Some More Pics of San Francisco

I haven't been out for moto rides lately due to travel and the weather.  But I've recently captured some shots of San Francisco that you might like.

Dodging cars on California Street atop Nob Hill.
You can see the Bay Bridge off in the distance.

View looking down one of the steepest streets in San Francisco. Kearny St.
It's so steep cars are no longer allowed on this block.
The photographer sitting on the ground
is taking full advantage of the lack of traffic.

Landscape Sunset Shot from Twin Peaks with Sutro Tower on the right.  Click on the picture to get the larger view.

Kawasaki Z1000

A friend of mine recently made a new bike acquisition, a brand new Kawasaki Z1000.  He used to have the previous generation Z1000.  He sold it and went through a few different motorcycles before deciding that he wanted to go back.  This current model receives a displacement bump from 953cc to 1,043cc most of that from the addition of 5.1mm of additional stroke (previous bike's bore/stroke was 77.2 mm × 50.9 mm while the new bike has 77.0 mm × 56.0 mm) resulting in a modest 13hp increase in top end horsepower.

It's a difference the new owner can feel but at this time, the bike is still undergoing the break in process and hasn't really had the chance to let all 136 horses out to play.....yet.

New Kawasaki Z1000 in front of the the Transamerica Pyramid

New Kawasaki Z1000 at the De Young Museum

New Kawasaki Z1000 with the Bay Bridge in the Background

New Kawasaki Z1000 with proud owner at the De Young Museum

Ninja 250

I've recently become the caretaker of a Kawasaki Ninja 250 that belongs to a friend undergoing a motorcycle riding hiatus due to an injury.  I took it for a short ride to get the fluids moving around and get the battery charged up a bit.

On my short ride I was pleasantly surprised by how competent the bike was.  I've heard many a story about how underpowered the bike is and while it doesn't compare to my 150hp 1125CR, I thought the power it does have is enough to fill the needs of day to day riding.  On this diminutive bike, I'm still able to leave cars behind at stop lights and able to pass them (mostly) at will while travelling at street or freeway speeds.  If anyone blames the bike for why they are a slow rider then they are just using the bike as an excuse as this little 250cc bike is an excellent twisty road weapon.

New Front End on XB9s

With new headlights, new front turn signals, new Fatbar handlebars, new footpegs, and new ergo's the XB9s is like a new bike now.  Took her out for a shakedown run and everything is looking good so far.  Can't wait to take her out for a real ride.

Merry New Year!!!

If the Mayans taught us anything, it's that if you don't finish something, it's not the end of the world.

Feliz Happy New Sun Circling!

Merry Christmas!

I know it's a day late but...Merry Christmas!!!

The XB9s undergoing another metamorphosis

The XB9s is coming up on being 10 years old and with the amount of goat road riding and general hooliganism that the bike is put through, I'm surprised that the steering bearings have lasted this long. Since the front end needed to be removed to facilitate the replacement of said bearings, I decided now would be a great time for the bike to transition to its new phase, that of street tracker.

I replaced the bearings last week and I'm now mocking up the new front end. The clubman bars are gone and replaced by Renthal dirtbike fat bars. I currently have a cheap dirtbike headlight mocked up now but I'll be making a custom flat track number plate style flyscreen with built in projector headlights. I will retain the stock gauges but will be moving them to the top of the triple tree. I'm going to also be adding number plates to the rear quarters of the bike as a finishing touch. I'll be posting more pictures as the project progresses.

This is the temporary dirtbike headlights on the bike.

These are the Renthal dirtbike fat bars installed with my custom bar clamps.   All the control wires and cables seem to reach without issue.