Long time, no post. The beast is back!

As you may know, a year ago my 1994 GSXR-1100, with its brand-spanking-new big bore engine, was the victim of a botched chain install. The shop that did the work failed to rivet one of the pins, and 1500 miles into the riding season, the chain came crashing through the engine. No, it wan't a happy day for me. I do believe that all of the 7 "naughty" words were expressed, as well as some creative new ones.

The lessons I learned from this ordeal?

1) Always do my own work. I have the knowledge and tools. I need to make the time.

2) Double, triple, and Giga-check all work I may have someone else do, shall I fail rule #1.

I should have caught the problem, but I failed to do so and it almost cost me more than the repairs. You see, the chain broke while pulling into a fuel station, not 12 hours after having it out for some testing.

Fast forward to last weekend, and the moment of truth. After nearly a year in hiding, the big, blue beast saw street time. Yes, friends, the big Gixxer is back, and she is bad to the bone!

To be honest, after the engine damage, I was relegated to riding my wife's GSXR-600. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic bike, but not even on the same level as my pride and joy. The 600 is smaller, lighter, cramped, slower, and handles half as well. It also vibrates so much in the handle bars my hand would go numb in 10 miles.

I spent some time getting the 1100 back together, but I believe it's all worth it. The bike is electric-fast, handles like it's glued to the road (thank you RaceTec), and is butter smooth! The extra weight and better suspension also give this bike a very smooth ride, for a sportbike.

I dyno'd it last year at 185whp and 120 ft-lbs, on pump gas and no Nitrous. I'm going to throw some race fuel in it, turn the timing back up where it should be, and see what kind of Nitrous numbers she can pull this time.

One thing is for sure, I need to be careful. I forgot what it was like to roll on the throttle and have the back tire spin wildly. It's an interesting feeling, and I love it!