Have you owned two of the same bike before?

Switched over from my 1986 Kawasaki Concours to a 1994 that I'm in the process of restoring.

While the 94 has some minor improvements, very little changed on these bikes for a 20 year run-amazing for Japanese makes in those days.  That's more a Harley-esque trait, doing very little to a model year after year after year.  For nearly 12 years, the only change was colors, and before that the only major change was a front end upgrade in the early 90s-better forks, brake calipers with dual pistons instead of only one, and a better looking fender.

But my point is I rode the 1986 over 30,000 miles, so when after a few month break I got on the '94, it was like not changing anything.  I was planning on taking it easy for a tank or two, but found I was riding along naturally and smoothly.

I'd appreciate your comments-have you owned two models of the same bike, or very similar, and was riding both of them this familiar?

In the wind or in the air,
Bur

True tankful mileage check on the 1994 Kawasaki Concours

Ran a tankful of gas through the resto-project Kawasaki Concours, and got an indicated 200 miles on just over 5 gallons of gas.  Speedometer/odometer are "over" as my distance traveled is greater than measures on two other bikes and my car.  But even factoring that in, to be getting high 30s while cruising at California highway speeds with some stop and go mixed in on a bike that has mostly sat in it's 23 year life, and has received very little mechanical attention as I brought it back to near daily use is quite reassuring that this will likely be my next 100K bike-from 14K when I bought it 20 years old!

Started Commuting on the 1994 Kawasaki Concours

Quick post to get October off to a "post a day" start on one of the three blogs.

I finally got the registration renewal for the 1994 so I've started commuting on it.  Sure, I've only ridden this Connie just over 1000 miles (from before I put it on PTO and now), but since I have nearly 50K on Connie's and Ninja 900s, it was likely riding a bike.

Going to burn through one more tank of gas before stripping it down, painting the body work, doing some overdo preventative maintenance, and then really riding it!

Interesting thing happened while riding in the fog

For the last two nights, it's been really foggy out here in San Diego, which is pretty rare.  Down on the coast there is sometimes a marine layer that drops very low, but Wednesday and Thursday nights it extended well inland.  All the way to our home nearly 10 miles from the coast.  Epic "horror movie/scary video game fog" as one of our kids said.

I was riding both days, not unusual because I normally commute on the bikes.  What was interesting was I realized the visibility was out to the edge of my headlight.  I was on a route I ride way too often-one of the only roads from the freeway to our "town" (we're incorporated so not part of San Diego!).  So I was rolling along at my normal speed despite the low-viz conditions.  I started mentally picturing the next building, cross street and light, even though they couldn't be seen.  Sure enough, as I got closer they would come into view through the fog!  Even approaching stop lights I couldn't see was actually safer at speed, as I "saw" them even before the light came into view.  Since traffic was light but a few cars were ahead of me, I could tell when they tapped their brakes.

I felt and was likely safer going my normal speed and NOT slowing down.  Any MSF coaches or safety experts reading this, please comment.  Was that the correct assessment, as I sure felt so!

Hope you have some good rides this weekend, in clear dry weather!

Adventures in Bike Commuting-Foggy Ride Home

Today is my usual yoga class after work day, which means riding home after dark this time of year.

So I walk out of the gym to find it's completely socked in with fog-you can only see a few hundred yards at best.  But I have to get home.  I dry what parts of the bike I need to-seat, grips, mirrors, helmet visor and set out.

Fortunately traffic was already thinning out and visibility wasn't too bad.  Everyone was driving sanely, which is surprising for San Diego!  After about ten miles as I worked my way north and inland a bit, it cleared up and we were back up to normal SOCAL freeway speeds.  But the ride was a good reminder to be prepared for weather changes, even in San Diego! 

Does the bike make the rider? Musings while riding

Like many motorcyclists, I've owned a number of bikes, and bikes from a variety of styles for road riding.  From the Honda XL250 Enduro I got most my first miles on, to probably 6 or 7 cruisers, one or two standards, a vintage sportbike (Ninja 900, aka "the Top Gun bike"), 2 Kawasaki Concours sport tourers, and among the cruisers a Harley Sportster and a Street Glide.

