Communting

So this time of year, I take the bike to work far more often than I take my truck. I do this because my office has nice motorcycle parking and it's a hell of a lot more fun. When I arrive at work, I have more engery and when I get home I just feel better. But it can be down right scarry on the road. Last week, traffic was moving like a slinky. Everyone takes off, gets to 30 or 40 MPH and then everyone slames on the breaks. After the car behind me locked up his tires I decided to try the other lane. Then that car got within 3 feet of me, so I split the car to my left and got in front of him. Well, I guess he didn't like it and he started to crowd me, HARD. Okay, screw it. Off the express way and on to surrface roads. It's an extra 20 minutes, but I'm not going to get myself runover for twenty minutes.

This morning traffic was light, not uncommon for a Monday (or Friday) morning. I'm maintaining 65MPH, with the flow of traffic, when a car traveling 45 moves from the right to the left lane. Now everyone is trying to make it to the right lane with traffic merging on to the express way. I stick it in the left, 4 cars behind the slow driver. But now traffic is passing me on the right running 65. The car's in front and behind me in the left lane are cutting people off to pass this slow driver on the right. At the next merge a flat bed truck makes his way in to the right lane, also traveling 45. Okay, things are getting a little scary with people darting left and right trying to get around these two, I'm im stuck in the middle. After a car in the right lane, looked right at me and forced me to the fog line, I decide that these fools are trying to kill me and I should get out of this. I move to the center line and split the car that cut me off and the car to my right, split another car and the truck, slow driver. Free, I maintain 65MPH all the way to my ramp and make it to work, just fine.

If a Cop would have seen any of it, I would be the one with the reckless driving ticket. My driving was anything but reckless. Yes, I split traffic. Yes the law says that doing so is an act of reckless driving, but I'll tell you this. I would prefure to slap a mirrior with my mirrior than have a bumpper hit me in the back of the head. It's stupid to think motorcycles should follow the same rules of the road as cars. We don't have bumpers, we don't have air bags, or A/C. Our only safty is in our mobility. Sitting in stopped traffic totaly removes that.

Maryland Mountain Weekend

For the first time ever, my wife and I took a overnight trip on the bike! Three days of riding in Western Maryland and Northern West Virginia. This was a very significant ride because my wife is not a motorcycle fan. She has only ridden a few times and has a healthy fear of being on the road. In the end we saw some great sites, had a great time and spent our 18th wedding anniversary on two wheels. Who could ask for more?

We departed from our home and used the interstate to get to Frederick, MD. From there we followed the "Old National Highway" out to Cumberland, MD. We booked two nights at the Fairfield Inn in Cumberland. Day two we awoke to threating sky and a forecast of thunderstorms. Weather radar showed a narrow ban of rain heading our way for the North West, so we headed south into West Virginia. The rain caught up to us. We did the rain gear dance on the side of the road and motored on, enjoying the much cooler temperatures. The wet roads would keep us off to tight twisty roads, but we still had a good time.

Day three was our return, again we followed the Old National Road back to Frederick and Interstate the rest of the way home. All in all it was a great ride. We didn't cover a lot of miles, only 554 in three days. No pegs dragging the pavement and no triple-digit speeds, but time with my wife is far better than all that.

Sorry, I have been gone for so long.

Sorry that I have not been updating this page. I want to blog, I enjoy sharing my stories, but I hate when I write something and get zero views. Okay, so I'm not a very good writer. Okay, I'm also not all that interesting of a person. I am going to try and do better with keeping this up to date.

Since my last post in 2006 I have taken a new job traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan as a contractor for the DoD. But after 2 years, I was just sick of being away from my family. So I started another job with no travel at all. Ugg. I love to travel, and would love a job with maybe 5 or 6 trips a year for no more than 2 weeks at a time. A bonus would be if it was to locations where the general population doesn't shoot at you.

I got a new bike too. To bad I wasn't blogging about that process. Anyway, I searched around and decided I wanted a BMW K13GT. But the price of the K13GT was way, way, way to high. I decided the FJR was almost as good of a bike, and at half the price of the K13, I would be very happy on one. Plus, I have always loved Yamaha's.

Riding and bloging

Well, the weather has broken and the temps are rising. I have been doing a good bit of riding, and completely neglecting my yard work… and my blog. I want to say that I’m sorry for not posting in a wile.

A couple of weeks ago I hooked up with Scratch from the FZ1OA and DCSportbikes.com for a ride up into PA for some sausage in Amish country. It was a good ride, and a great route up there. Some very small and tight back roads in disrepair that the two guys on V-Storms where loving, but the rest of us… not so much. I would love to give you the route and report here, but I wanted to talk about something else about the ride.

When I left my house it was 36 degrees… and the FZ1 offers very little in the way of wind protection. The forecast was for it to reach 50, and I was feeling optimistic that we would get to that point early. I opted not to carry my tank or tail bag and to gear up for a nice 50 degree ride… well, it never did reach 50, and I was cold, down to my bones for the entire 340 miles.

