Yesterday I did a memorable rain ride with my exuberant future son-in-law. But there's a backstory to cover first.

Late last fall he impulsively looked at craigslist and bought his first street bike, a 1976 KZ400 in fairly ratty condition, with the classic early KZ400 oil leaks still leaking. It looks a lot better in the photos than it does in person...lots of rash and small issues with a few missing parts and things that don't function: speedo, odo, tach, primary/reserve (only works on reserve). But brakes, lights, steering, suspension, and engine work well.







He was anxious to try it out, so I rode it for him on surface streets over to a local school parking lot and lent him my DOT dirtbike helmet.



He did great, but he wasn't licensed for the road and winter was fast approaching anyway. So he decided to hold off on training until the spring.

His plan was to fix it up over the winter, but he's an honors engineering student involved in designing and building the school's Formula SAE car...and it ended up that he didn't really have much spare time to work on his bike.

He lives in a second-story apartment without any garage space, so he brought the bike upstairs and parked it in his kitchen, in the space normally reserved for a table. Here he is literally sleeping with his bike.



Anyway, this spring he took his MSF training and got his motorcycle license, but he's only had the bike re-assembled and road-worthy (I use that term generously) less than a week. Last weekend, my teenage son and I helped him bring it down from the apartment.

Ever since the weather warmed up, he's been itching to ride. He's finished with exams, he's geared up, licensed, and the bike is operational. I left work a couple hours early one day last week and we rode together for the first time on some nice roads north of Stamping Ground.



I was not a big fan of his choice of dark-colored gear from a safety standpoint, and indeed a car pulled out in front of him from the left side of the road...too close for comfort as he approached. I had tucked a mil-spec hi-viz vest into my saddlebag and he was more than happy to put it on after that episode. As it turns out, he thinks it looks pretty cool and matches the style of his leather jacket rather well.



Fast-forward to yesterday's ride. The after-work ride only whetted his appetite for more. He just couldn't wait to join me on one of my weekend jaunts. Even though it was hard to find any optimism in Saturday's weather forecast, he still wanted us to go. I'm up north near Cincinnati, he's in Lexington, and this is what was sitting out to our west heading east.



Truthfully, I was not overly enthusiastic about the prospect of hitting foul weather, but I had empathy and wanted to be there to guide him if need be. Not to mention...help him fix the bike if there were any breakdowns. My roadside tool wrap went into a saddlebag.

We decided to meet each other more or less halfway, at Mt. Olivet, at 10:00am. About an hour and a half ride for me, and him. The idea was to try to go east and stave off the rain if we could, rather than heading west right into it.

Well, half way there, I started getting wet in a light drizzle. I had pulled over under the partially dry shelter of a tree to have a look at weather radar.





Realizing that this was going to be my riding destiny, I got back on the bike and continued on to Mt. Olivet. It stopped precipitating about ten miles later, and I rode into town on fairly dry roads. Nevertheless I pulled into an abandoned spray wash as shelter in case the rain caught up to me while I waited. I didn't wait long...here comes my new riding partner on his KZ400.





We headed to Brooksville for brunch at Donna's Place. While we ate, it started pouring down outside. I checked radar and we were engulfed by the system. The only chance to find drier roads looked to be southeast. I put on my raingear (Frogg Toggs) and lent my buddy some rain mitts and off we went.

I don't have any more photos of the day simply because it wasn't feasible with my phone in a ziplock bag. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself once we got out into it. I never would have gone out, left to my own devices. We literally rode in and out of hard and soft rain all day, but it was mostly on back roads. I imagined myself riding along rain-drenched country lanes in the England, Scotland, or Ireland.

He is proving to be a careful and skilled rider with good bike control and cornering ability (he has extensive off-road experience). As it turned out, I need not have felt trepidation about a new rider and rain on an old bike. (My primary worry about this bike and its oil leaking is the fear that it will get on the rear tire. Miraculously, it somehow does not).

We ended up eating dinner at a pizza joint in Cynthiana. We stomped in soaking wet and the waitresses welcomed us with bemusement. "Why are ya'll out ridin' tu-day?" "He just got his license and his bike running. We had to go out!" They asked us where we wanted to sit and we said, "Wherever you don't mind mopping up a big puddle."

It rained hard while we ate, but the clouds parted before we finished. We gassed up and continued riding on mostly dry roads. Suddenly, I noted that the KZ was slowing down for no apparent reason. We pulled over and learned that the electrical system had gone completely dead, killing the engine and all the lights. He looked at me and I said, "I brought my tool wrap."

We checked the fuses, all good. So, no short circuits. A poor connection somewhere. We pulled and re-installed the fuses in case there was some corrosion there. Operated the switches, tugged and pulled on various connections.

Fate smiled upon is; the bike came back to life and we rode on towards a glorious sunset.

It was an experience I will never forget.

I hope I did this correctly (posting my pic?)? If I did- the pic is of my first ride ...about 100 k
loving the bike, smooth, balanced, great pull, super in every category imaginable. After 7 months of waiting- it was better than I imagined it to be.
stopped at a local popular beach parking lot for the pic.
A question- if anyone can help?
-I find the bars a tad narrow and Im already thinking of a wider bar. Has anyone else had this reaction and what did they replace the stock bars with?
and, has the replacement bar had any adverse affects on handling/control?
Many thanks if anyone can answer this?

