ScubaCinci

Those are good prices...I've seen them still selling for $25+

Ride one first if you can. It's a shame that it's hard to get a test ride on something you are going to spend considerable $ on. Maybe Suzuki is doing demo days somewhere nearby soon. *EDIT* looks like July AMA Pro Road Racing - Mid-Ohio July 12, 2013 - July 14, 2013 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - Lexington, OH

I went from a 2001 FZ1 to a wee-strom for some of the same reasons. Big mistake for me. I sorely missed the acceleration of the inline 4 and on the strom I felt like I was constantly shifting due to the low redline. I sold it in 6 months. If I had to do it over again, I would have kept the FZ1 and bought a Strom 1K. I read somewhere that Kawasaki has a Versys 1000 which has an inline 4 tuned for adventure riding. That sounds nice. GLWS

When I used to go down in the cage we stayed at the Pisgah Inn which is nice but not so close to the dragon (out off of the BRP). The motorcycle motel at the end of the dragon is a no frills shithole but it was always clean when we stayed there. They have very limited capacity too. I've never stayed anywhere else in that area.

When I was in the lodge Sunday morning before I left, some lady was ripping the manager a new one about the cleanliness (or lack thereof) of the room, and all the shit that didn't work right. I remember her saying something about it was so bad, she had to put shoes on from the bed to the bathroom because the floor was so dirty.

Interesting...I thought it was decent. The firepit area was really nice and the lodge had great wif-fi. My cabin felt clean except for the random any sightings. After MT, there's probably no "cleaning up" that's going to be sufficient enough I got the story on the place when I was there from PJ (PJ's Parts). He said it was originally the camp for the dam workers. The people who own it now are supposedly very well off and the husband bought it for the wife as a pet project. They don't actually own the land though, the have a 50 year lease on it. There was more to the story but my judgment may have been impaired when I heard it.

Yeppers....WHOOOOSH!

Video is private

The following day on rt 28...said he target fixated. Not sure what happened, I felt bad for him.

Yep, you and Karl and Tim if I recall. I'm pretty sure I have vid of you going down the dragon although I think you were 2 bikes ahead of me. The guy I was with when we met you, I had just met an hour before (he was with the FZ1 gang) is the one that went off the road on 28 and cracked his frame. I have vid of that too but my GoPro was fogged so the quality sucks. Once I parse the video, I'll post some up. I had a lot of people check out my bike during the trip...it's nothing special as far as Z1000's are concerned. You just don't see many of them around - especially in the orange/white scheme.

Did you take the Fizzer down? I met a bunch of OR guys but I think I missed you.

Their bikes were pretty loud so I prolly would have heard that

I was assuming you were talking about on the dragon. Was this on 28 headed towards Fontana? 2 guys passed me on there it may have been you. I was fiddling with my GoPro when you guys came up on me (the damn thing froze up). If so, I did see you and at one point I had slowed so you could get around and when I checked the mirror, you guys had dropped back a ways so I took that as a sign you didn't want to pass so I kept on. I was pretty tired at that point as I had been riding pretty much all day since 10am so I was taking it a bit easy. Anyway, it wasn't my intent to get in your way or keep you from passing. My bad. A horn toot or a brights flash would have been helpful....I would have pulled over right away. What bikes were you guys riding...black and yellow?

Very cool - nice pics.

Shit dude, I didn't know. You shoulda stopped over for a beer

Especially if your form sucks. I actually slowed to let several bikes pass me during the trip, I don't have any problem letting people by if I see 'em.

Didn't (and haven't) seen the thread and thanks for the feedback but I didn't ask you your opinion of my riding skills (or lack thereof). I had fun and was safe, that's all that matters to me. If I impeded your progress at some point it wasn't intentional...I wasn't exactly watching my mirrors.

Why am I a jackass exactly?

Here's one of me I don't think I got pics of any OR guys but I do have some video. I just need to go through it.

Bummer dude. Sorry to hear that. I spent most of the time with the FZ1OA guys and on the ride Sat morning on 28, the guy in front of me target fixated and went off the road. DIdn't get hurt but cracked his frame. The kicker is, he rode it all the way down from Cape Cod, MA. He was hatin' life. So that makes it 2 group rides in a row where the guy in front of me wipes out and I got both on video. Who wants to ride in front of me on the next ride? I did get to meet most of the OR folks at one point or another...mostly around the firepit on Friday night. Hope everyone had fun and makes it home safe.

I should have lots of video when I get back

I'm hanging with some FZ1OA folks at the Wildwood Grill MJ, if I see you I'll buy you a beer or three

About to get hit with some serious rain here. Met a few folks at the overlook today when I got a run in.

I'm hanging at the lodge for a few. If you're around, I have the neon yellow and black Shoei helmet with a mounted GoPro. Itching to ride.

Misting rain off and on so far...just passed Lexington.