wrecked the bike today. Taking the ramp from 202W to 101N, I wasn’t paying attention. I saw slow traffic in front of me, then realized it was stopped, not slow, grabbed the front brake while still turning, and highsided. good thing I was wearing full gear. I still scraped my knee. my right hand is swollen, bruised, and sore. my left shoulder is very sore, along with both knees. Bike is totalled.

Got the bike out again, put gas in it, and took a little shakedown ride. Got to watch lightning all over the valley, in front of me all the way from the south to the north as I headed west from home. Fortunately all the rain was well to the west of me. Went and got cash, fish tacos, and a vanilla coke. I could tell I hadn’t ridden in a while!

Today marked the last fill-up on gas for the summer. I rode this tank out, and the ninja has been sitting in my garage with the low-fuel light flashing ever since. I’ve moved it into the driveway and back into the garage about twice just to keep the battery going. maybe I should look into a trickle charger for next summer.

Headed home today, back through Globe to AJ. The ninja odometer claims a total of 967.8 miles from Friday through today. total ride, including all destinations we rode to+to:1104+S+Central+Ave,+Safford,+AZ+85546+to:Alpine,+Arizona+to:Mule+Creek,+New+Mexico+to:1104+s+central+ave,+safford,+az+to:937+W+15th+Ave,+Apache+Junction,+AZ+85220&hl=en&geocode=%3BFRbn9AEdKvB1-Q%3BFT-v9AEdalJ3-SGn9Grj4b5htA%3BFRbn9AEdKvB1-SEEPB6btEKcFw%3B%3BFWDTCAIdgqJ8-SEB1h2mz-NLyg%3BFUoMDAId4FeI-Q%3B%3B%3BFYSZ9AEdthV6-SEV4jg-aKCDRw%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B&mra=ls&sll=33.56787,-110.030465&sspn=2.480639,4.597778&ie=UTF8&z=8) Google says 987 miles. My odometer is up to 7491 miles total.

Brian, Dan, and I set out much earlier (left at 8:30 instead of 10), rode to Clifton, AZ, and from there attacked the “Tail of the Beast”; US191 from Morenci to Alpine. This road used to be designated US666 and was affectionately known as “The Devil’s Road”. [caption id=“attachment_19265” align=“alignnone” width=“300” caption=“96 Miles of curves”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19266” align=“alignnone” width=“300” caption=“The road curves through the Apache National Forest.”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19267” align=“alignnone” width=“300” caption=“We reach 8100 feet; it was cold!

Got going about 10am, got gas, rode to Springerville via highway 180 in New Mexico. Some high elevation on the way, up to 7000 feet, so we saw lots of pine trees. Just before Springerville we hit incredibly strong winds. Parked at Los Dos Molinos in Springerville, I was worried the bike would fall over. It was even worse trying to get gas after lunch. From Springerville, we rode on to Quemado, NM, then cut over on NM32 to Apache Creek, through Reserve, NM, and then rejoined 180 and went back to Safford the way we had come from there.

Headed out towards globe. There was a small airport on the reservation just past globe, with some interesting old airplanes. After that brief stop, on to Olney House in Safford. Brian arrived a few minutes before me. The proprietor graciously offered parking in the back yard.

Just rode to work and back.

I had a service appointment for the ninja at 9 so I only had time to ride up to the first overlook on highway 88. Went much faster this time. On the way back down, I was taking one of the “15 mph” right-handers, and scraped my right foot! This indicates to me that I’m getting the bike leaned over. I dropped it off at the dealer with 6461 miles on the odometer.

Rode up to tortilla flats and back on highway 88, need practice on the curves. This was a great practice ride, starting to get the idea. After tortilla flats, I rode back down and then straight on to work. Got in three other shorter rides today, rode about 200 miles total today!

Took a long ride in preparation for a road trip next weekend. Rode about 55miles, all highway riding.

Paid off. Time to sell it! Today the Odometer is showing 6170 miles. I won’t be riding it for about a week. usually I put about 120–180 miles a week on it.

I put the liners in, and it made a huge difference. I still need to get new gloves, my hands pretty much started going numb, and I have a bit of air coming in around my neck, but it’s so much better than before. Some statistics: The bike has 3115 miles now. I’ve gotten an average of 53.3 mpg (it’s so low because my typical highway cruising speed is an indicated 80-85 mph).

I’ve been thinking I need to get more practice on curvy roads. Also, I need to do some longer rides, since my typical rides are all between 30 and 40 miles long. Today when I left for work, I decided to head down highway 88 toward Canyon Lake first, to work on both those goals. It seemed colder out today. I had fun riding up through the curves, got to a nice pull-out.

