The Orange Beast is gone

[Randolph Peters]

Hey guys
I sent this out in response to Mike and thought that I had sent it to the list.

Hi Mike and all
Well, The Big Easy has come a long way back from the post-Katrina wasteland. There are indeed large swaths of the city still almost in the same condition as the day after the floods but by and large the pulse of the city is mostly restored. Two great jazz fests and two emphathic Mardi Gras punctuated this process. The usual politics and Louisiana-brand corruption are the other highlights.
I had no problem with the insurance. In fact the bike was the most prompt, fair and heartening insurance experience in a sea of hassles, nickle and diming, downwright dishonesty and reneging at the hands of the "good hands" people who have the rest of my insurance portfolio. 
Thanks to this list I got insurance with GMAC at really good rates and they paid off immediately.
I bought back the bike intending to restore it but it was stolen from my house although protected by a strong grill and robust padlock.
But that was in the bad old days when there were no street lights, hardly any police and my Eastern New Orleans neighborhood was a lawless frontier where I went to work on my house during the day and fled as soon as night began to fall. Bands of looters, miscreants from all over the country converged on N.O. like locusts to pick unoccupied (and occupied) houses clean and those who chose to live in their half-finished houses had to be armed to the teeth.
Anyway, to get back to motorcycling issues I promptly bought another zzr1200 in Atlanta before the ink was dry on the check and before Boss Lady could establish different priorities.
Riding that bike was a depression chaser in those days.
But it was the riskiest business. Those big Dodge rams, Ford 350s, etc. brand new and hauling rubble up and down the unpoliced I10 were drag-racing at 100-plus mph while the rickety rigs, held together with wire and string, and trying to out-hustle each other,  dropped anything in your path from sheets of sheet-rock, to bundles of insulation, ladders, buckets, chunks of carpet, etc.
Well, we're approaching normalcy, we like to think, but then again the assholes in our legislature are once more debating removing the compulsory helmet law from the books,
another hurricane season is upon us and the levees are largely in the same state as pre-Katrina.
Anyway it is glorious motorcycling weather so wadda eff?
Randy in N.O.



----- Original Message ----
From: "mrgilmore at aol.com" <mrgilmore at aol.com>
To: dwaynedaniels at sbcglobal.net; davidebeard at comcast.net; gpzlist at micapeak.com
Sent: Sunday, July 6, 2008 9:59:09 PM
Subject: Re: The Orange Beast is gone

Hey guys,

ZX12 is the one I lust after too...? My money ain't right yet so wait?I must.
Regards the quickness: GPz1100 is dang fast up through 3rd, I'd say.? After that, the ZX12 would just say bye bye...
I had one of those dreaded, backing-up on a downhill in the loose "marbles", on tippy-toe, bike-drops today!? Lawdhammercy, I hate that!
I mention this because after grunting the ol' beastie up out of the gravel (whew!) the smell of gas was strong, and the bike wouldn't start for a good 20 minutes....? WTF?!? I guess, since I was low on gas anyway, going over just made the gunk in the bottom of the tank active enough to (apparently) get past my in-line filter and cause some really poor/rough running once it started.? It would stall every hundred yards or so.

The good news is: once I made it back to "civilization" and a Chevron station fill up, I hit the freeway and lit it up for a good 50 miles at over a "buck", just to "clear it's throat"...? Seems to have worked just fine.? Now, although I've got a few more dings and scratches "ol' red" is back in action just like before...

Hey Randy Peters!? Hope you got things going ok.? Same on recovering from Katrina.? Give me a shout.

Today's "jaunt": ?246 miles of twisties through Ojai, Santa Paula, Moorpark, and the dreaded Lockwood Valley (where my mishap ocurred)...

Stay cool everyone!? I'm looking at 92 to 97 degrees through the week ahead...

Ron Jordan
Altadena, CA high miler madman


-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Daniels <dwaynedaniels at sbcglobal.net>
To: David Beard <davidebeard at comcast.net>; Kawasaki GPZ1100 discussion <gpzlist at micapeak.com>
Sent: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 7:30 pm
Subject: Re: The Orange Beast is gone



As long as those flower pots go "varrrooooommmmm!"

David Beard <davidebeard at comcast.net> wrote:  Oops, let me pick that up...

Ah, what the heck. Sure, consider the gauntlet on the floor, where your 
jaw will drop to when you see the ZX12 spank Nina's panties.....;-)

Assuming I find a decent one in driving distance for my price, that is. 
I sent Mr. Daniels to eyeball one today. Sounds like a fairly decent 
one, though it's not nearly as mint as the owner described it. That one 
is on the back burner for now. Guess I'm not in too big of a rush, but 
the garage sure looks empty. If I don't fill it back up soon, the wife 
will fill it with flower pots.

Dave B

Jerry Clair wrote:
> Did I just hear a gauntlet hit the floor?
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Dave Daniels 
> To: Jerry Clair ; Kawasaki GPZ1100 discussion 
> Sent: Sunday, July 6, 2008 4:49:11 PM
> Subject: Re: The Orange Beast is gone
>
> Oh boy.....I see a race coming next year.
>
> Jerry Clair wrote: 
> ah! but Nina has that awesome dark RED color that makes it faster...I ain't 
lying!
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: David Beard 
> To: Jerry Clair 
> Cc: Kawasaki GPZ1100 discussion 
> Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2008 10:47:57 PM
> Subject: Re: The Orange Beast is gone
>
> Let's see, 12 is one louder than 11, ain't it???? ;-)
>
>
> Jerry Clair wrote:
> 
>> -but-but-but, You just want to out do my Nina, don't ya?
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: David Beard 
>> To: GPZ LIST 
>> Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2008 6:14:15 PM
>> Subject: The Orange Beast is gone
>>
>> Well, I'm afraid I went and sold the Orange Beast. As some of the guys 
>> at the Ohio ride know, I've been thinking about upgrading. I decided to 
>> put the bike up for sale when I got home and ask a fairly ridiculous 
>> price for it. I figured I'd either sell it for my price or I'd hang on 
>> to it. Well, today someone has agreed to my price and has already sent 
>> payment for the bike. The new owner of the Orange Beast will be a 
>> gentleman named Chris from Frankfurt Kentucky. I will inform him of the 
>> list when he picks up the bike, which will hopefully be tomorrow.
>>
>> I intend to hang around the list, even though I will be Geepster-less 
>> now. I have my sights set on picking up a ZX12r in the very near future. 
>> I've seen some in the low to mid $5k range, and these bikes intrigue me. 
>> I'm hoping to be on the back of one for next years Ohio gathering. If 
>> you see any or know of any ZX12r's for sale within driving range of 
>> Illinois, give me a shout.
>>
>> I will probably have a few odds and ends to sell shortly. Over the years 
>> I have had three 95 GPZs. Though there is always a possibility I will 
>> end up picking up another one someday, I'm not going to hang on to the 
>> stuff I've accumulated. I'll put the parts up for sale as I get them sorted.
>>
>> If anyone is down around Frankfurt, KY, keep you eyes open for a blazing 
>> orange streak flying past you on the road. That'll be my old girl.
>>
>> Dave B
>>
>>
>> 
>
>