Yamaha FZ-09 pillion seat=pain !!

[kmac]

Ask me how I know that the pillion seat on an FZ-09 is NOT meant for riding on....go ahead ask me

I will tell you anyway, So I am out on a great ride with Greg the Pole, even though cold, rainy, foggy, and slimy at times it was still a great day. I got gas a at 11:00 am and off we went. Nice fun leisurely ride and because of the rain we were not too hard on the gas. Stopped for lunch, stopped for a few pics here and there. Greg got gas in Santa Ysabela but I was only down the top triangle so why get gas when he has a small tank and the Ten is substantially larger, right?

Ride up through Julian, down to Ocotillo Wells, Borrego Springs, Yaqui pass/S3, up 78 to S2 and back towards home on 79. Couldn't
be more than 120 +- miles. I look down when we hit S2 and I am on the E lower triangle...what?
Flip to T mode and back it down a little...there is gas in Warner Springs...sometimes...nope. Gas is getting lower....lower....brooop broooop brrrr. Oh well the Stagecoach in has gas and they are only 2 miles or so ahead....OUT OF ORDER.

I had hopped on the back of Greg FZ09 and WOW are those rear pegs HIGH. WOW is that rear pillion HARD, WOW is that rear pillion SMALL...WOW there are NO grab handles....I am guessing that when Greg came down from Canada to ride So Cal and just park at my house he had no plans of being spooned for 40 miles ::025::

Crazy part, it ran out within about 2 miles of where I ran out on Christmas day ....I swear my bike is allergic to highway 79 between Warner Springs and Temecula....

Thanks Greg.

 

[True Grip]

Your lucky there is no photo evidence these guys would have a field day captioning it

 

[snakebitten]

That is so funny. Would be awesome to see a pic of that.

 

[arjayes]

I got busy last week and forgot all about this being Greg's big week riding around Southern Cal. It's been raining really hard down here the last few days. Bummer for you guys but the rest of the week should be perfect.

Nothing like running out of gas in the middle of nowhere to take your mind off the crappy weather!

 

[snakebitten]

Hasn't it been a drought down there for YEARS?
Greg brought it with him.

 

[kmac]

It has been a pretty bad draught for at least 3 years. We have only gotten bits of rain each season. Even when we have gotten a bit of rain it has been so far between it has done no good, or, like this rain, it comes with such a vengeance that it runs straight off to the Pacific. We need SNOW pack in the mountains and more often rain with less intensity.

This storm set has been pretty bad for So Cal. Just on Friday we had 2.6" which was more than we have had in the last 13 months combined. More in 1 day than in all of 2013. We got about the same on Saturday. Some today, but not as hard or as constant. Seems to be tapered off and is supposed to be beautiful Monday and all the rest of the week.

Greg's buddy Willy has been bummed, I feel really bad for him because he does not like to ride in the rain. I do not blame him, he rides a ZX14 and I can only imagine that monster in the rain. He has pretty dry style tires on it as well. Hopefully the rest of the week works out for him.

Rain or no rain, running out of gas or not, I had a great time and it seemed like Greg did too. Storms sometimes bring cool sights you may not otherwise see. Greg got some pics of a crazy vicious looking thunderhead laying right on the desert floor over Borrego Springs. It was ominous and almost haunting but somehow beautiful.

 

[arjayes]

We need another El Nino winter. The winter of '97/'98 it must have rained 10x normal. All the reservoirs were overflowing, all the hills were green - it was awesome to see. Since then it's been pretty dry other than a couple of years.

I feel bad for Greg and his buddy. To travel that far and catch a week like this has to make you feel downright "snakebitten". (Sorry, snake - seemed the perfect word for that spot!) Kind of like a dream golf vacation that ends up getting washed out (BTDT).

 

[kmac]

Very true arjayes. We do need it, just bummer timing. It is still better than recent temps in Calgary where Greg is from though.

But GOLF?
Isn't golf just old men, walking, in ugly pants?
Every time I see a golf course I just look at it and say "That would make an awesome MX track !!!"