Currently I have a ride one of the Concours and the Street Glide.  Before that it was one of the Connies and a Sportster.  So I had a fairly big sport-tourer and a Harley as my bikes for most the past decade.

What I noticed, especially if riding them back-to-back, or the next day, is I actually rode differently depending on which bike I was on.  Not only did they handle differently (side note-the Sportster handled more like a sport-tourer than any other cruiser I've owned, and with good power-to-weight, it was one of the quicker bikes I've owned), I rode differently-often more aggressively on the Harleys.  More attitude, more "this is my lane/space".  That's not to say at times I have fully used the Connie's impressive roll-on speed, even as a 30 year old bike!  But there is just something about being on the Harleys, at least to me.

Do you find yourself riding differently on different bikes if you own more than one?  How about if you've switched styles?  I'd love to read your comments about this!

Rain, rain go away

Yeah, I know, SOCAL has been in a drought, but this is ridiculous.  We are getting five days of rain, and we've already had so much it's just running off.  It was raining pretty hard this morning so I didn't ride in, then was nice mid-day, and pouring again on the way home.

I did see a few bikes-guys must be "TWO" or harder than me!  I hope to get some riding in tomorrow, but then probably won't ride again until next Wednesday.  Haven't even put the 100 mile scrub in on the new rear tire yet.  Blegh.

For My Fellow Motorcycle Commuters

A little over a year ago, I began commuting by motorcycle again after a few year break.  My job changed, so instead of working from home/coffee shop/library when not on the road, I went into an office 5 days a week.  Soon I was commuting 3-4 days a week and generally taking the same route each day.  While I don't enjoy commuting riding much, I fell into a routine, could gauge the traffic and trouble spots, and generally rode without incident almost every day.  Sure there would be interesting sites-my all time favorite was a guy eating oatmeal out of a bowl with a spoon using both hands to pull this off one morning!

About two weeks ago, the contract I was on ended, but I was blessed to pick another one up right away.  The major change (besides a pay reduction, but that's another post on another blog) is I am now working on another base.  The last eight miles or so of my commute are different, and my report time is earlier.

Why is this important?  Well, mainly because the traffic "flow" is very different, as are the surface streets and density.  About two miles of this new commute is along a busy four-lane street with curbside parallel parking, which pushes that lane's traffic toward the center-line.  Because I live in California, lane-sharing, aka lane-splitting, aka "surfing" is pretty much a way of life for motorcycle commuters.  Even guys on full size baggers sometimes lane split!  The other change is being earlier in the morning people seem to be less aware.  In the few days I've commuted, each morning I've been pulled over on at least once, some trips multiple times.  I am always cautious when overtaking cars in some situations and often predict who's going to do this, but have been surprised twice already.  Only one was very close but it has been a bit rattling.

Do you have the same "jitters" when switching routes or jobs?  Hopefully this will settle down and I'll get a feel for the cagers heading in with me.  I'd hate to lose the option of commuting on my bike!

Way too long between posts

Just a quick post to acknowledge I haven't been posting or online much other than for work lately.  Been riding a lot, but hate to admit it's mainly been commuting/erranding and no great or epic rides to report on.


The goods:


Went over 100,000 miles ridden on a variety of bikes
Back over 12,000 miles a year
Averaging over 20 miles a day and riding most every day


The bads:


Most those miles are my 55 or so mile a day commute
Wearing the center out of tires yet again
Some miles on my best friend's bike as he can't ride and likely won't ever again.


Cancer sucks.  I'll just leave that there to keep this update short and reasonably positive.


More later!

Demo ride on a Harley-Davidson Street 750

Yesterday I was able to test ride a Harley-Davidson Street 750.  San Diego Harley-Davidson was hosting Demo Days ’16.  They had a great variety of bikes-everything from Sportsters and Streets to V-Rods and Dynas up to full dressers.  As expected, the demand for test rides tended toward the larger bikes.  Since I have written on the Streets before, I actually went to the demo rides to try out a Street.  I have owned a Sportster and a Fat Boy clone, so re-riding one of those bikes wouldn’t have been a demo ride anyway.

