New part came in for the Rex rebuild.  Comp baffle for the Kerker Meg exhaust.  This should make quite the noise compared to the stock baffle.  Comparison will come once I somehow find the time to actually rebuild the bike.

So I recently had my first crash on two wheels.  It happened to occur on my super awesome 2000 ZRX1100.

I had a friend come in from out of town who had been wanting to go on a ride along.  I decided to oblige and in trying to prep the best I could, I dug out an old vintage leather jacket to cover up her tank top, a helmet and some gloves that while didn’t fit, were better than none at all.  The only leather leggings I had would have looked like circus tents on her legs let alone finding a way to secure them to her waist.  So we went out without leg protection for her.

We started out and she enjoyed herself thoroughly the first 2 legs of the trip.  However when we were about 1/3 the way through the last leg something went wrong.  I can not tell you what, exactly, happened but we leaned into a right turn curve and we both heard something scrape.  The next thing I knew, I was face down in the grass of some ladies yard.  I got up, checked on my passenger and saw to her needs.  Next I found the bike and stood it up and put it on the kickstand.  Still not sure how I picked it up from the wrong side with just my arms.

Once I had the bike steady and was sure my guest was ok, we started to shed equipment.  Helmets off, no abrasions.  Pulled off my jacket, gloves and pants…no breaks in other clothing but I had a nasty tear in one elbow that was leaking blood like a sieve.  I put that aside and went to my friend.  Removed her helmet at her request.  Could not remove the jacket due to the zipper malfunction coming off tract.

She was lucid but I could tell going into shock.  I pulled out my phone and called 911.  I apparently got connected to some county dispatch that once they heard motorcycle sent me off somewhere else.  I finally got through to someone who mattered a couple minutes later and they took my info and off they went.  I barely got a call off to my mom simply saying me and my friend were in a moto accident before I had to hang up due to ems stuff.

The EMS appearance was phenomenal.  2 Firetrucks, 3 Fire EMS units, 6+ truck/suv fire units several police units and from what I hear a chopper on stand by.

Apparently all the 911 operator heard was motorcycle and they prepared for the worst.  I applaud the EMS of Puckett.

So now into the meat of why a lot of you came to look at this log.  The pictures.

Here is the bars bent down and the front fairing after the crash.

Some scratches on a rear grab bar.

Damage to the exhaust system.

Tank Damage

Tail section damage

Engine Guards.  Thank the makers I had Zeus Armor engine cages on my rex or else this would be a whole different rebuild.

Thankfully I had cheap aftermarket side mirrors which took the brunt of the slide leaving my original bar ends intact.

The leather I had might have been cheap and off brand.  But I will say that it saved me so much worry from non existent injuries that could have been terrible if I had no covering at all.  I would willing take a few more stitches for Leatherup.com and their wares if more people would simply wear coverings.

So here are my coverings and how they fared.

My right side and arm took the brunt of the damage of the impact.  I would like to think that I tried to put myself between harms way and her.

Lastly is my helmet.  Think about this when you ride.

Just stop and think about what you are doing before doing it is all we ask.

The last part for the latest project came in today so I took a little time to wrench on the rex tonight.  I swapped out the stock ignition box for one from a ZX11 along with the timing rotor for a ZX11 advanced 4*.  The bolt holes and wire orientation on the new CDI are different from stock and I wasn’t able to figure out how to get it secured and still have the toolbox go back in.  I didn’t mess around with it too long and just put it in the toolbox’s location for now until I have more time to play with it.  Now it’s time to go out and give it a test run.

Took a few minutes this evening to do one of the many projects I have laying around.  I picked up some stick coils about a year or so ago meaning to install them on the bike and clean up some of of the space under the tank.

Here are the stick coils and a PnP harness (thanks to NakedFun from the OA) next to the clunky stockers with the plug boots.

It is a pretty straight forward install, just match the colored wires to the ones in the harness.  The hardest part about the whole install was getting the old ones out.  Here we have a before and after of the space that it frees up for working on things.  And yes, I know the bike is filthy.

Next up is to find a ZX11 CDI and get that installed along with the ZX11 cams and CVK40 carbs.

So a few weeks ago I go to start up the bike at night and I am greeted with this.

Needless to say, I think it is time to replace some gauge cluster lights.  Instead of just replacing the burned out bulbs with another incandescent, I decided it was time to make the swap over to LEDs.  One of the great guys over on the ZRXOA board sells kits of LEDs in a variety of colors, so I got with him and ordered a set for the meanie greenie.

The replacements are all green with the exception of the high beam indicator which was blue (blue lens) and the Water Temp/Oil Pressure warning lights which are white (red lens).  I had some trouble with a few of the LEDs not wanting to light and thought that they were just duds.  But while playing around with swapping them in and out to make sure it wasn’t the socket, they began to light up when I twisted them a certain way to make the wires contact.  So after playing with the leads a bit they all lit up nicely.  Here is the results.  That neutral light sure is bright.

