Dirt to Street. My blog about anything, usually motorcycles.

[Ninja Geoff]

July 16, 2006
Dear Diary,
Today, I lane splitted twice. "fudge" traffic. Seriously.

There i was on main st in Hollowell on "Old Hallowell Day" (reaaaall smart) and it was PACKED and traffic backed up almost all the way to augusta going both ways. Then outa no where a few sporties pass down the middle, one stops, "Come on bro, down the middle!" so i tagged along. It was fun, makes me with it was legal. Got a "You "procreating" "Donut Holes", that's not cool!" once.

Also, gave the rock on fist to a bike cop. He just ignored it, throttled around the 5-0 cage i was behind, and ripped around the rotary i was coming up to.

All in all a decent ride i guess, only got about 50 miles.

PS - I power wheelied on accident. 20 mph in 1st, just gunned it past this slow moving F250. Scary, though fun.

[Ninja Geoff]

July 18, 2006

I clicked over 2000 miles today. Go me.

[Ninja Geoff]

July 25, 2006
"fudge" being "respectfull" on the highway by not passing cars at a blistering 100mph. Seriously. You try to be polite and keep it down around 75 or 80 when you pass them, but what do they do? Not see you, and change into your lane. Today is also the first time i flipped a cager off. There i was, left (fast/passing) lane on I95 north, passing two cars that have been in line for a good bit now, and just as i'm passing the SUV (front car was a mid 90's jetta) the woman starts to move into my lane without blinkers. And i'm not making assumptions about her being a woman, i saw her hair/face clearly. But no, I'm nothing, just a fly on the wind, so get out of my way little boy, here comes my SUV! And the thing that gets me, my front wheel was at her door! I'm not even entirely sure if it was the sudden use of my horn, or the fact that i suddenly ziped by (i KNEW there was a reason i downshifted into 4th gear a lot when passing on the highway!) her window! "dog" got the birdie. After that i don't think my speed (when passing cars) was below 90. Hang back a bit and watch the vehicle, click down to 4th from 6th, and just pin it.

Also, today, i finally got some solid hardware to mount my plate, so far i've been using paper clips to pin the temp one on. Not that the actual plate is mounted yet, i just wanted an excuse to cool off, so i went into home depot and got the 2 botls/nuts and 4 locking washers.

[KarateChick]

Be careful out there Geoff. Watch your back, sides, front.....

Hope you're having fun (most days) clicking over those miles.

[Ninja Geoff]

So, for the last 18 days, i've been living back in MA. Finally. I'm living with 3 other guys (and numerous people who just kinda show up now and then) and it's been fun so far. My friend chris rocks a YZF750 (that i can ride better than him, heh) and my ninja is parked next to it. But boy oh boy have i missed the roads around here.

But anyway, let's try to start from the begining...

August 2nd(ish)
Drive 4 hours from ME to MA, my dirtbike in the ranger, my Ninja in my dad's tundra. Get to the ap, unpack everything (sans bike) and hop in the truck with dad. We drive to his friend's house about 20 mins away to unload my Ninja. That gets out, i hang out for a few mins, say bye to dad, and take off. Put around town for a bit and head back to the apt and finish unpacking. Now, at this time, Chris still had his 84 LTD700 so we take off on the bikes and hit up some decent roads in the area.

Aug something or another.
More riding, started work, forgot what it was like to work with a bunch of cute highschool girls, then i remember that i'm 19. Damn being old. Oh well, a few of my old peeps still work there so i hang out/work with them. Met this pretty cool girl who works there, but that's not going to work out. She likes PIRATES better than Ninjas. At least she didn't say lumberjacks or i woulda quit on the spot. More night time rides with chris (it's 100+ during the day, ugh). So there we are, going down a road, me in front, when i realize he's fallen back really far. So i slow it to 10 under the limit (limit is 50 on the road) and wait. "poo poo", no headlight. So i book it back the way i came and see him on the side of the road. His bike sputtered and died. no dash, nothing. He puts it on it's kickstand... and the dash lights up. WTF? Okay, it starts up and we start to head home, him in front this time. pop-pop-BANG BANG POW (flames shoot out the tail pipe at this point) and his bike dies. He's flipping out at his POS bike puts it on the sidestand, and BAM! Get's it back. We've decided at this point, there's a loose connection somewhere. WE have to do this about 5 times on the ride home, at 1 am, with his bike backfiring. OOps. Next day, we go down to Valley Motorsports (decent place for anyone in western MA, worth the ride just to see the Duc 999R Xerox they have) to look at bikes for him (along with some other dealers). At first he's considering a cruiser, but they have no used ones, and he doesn't really want to buy new. The dealer said he has an FZ6, used, out back, so we go look at it. And BAM. There's a 94 YZF750R right there. Chris loves it. he buys it then and there. EXCELENT condition too, even a corbin saddle. He rides it home (barely. It was funny/scary watching him, so used to the LTD and all). Okay, my turn to try it. OOHHH MYYY GOOOODDDD THIS IS FAAAAASSSSSTTTT. I get back and he says to me "Oh man, the whole way home, i had to keep it under 7k rpm it was so fast" and me "really? i kept it over 7k rpm the whole time up and over poet's seat mountain." "you went THAT FAR that quick? dude..." "heh. this "dog" is fast, don't hate the rider, hate the bike"