So after a short wait, we got a short ride brief from the instructor coaches and HOG road captains, we went to our bikes.  First impression was that these are definitely smaller bikes and marketed well as in-town and commuter bikes.  Everything seemed kind of compact and close.  I’m 5’10”, about average for a guy.  The reach to the handlebars and pegs was easy but probably would have felt cramped on longer rides.  The grips and pegs are very basic, bottom of the line rubber. The bike fired right up and idles easily.  Of special note, the clutch lever is much lighter than I remember my Sportster being.  This is a big improvement for a commuter bike, as I recall lots of “clutch cramp” when stuck in rush hour traffic and not able to lane split.  There is also a lot of engagement “sweep” as you let out the clutch lever and the friction zone engages.  With the torque this bike makes, this is an improvement from trying to learn or commute on a Sporty.

One reason Harley makes both a 500 and 750 Street model is the 500 is the bike used for their new riders class.  The coach I spoke with said it was a great bike for the course.  I can see this-the bike just felt well laid out and basic without extras to confuse or scare a new rider.  I’m not sure I would want a 500 somewhere like San Diego, where you almost have to get on the freeway to get anywhere.  While the 750 was able to cruise with the big bikes the short time we were on the freeway, a 500 would probably struggle to quickly accelerate on shorter ramps or to get out of tight spots with a larger rider onboard.  I remember some commutes and rides on my Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic when I was looking for another gear as I was topping out the power band in 5^th.

Of interest, there are few accessories for the Street as a first year model, but both NY Mike and the employees at SD Harley said more were coming, including bags.  This will be interesting to see, and an improvement in my mind.  As a motorcycle computer who doesn’t like riding with a backpack, saddlebags or hard bags are a must.  Hopefully they will be functional as the rear fender area behind the shocks isn’t very large-maybe even shorter than Sportsters.

At $8,000 the Street 750 isn’t cheap, but it is a solidly built, well-laid out basic cruiser by an iconic motorcycle company.  I think it’s a better first bike than a Sportster, and depending on your long-range riding plans probably a better commuter.  For longer rides a 1200 Sportster with highway pegs and a larger screen would be a better bike, but for reasonable days and commuting I’d recommend checking the Harley-Davidson Street out!

A small speedbump on the way to 100,000 miles on the Concours

The saga of keeping my 1986 Kawasaki Concours on the road for 100,000 miles keeps adding chapters, detours and speedbumps.  After a summer not riding as much as I would have liked due to work-related travel and starting a new business, plus some electrical issues the bike is back on the road.  She's running pretty strong with some minor issues related to rubber and gaskets showing their age more and more.   Yesterday I realized the trips I had planned for the next two days would easily take the odometer over 97,000 miles-only 3,000 to go!

Until.

Four miles into my ride to lunch at the start of a proposed 55 mile commuting day the speedometer drops to zero as I accelerate onto the freeway.  I'm already in fifth and about to click into sixth, tachometer happily bouncing away (it's done that the whole time I've owned the bike once I hit 4200 RPM) but nothing on the speedo.  Even worse, the mileage is stuck at 96920.4 miles.  Oh no!  This has happened a few times before but often resolved by tapping the face of the dash or going over a bump.

TAP TAP TAP.  Nothing.

Run over some "zots dots".  Nothing.

Find a set of small manhole covers slightly recessed from the roadway once off the freeway.  Bumpity bumpity bump.  Nothing.

OK, quick diagnosis is either a broken cable (likely, happened to the previous Ninja 900) or dead speedometer (ugh).  Yep a dead speedometer would also mean a dead odometer and need for a replacement with who knows what mileage showing.