It kind of got me to thinking that maybe it was time to upgrade the FZ. Something with a little more touring capability. The FZ1 is great, but on a cold and windy day, it’s not the best bike for a 340 mile ride. I would like to add a heated vest, and grips. I want XM radio and a GPS unit, but the FZ1 is a little weak on the electrical output, and offers no factory installed power outputs.

Another thing is that I hate making any modifications that can’t be undone. Having to ‘adjust’ the mounting tabs on my swingarm in order to install my rear hugger about drove me nuts. No lie, I sat there for almost an hour with a hammer in my hand trying to find another way to adjust the fit of the hugger.

So, I was thinking about a new bike. I quickly narrowed my choices down to three bikes.

First, was the BMW R1200ST
Great bike with long range riding capability. Heater grips and ABS with hard bags for gear, without being too heavy. Seems to offer everything I would like in a bike. But, damn is it ugly! I’m sorry, I just can’t get passed it. I looked at the thing for almost an hour yester at Bob’s BMW and I just couldn’t fall in love with it.

Next, was the Triumph Sprint ST
Great performance and the Triumph name. The triple has always been a great configuration for a motor. It offers hard bags and heated grips and ABS, should fit me nicely. I love the look and sound of Bill’s Sprint, but I haven’t seen a ’06 yet. I’m hoping to check it out this weekend.

Last is the Ducati ST3s
Everything about this bike is top shelf. I feel in lust with it as soon as I laid my eyes on it at Speed’s Cycle! Hard bags, heated grips, ABS… 16,000 dollars! I even began to justify the price in my head… couple of grand for top shelf suspension, a grand for weather protection, a grand for hard bags and it’s not to far out of line with what a ’06 FZ1 would run.

But in the couple of weeks since that ride to PA, the weather has turned warm, and the strong winds out of the North have died down. With the mods I made over the winter, the FZ1 fits me really well. It’s comfortable, and I enjoy it.

I’ll see how my riding goes this year. If I’m doing a lot more 600 mile days (like I hope to) maybe a ST bike will be in the cards, but if I’m spending more time closer to home… the FZ1 is perfect for me.

Winter Mods

It’s been cold… to cold to ride for a wile now. So what does any Computer guy that also happens to be a motorcyclist do when it’s cold out?

That’s right, they go shopping on the Internet!

I started my shopping spree on eBay, buying a Sergeant World Sport Seat. This is a straight drop in replacement for the stock seat. For information see http://www.sargentcycle.com/yamwsfz1.htm

Next, I found a CF front fender on eBay for a good price. This was a fairly easy install, the hardest part being to take my time and remove the reflectors, then free up the break lines before trying to remove the stock fender.

To tell the truth, I’m not very happy with the fender I got. The auction hinted that this was a GYTR made item, the instruction sheet is at least a photo copy of GYTR instructions, but the quality of the part is below what I would expect from GYTR. The seller did not reply to my emails, and I’m not out much money at all so I’m not going to raise a stink over it. Maybe I’m just a push over.

Next I tried to install a Pyramid Carbon Fiber Rear Hugger that I got from http://www.pjsparts.com. PJFZ1 and his wife MotoMinx are both long time posters on the FZ1OA message board. I met them at the rally last year (And even got a hug from Mix!) and they really are great people.

I had a little trouble getting the Hugger to line up over the rear tire. I had to put a shop towel over the tabs on the swing arm and give them few light taps with a hammer! It goes against everything in my sole to bend anything on my bike, but I did it, and the hugger looks great! Thanks to the FZ1OA member Znsia for giving me the suggestion and the confidence that it would be okay to bend the tabs.

Next it was time to replace my handlebars with a set of Rizoma bars from PJ.

One thing I really want to point out here. The stock bars have holes pre-drilled for pins in the switch housing. You will need to either snip these off or drill new holes. I went the easy route and sniped away. On the throttle side, I had a hard time getting to the base of the pin and I kind of just mangled it and smashed it against the handle bar. On the left side switch housing, I had more room to work and made a nice clean cut. Thing is on the left side the switch housing would spin around the bar when I went to test the choke lever! I had to take the thing apart again, and run a bead of silicone around the inside of the housing to give it some grip!

My new bars are mounted and look and feel great. I have only ridden about 3 miles with them, and that was just to get the controls aligned right, but the wider feel and the slightly forward reach fit me very well.

Thanks again to PJ and the entire FZ1 Owners Association! The total mods to my bike are Muzzy Slip-On, Ivan's Jet Kit, Sargent Seat, Gel-Grips, Rizoma Handlebars, Pazzo levers, Ivan's AIS removal, and Fehling Crash Bars. More to come!

My first Video!

