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

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Ninja Geoff
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Posts: 2980
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:55 pm
Real Name: Geoff
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 7
My Motorcycle: 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Location: Leyden, MA

#41 Unread post by Ninja Geoff »

woot! clip-ons on ebay for mad cheap *yoink*.

now if only no one else notices them in the next 6 days and 20 hours...

I also made my own shorty clutch lever. two finger ftw!
[img]http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3563/41350009.jpg[/img]

User avatar
Ninja Geoff
Site Supporter - Gold
Site Supporter - Gold
Posts: 2980
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:55 pm
Real Name: Geoff
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 7
My Motorcycle: 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Location: Leyden, MA

#42 Unread post by Ninja Geoff »

New item for the list of stuff to do to the bike.

636 front end conversion. The forks, wheel, brakes, and tripples can be had for around $600 if you shop right. Worth it? What the "poo poo" kinda question is that, hells yeah it's worth it! :mrgreen:

I'm 90% certain the 2003 ZX-6R (636) steering stem is a direct bolt on to the steering head on my 650R. That'd be sweet, good front shocks and awsome brakes. Even the controls would fit on the stock 650R bar if i ever decided to go with higher bars instead of clip-ons. only downfall is that 41 mm clip-ons won't worth with the USD forks, i think it's 50 something. Oh well, the upper trip off my 650R should fit :mrgreen:
[img]http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3563/41350009.jpg[/img]

User avatar
Ninja Geoff
Site Supporter - Gold
Site Supporter - Gold
Posts: 2980
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:55 pm
Real Name: Geoff
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 7
My Motorcycle: 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Location: Leyden, MA

#43 Unread post by Ninja Geoff »

So the day has finally come. My Ninja is gone. She's been Sta-bil'd and locked away at my moms. Where at least it'll be in a warm garage. This winter is going to blow so hard.

But anyway, at least i got in one good ride before it got stored. Well, i duno how good it was considering the world was almost short a Ninja 650 and a 929RR. I was riding with Pulski (929RR) up in vermont for a nice change of scenery. We got to this one road that i had been on once before, riding in my friend's car. I knew it was twisty, but forgot howso.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=16&ll ... 1&t=h&om=1
It was that little stretch that it happened. That fist lefter and following right hander are both downhil, kinda like a corkscrew. They were fin. The next left is level (for the most part) but i (who was leading) went in way too hot. It was midway through there that Pulski realized his bike wasnt over as far as it should be. Turns out his rear tire was a few PSI low. I made it fine through it, but that next turn almost got me. I had little to no time to slow down, so i did the only thing i could, trail braked. Woulda been fine, but right at the apex, there was a pavement transition. Almost lost my rear wheel. We both get to the endof that road and stop. He's shaken up, and im not much better. We both discussed what happened and decided that we did enough limit pushing for that day and headed back to his house. Though one good thing came out of this, i now have a new deep trust in my BT020's, those tires held on like a champ. The only reason i thought i was going to lose the rear wheel was the way the bike bounced hitting that nice bump when i was leaned over. We're guessing that we were around 70 mph through the last two turns, waaaayy to fast to be safe.

This last ride was one of the shortest, but one of the best. I learned my limit, and learned how far from the bike's i really am. The two of us were leaned off the bikes a bit to make it through the second corners, make it we did, if only just.

Oh man, I'm never going to make it all winter, i want to hit that road again. Good thing my truck is RWD, i like donuts.
[img]http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3563/41350009.jpg[/img]

User avatar
Ninja Geoff
Site Supporter - Gold
Site Supporter - Gold
Posts: 2980
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:55 pm
Real Name: Geoff
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 7
My Motorcycle: 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Location: Leyden, MA

#44 Unread post by Ninja Geoff »

Okay, so I havn't posted in this in over half a year. The last time I posted was also the last time I've been able to ride the ninja. I've been waiting on a title paper from the bank for some time now, and getting really agitated.

But I've had other distractions, including use of my roomates YZF750. Which still feels odd to me. But since the last time I posted in this a lot has happened. Winter was rather mild around here, but I had a chance to take my dirtbike out in about a foot of snow. What a frustrating experiance THAT was. It was basically me kicking the ground away from me the whole time.

I also made it through a full semester of school. All one class I took. The EMT class. And as I sit here typing this, I'm a mere 2 days from taking the first of two state exams. I'm nervouse and excited at the same time, and somewhat worried about how I'm going to swing this with work. I have to be at the college for 8 AM, I get out of work at 8 AM. I CAN'T be late, not one second, and in fact, I really should be early to meet up with my partner for the exam. He's #3 of the list of partners. The first two failed the class due to low exam grades, so they'll be retaking some tests and testing in september. I also have a distinct disliking for the other one. You know the whole don't date a co-worker? It applies to classmates too. Oh well, lesson learned.

Reflecting back on this class, it doesn't seem like I really learned too much. But then I'll see something on tv and go "oh hey, I know that, cool!" Then I get wondering, once I have the MA EMT License in my hand, I want to work for an ambulance company for a while, at least 6 months, and consider moving. I'm not a big fan of this area any more. Sure, the roads are okay, and some of the people are okay, and I have a lot of friends and family here, but that can only hold someone down in one area for so long. And unless something good comes along in the next 6+ months, I'm gone. Assuming I can afford it. Even if it's as simple as moving down to say CT, or out to the eastern half of this state. Maybe to NH.

But one thing I'm hoping to do still, is to go to school for real. Not just one semester's worth of college, but a degree. Well, not necisarily a degree, but a technical program, I still want to go to school to be a bike mechanic. But that's expensive, maybe a few years off at the least. And my choices are limited, I can think of 3 schools for this off the top of my head. And two of them are in FL. I don't like FL at all, though I do have family there. One of which might be within commuting distance of one of the schools, and would put me up for a while if I ask her nicely (hey, I'm her favorite grandson :wink:)

But anyway, I'm ranting or what ever, so I'm going to go back to pondering how to pull off a sweet project idea I've had. Old XL250R with a modern day CRF250 4 stroke motor dropped in. Would be fun around town I'm thinking.
[img]http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3563/41350009.jpg[/img]

User avatar
Ninja Geoff
Site Supporter - Gold
Site Supporter - Gold
Posts: 2980
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:55 pm
Real Name: Geoff
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 7
My Motorcycle: 2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Location: Leyden, MA

#45 Unread post by Ninja Geoff »

STILL no word from the bank. Though good words from my old insurance company from maine. Apparently they owe me some $$$. Right on. It's not much, but it's enough to pay a bit of rent.

The last couple of days I've been riding my roomates YZF750R and really getting used to the seating position. It's starting to feel natural. the only thing I could really wish for would be to move the pegs back a couple of inches. I'm really enjoying the feeling of raw power the 750cc mill puts out. Sure, it's not the smoothest (the bike IS 13 years old) but it screams. It really makes me wish the ninja had the same power. Just delivered in the way the ninja delivers its power. It'd be 130 hp at 9k rpm, yummy. Not that the YZF has much more torque. And it does deliver it at least 3k RPM later than my bike (the two have about the same redline).

In other news, I really need to get on the dirtbike, both in fixing it and riding it. I feel bad knowing it's just sitting in a shed.

PS - I kicked the EMT state exams "O Ring". Though I'm not sure my partner did so hot.
[img]http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3563/41350009.jpg[/img]

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