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I ran out on the CBR929RR today to replace my Helmet Halo (which blew off my helmet the last time I took the bike out), get my ciprofloxacin prescription filled, and pick up a 3lb bag of Granny Smith apples to keep Goose happy. I achieved two of the three without incident; I couldn't replace my Halo because Ron Ayers Motorsports doesn't keep them in stock. (They seem to be available only in silver now; you used to be able to buy them in silver, red, yellow, blue, high visibility orange, and - I think - high-visibility green.) Halos are great, but they do eventually lose their elasticity and blow off, and once they start to peel off, wind drag stretches them out of shape and it's all over. Applying a little rubber cement or even handlebar grip adhesive helps a lot, and will keep them on over 100mph.
This is the third time I've been out riding since getting the bike back in shape (which is to say, cleaning the bike, cleaning and lubing the chain, and replacing the battery that died from too long outside dead flat in the cold). A bottle of fuel injector cleaner in with the last tank of gas has smoothed out the slight roughness a lot. The ride was good, especially since I came back via the twisty (well, somewhat twisty) back road instead of on the bypass. I'm still hesitant, but discretion is the better part of valor, especially when it comes to turning into or across traffic. I'm shifting more smoothly, and more easily than before this long string of surgeries since we came to NC. My riding was smoother, taking better lines through the corners and getting a better drive out of the corners. On a couple of the corners, though, I really had to fight the instinct to dive deep into the apex. "This is a road, not a track. Don't cross the center line." Repeat after me: "Line good. Center line bad."
It is good to vr00m again.