Aug, a few days later.
Jaime: "I'm afraid of them, but i want to go for a ride on a motorcycle"
Me: *hands her chris' small helmet* "grab his jacket, come on"
Jaime: "Wha...?"

She wants to go for another ride. And I'm trying to convince her to get a bike. Woot, motorcycle fan count = motorcycle fan count + 1. Hardly noticed her back there too, she's all of 110 lbs.

Jump ahead to a few days ago.
And in the mean time, we've been riding around aimlessly. I also did a nice loop of a few back country "highways" that have speed limits from 30 to 50 mph. All i gotta say, is that i love rt 116. But anyway, the next day, we fiddle with the rear shock on his bike, and jack up the rebound/dampening to max. NOW it feels a LOT better. Turns it like it never before did. We need a spanner wrench to adjust the spring rate next. So do I. I took Chris' GF for a ride too, while chris tested out the new suspension settings. He likes it a lot more too. Snappier. Heh, his gf trusts me more on the bike than him.

As a side note, i made it from hinsdale, NH, to my doorstep here in turners, MA in 20 minutes. Oh man i love that bike.

I also have a confession. I'm part squid. I've done a few wheelies. And enjoyed them. A lot. This is bad as i have ME state minimums for insurance. oops.

Also, as much as it baffles me as to how a cager can miss a bike on the road, how does a cager miss TWO bikes, riding abreast, during the day? Seriously. One bike, i can ALMOST understand, But two? as wide as a car? with brighter headlights?! I mean, wtf. Let's just say i scared that cager to the point they missed their exit off the rotary and had to go around a second time.

[Ninja Geoff]

I hate cagers.

Also, i need to stop scraping my foot.

[Ninja Geoff]

all cage and no bike make geoff go something something...
all cage and no bike make geoff go something something...
all cage and no bike make geoff go something something...
all cage and no bike make geoff go something something...

She's 200 miles overdue for an oilchange. I orderd oil pre-needing it, but i rode too far too soon. Won't be in til next tuesday...

all cage and no bike make geoff go something something...

[Ninja Geoff]

So, got my jardine pipe in. Installed it. Changed my oil too. And i also thought it'd be fun to pass a cager that passed me.



SO not worth it. I coulda been arrested tonight, luckily i wasn't. I also was going faster than 72....

Oh well, lesson learned.

[VermilionX]

cool 650R pic Geoff...

he's running slicks but that's still very impressive.

[Ninja Geoff]

cool 650R pic Geoff...

he's running slicks but that's still very impressive.
[imghttp://www.socalsportbikes.info/xmb/attachments/35202.jpg[/img]

Also looks like a 2 bro's pipe and a penske 3-way shock and catalyst body work.

These bikes are good at racing. The BRP team finishes consistantly in the top 5 in WERA endurance races (4-8 hour races). Open class event, any bike goes. Though it IS one the most heavily modified 650R's out there (hell, it has a 6 gallon tank, stock is 4!) and makes more power than my 650 will ever make.

BUT i've decided to go another route with this little ninja. Streetfighter! I've been kicking the idea around in my head for a few days now, and after seeing it done on the 650R forums, and a little info from minty, i want to do it as well.

This is an example of what's been done so far (not my bike):


I like it, for the most part. It needs some things IMO.

So, the plan is, over the winter, to go buck wild on this beast.
Acerbis Cyclops Headlight
Acerbis SMX front fender (I'd obviously remove the stocker)
Clip Ons (probably used ZX-6R or SV650S ones from eBay)
Some sort of minimalist bar end mirror, duno if i'm going to run both sides or not (only NEED one here in MA)
Shorty clutch lever (I only use 2 fingers as it is)
undecided about the brake lever, i may krylon it black or something
water temp gague (because an idiot light doesn't cut it)
LED front turn signals... Don't ask me where they're getting mounted though

and that's about all i can think of right now the list will likely change, or only be half complete (this "poo poo" ain't cheap!) but i'm going to work on it once the bike's off the road. Which is happening the end of this month.