NoNoRicky
5th June 2003, 02:46 AM
I hail from Houston Texas and have been riding since 1985. Including the SV I have had 16 street bikes and a few dirt bikes. I campaigned a 91 FZR 600 at the club level back in 91-92 and drag raced (don't we all every once in awhile). All I can say is nothing prepared me for this encounter. Here is my story.
There I was 400 miles from home, standing in a motorcycle dealership eyeing (what was soon to be) my silver SV1000 s. The dealership was recommended word of mouth by a good friend mine. Good folks all around, it made me feel kinda bad knowing I limped my 2000 VFR800 Interceptor there for the last 100 miles with an ailing FI or ignition problem. That was really the deciding factor, I phoned home to clear it with the CFO. "Honey! I'll never make it home! And besides this SV looks really sad sitting in the window all by itself. I should give it a home! Besides, I may NOT make it home if I don't" I really emphasized that NOT part. Slight pause on the other end, she bought it! So I traded in my loyal steed of the past 3 yrs, little tear in the corner of my eye and patiently awaited delivery. I didn't know the tech checking everything out but I knew he wasn't one of those guys on the pit crews at Indy or Nascar. I never knew 2 hours was soooooo freakin long. I finally took delievery and headed out with 3 of my buddies. We were on a mission from God. It was Friday at 2pm and we had 600 miles to cover to complete break-in so I could get service on Saturday before 2pm.
These guys are hardcore bikers. In the mix was a 'Busa, 03 gixxer 1k and a ZZR 1200. I knew being limited to break-in RPM I would be rock catcher, pulling up the rear. It didn't matter. We were about to tackle some of the best roads Texas Hill COuntry has to offer. We were on our way to motorcycle heaven (not to be confused with motorcycle Nirvanna), Ranch Roads 335, 336, 337 just to name a few. I was pleasantly suprised to find the SV handled tons better than the veefer. Corners that would have me throwing weird body english all over the Big Banana (2000 VFR's are yellow) didn't even have me out of the seat on the SV. Power delivery was about the same, but I never broke pace in the twisties. I was go for throttle up. (Houston we have lift off).
It wasn't long before my boys pulled away from me (damn them and their horse power) but I knew the way and if I didn't it didn't matter. I figured I had 400 miles to go before bedtime so what the hey. They would make a turn and wait for me to catch up, then throw rocks at me as they pulled away in the straights. Me droning along at 90mph. Bummer. (No cops around. Just us and the cows.) We finally reached 336. Twisties! They were mine. I was a bit disappointed I had to work the gears on a liter bike in the twisties. No worries though. The SV ran like "buttah". We weren't running full out, just a nice clip. All was right with the world. A fleet horse, friends and good roads. I smelled some "fish stories" cooking.
Eventually tight twisties gave way to sweepers with some straights in between. I was catchng rocks again. It didn't matter I was having FUN! We blazed up on an intersection and decided the road looked interesting, so we turned. It was Ranch Road 3235. Anyone that has ridden Hill Country knows that 335,336, 337 and all the roads in the area are "Free Range Roads". That means you share the road with longhorns, sheep and whatever exotic herd of the month the ranchers have on hand. We stuck to the speed limit. Big FAT fluffy sheep everywhere. I was expecting Wile E. Coyote to pop up from behind a rock at any moment and nab one of these plump morsels. The road turned out to NOT be as interseting as we thought. Sheep every where, no decent twisties and even more sheep. Little did we know it was about offer up lots of suprises.
As it turns out, some maps of the area don't even show the road. Some show the road being long and very crooked, but here's what we found. (Houston we have a problem)
Ranch Road 3235 is approximately 6 miles long. Speed limit is 55mph. No decent corners until you get to the end of the road where you round a left hander and go over a hill. At 4pm in the afternoon the sun is in your eyes and 3 out of 4 motorcyclists don't see the sign that reads "PAVEMENT ENDS". You also can't tell where the white-ish pavement ends and the white gravel begins. To top it off, the driveway that the road dead ends in to continues to turn....but to the right. And at the end there is a 10 foot high game fence with a cattle guard and gate. Lucky for us the gate was open. Anywho we rounded the corner at 55mph didnt see the pavemet ends sign and ran headlong into the gravel. SV, ZZR and 'Busa all went down in maelstrom of white dust, flying rock and curse words. 03 gixxer 1k was pulling up the rear and managed to stay up. There I was 400 miles from home. My new SV had 102miles on the ticker with alomst $4800 USD in damage. We all lived and were no worse for the wear. Just bruises on our asses and on our pride. There was evidence that a few poor souls werent as lucky. Holes in the fence and bloodstains on the ground spoke volumes about this "killer road".
My fish story as it seems smells more like Sh- Sh- Sh CRAP!
Here I sit. Parts on order. SV in about 300 pieces, Suzuki telling me mid July on an engine case and no one really giving me commitment on aftermarket anything. I'll ride again, but don't know if I will feel the same about the SV. It's like knowing your woman slept with your best friend.