Hey guys,

I'm going to have an almost 300 mile drive home from the dealer when I pick up my 2014. Any advice on how to handle this? Are the RPMs on the bike low enough where I can take the highway for awhile. Or should I ride the first 50 or so miles no highway...or go whole trip no highway. I'd like to hear your guys thoughts on best way to do this. Thanks!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=duJ9WdbGpxo&...DDymx1zSlA

I was one of those annoying people that would laugh at the 'rice burners'. Many years ago while I was replacing lost parts and oil in my good old 78 HD cafe racer, my roommate would calmly turn the key on his 750 k and off he'd go, no drama. Finally this year on my way to test the Honda I thought of all the trouble free Toyotas I have owned and thought, since I have so much respect for the Japanese engineered car, why not the Honda CB 1100 motorcycle.
725 miles in on the first UJM of my life and I can only say that I officially take back every crappy thing I have ever said about the motorcycles from the land of the rising sun!
This bike has single handedly re-invigorated my enjoyment of the motorcycle.

I don't know about you but I wasn't impressed with the way Honda routed the electrical wires on the CB1100. The clutch, brake, and throttle hang there has they should, but what is up with the electrical wires zip tied to the handle bars?
The electrical cables are not even following the handle bar curves as many other brands do. They come straight out in the open and get tied up to the bar as an after thought. I had to fix this, and this is how.

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I saw these cable ties on a buddy's Triumph Speedmaster, and I knew this would work for my bike, so I ordered 4 of them from the local Triumph dealer.

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The Triumph brand is hidden when the ties are closed.

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Here is the part number.

I tied up the electrical cables to the other cables (clutch & brake) with two ties on each side.

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Much better looking, and I'm much happier! Now you can put those terrible reusable Honda zip ties under the seat for emergencies like loosing a bolt on your license plate maybe.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/133266690@N02/6u7wc9

Well, new to me. Actually it's a 2009 I just bought a couple months ago., and actually, it's a Suzuki TU250X, sold everywhere but in California. Never saw one before, but liked the idea of making it into the modern/retro bike Triumph never made. It's even fuel injected! Perfect companion for my 2004 Bonnie.

Just a few Bonnie parts - headlight ears, gaiters, taillight, turn signals added, along with removing the grab rail, shortening the rear seat, peashooter muffler and tank and sidecover markings, and it looks completely different.
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Well...... I found a Craig Vetter, Windjammer fairing down in Scottsdale, Az. A older guy owns a rental business for bikes their. He had a "black" one with turn signals. Never mounted on a bike! No windshield, and no pig tail harness. The question I have is do any of you guys have any Windjammer V parts for sale. I joined a "Vetter" site on line with quite a few members last week...have not received an answer from any of them??? I even showered too ! I just thot some of the older guys might have had a Vetter fairing in their time. As always I appreciate all the feed back I have received from you guys. I have lined up a painter who does a kick butt job on helmets, bikes, you name it. He is in Prescott Valley, Az. Gave me a very good price on painting it I am going to fabricate my own bracket to mount it. Will post pictures of the finished product.

Last week-end I enjoyed a two days ride in the Ardeche area, about 100 miles from home -usually I prefer to stay in the Alps mountains, but these medium altitude mountains in France center ("Massif Central") are also very nice for motorcycling.

Very good conditions, weather was nice after one night raining, in the morning roads were drying and sunshine was forecasted.
First stop still under much clouds, but we are optimistic :


Arrived in Massif Central, sun is here


Note that it is an "old style" travel : no GPS, a paper map is necessary !


We arrive near by our first target : Mont Mezenc. In this area there are numerous rocks such as this one, very old volcano chimneys, erosion has flatten all the volcanoes except these remaining hard rocks :


We climbed Mont Mezenc, a little bit less than one hour walking from the road to the top of mountain. We hand carry helmets because the top case are full with luggages... Acceptable for a short walk like that.


From Mont Mezenc summit (1753 m height, 5750 feet) we can see these old volcano rocks all around :


Here we see the one where we ealier had a stop :


And here we see our next target : Mont Gerbier de Jonc. It's just one rock among other ones here, and not so high, but it is well known in France, as being "where is the source of the river Loire" (the longer of french rivers). So many people go there, visit the river source, and climb the rock...


Later we arrive near the Mont Gerbier de Jonc. Too late for climbing it this day (we will come back!)


My wife had booked a nice bed & breakfast for the night. Recently built house, on google maps (satellite view) you can only see a green parcel there


For our second day, the target was to climb this little one, before going back home trough some other nice roads. Compared with Mont Mezenc or Mont Gerbier de Jonc, climbed by hundreds of people each good weather day, this is a desert place : we didn't meet anyone in the morning !
Pic de Don : 1165 m height (3820 feet)



Had a look at Crest city. Nice castle!


I have uploaded some more photos (full resolution, and with map) in a new (for me) website, I wonder if it works well for forum viewers - let me know ! Here is the link : [url=http://opa.cig2.canon-europe.com/s/m/H5cud3KSmQX]Canon Gateway 2015-05 Ardeche Selection

Have good fun with the CB1100, wherever you are...
Jean-Pierre