I got home kind of late last night and decided to troubleshoot this morning.  Unscrew fitting from drive gear on front wheel, pull on cable, and knotched end piece and about two inches of cable come right out in my hand.  Whew.  Quick look at 1994 Connie to see how many parts have to come off to get cable (answer-1, the dash since no side fairings or inner fairing are currently on it).  Out come the tools, off comes the inner fairings and the dash from the 86, "steal" the cable from the 94, reverse steps, go riding.

Speedometer/odometer work fine and I rode about 60 miles today.  So odometer shows 96980 miles on it.  Due to known overstated speed, I'll let the 50 or so miles I rode after the cable broke yesterday slide-not parking this bike right at 100,000 miles anyway.

Wonder if BikeBandit or my local shop sells just the inner cable?  Probably almost as much as a replacement on eBay or the Connie forum.

Winter Riding in California and the Start of BikeBandit sales

Yep, it's that time of year again.  Winter riding.  After suffering through the hot dry summers out here that last until late October-it's routinely 85 plus degrees on Halloween, it's "winter".  Or at least the calendar says so.

So your intrepid blogger soldiers on-riding year round and dealing with the brutal hardship of winter riding.  Getting on the bike before sun-up requires layers upon layers of clothing, no exposed skin and extra time to ensure the cold battery starts up the nearly 30 year old 1986 Kawasaki Concours, AKA Connie AKA C10 AKA Miss Swail.  Off I ride into the brightening sunlight, cold air finding every bit of exposed flesh and tearing through my jeans.  Hey, it's probably below 50!  C'mon this is brutal.

Then it gets even worse as the sun gets up and by mid-morning it's warming up through the sixties.  Now what do I do with all these layers?  Fortunately I'm running the sidebags on the Connie so they both fill up with gear and extra clothes.  I'll probably make it home before sunset, so I'll probably ride home in my long sleeve shirt and leave the jacket rolled up in a side bag.  Yep, it's tough riding in the winter!

All sarcasm aside, it is pretty odd reading about folks taking their "last ride for the winter" and elaborate winterizing procedures.  The forums light up with arguments about putting the tires on plywood, cardboard or how often to roll the bike a quarter wheel diameter.  Battery in or out?  Oil change before AND after storage, or just before?  All the while I'm thinking "Just ride it" but then I watch Buffalo get 7 feet of snow (YIKES!) and realize how good I've got it.

So do you need more layers of gear, motorcycling maintenance supplies like I do because you're  riding more due to time off, or winterizing oils and tools?  No matter what, it's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales time, and BikeBandit.com is having all kinds of sales starting today.  So click on a banner, get anywhere from a 36-90% discount, and get what you need delivered to your door!  No need to brave the snow and ice, or crazy commuters-have the parts sent to you.  I wonder if they sell tire stud kits? :-)

Not riding today, but it's not because the San Diego weather-guessers were wrong

Being a weather forecaster on TV in Southern California has only one requirement: Look good while saying that the weather is going to be nice once again.  I don't know where unattractive weather girls and boys go, but it sure isn't here.  So you'd think the one chance, the one and only chance, the one time there is a possibility of rain they'd get it right, and it would be raining buckets.

Nope.

Sky is 98% clear this afternoon, not a drop to ease our drought and it's another Chamber of Commerce/Tourism Board kind of day here in San Diego.

I was planning on riding anyway-unless it actually pours out here I've ridden, and I've ridden in what passes for a downpour before too.  But about ten minutes before I left the house this morning, my wife texts and said we might need you to use your truck today.  Huh?  Turns out yet again this year my mother-in-law's after school program has about 40 pounds of excess Halloween candy turned in by parents.  Even more importantly, once the kids found out it would go to injured vets and homeless families, they even shared some of their "picked out" candies.  WAY TOO MUCH for the saddlebags of the Connie, so I shift plans and get the shop truck loaded up and head over to the school.

Tons of candy.  Billions and billions of calories.  Chocolate.  Gum.  Fruit chewy stuff.  More chocolate.  Pretzels and cheese puffs in little bags.

