durk

Both tires came off the ground Andy

In my hometown eating dinner. 575 awesome miles today. @jschaf thanks for leading me around. You sir, for sure ride a fast pace. I loved every second of it, even the couple of times I drug a toe slider & scared the crap out of myself. @B-Mac and @what thanks for letting me mess up your group. It was awesome riding with you 3. Good to shake some hands before and after the ride. Nice to put faces to the names I read on the forum that I never met and also great to see others I've met before. Sorry I missed a few of you.

I plan to be at the boat ramp around 10:30.

Or maybe some rain gear?

So what you're saying is you are in?

@DerekClouser I'd be willing to lead Med-F group. @jschaf I'm assuming you're planning to lead a fast group. If I'm wrong on that and you were talking Med-F I would definitely be content to follow.

I have an ancient Tom Tom mounted in a ram mount that is zip tied to the steering stabilizer cover on the 1000rr. I had the same thing on the 600rr but it was zip tied to the triple. I was caught in the rain multiple times on the 600rr and never worried about it. The gps got very minimal rain on it since it was somewhat under the windscreen. I'm not sure how it will work out on the 1000rr. I don't download maps typically. I will input multiple towns that run my route and just click them off as I progress through the ride.

No epic ride for you? I initially was going to try the freebie session from N2 the 20th. When the epic was scheduled for that date I decided I'd wait before I tempted myself to fall in love with track days.

42K wow. I guess I suck at maintaining chains. I usually get 15k, 20k if I'm lucky.

Duck tape?

When you install be sure to use plenty of heat shield near your headers otherwise you will melt your shiny new fairings. I learned my lesson the hard way.

I personally have replaced fairings on 3 CBRs. All of which came from eBay and I think all 3 were from different sellers straight from China. All turned out great. The only reservation I would have doing this on a R6 is the gas tank. On the CBR there is a plastic cover over the tank which is included in the fairing set, therefore, no worries about colors matching. I don't believe that is the case on the R6. As far as installing them just take your time. I never had to drill any holes but did use a razor knife here and there to clean out holes. If you end up ordering a set please update. I'm curious on the color match.

Glad to see you're standing in this picture after watching that video @jacobhawkins

@NinjaDoc and @jacobhawkins I am super bummed I'm missing out on this. As Doc mentioned I have plans for tomorrow and no way my wife will go for me heading out on the bike on Sunday too. I really can't hit the road on Sundays until 1 anyways so that makes it difficult for real long trips. I'm already hinting though to my wife that next Saturday is looking good for a long motorcycle ride. As long as the forecast holds I plan to make a trip to Marietta then.

I currently use 2-4 x 4s on the ground with my wheel placed on them, then using a couple pieces of 2 x 4s as levers under my 2000lb tractor I break the bead. Hillbilly engineering at its finest. I've contemplated those exact bead breakers. Thanks for your thoughts.

How do you like the bead (bread) breaker?

I think IP hit the nail on the head. I have basically been doing exactly what he stated in his posts since my return to motorcycling. I now have multiple options for gloves, jackets, pants, and a leather suit. I never would have been able to buy it all at once. Accumulate it as you go. Another option is to keep your eyes open here. I have bought a couple of things used from members here. Sometimes it's free even.

Nice. I went some time without a bike. When our second was born the wife told me the bike had to go. I would guess my girls were 10 and 11 when she said I wouldn't mind if you got a bike again. About 2 weeks later I traded her quad for a F4i and have taken a huge advantage of my second chance to be back on a bike again.

I appreciate that you made it a whole family event by having the little guy wash the bike after you and the wife went for a ride.

Good deal. How old is he?

I think so Jacob, but I am a bit partial.

My oldest loves to ride with me. When I told her that her birthday gift was a trip to the Tail, she said it was the best gift she ever got. My youngest on the other hand only likes to take short runs. I think she prefers to be seen on the bike more than anything. She often asks for me to take her to friends or pick her up from school on it.

Glad you and the wife got out Doc. Maybe next time our schedules will work to where we can meet up. It's awesome right now to ride with my daughter. I'm still amazed that at 14 she still likes to spend to with her dad. I keep telling my wife that at some point she is going to think I'm just a boring old man that knows nothing and she'll want little to do with me. For now though I'm going to enjoy the times we have until she meets some teenage punk like I was that she will be more interested in than me.

My daughter and I rode close to 300 miles today and had a blast. We spent about 5.5 hours on the bike. I think we will have a blast on our Tail of the Dragon trip this summer. After I talked to her about not trying to lean the bike and just to remain neutral we got pretty comfortable. I don't think the Q3s enjoyed the ride as much as us. I'm hoping with some extra preload added the next time they may not get as chewed up. Time will tell.