I have a mate who's father lives in Cooma and he has always been on at me about going down. The thing is, I've been skiing plenty of times and have done the Snowies in a car. It's awesome and I know would be better on a bike. He doesn't need to convince me! Just my wife!

My father lives in Coffs Harbour and even if it means divorce, I'm going for a run, maybe in April, up the New England to Armidale and across to Coffs Harbour and then I guess down the pacific highway.

You haven't done the snowies in summer on a motorbike???
Get there. That's all.
When the centerlines turn yellow the fun begins.
And if you can also include the Bonang Highway.

* Last updated by: yannih on 10/20/2014 @ 4:18 AM *

Hey Aussie, you can get bar risers that lift the bars about an inch for under $100. Takes about 5 minutes to install. Make a comfy bike even better.

Mad

yannih, Snowies in maybe Autumn at this stage.....

Maddevil, I have pencilled in some bar risers, but found no issue on my short ride. They may become more of a priority once I get out and about more. I definitely think I need lower pegs, although it was no where near as bad as I thought. Oh and a taller screen!!

Believe it or not, less than a week after owning her, my black beauty has had a fall. Getting it out from behind a locked gate, parked it just outside the gate on a slight downward slope face forward. I can only assume that in the dark, I didn't have fully into position. As I was trying to lock the gate, I heard a crash and immediately knew what it was. I turned around to see my bike on it's side. I couldn't see the damage I caused till I stopped at a petrol station. All superficial, nothing cracked or broken, but a bit battered and bruised. So depressed ruight now...

UPDATE: Just had a good look. Definitely nothing serious. Scrapes on the engine cover and the lower engine cover that goes under the bike. The lower bit just need to replace but the main engine fairing will need a respray. A little happier but still a little sad.....

* Last updated by: AussieZX on 10/24/2014 @ 1:27 PM *

Fuck!!!

I'm sorry man.
That kind of thing drives me absolutely crazy.

Years ago I moved my pristine VFR800 from one spot in my driveway to another while warming up because the wife wanted to get her car out of the garage.
Didn't check the side stand was still down properly.
Same as you. Was walking away and big crash.
Big damage.

Couple of things IMO.
Don't go cheap on repairs.
I tried non genuine parts to keep the repair price down and had nothing but trouble with poor fit and quality.
Ended up replacing all with OEM kit and it cost more in the long run.
Secondly, ever since this happened to me years ago, I have been religiously careful every single time I put that side stand down or the bike up onto a race stand.
No matter where I am or what I'm doing, I check and double check.

Everytime.

Now I'm not foolish enough to say it will never happen to me again, but the chances have diminished considerably.
It's an annoying, frustrating and expensive lesson.
And most people have done it.
But try to look at the bright side.

It will teach you...

* Last updated by: yannih on 10/24/2014 @ 1:55 PM *

Oh yes, lesson learnt. I have been careful because I find the stand isn't readily accessed given it's placement between the gear lever and peg is so tight, AND I have big feet! But this morning, not much sleep, in the dark.Cranky about the locked gate....As I said, lesson learnt.

Nothing is cracked or broken. I am very lucky. I'll see a smash repair guy I trust to see if the parts are repairable. Just afraid some of the scrapes won't be fixable. If that's the case, will go OEM. This baby is a long term prospect and I want it as pristine as possible as long as possible. That's why this hurts so much!!

* Last updated by: AussieZX on 10/24/2014 @ 1:55 PM *

Damn sorry to see Aussie. Oh well, shit happens, you'll get it fixed and move on

(this is more to dow ith Yannih's comment than Aussies issue.)
I visually check my side stand is down every time, NO EXCEPTIONS. Since I've had my 14R, one time I nearly started to set it down without looking and stopped myself, and looked. It was down, but that's my rule, 100% of the time. My VF1000F fell over twice, once the side stand came popped back up and I didn't know it, the other time I got distracted and just plain forgot to put down the side stand. It didn't have a full fairing, and the spots that got a little nicked were unnoticable. I started this practice on my VF.

Sorry to see that and I know it hurts!

I follow the same practice that VicThing mentioned. The only times I've dropped a bike is when I did something out of the ordinary and failed to properly get the stand down. I've developed the habit of always looking at the stand while I transfer the bike's weight to it and doing this very deliberately.

Bit of an update. Taken a while getting the fairing repaired, even though it's a fairly simple repaint, been gone over a month.........but in that time, it's given me a chance to do some upgrades.

Bar risers
Lowered foot pegs
Double bubble screen
Oil and filter change
USB
90 degree tyre valves
Brake and clutch reservoir socks!!
Ram mount for the iPhone

All getting ready for a big group ride up Putty/Broke/Wollombi/Wiseman's and home in a couple of weeks followed by a Snowies weekend trip.

