Wings of Eagles CMA Meeting, Chapter Ride, and Connie Updates

Yesterday was our last monthly CMA chapter meeting for the year, as we meet on the fourth Saturday of the month.  December meeting is always very close to Christmas Day, if not on Christmas, so we only have 11 meetings each year.  We had officer elections besides the normal business, and I will serve as Chapter VP and Road Captain for 2018 again.  No problem with that, as our President is returning and he does a great job.  Plus I'm getting used to Road Captain even if I'm not the most "let's go riding just for fun" member due to commuting on the bike and also many other interests and projects always going on!

Yesterday's ride was up and around some lakes in northeast San Diego County and I planned to lead us up Palomar Mountain.  Borrowing a trick I learned from track day and racing riders, I put tape on the inner fairing and tank with the directions as I hadn't ridden this route in awhile! Sure I could have dug the tank bag out and slid directions in the map pocket.  But this was easier as I haven't used the tank bag in probably two years, plus the bottom of the map pocket is too far back to keep my head up while riding!

We had a good ride-traffic was no where as bad as I thought it would be and the few cars in front of us were at least doing close to the speed limit.  I don't ride particularly hard especially leading a group, although the three riders with me could easily have kept up 5-10 MPH faster!  Two were some of the best riders in our chapter and the third was a guest with 65 years (yes, 65 YEARS!) of riding experience.  Due to concern we might have lots of "lookie-loos" on Palomar Mountain and the usual sportbike riders going much faster, we decided not to do that small detour-why you see some lined out directions.  Will take the tape off today-I left it on just for the pictures and hopefully it won't pull the CMA Bike Blessing stickers off at the same time.

We stopped in Santa Ysabel at the Julian Pie Company for pie/ice cream as always.  Like Rosa's Cafe and Tortilla Factory in Temecula, if our bikes are near there they turn in nearly automatically.  Maybe we should sell them to Tesla for autopilot tech!  While we were hanging out and enjoying our pie and ice cream, three C14 Concours pulled in, and it was the Concours Owners Group (COG) regional and area reps out riding!  I went over and introduced myself, we chatted for a few minutes, and I got their cards.  I'll likely rejoin COG and become active on the forum again.

When I got home I moved the 86 Connie, aka Miss Swail, off the lift and rolled the 96 up there.  Between watching/pausing the Auburn-Bama game (WAR EAGLE! Beat both #1 teams this year, now to beat Georgia again!) I did an oil change as I know I've ridden the bike 3,000 miles and who knows when it was done before that.  Pretty straightforward as always although messy-going to get a SPOOFAK, maybe for my birthday as the internal filter makes a mess.  The front drain bolt also is right by a line that will probably always get oil on it too.  Still better than where the filter is on most Harleys! 

Long update but it was a full day of CMA meeting and ride, meeting some COG officers and bike maintenance.  All good, and have a great riding day!

Great Weekend Riding and Upcoming Projects

Quick report on my busy weekend, about 350 miles of riding, and some projects I have coming up on the  bikes.

Saturday I was at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show (IMS) almost all day.  After meeting my CMA chapter for breakfast, four of us rode up there on our bikes while a few others "caged" there.  Only one wrong turn as the "trying to get fired Road Captain" and we made it in plenty of time to get the Helmet and Gear check going.  Only problem was we had less space than last year and no where near enough.  We had to shut the check down for about half an hour in the mid-afternoon, re-organize the helmets and consolidate a rack or three of jackets and then re-open.  Bummer, but the other option would have been to have gear tags out of order-a true recipe for disaster!

Sunday I participated in the El Cajon Harley Owners Group (HOG) Toys for Tots run.  Great event, great guys running it with lots of volunteers and a great cause.  Fun part for me was it was a "controlled ride" meaning we stayed as a group and had police escort.  However there were more intersections than Road Captains from HOG, so I started helping out.  Fun to do that every now and then as we "quickly" rode from intersection to intersection alongside the nearly 200 bike group.  Ride ended at Del Mar Racetrack where we rode in (quietly to not spook the non-iron horses) and had our own area.  Best part?  Nearly 2300 toys for Toys for Tots, and over $8000 that will also go for toys and gifts! 

After my annual pre-Thanksgiving Dinner ride before joining family at the in-laws, I have a number of projects on the two Connies.  The restoration bike (94, aka Belle) needs an oil change and general check-up, plus I may test fit the sanded and repaired bodywork. Belle's tank was going to go on the old 86 (Miss Swail) but the petcock leaks and trying to get it off one of the mounting nuts came loose from inside the tank.  UGH.  So I'm going to see what can be done with the old parts bike tank I've had sitting around.  It's nasty but if it holds gas it may have to do to get the bike sold and I'll let the new owner decide to use some gas tank sealant on it or buy a replacement on eBay.

Could you help me out and click this link for some metric T-handle wrenches?  Testing out the Amazon Affiliate program and would like to see how a sale or two works.  Thank you!

Anyone else frustrated by California PNO rules?

Gotta DMV at the crack of early tomorrow to personally register the 1986 Connie (AKA Miss Swail) before selling her this weekend.  Since putting it on a Planned Non-Operational (PNO) when the registration expired in April, I've saved half a year's insurance but will likely "lose" that much in comparable vacation hours turned into pay for the time at the DMV.

