FZ6 group ride, Daytona 675, top speed, and good samaritans...

[jeepcoma]

Well I had quite the ride today. Myself and two friends here at college meet up at 6 for a little group ride, me on my FZ6, and the others on a Ninja 250 and a '93 CBR600. Heading through town on the way to some twisties, a red Daytona 675 passes us. Sweet! Pull up next to him at a red light and say nice bike etc, the next light I yell "we're heading to some twisties, want to come?" "sure" is the reply, so he falls in behind me and the four of us head out.

We get to some twisty roads and the two of us hit them pretty hard and fast, leaving the Ninja and CBR a ways back. This rider on the 675 knows how to ride! We wait for the others to catch up, as we're now at a main road, and head out again for a few miles until the next great road I know.

Upon reaching said road, myself and the Daytona again take off and dust the other two. Not that we were trying to leave them behind, but we were enjoying riding hard in a safe area, and I wanted to see what the 675 could do. This is the road where there's the long flat stretch where you can see to the horizon, so we're on it there. Once we're over 100 something he passes me, but we keep it pinned and last I saw my speedo said 150, and he wasn't pulling away from me. He liked my bike, thought it was an FZ1, and was mightily impressed when I said "nope, it's the FZ6" His track timer thing said 155 mph when we checked later on.

Upon nearing the end of the stretch, we slow down and pull off the side to wait for the other guys, and chat for a while. He's got 700 miles on it, loves it, etc. It's looks awesome in person and on the road. A while later the other two guys show up, pull off, and shut off their bikes. We talk for a minute about where we're going, etc, and hop back on.

All of us fire up, and start heading out, but the CBR pulls off to the side again. His bike won't go. We turn around, head back, and see what's up. Light are on, but won't crank, can hear the starter click. Lights going on and off seeminly at random. The smell of sulfer points to a bad battery. We're on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere 30 minutes from sundown, taking his bike apart to find the problem. We take the battery from the Ninja and hook it up, sure enough, the bike fires up.

The Ninja and CBR rider stay with the bikes, and me and the Daytona take off together looking for a store that's open that sells batteries for motorcycles at night in the middle of nowhere. The stars must have been lined up just right for the kid with the CBR though, because he had $50 in his pocket he got for Easter, we met up with the guy in the Daytona who came with us and was wearing a backpack, we figure out it was the battery that was wrong, and we found an autozone within 30 minutes. Autozone didn't have the right battery in stock (guy said he just sold it today), but there was a kmart right down the street that had it. Price with core exchange (we brought the battery with us) was, you guessed it, 50 bucks.

We head back, pop the battery in, fill the acid, and the bike doesn't start. It came mostly uncharged, but the lights were on, so we gave him a good push and that was that. He kept the revs up the whole time and we headed back home. The Daytona took off for home, and all of us made it back without incident.

In conclusion:

Groups rides can be a good thing
The Daytona 675 is nasty
The FZ6 can reach an indicated 150 mph at least
Some bikers are really nice people (we had a car stop and ask if we needed help too, but this was after we knew the problem, so we said thanks, we got it)

[toyotapower]

sweet, is the fz6 your first bike? what are your impressions of it?

[jeepcoma]

2nd bike, first was my XJ.

Impressions? I love it, everything about it. Comfortable, more than enough power, handles great, economical, great weather protection; I don't have a car, and I use my bike for everything, rain or shine or snow, hot or cold. With the FZ6 I can do 5+ hour rides without thinking twice, commute around town, and hit the twisties, with a passenger, all in the same day. My upcoming mods will only improve on an already great bike. I think the only thing I would consider upgrading to is an FJR.

[wip]

well, sounds like u had a blast. i just got mine, i won't know what it is like until about a month from now. i bought it from a salvage yard (totaled by insurance) but it only has cosmetic damage. 04, 1700miles, silver/dkblue met., got an xcellent deal on it. right now it is my latest fixer-upper project. bout a year and a half ago, i did the same with my road star warrior. i'm doing a complete engine overhaul on it right now from the crank/rods all the way up. i'm actually a member of the rswarrior.com. same handle as my handle on here. if u go to that website, do a member search for my handle, then check my gallery out. i have my own webpage-link within the gallery. those pics are from this past july, bike will have a slightly different look, feel, and sound when i'm done overhauling it. lot of goodies on it.
now for my fz600, i'm basically keeping it stock. it is my all-purpose/all-around bike that i can really push and not worry much, as for the warrior, well, needless to say, that is my baby.
all i hear bout the fz6 & fz1 are very good things so i can't wait to get it going. first thing i'm gonna do is take it to the twisties around where i live!!!!!!
i have 2 riding buddies with fjr1300's and they r xtremely nice bikes. i also have a work buddy that is looking to buy his friends daytona, not sure if he can, but he has showed me pics of it and i have to say that it is one xtremely nice bike within itself.
good 2 c u and ur buddies made it out ok. yeah, sometimes it is a good thing when ur on a group ride, sometimes....he,he.
in time, i will post some pics of before, during, and after for my fz6.
later.