Went on a little ride with Brian and Kristy. The trip was 327 miles for me, since I had to ride out to Brian and Kristy’s house and back also. I have 1870 miles on the bike now. During the main part of the trip, I averaged 64.4 mpg! This is by far the longest I’ve ridden in one day. By the end, I needed to stop every 30 or 40 miles to rest.

Rode to work today, then on to pool. I’m going to stop adding “routine” rides on here, or it’s going to get really boring. tonight, it started raining when I was at pool league. it rained for several hours! finally around midnight it seemed to be slowing down, so I finally headed home. once I got out of tempe and more into mesa, the rain was gone, and as I went further east the highway was dry!

went to the post office, and then to the grocery store to get some water.

first service done at 1063 miles! oil change, valve timing, adjust & lube chain

fed the cats on the way to work and went to the bank. The trip in was 32.1 miles, bike is at 1033 miles now. trip home (including a gas stop) was 29.2 miles. bike is at 1062 miles now. This fill-up was 3.091 gallons, $11.80, and 55.969 average mpg. I got gas early since I probably won’t ride again until friday. The low fuel light came on just as I exited the highway at the gas station.

I got up WAY late today, so I was able to take 60, 101, 202 to work today since rush hour was over. the trip in was 28.1 miles, and the main odometer shows 967 miles now. After work I went and fed the cats, then took thomas to 101 and then got on 202. I was getting on the highway around 6:30, but I decided not to risk getting stuck on 101.

I rode to Fry’s to get some groceries (2.2 miles round trip). That was fun because I parked on the sidewalk, out of the way. Then later I realized I needed another part for the pool pump—I found yet another worn out gasket, and had to run to the pool store before they closed. The pool store run was 17.1 miles. Around sunset time I decided to ride up 88 highway again.

Rode to the pool store, to feed the cats, then on to downtown phoenix. got the low fuel light on the way back, so I got gas in AJ on the way home. I rode home a little slower with the low fuel light in my eye, even though I knew I had enough gas to get there. 48.7 miles there, 38.1 miles home. Bike is up to 888 miles now.

took 60 to work again, I was at the 101 interchange right at 9:00, so 101 traffic was fine, just a little bit slow. up to 768 miles, and the trip in was 28.0 miles after work I fed the cats, then took McDowell to Alma School, then got on 202 from there. interesting driving through the fringe of the reservation. up to 802 miles now, and the trip home was 33.

Rode in a bit later today, so I took 60 and 101. 28.0 miles, bike is up to 707 miles now. I thought sure I was going to get rained on tonight! There was a huge thunderstorm over the Superstition Mountains. Lots of lightening bolts. But I made it home dry, and it started raining about 30 minutes after I got home. I stopped off at the bank. The trip home was 32.

The helmet was dried out this morning. Rode in to work, and stopped off at Berge Mazda to buy some RX-8 parts. it was 17.3 miles to Berge Mazda. From there I went to work with a brief stop to feed some cats. 14.2 miles. the bike is up to 646 miles now. The ride home was 32.9 miles (took 202). traffic was great. I got gas on the way home, mileage was around 51mpg.

Rode in to work, on the new 202. 31.3 miles. traffic was good, right up until a mile before my exit, where it turned into full-blown stop and go. I have difficulty transitioning from high-speed control to low speed control; it’s kind of a shock to slow way down and then try to maneuver at low speeds. the bike is up to 580 miles now. I’m feeling really good on the bike in general; I think I’ve gotten some toning in whatever new muscles I’m using to ride the bike, plus I’m more and more relaxed on it.

rode to downtown phoenix, then to work. low fuel light came on, on the way to Phoenix, got gas around the corner from work. I had to drive around a while trying to find a gas station, ended up at a Valero. It was 37.5 miles to Phoenix, then it was 16.3 miles to the gas station and to the office. the bike is up to 509 miles now. this tank of gas was 54.

got some straps and a backpack so I have some makeshift luggage. the cortech luggage I really want is on backorder, but I needed something for now, so I followed a suggestion I found online.

Installed the mirror extenders tonight. At first I was having trouble, but then I realized the trick was to first attach the extender to the bike, then attach the mirror to the extender. I tried it the other way around first, but that didn’t work out. [caption id=“attachment_19185” align=“alignnone” width=“300” caption=“Stock mirror”][/caption] [caption id=“attachment_19186” align=“alignnone” width=“300” caption=“Mirror Extender”][/caption]

Drove the bike to work and back again today. I’ve been riding it so much I’ve actually gotten some sore muscles. I found myself on the way home today making a conscious effort to relax more. I typically have my arms relaxed, but my shoulders and neck tend to tense up. The trip in was 28.1 miles, and the trip home was 27.9 miles. the bike is up to a total of 455 miles now.