So I took about 1/3 of it to the Wounded Warrior Battalions at Naval Hospital San Diego, aka Balboa.  Short visit today, but as always, something in the air as I walk out gets in my eyes.  Happens every time-maybe I should talk with some of my Navy Doc and Corpsmen friends about the air quality around the building.....

WHAT DID YOU DO TO DESERVE YOUR LEGS TODAY?

Hoo Yah EOD and thank you, my brothers and sisters.  Enjoy the candy!

The Return of the BikeBandit.com Daily Deal and a chance to win a $5,000 Alpinestars shopping spree

Yeah, while  the Daily Deal might have gotten your attention the chance to win big bucks probably grabbed you!

First, here's today's Daily Deal:  An Arctiva Comp 7 RR Shell Jacket at an up to 52% off!  As a closeout item, limited sizes and colors are available, so hurry on over to BikeBandit.com and check out your favorite and get one while they last.  At the time of this post, only large sizes in black remain at $109.95-a good saving and this qualifies for free shipping.  Lots of sizes remain in blue with red trim and the high-vis orange jacket, and both these colors are priced at over 1/2 off at $79.95.  Throw in an oil filter, some other accessories and get over the threshold for free shipping and you get a great deal!

Ok, now for the details on the Alpinestars contest.  Buy $100 of Alpinestars products before shipping and tax (hmm, I bet most qualifying purchases might also qualify for free shipping!) and you are automatically entered.  So whether you need new boots for desert and dirt season, a new jacket for cool weather riding, replacement sliders and buckles, or just some cool Alpinestars swag, click on any of the BikeBandit.com links or banners on this blog, do some shopping, and you could win a $5,000 shopping spree!  Just imagine how much more cool Alpinestars gear you could have for yourself, your friends, and yes, your faithful blogger!

Ride it like you stole it-unless you stole it, then give it back and buy your own bike!

Quick update related to yesterday's post and time to do some BikeBandit shopping

Yesterday I FINALLY got back in the wind and it had probably been over a month since I have ridden.  I sold my Sportster earlier this year, had the 1994 Connie apart for restoration, and then lost the headlight on the 86 Connie.  So I started troubleshooting the 86 but couldn't solve the problem quickly, as I detailed in earlier posts about electrical gremlins.  I was going to scavenge parts from the 94, but that didn't work either.  Short on time and traveling for work, I began using my truck.  One week turned into two, into more work travel and next thing I know I hadn't ridden in far too long.  Monday my truck decided to also not run right (it's old, carbs still aren't quite set-up right, blah blah blah) and I had to get something else on the road.

So I did, and riding yesterday was great!  Sure some of it was riding in evening rush hour traffic, but at least I was on a bike!  Being in California, I also could "filter" or lane-split/share, a huge benefit both time and sanity wise.  Having not ridden I am adding a few extra miles to rides even.

With all that said, I realized I haven't changed the oil in "Belle" the 94 since I bought her in February and have no idea how long the oil was in the bike before that.  I need a filter and some parts for the CB 750 project bike, so I'll be on BikeBandit later today getting some motorcycle maintenance supplies.  I'm looking to do a Concours oil change, re-assemble the Honda CB750 as a rolling chassis at a minimum.  Depending on time and having another strong back to help I may even re-install the engine.  But I also want to ride!

Keep it dirty side down-or if you run rat bikes or beater-style, dirty side up and down!

It's National Ride to Work Day, motorcycle edition

I know it's too late for many of you, and it rushed up on me this year, but today is National Ride to Work Day!  It's always the third Monday of June-I guess June for all of those who can't ride to work year-round like many of us in San Diego do.  It's still amazing to me that we only have 364 riding days a year out here.  I probably have ridden on every calendar day of the year over the 12 years of riding in San Diego.  While I haven't ridden every day of a year straight (yet), over the years I probably have every day covered.

So I rode to work today, my usual commute.  Unfortunately I didn't see an unusually high number of bikes, but many folks do commute by motorcycle already.  Here's a link to the national organizations website.  If you still have a chance, go on some kind of ride today, especially riding to work!