Long-term Ride Report

[fz1grl]

Originally Posted by 750nut

Well Grl, it looks like it's the end of the line.
Head gasket... Thermostat housing rotted and I overheated it.
My bad. Think it's time to cut my losses. Move on. It's been a great machine. Served me well. But I ride in heavy/fast traffic on the I-5. I've pushed the envelope. It's merely not practical or safe not to expect a major malfunction at this point. I'm convinced there is still life left in her. And if I hadn't overheated, I would have shot for 300,000. (And made it). But my life and my pocket book say enough.
I scoped out a 2008 nearby and am gonna make an offer. If they accept, it's karma's approval. I plan on cannibalizing the bike. It wouldn't feel right for anyone else to ride her. She earned my trust and brought me though more than one tight spot. The bond of man and machine is a special one. And I feel blessed and thankful to Yamaha for producing such a breathtaking ride. I will always cherish the saddle time. It was well spent.
And I can say the same to all the fellow Fazer fans here at Yamahafz1oa.com.
THANKYOU ALL SO MUCH !
Ride safe !,
Jeff Markley

Oh no I don't believe it and I really hate to hear it. I was trying to catch up and guess I now will but it's not the way I wanted to do it.
I hope you get the new to you bike and can use the parts to keep the new girl going.

[Oldirtyrider]

@750nut what color is she ? is the tank good ? and for sale ?

[750nut]

Originally Posted by fz1grl

Oh no I don't believe it and I really hate to hear it. I was trying to catch up and guess I now will but it's not the way I wanted to do it.
I hope you get the new to you bike and can use the parts to keep the new girl going.

Yeah I did.
RED ! 27k. 2008. Yoshi pipe, power commander, Puig screen, nice grips and levers, Yoshi fender eliminator, a headlamp mod, and a just performed
Valve service, perrelli’s ..
I think it was someone’s baby. ( They traded in for a new Ducati or something wicked & new is my guess.)
So far so good.
Everything seems in order. As I put a few miles on her I’ll get a better feel for how it was ridden. I need to get it out and just turn it loose. But I want to pace it first. Need a chance to run a wrench over everything and transfer some of my goodies over before I blast it.

You are a total inspiration FZ1GRL
I hope you enjoy many more safe and happy miles!
I have no regets.
While I did keep to a fairly good maintenance regimen I confess I learned to squeeze the last drop out of things too.
I skimped more and more as time went by.
There were many items that were bruised and battered.

What is astonishing is the overall feel of this new bike.
EVERYTHING WORKS !
It’s been a long time since the old gal was in top
Form. I just didn’t realize how worn out she was.
Oil consumption had been increasing and I was down on power and performance in most every area. Cosmetically it was a pitiful sight.

[750nut]

Originally Posted by Oldirtyrider

@750nut what color is she ? is the tank good ? and for sale ?

Oldirty,
R E D !!
I always did like that color.

As for parts, I’m keeping everything.
Unless someone here local in San Diego just needs an Odd-ball part I will retain everything for spares. And for the tank, that English Fazer forum had a super cool modification thread on enlarging the fuel tank to accomidate an extra gallon or so. I plan on using the silver tank for the mod.

Thanks for the input and comment, and as always Ride Safe !

[fz1grl]

Originally Posted by 750nut

Yeah I did.
RED ! 27k. 2008. Yoshi pipe, power commander, Puig screen, nice grips and levers, Yoshi fender eliminator, a headlamp mod, and a just performed
Valve service, perrelli’s ..
I think it was someone’s baby. ( They traded in for a new Ducati or something wicked & new is my guess.)
So far so good.
Everything seems in order. As I put a few miles on her I’ll get a better feel for how it was ridden. I need to get it out and just turn it loose. But I want to pace it first. Need a chance to run a wrench over everything and transfer some of my goodies over before I blast it.

You are a total inspiration FZ1GRL
I hope you enjoy many more safe and happy miles!
I have no regets.
While I did keep to a fairly good maintenance regimen I confess I learned to squeeze the last drop out of things too.
I skimped more and more as time went by.
There were many items that were bruised and battered.

What is astonishing is the overall feel of this new bike.
EVERYTHING WORKS !
It’s been a long time since the old gal was in top
Form. I just didn’t realize how worn out she was.
Oil consumption had been increasing and I was down on power and performance in most every area. Cosmetically it was a pitiful sight.

Sounds like you have another good one to start over with. I'm back from my 3rd out of town weekend and turned over 263,000.

[750nut]

Originally Posted by fz1grl

Sounds like you have another good one to start over with. I'm back from my 3rd out of town weekend and turned over 263,000.

!!!

[CrazyBiker]

Congratulations Jeff on a fulfilling experience with the old lady! Congratulations on the new babe! I love the 08 red iron man colors especially the red. It was a red FZ1 that caught my eye back in 07-08 when I had my 07 FZ6 and I finally got mine in 09. Looks like it will be for sale soon as it was made redundant by the S1000R. I can keep it but I can't justify having 3 bikes when I just put around 3-5k a year. Its so hard to let this fantastic machine go. It still looks almost new as I rode it hard but cleaned and maintained it like a baby.

And now you need to post proper closeup hi-res pics of the old lady!

[750nut]

Well, a far so good. 20k and all’s well!
Ride safe Crazy!

[fz1grl]

Originally Posted by 750nut

Well, a far so good. 20k and all’s well!
Ride safe Crazy!

Well it's a start again. Keep on climbing.

I'm almost at 272k now and am hoping to go to Arkansas this weekend but the weather is not looking real promising and I rode to MO/AR 2 weekends ago in the rain and I'm not sure I want to do it again. I have 2 more trips planned for this fall so will see how far I can get before the end of this year.