rode in to work again. went after rush hour, so traffic was good. 28.0 miles, 295 miles total The street cleaners were out and cleaning the parking lot at work today; I had to drive through the wet parking lot. the black parts of the bike were full of spots On the way home I decided to go ahead and get gas. I pulled into the gas station, and held too much speed; when I turned left to pull in front of a pump, I had to turn the front wheel too far and when I stopped it fell right over on its side.

lots of rain today, took a picture in the garage.

the ninja has landed at work. It wasn’t bad riding in. I just took it carefully. the HOV lane was nice. traffic was slow and thick on 101 which was annoying. The ride in was 28.0 miles, and the bike is up to 239 miles now. Ride home was hot, but not as bad as I expected. 27.9 miles, total of 267 miles. this was a good day to ride to work; it was only around 100 degrees when I left work to go home.

I did some night riding today! put on my clear face shield, and was rolling out of the garage at 8:02 pm. [caption id=“attachment_19137” align=“alignnone” width=“300” caption=“The sky just before I started”][/caption] first I rode up Ironwood to McKellips, then decided to do some highway driving, to go get a smoothie. After the break, I continued west to greenfield. Just as I was exiting onto Greenfield, my low fuel light flashed; it’s too bright at night.

Now it’s happily back in the much-roomier garage. the rest of the stuff in the garage will be going soon.

Today I mainly focused on practicing slow speed, parking lot-type maneuvers. That went pretty well. I only ended up going 9.8 miles. bike is up to 175 miles now. Then later I stashed the bike in my house since a crew was coming to empty out the garage.

Today I rode around a neighborhood, practicing turning from a stop sign and things like that. just trying to get more traffic/road experience. Then at the end I jumped on US60 and cruised with the traffic for about 5 miles. Rode 16.7 miles today, and the bike is up to 165 miles now.

I was out on the bike by 5:45 am. I rode up to the overlook over canyon lake this morning. on the way up, I was taking those turns at about 25–30 and that of course was utterly easy, even at my 2 degree lean angles. On the way back down I increased a bit to 30–35mph, and one time I even leaned it over too far. I was taking a right hand turn and I think I was making the turn about half the radius it should have been, so that was fun.

rode 19.3 miles today (bike is at 121). down 88 to needle vista and back again.

Short ride today, only 18.6 miles (bike is up to 101). I rode down 88 all the way to needle vista, got up to 70mph. Then rode back and went down broadway to the vet’s office on apache trail and back. Installed the license plate today too, and put the official registration under the seat.

got back on highway 88 and was relaxed this time. got up to 60mph. rode as far as Lost Dutchman state park, took some pictures, and then rode back and rode around in AJ a bit. 23 miles today! the odometer has 83 miles on it now. too bad the camera decided to focus on the parking lot instead of on me

oops. got gas at 43 miles, set my helmet on the bike seat while fueling. so of course I managed to knock the helmet off, onto the ground. as soon as it fell off, I remembered reading that if you set the helmet on the ground while refueling you can’t knock it off. I finished fueling (it took 1.755 gallons) and got back on the road. Today I rode up 88 highway as far as hackamore road.

up to 41.9; got in 7 miles in only about 20 minutes. went out onto Southern, Apache trail, and got to lean the bike for real on phelps (in front of fry’s)

the odometer is up to 34.9 miles now. This morning I went for a 8.4 mile ride. I started venturing out onto other side streets, onto san marcos a lot more, and even onto 16th avenue. got into 5th gear and hit 45 mph!!

19.4 miles now, got to go riding again this morning (5.8 miles). getting hot out also, received the license plate in the mail brian came over and took it for a 7.1 mile ride

finally got back on the bike. I was a bit nervous at first because it had been so long. but by the end of this session I had gained some confidence in turning and stopping. rode for about 20 minutes (5 miles). now up to 13.6 miles

Got to ride for 2.3 miles, then the crews descended to re-pave the street. total of 8.6 miles now.

Well I haven’t gotten to ride the bike any more, it’s been raining. Since the tires aren’t even broken in no way am I going to ride on wet streets. I sat in the garage tonight playing with the controls and took the seat off to stash the necessary paperwork.

this morning I was able to get in about 6 miles of practice, riding around the neighborhood. I was practicing keeping my head up, looking where I wanted to go, and proper turns (slow down, look, lean, roll on throttle through the turn). I expect to get in some more miles tonight.

Yesterday I went by the Kawasaki dealership to try to learn how long the wait would be on the Ninja 250R and how much it would cost. They wrote that all up for me, and said it would be 3 weeks or so. The offer from the dealer was MSRP, plus the typical boatload of fees. I wished I could sit on one. The dealer said the 650 was similar, since the 250 was based on the 650 [which actually isn’t true, but they are at least of similar size], so I sat on that.