So, although it seems like yesterday that I rode her home, it has been 3 yrs and a coupla weeks. I'm gonna try to outline my experiences and mods I have done over the course of this love affair I have with my beloved Connie.
First off, how do I ride? I commute 80 miles a day in the great Pacific Northwet. I have done 2 1300 mile day trips, 5 trips to the track as a coach for an Advanced Street Skills, and many 2 up trips on some of the most scenic roads in the world. I dont baby her when I'm riding, but I dont ride like a squid. Shes seen speeds in excess of 135 multiple times and she has spent quite a few hours on an MSF range, sharpening my skills and providing demos for riders of all types. This bike is just about as perfectly balanced for the many types of riding I do and I have a hard time even thinking about replacing her, the divorce would just be painfull, and I'd bet expensive.
So, mods-where to begin?
Seat, I like my ladies firm, so she deserved a Corbin, still loving it.
Shield, the stocker is awesome when it's nice out, but since it has been known to rain on occasion I needed something taller, I went with the Cee Baileys Euro, still loving it.
Next up is still my all time fav farkle, Baker hand wings. They just work, whethor it's cold or rain, or needing some more frsh air.
Up next is the flyectomy and PCIII, transformed a whale into an Orca, much closer to what I expected from a 1352cc bike.
I also added some trackside heated grips, cheap and extremely effective (dont forget to add a layer of tape to the clutch side) I have gone through 3 switches and repaired the throttle side when I pulled the wire from the element, simple solder job there.
I then decided I needed to shorten the exhaust, I got out the grinder, made some marks, cut out some 4 inches, and did a poor mans job of welding the end back on, all i gotta say is that beauty cap was made for guys like me. Nice sound, no noticeable performance, and sure looked better.
Then along comes Ninjawarrior and his AreaP full!! I went full monty, PCV and Auto tune, really sweet setup, another one I would do again.
I have added both the Hyper lights and hyper wights, true safety related items.
Along the way I added an Autocomm, sat radio, and eventually a Zumo 550.
The last farkle to date was the addition of a gerbings dual controller, never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined just how nice a heated liner could be, makes riding in the rain fun
I am on my 4th set of tires, and for me, the best (Angels), the stockers were designed to enhance a riders skillset, the Diablo Stradas kicked some serious butt, then this forum convinced me the PR2s were the best thing since gasoline, so I had a set mounted up. Sadly, I was dissapointed, I could get the front end to slide when practicing aggressive panic stops, something I couldnt get the stadas to do. I went to the Angels, and wont go back, by far the best tire for me,wet, dry, street, or track.
Issues with the bike? Gear position sensor covered under warranty (which thanks to MOB I have extended).
Future farkles include a set of ZX14 TBs, which I just havent installed, they sit patiently on top of my POL locker and when the extended warranty runs out I will be adding a little forced induction.
So, in closing, is there another bike on the market I would buy in lieu of the 14? No, not for how I use her, I have the KLR for my DS adventures and the YZ450F for my hair on fire, lets get freaky bike. If I had some $10000 laying around I would buy a slightly used '08 non ABS 14 and put her in storage for when I wear this one out which should be another 150,000 miles or so.
I'd take a picture, but all you would see is the sh!t eating grin
Edited to add LSL bars from www.murphskits,com , I'd do them again as well, more for piece of mind then comfort, I just never felt %100 when working the bike hard, they are cast aluminum and I could see a hard braking session turn into a breaking situation. Oh BTW, KiPASS only bit me once, some where around the 500 mile mark, simple rapid tap and instant gratification.
Once the road to the homestead is done I'll be racking up some serious miles, I'd estimate another25,000 by the end of the year. I'd like nothing more then to have a 150000 mile bike at the end of my ext. warranty