Here I am on Saliba's Slabs a.k.a. the 405. Ass gap cracking all the way almost. Brutal is the taking of the underbelly exhaust sparking the ST1100 if in the diamond lane. Then if I stayed to the right which is my MO and remain at the speed limit shit happens. The traffic moving onto the freeway is another jump off the seat that gaps moving to the next lane.

I mean the rim whacking I hit if the rise is up, the drop down of the rise of the overpass if up is the jump down; no blending into the road again. The whack of the throttle to move over to the next lane and not be blocked in. Who knows, I don't look but say 80/90mph is a whack from 65mph, I passed a pickup moving into the lane I was in. So when I passed him, he had a shot of my ass crack on the gap over another brutal blend of the Saliba.

The ST takes the bumps harshly but a little better. With the 14 it just stays straight as an arrow. Not a wobble or upset to be found.

So it's a matter of trips to find where the Saliba machinegun paving's are and steer clear... HA, too many lanes and think one is smoother than the other.

What a bike.

* Last updated by: Hub on 6/4/2024 @ 12:43 PM *

Been riding the ST more than the 14(so I don't burn it out) and all of a sudden I hear the radiator bubbling on the ST. Because it was sitting for 30plus years, it rotted parts of the radiator/passages/nipple ends. Topped off the reserve and headed home. No metric tools to get to the radiator cap so I took a chance. Bike was given to me so no big deal if it seized on the way home.

Found the leak but will wait till I get to it. Thus, used the 14 just for a long ride out to lunch. Took the back way and stayed off the freeways knowing they'd be backed up and didn't want to deal with it. So on the back road, I timed in with a passing zone and sure enough, had plenty of gap to pass a few cars and truck.

Man, that bike pulls your teeth out with a right twist of the wrist. I look down and see I'm coming off of say 90+ when I began to slow it down. Cars up ahead are coming, but had plenty of room to get over, meaning. Here comes the packet of cars and a cop car is in the middle of the pack.

I'm thinking he must have seen me, but nope. Didn't turn around or anything when I kept looking back. Then hours later I'm thinking, what if the lone truck up ahead was going to turn left and here I come close to a 100mph. All I can say is the speed was invigorating to say the least, no idiots turning or about to pull out and begin to pass and here I'm about to be sucked up into some exhaust pipe.

That 14 loves to get me in trouble. Can't wait for the next fastest bike.

* Last updated by: Hub on 3/23/2026 @ 3:49 PM *

That 14 loves to get me in trouble. Can't wait for the next fastest bike.

I can't either, Hub but I'm keeping all of them. A hundred is just where it starts going. It's so easy to do but if you crash, it costs you the bike and some bodily injury and possibly your life.

I'm going to go fast sometimes. I'm thinking of it more like investing as you get older though, lower the risk for a smaller gain. That doesn't necessarily mean ride a slower bike but it means ride a fast bike fast less often. It's all a numbers game. I guess we have the ability to choose our best numbers but the numbers are running down for you and me my friend. I want to be around as long as I can and I'll take the fastest bike the whole way. I already spent out my odds. I'm going to be alive as long as I can.