all I can think of at the moment! Oh.. the weather conditions coming back looked less than favorable to say the least so we decided to rent a U-Haul and B-line it up the I5. Good call. We drove through some of the heaviest rain I've ever experienced! We bought some ratchet straps at ACE and the bikes stayed put in back the whole way despite major concerns from the Goldwing rider
It's his dad's pristine bike which had only 2k on it before the trip I would have liked to ride back but we made the right call in the end. There's no way I would have ridden in those conditions.
Oops, one more thing! While the FZ6 was comfortable and powerful enough, my friends dubbed me "Circus Bear" and after reviewing some of the footage of the trip I'd have to agree. My 6'4, 210lb frame looks a little goofy on the FZ6. I will miss the FZ6 but I think a larger bike is in my future.
We set off down the 101 and stopped in Ocean Shores Wa, Newport OR, and Eugene Ca, before reaching our destination. The Oregon Coastline near Canon Beach is some stunning scenery. I highly recommend the ride if you get the chance. It did rain for part of days 2 and 3. We were mostly prepared but at the last minute before the trip I opted to bring a slightly lighter rain suit that turned out to be not so waterproof at the seams at 65mph. My Roland Sands jacket got soaked, multiple times. Nothing a clothing steamer and Lexol couldn't fix. Good as new!
Bike-wise, the FZ6 was nearly perfect. I converted to naked a while back and was a little concerned about wind but I had ZERO issues what so ever. In fact the Goldwing's screen caused a visibility issue in the rain and both my friends were being pushed around quite severely during crosswinds whereas I barely noticed the winds. My new Michelin's performed beautifully. The goldwing had some new Dunlops that were making him feel very nervous on certain types of road conditions, especially raked pavement. The range of the bike was good. We had to stop for the Aprilia to fuel up twice as often as the FZ6 or Goldwing required. That thing's reserve light comes on at 180km! I was using the stock seat and my butt did get a little sore on day 1 but it was better from there on. I also figured out that (thanks to my bike being naked) I could lie down on the tank boogie board style during long, straight, well paved sections of road to give my butt a rest. That was a cool experience as in this position I could only see road in front of me, no bike. Plus I was closer to the ground so it felt a bit like flying. My only other performance comment on the bike was that top gear could be a little taller. Top and second highest gear didn't feel much different and the bike felt like it was screaming a little when cruising in top gear at 6k rpm. Its mostly just an audio complaint though. I had no problems with power or passing with 14k rpm on tap.
For storage I purchased a 3 piece Motocentric soft case set. I only ended up needing the top duffel bag and left the paniers behind. We had some other friends who were driving so we were able to send the rest of our stuff with them. The bag held up great and was easy to remove and attach to the bike in about 5-10 seconds. The rain cover almost came off once because I hadn't tightened the pull cord properly so it's important to remember to do that. I do feel like the stitching of the channel that the pull cord runs through in the rain cover wont last long. That's my only complaint. Otherwise a highly recommended product.
My helmet is a Bell RS1 and it's amazing. Good at everything and a perfect fit for my head shape. I have an optional Transitions lens which proved invaluable with the quickly changing weather conditions. I do wish there was a better "closed airflow" mode for the visor. There's a way to slightly crack the visor open which doesn't quite do enough and the next step open is too much. Oh well, small complaint. During the days where it rained a fair bit some water did get in the helmet. (I had the vents open, duh!) I could feel a little moisture but my head never felt that wet and the removable pads dried out over night in the hotel. Once back home I was able wash the pads and the helmet feels and smells like new.
All 3 of us have Scala rider to rider headsets so we were all able to talk to one another. I have a G9 and my friends have the G4's. The Scala's are generally the best reviewed headsets available but they are still a bit finicky. Connecting the helmets each time they are powered one requires some futzing around. One unit acts as the link between the other two units when using 3 together. That "hub" unit typically runs out of juice first so it's important to charge the unit during a lunch pit stop. I had added a USB connection to my bike before the trip for iPhone GPS duties and it doubled as the mid day Scala charger. There were also some strange static issues that would come and go which weren't due to the environment or distance as resetting the headset would solve the problem. Also, the G4's occasionally had an issue with sound from only one ear. These units do have some room for improvement but I would never go on any type of long ride without one. Being able to communicate changes everything!
That's all I can think of at the moment! Oh.. the weather conditions coming back looked less than favorable to say the least so we decided to rent a U-Haul and B-line it up the I5. Good call. We drove through some of the heaviest rain I've ever experienced! We bought some ratchet straps at ACE and the bikes stayed put in back the whole way despite major concerns from the Goldwing rider
It's his dad's pristine bike which had only 2k on it before the trip I would have liked to ride back but we made the right call in the end. There's no way I would have ridden in those conditions.Oops, one more thing! While the FZ6 was comfortable and powerful enough, my friends dubbed me "Circus Bear" and after reviewing some of the footage of the trip I'd have to agree. My 6'4, 210lb frame looks a little goofy on the FZ6. I will miss the FZ6 but I think a larger bike is in my future.
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