Pictures - at last!
So the Yamaha and the Kwaks have gone too...
I've now got a 1991 Kawasaki ZXR750H2 - in the classic Blue/White/Green. It's got a Carbon Can Co 'zorst and a huge 50,000 miles! The engine is still as solid as a rock though and still good for over 140 - not that I'd do it (oh no....). Proof that Kawasaki make good motors! Being an Old School biker it's taken me a while to get the courage to get my Knee Down, but I've put a few scrapes in the sliders now.
Meantime, perhaps I'll see you at Odiham? (otherwise known as Hampshire Constabularys' chief fundraiser - why don't they spend more time chasing 'Johnny Nova' and his boom box, or cyclists who persist on riding on pavements, or drink drivers, or people who drive with mobiles in their hand? Let's face it, you never see a badly maintained M/cycle, we always tax, MOT, Insure and service our bikes properly, we're just an easy target - a loud can and a black visor doesn't make you unroadworthy, bald tyres and half a dozen lagers does!)
Bike all MOT'd and taxed for Summer, been out for a few 130mph+ blasts... New tyres on - BT010's, incredibly grippy, but since I changed them (and had the right profile for the back wheel -the old was oversized) Just started to get the old 'knee-down' touch back - I've worn a corner in my boots, ripped a hole in the velcro and taken a big chunk out of my sliders - the ZXR now has Titanium Hero Blobs, a black flip-up screen, great on the motorway, but what a pain round town - now I get all the wind noise below 40mph, I'll just have to keep the speeds up... 'Honest Officer, I had to go fast 'cos the wind noise was in danger of damaging my eardrums'
Taken on an unnamed roundabout - you can just touch 40 if you're lucky!
Well, you wouldn't believe it would you, after championing the cause of the ZXR, I've gone and bought myself a ZX7R... Didn't plan to do it, but I found a guy with a P reg ZX7R, sprayed in the '98 Suzuka Endurance colours. He'd lowsided it on a roundabout and had lost all his confidence, the paintjob has got a few deep grazes, but I can get them sorted over the winter. The main thing is that I managed to beat him down to £1800! The house move has been a real bonus, previously the insurance company wouldn't give me cover for a ZX7 (and only very grudgingly for the ZXR), now in a new area, and with a garage, I can cover the ZX7 Fully Comp for what I was paying TPF&T!
Bought so far:
Double Bubble screen, Exhaust (Blue flame, oval double outlet powerport), hugger, clear tail light and red LED bulbs, exhaust hanger, LED indicators, ZX-7RR solo seat and an ignition advancer, but, it needs a Dyno run...
The old and the new.......
Almost looks like I've washed it. Repairs to paint job courtesy of Photoshop....
April 2006 - I had "the big one", a bus pulled out in front of me. The result, not good - broken arm, ruptured spleen, lost 2 teeth - and I broke my back, shattered T4 and T5 vertebrae. I have got a plate in my arm - and had the 2 vertebrae removed and replaced with a Titanium cage, 3 months off work.... But I am here, lucky to be alive and walking!
Click here to get uploads page
I've also got myself a Suzuki GT550, the dream bike of my youth. It's been very much bought as a running project - it's all MOT'd etc and I'll run it 'till the Winter when she'll get restored (not too concours, I'm not that fussy) It's a GT550B, but it's gonna be sprayed in Metallic Black and Gold Pinstripes. The picture below is exactly as it is now (July 2002) when it was still at the dealer. You'll see updates as and when I do stuff.
Latest: The GT is in a garage for now, new battery has made a world of difference, but, she still won't start from a long stand without a can of Easy Start to hand. Jobs for winter: I've got a set of expansion chambers to put on now so that should make it a whole lot lighter and probably a bit noisier! Also a new lockset, clock binnacle, headlamp ears, mudguards, horn and numberplate. Respray, polishing, and electronic ignition to do over winter now that I've got a garage that I can strip it in..
So, it's back in the Garage at home now, with a set of Gibson Race expansion chambers - what a noise!
I now have a dedicated site at www.gt550.com that will be growing as the project develops....
Brummmmm...