Nice.

Something I didn't see mentioned, but might have missed it. Put the bike in first gear (after you turned the engine off) on a down hill let clutch out until the bike stops and then put side stand out. She has to be pushed to fall over then.

A question (maybe an ignorant one) what do you do with the phone on the bike? Tried a gps once and it was more distracting than anything else. Just curious, no criticism meant.

We're off to the Oxely Hwy next month if you are interested...

untamed - Yes mainly for GPS purposes both in terms of finding locations but also using apps to track the run later, not that i have found a good reliable app yet. But with a USB connection, I'll be able to keep it charged and the apps may work better because GPS drains the battery pretty quickly!! Also, I'd like to be aware if I have phone calls or texts. I need to be in contact with family and work as much as possible. Although I won't be able to answer phone calls, at least I'll be aware and can pull over.

In the future, hope to get some blutooth ear phones for music, with the phone in front of me, I'll be able to access music easier. Real pain when you have wired earphones into your iPhone in the pocket!! Even better would be the new Sena 10c that will be released soon. Looks to be a great bit of kit! Blutooth music, phone calls, intercom and camera all in one!

I did have a GPS on the previous bike and it was fine. I didn't find it a distraction but was very handy in some of the back roads just out of Sydney!

yannih, I doubt I could be available next month, having two rides booked combined with shift work. I'll defintiely look out for you on weekends on the Old Pacific Highway on weekends though as you mentioned a little while back! Where exactly are you going though?

* Last updated by: AussieZX on 1/28/2015 @ 2:35 PM *

Hey AussieZX, congratulations on the purchase, you didn't buy it from Hawkesbury Honda did you?

Aussiezx, no disrespect intended but youre a little antiquated with a phone mount on your bike.
In fact I'd add that its almost as dangerous as a cage driver looking down and using their phone while driving.

If you can afford it, get a helmet intercom system and it will do all you require while allowing you to keep your eyes on the road at all times.
I have a Scala G9 that lets me:-

Talk to mates via intercom while we ride together (up to 9)
Make or take phone calls while riding
Play music and select songs/bands via my iPhone playlist (no connection leads)
Listen to various radio stations
Use a GPS facility (purchased ap or free Google Maps) being directed by voice prompts

All this via Bluetooth and while on the go with the press of a button or two combined with your own voice commands.

I am not saying the Scala G9 is the best for all but it certainly works great for me and my mates.
You would need to do your own investigation of what's available out there and weigh up the balance of what you require verses price.

If you still want to know where and when we are heading away next month, PM me.

* Last updated by: yannih on 1/29/2015 @ 6:36 AM *

yannih, headphones are only temp solution.I've spent a bit on the bike lately (including the repair *doh*) so holding off the headset for now. As I said in my last post, I am very keen on the Sena 10C when it comes out. It has all you've descibed and a built in high def video!!!! But with your recommendation, will check out the Scala. One of the other guys i ride with has one and recommends it too. Another mate just uses a cheapy set from ebay and says that works well too, but I'd rather go with something a bit more established! I love technology!!

OZrevhead, no didn't buy it at Hawkesbury Honda. I never saw a ZX14 there for sale second hand....I bought it privately though nearby!! There is no way a dealer would have sold it for what i got it for!! I may use them for servicing though. I got my CB500X serviced there last time and their service was great.

* Last updated by: AussieZX on 1/29/2015 @ 2:18 PM *

Watch out for dealers servicing or working on your bike.

THEY WILL FUCK IT UP.
Pretty much every single time.

They just don't care...

yannih, where do you go?? I haven't heard good reports about my closest Kawasaki dealer.

Im curious about this too, I tried Kelen Kawasaki years ago and the bike came back idling like crap. I complained and they said they adjusted it to spec .... wtf ... so I said just put it back to how it was.

Hawkesbury had a black gen2 for sale a bit before christmas ... $13900 ... it sold in a few days

:)

Oh OZrevhead. I bought mine just before that. I paid a little less with just over 2000ks.

Kelen was the one I was talking about. Got a guy at work looking to buy a Ninja 1000 and he went in there. They didn't have a demo model at all and were pretty rude by his account questioning why he expected them to have one of every model. I pointed him to Bikebiz which have several of every model on display.

I will vouch for my couple of dealings with Hawkesbury Honda in regards to the service I recieved on the couple of times I have used them. But more than open to suggestions for the ZX14.

OZrevhead, you're obviously from my area so hopefully you do find a ZX14 sometime!

* Last updated by: AussieZX on 1/29/2015 @ 7:51 PM *

Aussiezx,
PM me if you want my experiences with dealers working on my bike.
Don't want to bad mouth businesses in public in case guys have good experiences there...

Will do

yannih - send to me too please, Im curious to hear your stories ...