If anyone has leads or links for any part on the right side.....help a brother out and post them.
Thanks for listening and stay the F%$@ off of Ranch Road 3235.
There I was 400 miles from home, standing in a motorcycle dealership eyeing (what was soon to be) my silver SV1000 s. The dealership was recommended word of mouth by a good friend mine. Good folks all around, it made me feel kinda bad knowing I limped my 2000 VFR800 Interceptor there for the last 100 miles with an ailing FI or ignition problem. That was really the deciding factor, I phoned home to clear it with the CFO. "Honey! I'll never make it home! And besides this SV looks really sad sitting in the window all by itself. I should give it a home! Besides, I may NOT make it home if I don't" I really emphasized that NOT part. Slight pause on the other end, she bought it! So I traded in my loyal steed of the past 3 yrs, little tear in the corner of my eye and patiently awaited delivery. I didn't know the tech checking everything out but I knew he wasn't one of those guys on the pit crews at Indy or Nascar. I never knew 2 hours was soooooo freakin long. I finally took delievery and headed out with 3 of my buddies. We were on a mission from God. It was Friday at 2pm and we had 600 miles to cover to complete break-in so I could get service on Saturday before 2pm.
These guys are hardcore bikers. In the mix was a 'Busa, 03 gixxer 1k and a ZZR 1200. I knew being limited to break-in RPM I would be rock catcher, pulling up the rear. It didn't matter. We were about to tackle some of the best roads Texas Hill COuntry has to offer. We were on our way to motorcycle heaven (not to be confused with motorcycle Nirvanna), Ranch Roads 335, 336, 337 just to name a few. I was pleasantly suprised to find the SV handled tons better than the veefer. Corners that would have me throwing weird body english all over the Big Banana (2000 VFR's are yellow) didn't even have me out of the seat on the SV. Power delivery was about the same, but I never broke pace in the twisties. I was go for throttle up. (Houston we have lift off).
It wasn't long before my boys pulled away from me (damn them and their horse power) but I knew the way and if I didn't it didn't matter. I figured I had 400 miles to go before bedtime so what the hey. They would make a turn and wait for me to catch up, then throw rocks at me as they pulled away in the straights. Me droning along at 90mph. Bummer. (No cops around. Just us and the cows.) We finally reached 336. Twisties! They were mine. I was a bit disappointed I had to work the gears on a liter bike in the twisties. No worries though. The SV ran like "buttah". We weren't running full out, just a nice clip. All was right with the world. A fleet horse, friends and good roads. I smelled some "fish stories" cooking.
Eventually tight twisties gave way to sweepers with some straights in between. I was catchng rocks again. It didn't matter I was having FUN! We blazed up on an intersection and decided the road looked interesting, so we turned. It was Ranch Road 3235. Anyone that has ridden Hill Country knows that 335,336, 337 and all the roads in the area are "Free Range Roads". That means you share the road with longhorns, sheep and whatever exotic herd of the month the ranchers have on hand. We stuck to the speed limit. Big FAT fluffy sheep everywhere. I was expecting Wile E. Coyote to pop up from behind a rock at any moment and nab one of these plump morsels. The road turned out to NOT be as interseting as we thought. Sheep every where, no decent twisties and even more sheep. Little did we know it was about offer up lots of suprises.
As it turns out, some maps of the area don't even show the road. Some show the road being long and very crooked, but here's what we found. (Houston we have a problem)
Ranch Road 3235 is approximately 6 miles long. Speed limit is 55mph. No decent corners until you get to the end of the road where you round a left hander and go over a hill. At 4pm in the afternoon the sun is in your eyes and 3 out of 4 motorcyclists don't see the sign that reads "PAVEMENT ENDS". You also can't tell where the white-ish pavement ends and the white gravel begins. To top it off, the driveway that the road dead ends in to continues to turn....but to the right. And at the end there is a 10 foot high game fence with a cattle guard and gate. Lucky for us the gate was open. Anywho we rounded the corner at 55mph didnt see the pavemet ends sign and ran headlong into the gravel. SV, ZZR and 'Busa all went down in maelstrom of white dust, flying rock and curse words. 03 gixxer 1k was pulling up the rear and managed to stay up. There I was 400 miles from home. My new SV had 102miles on the ticker with alomst $4800 USD in damage. We all lived and were no worse for the wear. Just bruises on our asses and on our pride. There was evidence that a few poor souls werent as lucky. Holes in the fence and bloodstains on the ground spoke volumes about this "killer road".
My fish story as it seems smells more like Sh- Sh- Sh CRAP!
Here I sit. Parts on order. SV in about 300 pieces, Suzuki telling me mid July on an engine case and no one really giving me commitment on aftermarket anything. I'll ride again, but don't know if I will feel the same about the SV. It's like knowing your woman slept with your best friend.
If anyone has leads or links for any part on the right side.....help a brother out and post them.
Thanks for listening and stay the F%$@ off of Ranch Road 3235.