I often have a hard time explaining to people that my dad is nuts about motorcycles. I often tell then he has 40 or 50 bikes, and that maybe 15 or so of them run, and can be taken out on a ride.

I was home at Christmas, and I took my brand new camcorder out to the ‘shed’! This does not include footage of the garage, or any of the other out buildings. So there is not shot of his Goldwing, or of the little “All State” that was under the Christmas tree. It also doesn’t show all the dirt bikes and 4-wheelers, because the kids where out riding them!

First I want to say that I’m new to the video making game, this is my first ever attempt!

I need to learn about video editing, file compression and I’m going to need a lot more space then my ISP will give me.

Anyway, here it is….

The 5 min tour of Big Daddy’s Motorcycle shed.

Motorcycling History

Sorry that I have neglected this page for a wile. Life has been just trudging along and I haven't had much to report. It has been cold and wet and the start of the Holiday session has kept me off the bike most of this month. Anytime I'm off the bike I start to think about my past rides.

It seems the earliest memory I have of riding is on the gas tank of my dads Honda XL175 in somwhere around 1974 or '75. I remember the bike was orange and I'm sure that I could pick it out of a line up if I had to. I remember they where cutting a new road and my dad and I decided to check it out. At some point he got up on top of a hill over looking the roadwork. He then went down the hill and I remember thinking that he wouldn't be able to make the ditch... and he didn't make the ditch. I was maybe 3 or 4... could have been later, I really don't have a clue.

The most famous rides I don't remember is my first little blue mini bike. I remember it had a brown seat and blue paint, but I have no memory of riding it. My mother does remember my first ride. Seems I ran over my Brother who wasn't even walking yet. Oops, sorry Bro!

I was also remembering my old Yamaha YZ80. It was on that bike that I really fell in love with motorcycling. Not going fast, not jumping, not kicking up dust or mud... just riding. You see, it was on that bike that one day way back when, I was riding with my father and maybe child hood friend. We where riding on some land near Pickwick Lake that was owned by the TVA and open to the public. We had camped in a campground that was part of the Stat Park. There was a trail that went from the camp ground to "Big Hill" It was on that trail, dodging trees and rocks that I first ever remember it ever happening to me.

I'm not sure what to call it. I have heard it called Zen, or becoming one with the machine or road. But I sure know how it feels. It's that point when your not thinking about dodging the tree, or your line through the rocks. Your not feeling any sensations. There isn't any heat, or cold. There is no pain or discomfort. Your mind is totally free and your body and the machine are working together independent of thought. You are both completely aware of every single thing going on, but your also detached from it all. Your riding completely off of instinct, and your riding well.

TVA sold off the land surrounding Pickwick in the early 1980's. Houses where built and developments where put in. All the trails are closed, but I can still close my eyes and see all the trucks parked at the base of the big hill. All the motorcycles and three wheelers. The dust and exhaust in the air. The smell of gasoline and two-stroke oil. 50 people sitting at the bottom of that hill just waiting for the next fool to give it a try.

Why can't I find any place like that to take my own children?

Short Weekend ride

I got in a short ride on Saturday of about 200 miles. Not much to report, and I had no plan for anything other than riding when I left the house. I just went west and bounced between the traffic of DC and Fredrick.

The temps where about as perfect as it could get with a high of 74 and the sun was shining. The leaves where in full color, and the ride was great.

I noticed a ton of high end sport cars on the road being driven slowly but grey haired old men. There where a ton of bikes out two. I even saw 2 other FZ1's! The only bad part of the trip was on the way home, coming east on Highway 100 (a heavily traveled 4-lane divided highway with controlled access). The normal traffic flow on this stretch of road is 60 to 70 mph, with a good number of people running 80+. There where 4 or five cars cued up to pass a slower (65mph) car in the right lane. Now, normally I try to avoid passing on the right, but this que of cars was going nowhere. The lead car was maybe doing 2 mph faster than the car she was trying to overtake. I moved up on the right, and put on mu blinker to move in behind the first car when the second car in the que closed the gap as tight as he could in order to block me. I feel in behind the second car, riding just to the left of the dividing line. The second car then started failing back from both the first car and the car they where trying to pass. I fell back into the right lane to get around him, when he started speeding up again to block me. I dropped from 6th to 5th and blow past him. I first though about blocking him, but then I remembered reading about a guy in Delaware that got booted off road by someone who he had pissed off on the road. I decided fleeing may be the smartest move and jumped ahead in traffic, putting several cars between me and that vehicle made me feel a good bit safer (even if I was doing 80 in a 55).

I'm telling this story because I don't understand why this guy would try and block me. It's not like I was going to hold him up in traffic. It's not like I slow him down in any way. Come on, I don't ride a Harley! Maybe he felt I was going to fast, or maybe he didn't like getting passed on the right (I hate that myself) I don't know. I guess he was just a ass hole.