The kit also included a couple of white tower LEDs to replace the tail light bulbs.  Unfortunately one of the towers had an LED broken off.

Before contacting the seller to complain, I thought I would give it a try anyway.  Plugged them in and it lot up just fine.  I’m not really sure of the light output lost because of that one LED, but it can’t be enough to really make a difference.  My only concern is that they are not nearly as bright as the incandescent bulbs were and this shouldn’t pose much of a problem at night but I am not sure if they will be bright enough to notice well in the daylight while braking.

Over all, I am pleased with the upgrade.  Now if only I could find the time to rebuild the CVK40 rack and install the ZX11 cams.

I went out for a ride tonight to relax some and get time on the bike which I haven’t really been able to do for a few weeks or so now.  After only about 20 or so minutes of riding the front end went all soft and handling crapped the bed.  I quickly pull it over to discover the front tire flat.  That was just a completely awesome ending to the stress of the last few weeks.  Sitting on the side of the interstate I inspected the tire the best I could in the dark and couldn’t find anything stuck in it so I was at a loss as to why I lost air.  Put in a call to insurance and apparently I neglected to have roadside assistance on the bike’s policy so it was an $80 ride home after sitting on the side of the road for a couple hours.

It then gets better.  The wrecker’s deck was coated in oil from a previous accident tow he did so when we went to back the bike down, I lost my footing and the bike got dropped.  A quick look and it seems the only damage was a broken bar end mirror.  I’ll have to take a better look once it’s light out.  Though I did find the reason for the air loss once I got it in the garage and on the stand.

So it looks like I’ll be pulling the wheel to have a new valve stem installed next week.

While browsing CL the other day I came across someone selling a brand new, never used Cortech Super 2.0 8L tank bag for less than half of retail.  Quickly e-mailed them about it and we arranged to meet up.  Sure enough it was spanking new with tags and inserts all still there.  Paid for the bag and spent about an hour or so chatting with the seller about bikes and various riding stories.  I wasn’t actually looking for a tank bag at the time but some deals you just can’t pass up.

Some new swag came in today for the rex.  A set of Cortech Super 2.0 36L saddlebags.  These are going to expand the carrying space I have by a ton.  I already have the tailbag and while I love the space it gives I often find myself needing more and having to wear a backpack at times.  All that’s left now is the tank bag, but I doubt that I’m going to need it anytime soon.

Here they are mounted up with the tail bag.

I found some rain gloves today that I think will end up working out for me.  Shopping around on all the motorcycle sites for a solution I really couldn’t come up with much and what there was cost more than either my rain jacket or pants did.  Instead I headed over to Harbor Freight and snagged a pair of PVC gloves dipped in sand so they have some grip to them.  It is a pretty tight fit over my regular riding gloves but they do fit.  And only cost a few bucks.

I also had to already make use of the kickstand pad today.  Went out to dinner with the family and as we’re out on the patio area I happen to glance over at the rex and the stand was sinking into the asphalt of the parking lot.  I hurried out there and put the pad under to stabilize the bike as it had already gone about 3/4 of an inch into the asphalt.

The last of some new gear came in today and some that I’ve had for a while was finally put on the bike.

I’ve had these shock spools sitting around for a few months and never got around to putting them on but finally took a couple minutes and installed them.  The stock acorn nuts for the upper shock mount had lost their luster and the washers were rusting.  I replaced them with some spools that could also be used as a bungee/netting fasten point.  I had to re-use the stock washers because I didn’t have any around of the right size so I’ll have to go get some nice new stainless ones next time I hit the hardware store.

Next up was some rain gear that I’ve been putting off for way too long.  Until I got caught in two torrential downpours a couple days apart a couple weeks ago.  So I bit the bullet and picked up some Frogg Toggs Road Toad jacket & pants.  They roll up and compress nicely to toss into a small carry bag and stow under the seat.  I now just need to find a decent pair of over gloves that aren’t crazy expensive or lobster claw design.

I also grabbed a Kyptonite 5-S2 disc lock to put on the rotor for when I’m out & about and have to be away from the bike for any extended period of time.  Snagged a little stand pad at the same time for any occasion that I have to park where it’s soft and need more surface area for the kickstand to rest on.

And finally, some replacement overpants came in along with a new pair of boots.  My old overpants were quite literally falling off of me when I tried to put them on due to all the recent weight loss, these are nice and snug.  Next up to replace is the jacket that’s gotten loose for the same reason, just waiting for more stock to come in.  The new boots are the Xelement Executioners.  I like the styling and look of them over the jump boots I use for everyday wear, plus no laces to deal with.