 

[sportsguy]

In therapy sessions they often use dolls like this to help people express themselves when trying to explain sometimes inappropriate situations... just sayin'...

 

[arjayes]

But GOLF?
Isn't golf just old men, walking, in ugly pants?
Every time I see a golf course I just look at it and say "That would make an awesome MX track !!!"

Hey man, they let you drive golf carts, so it IS kind of an MX track!

Golf is something you just have to try. Most people either hate it or get addicted to it. I do both at the same time!

 

[Ironhand]

Too funny. I'm muffling laghter in my office so the co-workers won't know I'm goofing off.

 

[tomatocity]

In therapy sessions they often use dolls like this to help people express themselves when trying to explain sometimes inappropriate situations... just sayin'...

And you know why :^)

 

[sportsguy]

And you know why :^)

I don't wanna talk about it...!

 

[greg the pole]

easy there guys...
I have photo evidence of Kelly filling up the tenere.
no pictures of spooning, and don't really want to talk about it....

I'm pretty sure I know why Kelly ran out of gas....must of been those front end lifts at 105 mph.... that was a blast.

 

[arjayes]

I'm pretty sure I know why Kelly ran out of gas....must of been those front end lifts at 105 mph.... that was a blast.

On the Tenere? No way (not that I would have the balls to try). Need some video proof of that stunt!!

 

[greg the pole]

the road leading into borrego springs is paved, but has dips in it.
as you drive out of each dip, simply apply more gas, and 100 mph wheelie. Oddly enough the fz did the same ::014::

 

[Koinz]

I learned pretty quick that if your riding with guys with smaller tanks always fill up when they do. I tried filling up every other tank and while sometimes it works, on the long stretches I was running on fumes. Not worth the anxiety of "will I make it or not". ;D

 

[kmac]

On the Tenere? No way (not that I would have the balls to try). Need some video proof of that stunt!!

olling lump
They were not straight 100+ power wheelies....I wish.
The desert roads in the SW do not have much drainage since they get so little rain. What they do is have these lulls in the road where there are natural dry river beds they just put lulls in the road and any flash flood just runs over the road. These are the bumps in the road that give that weightless stomach feeling. Here there are miles of that stuff. The road usually crowns down about 3-5 ft. then passes at riverbed level for 60-200 ft. then quickly has a rolling hump back up. That second of weightless is where you hammer the gas and the front wheel stays lofted for 10-50 ft. depending on the size of the rise and the gas applied. I had one that I got full air on as the revs jumped up for a second...wicked fun.

 

[kmac]

I learned pretty quick that if your riding with guys with smaller tanks always fill up when they do. I tried filling up every other tank and while sometimes it works, on the long stretches I was running on fumes. Not worth the anxiety of "will I make it or not". ;D

Yes, I agree. Never pass gas....well fuel anyway. I got gas at our first stop and Greg had gas {fuel} so off we rode for an hour or two + lunch, after that he needed gas and I was only down 1 bar so I figured I was fine....famous last words.

I feel like my S-Ten has a weird rate of the gauge movement, The top triangle and first square bars seem to last a long time, but the next 2 rip down at a much quicker pace. The last triangle gives a pretty decent range but you are terrified the whole time watching it flash knowing that the BOG is coming.
Not blaming the bike, but I just need to get used to it, that and carry a gallon somewhere.

The hardest part is that the FZ09 has no grab handles and the tiniest pillion seat ever with the highest foot pegs I have ever seen. You feel like you are just going off the back the whole time and your own legs are pushing you off. The position feels like you are taking a dump in a 3rd world country over a hole in the floor... ???

All in all it was great.

 

[Koinz]

The hardest part is that the FZ09 has no grab handles and the tiniest pillion seat ever with the highest foot pegs I have ever seen. You feel like you are just going off the back the whole time and your own legs are pushing you off. The position feels like you are taking a dump in a 3rd world country over a hole in the floor... ???

All in all it was great.

I could just picture it obviously not made for two-up big boys. ;D