I left my house at 4:40am and came home at 4pm. Total mileage was 475 miles and the average mpg was 45mpg. From San Jose, I took Hwy680->205->120 to Mono Lake and basically rode back the same route. Hwy 120 goes through Yosemite National Park and its highest elevation is approximately 9600feet. It was chilly in the morning but very warm in the afternoon. Gorgeous day for riding. Compared with my previous ride (SV1000N), ZX14R's riding position puts little more stress on my neck and hands. Clutch is heavier as well. Otherwise, the entire trip was really fun. My butt hurts but it is because my butt doesn't have sufficient fat. I am 5-8 and weigh 135 pounds. I am seriously thinking about Gel padding.

Beautiful...just beautiful.That Color REALLY looks the bomb...congrats on yer bike purchase(I know you've had er a bit now...but congrats anyway;)...Yosemite IS a great place.Never rode through there...but was there years ago.

Out of curiosity...how are you riding that's aggravating your neck?Gripping the tank and relaxing your arms and shoulders by easing up on the bars may alleviate your deal....you might try it on your next longish outing.You could also get a Throttlemiester...THAT REALLY allows you to set it,and sit upright and steer with your fingertips...very nice for longer hauls.

BTW...how'd your engine do at 9K feet?

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 10/12/2014 @ 8:20 PM *

Hi Grn14, thank you for your complement:) Yeh, I am really glad I bought ZX14R in the color scheme. Yesterday a couple of strangers approached me at a gas station and a rest area asking me about the Orange/Black color.

In regards to my neck, it could be due to my body dimension. My arms are bit shorter than the average people of my size and that forces me to reach forward more than others. I am thinking about getting one of those 3/4 inch insert. Handlbar conversion is a better solution but too expensive. If I had $500 now, I would go for a gel seat. Thank you for a good suggestion about Throttlemiester. I will check it out before the next long ride.

At 9000+ feet, there was no issues. In fact, all fuel injected engines have no issues. My previous rides (SV and BMW) had no issues at all. If your bike has carburetors, you will feel the issues. When I went up to 9000+ feet on my CBR600F2, I got rough idling due to lean oxygen. Fuel Injection compensates that automatically.

One advise to everyone is that if you ever ride through Yosemite, you need to ride from the Lee Vining (Mono Lake) side. The view is simply gorgeous (my pix are taken there) and high speed winding road all the way to 9000 feet is very nice.

You say...gel seat.You mean a Kawasaki gel seat?For the 14?I had one on my 07 for a while...personally...I didn't really feel any difference.And my arse is bone as well.Tried several shaping 'mods' over the years to try and get em 'just right'.REALLY hard to find an aftermarket seat that really works without having one in hand.I'm only 170 with gear...the heavier guys I would think would have an easier time squishing down on the foam...getting the max comfort from it...IDK.My now seat...stock..I dished out a bit of the foam from the frontish/bowl area...took about a 1/2 inch outta there.It dropped me down 'into' the chassis some...not much...but enough to allow me to sit flat on the seat...and forward a bit more without my privates jamming up into the tank.So far...it's working great.Maybe you could take your seat...have a quality seat guy(or upholsterer)cut some foam out where you want it...and add a gel pad or something.May be a lot less than buying a custom seat.Or just add a gel pad in there?

I truly think the factory seat shape is very good on the 14R's.BUT for some,the angle of the foam coming forward actually causes the riders body to tend to slide forward...That creates a rubbing force on....the asscheecks.Flattening that angle out(for some) stops that from happening...and the foam retains it's absorption qualities.They did a good job on these seats overall...from the 1st Gens.If you have shorter arms...I don't think you(anyone)can really take advantage of the 'bowl' area very much.Bigger guys can sit right back....

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 10/13/2014 @ 10:42 AM *

Looks awesome, I love that area!

A couple of years ago, me and my buddies trailered our bikes to Angels Camp and rode the fantastic roads in the region for almost a week, going to MotoGP while we were there too

I would love to get back out there again...

I put the 1" bar risers on and it really helps. And if you want a simple, inexpensive throttle lock look at the Go Cruise. $39.00 for the aluminum one. I also got a Connie seat for long rides, mainly for the wife, but we took it to Crater Lake and had no butt problems.

Mad

@OldMan... that really is a gorgeous color. Your bike does justice to the scenery! Glad you enjoyed the trip.

@Maddevil... I agree about the Go Cruise throttle lock. I used a similar model on my Moto Guzzi, and while it was far from perfect, it was a lot better than a cramp buster style paddle. And you can't beat the price, especially for the plastic ones.