[MrVvrroomm]

Originally Posted by jeepcoma

Once we're over 100 something he passes me, but we keep it pinned and last I saw my speedo said 150, and he wasn't pulling away from me. He liked my bike, thought it was an FZ1, and was mightily impressed when I said "nope, it's the FZ6" His track timer thing said 155 mph when we checked later on.

Sounds like you guys had a fun ride, that's what it's all about. I'm not discounting the FZ6 at all (there's one in my garage), but don't think for one minute that your FZ6 will run top end with the 675. He's got a good +20 mph on you. Equal riders on both bikes, the Daytona will leave the Fizzy6 for dead, anywhere, any time.

I toy with my buddy's FZ1 when I'm on my wife's 636. It's all about aerodynamics. The FZ1 & 6 have about the same drag coefficient as a brick.

[PWGUNNY]

Great story. I love reading stories like yours. I am surprised that your FZ got up to 150. I still haven't pinned mine, but I'm figuring I don't have much more than the 130mph I've hit so far. I should have an opportunity for top end soon, when I head out East where there's less cars and straighter roads.
I love those Daytonas too.

[jeepcoma]

Yeah I didn't think it could actually go that fast either according to what I've read; I assumed it was just the speedo being optimistic, but when his speedo said 155, well, I dunno... I guess they could both be off the same amount. I need to find one of those radar stations along the side of the road and see what it says. Or maybe ask a cop with a certified speedometer if I can follow him when he's going exactly 65 mph or something...

[MrVvrroomm]

Originally Posted by jeepcoma

I need to find one of those radar stations along the side of the road and see what it says. Or maybe ask a cop with a certified speedometer if I can follow him when he's going exactly 65 mph or something...

...or a gps. It will tell you exactly what your land speed is.

[Go!!!]

that sounds like an almost perfect ride (save the dead battery) and i can vouch for the comfort of the fizza as i ride my 02 fz1 all the time i bought it this year and in three months i put 7k on it. as for the top speed all i can tell you is i can see 160 on the pike and i run out of room but it doesnt seem like it will go much faster but i could be wrong. but if any group rides are going on in the mass area i would be happy to hear about it

just cause your alive...don't mean your livin

[gtfazer6]

Originally Posted by PWGUNNY

when I head out East where there's less cars and straighter roads.

From Long Island how much farther east can you go?


I'd assume you meant west.

[OFFICER737]

Sounds like a great ride cept the battery issue. Did you get the 675's number to ride with again?

If you were closer I would radar your bike for you, only issue is that that the factory offset gets higher as the mph go up. The speedo has an offset from the factory and the fater you go, the further the offset gets.

[Magseal]

the offset is true, i use my GPS and at 100KM/H there is a 4KM/H error, at 220KM/H there is a 15km/H error.
At least with my non bike riding buddies, they get impressed when I tell them I have gone 240km/H on the bike....what they don't know won't hurt them.

[jeepcoma]

Wow, looks like someone used the search feature!

Where in MA are you Go!? I do have the guy's number, but since I have finished college and moved back to RI, I haven't done any riding with him. I'll be back in that area in a few weeks, I'll probably give him a call and see if he's around. Although I might take the Dnepr, which would eliminate any sort of aggressive or high speed riding

Having a major in the sciences, the fact that the speedometer is inaccurate REALLY PISSES ME OFF. If it's just inaccurate, that's one thing. But when it's PURPOSELY designed to read incorrectly... who do they think they are, deciding that I don't need to know what my actual speed is? Imagine if someone made a torque wrench that read high, when it says 100 ft-lb it's actually 90 because the company feels that that's tight enough, and torquing anything to 100 is more dangerous. Ugh... inaccurate speedos, you hit a nerve there.