I am ever impressed at my FZ's ability to make you forget you are on a liter bike once moving. My Sporty is an angel on your shoulder letting you know that you can cruise easily all day long, happy at 50 or 80 as you sit back and enjoy the ride.The FZ on the other hand is the devil on the other shoulder. It whispers at you to twist the throttle a little more. "C'mon you know you want to," it sings to you. Multiple times I found myself eating miles at 45seconds (maybe 30 once?) each and had to back down a bit to run with traffic.
I have made this trip on 5 different bikes, so I am pretty familiar with the ride. I had not packed much, but was certain I had what I would need. Boy was I wrong. Sitting in a ziploc bag back home was some tools and the chain lube. Not a huge deal as I could pick up what I needed pretty cheaply, but still funny.
Early Tuesday morning I started out flying down the back roads on my way towards I40. Once on the slab, I settled in for a long cruise. The FZ is definitely a nice machine to sit on for a good bit, but it is not the Harley. The Corbin seat is a little firm for me, but definitely better than standard sport bike issue. I imagine it is my sitting too far forward due to the bars. The bars are a little forward for my short self, but a set of risers will soon bring then up and back 1x1.25" as suggested elsewhere.
That is where the bad ends. This bike loves to run. As I said in the opening, it is ever tempting you even on the slab. With the power to put traffic packs in your rear view and the handling to avoid those texting idiots I seem to attract.
Mile after mile I went until I finally saw the little light saying time to get some gas and stretch my legs a little. I had traveled 210 miles when I stopped and gotten 48mpg at 80mph! Oh this was good. I would have made it back in awesome time had I not decided to take some time off the slab around US52.
I had never been on this road, but it crosses my usual slab route multiple times (I74 and I77), so I took it and never regretted it. Nice scenery, good curves. If you aren't in a hurry along those routes, I highly recommend the detour. I wish I had taken pics for you all, but I was busy enjoying it.
I cut back on to 77 right around the WV/VA line. By then it was raining in spurts. Then it was slab all the way up to OH. The curves through the WV Turnpike are oh so tempting on a bike like the FZ. I enjoyed them a bit more than I should have, but the rain had petered out and the roads were drying already. Usually, I would cut across the Midlands Trail as well, but I was looking to be running later than I wanted. Soon I was back on schedule.
So I cut off again as it cooled down into the 40's and kept my temp up on the OH curves and hills. The bike wanted to run, but I was taking it easy for fear of deer. Funny that I saw only one on the way up. I finally got in to my in-laws at around 2200 a full 14 hours after starting out.
I will add the trip back soon. It was by far more... Interesting. A few pics for you all:
Gas stop. I averaged about 49mpg for the whole trip and I wasn't trying to save gas either.
I thought I could coax a pony over, but I guess not.
Some time away from the slab!