Happy New Year Everyone. Hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend. We were supposed to fly down to Pensacola Thursday morning for the weekend. I fly for free on space available since my regular job is with the airlines. Anyway a flight cancelled Wednesday blowing my chances of getting a seat. Problem was that my brother had to move Saturday and I promised him that I would get his beater Camry fixed so it could get moved otherwise he would have been in a jam. My only choice was to road trip it. This was the 1st time I've driven any distance in the 92 since I've gotten it running. Thursday I drove from Peoria IL to Pensacola FL. We fixed the Camry Friday morning and I hung out with my folks the rest of the day. I drove from Pensacola to Albany GA (my hometown) Saturday morning. I let a couple of buddies drive my Maxima and they loved it. I don't think they expected the Maxima to do what it did. My buddy also let me ride his new ZX6R. I haven't ridden in a while but it was a blast; 15.5K redline. I brought in the new year with my cousins and crashed on there couch. I got up Sunday moring and drove from Albany to Peoria. Here's some highlights of my trip...
On the tanks where I wasn't nearing or breaking triple digits I got about 29 MPG, otherwise it was 25-26. It was better than what I expected since it sucks gas around town. It was very comfortable for a long trip but my foot did cramp since I found out the cruise doesn't work. I had no tunes either since it has Bose buzzitis. I didn't push speeding most of the time unless I got into a group or at least anotehr car. When I was going south on I65 in Alabama a late model BMW 7 series passed me going at a good clip. I caught up with him and we ran 90-105 all the way to Birmingham. He was a cool driver and wasn't one of these punks running up behind people playing Nascar in heavy traffic. He led for a while and then he backed off and let me pass and then I led for a while. When I took the lead he got beside me and was checking out the car, maybe he was seeing what was hanging with the kraut burner. At one point when the highway opened up I ran my car up to around 130 and then backed off. A little later he gave me a high speed pass. I was hoping we could both go from a kick but it never worked out. I think the Bavarian would get away on the top since that's their turf. He finally exited in Birmingham. It was a lot of fun hanging out with the Bimmer and helped break the monotony of the trip. There were some punks driving up on people etc. and I wanted to challenge them but they would exit or in one case I got stuck behind a Taurus with a handicap tag in the left lane. Examples were 2 different Cougars (compact) and about a 96 2 door Lumina Monte Carlo wannabe most likely with the junk 3.1L. I would have owned either. Near Montgomery, I ran a late model Impala from 85 and it was total domination. He came back for more twice and got the same discipline. On the leg on I-10 I got into a group running 95ish and made some good time. At one point I had a straight shot of clear flat highway and ran the car up to 140+. The car got there with ease and I think had more to go without too much strain. I didn't have enough room to hold it flat out. I was the only passenger but I had a lot of stuff in the car and a heavy tool box in the trunk. The trip back up was uneventful except for 465 around Indy. A 2000ish Mustang Gt with at least 2 guys in it got onto the highway right after I did. I figured I would give him a hard time. I got up on his right side and nodded for him to go. They talked for a minute before they took the challenge. When we took off he jumped me good and then soemone was in my lane so I had to back off for him to get up so I could get in his lane. He was long gone by then. His car fast fast as heck and I think it was far from stock. I'm not sure what to make of the strong smell his car left either, I'm wondering if there was some spraying going on. I intially was hoping the car was stockish and wanted to gauge how my car ran on top with a Mustang. I think this guy would own me and then some but I don't think I had a good shot at it. At some point I had passed the guy and he later ran up on my right. I waved at him and he shot me a bird and took off and made a beeline for an exit ramp. I wanted to try to run again but I missed my downshift. I ran up to 145ish again but he was on the exit by then didn't want to get off course. I wasn't trying to be a d'ik to the guy but judging from his middle finger he didn't take it that I was being friendly and was having fun. I'm sure he would spank me from a dig and probably on the top. We don't really know about the top because I had an obstacle on the first try and blew the second one. I will say that I am surprised how well my car does on the top. I am not one to talk smack so as the Mustang goes, the bottom line is he gave me 2 black eyes. I'm very pleased with the Maxima now that I was able to stretch its legs. Everyone that drove it were surprised how well it ran and loved the GReddy. My brother's 1st comment was that it would take down his T'bird SC. Sorry for such a long post. I am stuck waiting on a super delayed flight so I guess time got away from me.

 

cliff's?

or maybe some pararaphs

 

It's worth the read. Congrats on breaking your engine in also. I was considering getting a ZX6R. But I think that is a little too much for a beginner like myself.

 

I love a road trip story. These cars weren't made to go 1/4 mile at a time. They were made to fly on the highway.

 

I read the whole thing. Glad to hear that the new motor is working out for you. I was running with an Eclipse a while back like you did with that Bimmer. VE had no problem sustaining 130+ for extended periods of time. My old VG auto couldn't do that with a tailwind. Love the VE!

 

Thanks guys, sorry I got long winded. I don't think I would recommend the ZX6R for a beginner. It's the fastest 600 I've ridden and maybe faster than some larger engine bikes I've ridden. You have to be on top of your game on a crotch rocket anyway. It's been a while since I've ridden so I went easy until I got a feel for the bike. I would suggest finding an older used (and slower) 600 class bike. If you dump it, it may not be as much of a lost unless you break your neck. I had an 89 CBR600F (post Hurricane) It was very reliable and fast enough to get you in a lot of trouble, don't ask how I know. An old Katana or Ninja 600 would be a good beginnner too.

 

Not to burst your bubble, but road racing stories are not allowed on the forum. There were forum members that have died doing crazy stuff.

 

is this true? i've only been visiting here for a little over a year. who has died and how did the word spread here?

 

If forum members died doing crazy stuff I doubt it was from posting about a road trip. People die because they do not know their limits and respect them.

 

GraceImports is on with that, even a decent 600 can be a serious machine. While any 90+ 600 is good I'm a big fan of a Yamaha FZR 600, it has a good riding position and endless potential. Any year would cut it (first came out in 89 i think). No matter what you get, guage the person you're buying it from; a bike with 3,000 miles driven hard is never better than one with 12,000 driven soft.

 

My CBR was fairly comfortable. The riding position wasn't too agressive. We did a 4 hour trip once and my legs got pretty tired but I'm 6'2-3" I've ridden some GSXR 750s and they are the most uncomfortable bikes I've ridden. The newer 600s would smoke my old bike but it would still lay down high 7s and low 8s in the 1/8th with me milking hte launch. I want to get on a liter class whenever I can afford to buy another. I like the looks of the RF900 and it performs well and should be fairly comfy.

 

I've only heard good things about the RF; they can compete with the 1100's, look great and corner very well. If and when I scrape the cash together I'm looking at a Ducati M900, you can find them used at good prices, ride across the country without making a state by state trip to the chiropractor (sp?) and still strike fear into a 600. Getting back on topic, I'm on a road-trip/move back to CO starting in about five hours, should be fun.

 

Good luck on your trip and be safe. Post on the trip when you can.
If I remember what I read. The RF900 is just a downsized GSXR1100 w/ smaller ports etc. but I think it runs low-mid 10s in the 1/4 stock and is big enough for a guy my size.