having sold my GSXR750Y I invested the proceeds and some in a 1978 Z1R. Thinking I was now the proud owner of the last on the legendary Zed Thou line, I joined the Z1OC and after some polite and lots of not so polite barracking from some quarters, my expectations were slightly tarnished, but not by much. To renew my zeal, I watched Mad Max about 10 times and concluded that late 70's Zeds were the best bikes ever made. After a few weeks of waiting to take it for a spin for the first time, I suddenly noticed some brightly glowing orb in the sky and the chatter of dickie birds in the trees. Why not go for a blast I said to myself?
Imagine my surprise once I got out on to the open road and tried to brake hard and flick it into a familiar series of quick sweeping bends at approximately half the speed I could do it on a GSXR with only one hand on the bars.
The word 'clenching' never seemed more appropriate. (Insert before the various bits of anatomy you can think appropriate and you'll get the picture) I got off and checked Fred the Zed wasn't suffering from a puncture and the bottom yoke hadn't crumbled to dust. I check the swingarm hadn't been replaced by bits out of a Mechano set, but no - all was well.
Does anyone know when motorcycle brakes became more than a footnote on a design brief? I'm guessing it was a little while after 1978. Much the same goes for the handling... how the feck did racers on these things ever hit an apex? I'm guessing they aimed a couple of yards further in from the inside of the bend and hoped for the best?
I rode for a few more miles and then I started to get into a bit of a groove (hows that for a 1970's reference?). I started riding the beastie properly and all of a sudden a smile started appearing on my face
All those years of a diet of scapel - like sportsbikes started to get stripped away from my reference points, the expectation of instantaneous acceleration and retardation was replaced by something all together more analogue and involving. I swept around corners instead of carving the tarmac, rode the torque rather than thrashing its pants off.
Then my problem hit home. I'm hooked. I've had all my values reset in the space of a hour's ride. The essence of 'Zedness' has winkled itself into my sub-concious and I fear I'm eternally affected. So this is where my request for help lies.... Is there any hope for me or should I just submit?
Fred
