"New/Old Bike" My 96' GPZ 1100

[fanatic291]

I picked up my first dedicated street bike this weekend. I have been quickly building my 2 wheeled fleet. I currently ride a KTM 300 for the technical trails, a DR650 for commuting to work (Supermoto Slicks)/weekend dualsport adventures (Knobbie Edition), and now I have the GPZ for sport-touring.



I will be taking a 400 mile trip on Wednesday to get to know her. I will use this thread to keep track of my adventures.

Feel free to post up any technical information, GPZ related stories, or riding encouragement. I am pretty excited to get some street-touring miles under my belt.

[Sport-Touring]

[NotDeadYet]

That's a nice looking GPZ and it looks well suited to sport touring. I've never ridden one but I've got lots of big bore sport touring Kwak experience with ZZR 1200's and ZX14's. I've had a couple of each. I love the big Kawasaki road bikes. Congrats on a nice bike. Let us know how it works out for you. How many miles does it have on it and what did you have to pay for it?

[fanatic291]

The bike has 23,000 miles on it and has been meticulously maintained. The PO added heated grips, a touring windscreen, handlebar risers, chain oiler, and a givi wing rack for the knockoff luggage. I did a 350 mile ride yesterday and had a blast.

I will post up some pics tonight.

[fanatic291]

I was able to run my first shakedown ride with the Previous Owner.

We started at 7:30 in Mesa and followed the below track counter-clockwise.

354 miles in 12 hours. We started with cactus and headed up towards the pine trees and high desert.

The PO and I took a quick pit stop at Tonto Natural Bridge near Pine, AZ


Hiking in motorcycle boots is an ordeal, but the bridge is really cool to check out.


From Pine we headed to Jerome, AZ. The climb from Cottonwood up to Jerome has a nice elevation change. The city is built on a cliff that overlooks the valley.




We ate in the Jerome Grand Hotel at the Asylum Restaurant. The whole building is said to be haunted.

[Open Sore]

That's a nice road loop.  I used to do a similar route when I lived in Phoenix.  Good luck with the GPZ!

[fanatic291]

Thanks. We are blessed to have well maintained roads with minimal traffic. Moto Paradise.

[fanatic291]

Here is an update on my GPZ. I have now been riding the bike for 4 months and have put 2,000 miles on it. I really like the linear power and how stable it is on the road.

The Previous owner added risers under the bars to raise the seating position a little bit. I have noticed that I put a lot of pressure on my wrists while I ride. I feel like I am constantly telling myself to adjust my back, so I don't hang all of my weight on my wrists.

This is my first street bike, so I am not sure if this is normal, or if there is anything I could do.

Suggestions?

[kyzrex]

Work on your core strength and learn to use it to keep weight off your wrists.  Concentrate on keeping your arms loose and not locked.  A trick I use is to flap my arms/elbows while still keeping my hands on the grips.  Trust me, you can not put weight on your wrists without locking your arms and this action will keep you from doing that AND from putting a death grip on the bars.

As an aside.....just got back from visiting my son and family in Phoenix.  One of the day trips we did was a run up 89 to Prescott and Jerome.  Great road, beautiful scenery, and some very cool little towns.  Did lunch at the Prescott Brewery in the downtown square and had a really good (and unexpected) pulled pork BBQ sandwich.  They even served it correctly....with the slaw on top!  YUM!  Beautiful area.  Wish I had one of my bikes with me to enjoy the perfect weather and scenery.

[fanatic291]

Thanks for the reply. I have noticed that If I put an arch in my back that my arms deweight. I really need to work on my core. I have gotten soft over the years.

[Magnarider]

I owned a black GPz like yours, great bike! I found it very comfortable, I did an uncertified spur of the moment Iron Butt on it on the stock seat with a sheepskin on it and with riser extensions like yours. The motor is smooth as glass, and a great entry into sport touring.

As far as the weight on the arms goes, squeeze the tank with your legs which gives you a point to secure yourself with, that will help you use your core to hold your upper body up and keep the weight off your hands. You shouldn't need to arch your back to accomplish this goal, and I'd think that could make your back sore prematurely.

[veefer800canuck]

I see your new friend, the PO of the Gpz now has a 5th gen VFR!

I like him already!!!

[Monte70]

That GPZ looks like an awesome bike! Reminds me of my previous bike which was a '95 CBR1000F. The seat was so comfortable on that bike. Here's hoping many more happy miles to you and the GPZ!


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[fanatic291]

I decided to take the long way home last night. The sky had scattered clouds with the sun setting in between them. I got a couple drops of rain along the way. The river canyon next to my house had perfect lighting.