Lesson learned with this second stint of having a PNO'd motorcycle take at least one trip, therefor one wait in line for an hour plus, to the DMV to register, I'm gong to think twice about putting a vehicle on a PNO, at least here in California!

Please share your thoughts and experience with PNO in the comments.

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

A Couple of Quick Updates

Working on the bikes, prepping the 1986 Connie for sale plus checking what might be my options with the 1974 Honda CB750.  Odds are I'm going to sell it too-while I'd love to build a bobber or trike with it, the time and funds to do that right aren't going to be available for atleast 6 months and maybe more like two years.

Riding the 1994 Connie prior to a massive service on it (all fluids, test mount bodywork and prep for paint) and the Harley, so I'm still in the wind.

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!

The 1994 Kawasaki Concours, aka Connie, is almost ready to ride again

Just a quick update since I haven't posted in forever and was checking to see if I could still log-in.

Retired the 1984 Connie when it's registration lapsed and moved parts over to the 1994, did a minor amount of work to it and have been going through the DMV drill getting it off PNO and registered.  One more step to go, and it will be legal and rideable again.

I've enjoyed riding the Harley, but will be good to have a Connie too.  I think I have something like $800 in the bike!

Quick Update on the 1994 Kawasaki Concours Restoration Project

I'm going to keep this short, but have to admit to owning the 1994 Connie for three years now!  I'm nowhere near as far along on the restoration as I thought I would be.  Fortunately my 86 had kept running well, so my plan to retire it at 100k was able to be pushed back.  Now my plan is to get at least 100K more miles on it than the 94 has before the registration expires at the end of April.

By then I should have all the bodywork on the 94 ready to be repainted, and take it off it's PNO as soon as DMV sends me the paperwork, but effective in July when it's due to minimize fees.  Since I also have a Harley, I will have a legal bike to ride while "swapping" Connie parts and awaiting the new registration for the 1994.

I tried starting it this weekend, but what little gas it has is stale.  It fired on starting fluid but didn't run.  I'll probably get a gallon of fuel and see what I can do to get it running, but I sure don't want to pull the carbs any earlier than I have to!  What a PITA it is getting Connie carbs in and out!

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.

Two Bike Projects Done, a somber ride, and the car saga ends (hopefully)

This morning right when it got over 50 degrees I started painting the mufflers off my 1986 Kawasaki Concours.  I applied five coats over nearly two hours with only one run-which for me is pretty good with rattle cans. I used Rust-O-Leum Engine Enamel, which covered well and is good up to 500 degrees, hopefully enough for exhaust "cans".  If not, I'll clean up any blisters when I have them off in two or three months to move the rear wheel and new tire over to the restoration project 1994.  My goal is to get "Miss Swail" 100,000 miles over "Belle" while finishing the restoration and then retire Miss Swail at 116,000 plus miles.  Maybe a new owner will keep her on the road instead of parting her out, but there are lots of seals and rubber parts that are showing their age.

I also rode Gospel Flyer, the Harley Street Glide I inherited from my "big brother" Glen to Miramar National Cemetary for a funeral.  A Marine Sergeant was laid to rest today, and there had been a slightly "hoaxy" post about him not having much family.  Well, this got refuted, but it also energized the veteran community and there was a huge turnout.  Lots of bikes besides a large group of family and friends.  I also paid respect to Glen, another Navy buddy and a fellow EOD tech who was KIA on Oct 20, 2016.  All are in the same general area of the cemetary-Glen and my co-worker are five columns apart in their columbarium.  It was a tough time but a good use of part of my day.

The car is finally out of the shop.  Radiator replaced, lots of hoses for multiple fluids replaced, and the motor mount installed.  Definitely can feel it respond better with a solid front engine mount and fresh, full transmission fluid.  All work that needed to be done, some of which should have been done a while ago.  Even for a "rainy or too cold day" car!

New Rear Tire For the Kawasaki Concours

The rear wheel and tire I put on the 86 Connie from the 94 had gotten smooth on the middle like most of my tires, so it was time for a new rear tire.  This will be the last one before this bike gets to be 100k more miles than the 94 and retired.

So Friday night I put the bike up on its centerstand, but this time I decided to pull the mufflers just to see how much easier that makes this process.  It's a big difference, and more on the second project that started .

I haven't used a 27mm socket for this project, which is the right one for the crown nut.  I got everything apart and dropped the wheel and new tire off at Poway Motorcycles, my usual shop for remounting tires.  They did their usual quick and effective work.  I picked up the wheel but I also ran by Harbor Freight and picked up a 27mm socket.  What's the point of doing a project if you don't get to buy a new tool?

Everything lined back up pretty well-easier than usual to get the axle back through.  Having the socket instead of improvising a way to hold the crown nut and tighten the axle was much easier, and getting the nut tightened up and a cotter pin through the axle.

With the muffler "cans" off I decided to sand them down and try repainting them.  Even though I plan on selling the 86 as a parts bike/first Connie for someone else, the cans will look better and I'll get the experience with high heat paint.  So last night I sanded them to prep for paint.  Today is a bit cool and overcast, so I'll paint them tomorrow. 

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!

Quick Post-Update on Connie Projects

Being TWO (Two Wheels Only) for seven months now and not traveling for work anymore has meant lots of miles but also lots of wear and tear on the Connies.  Here's a quick update on projects, maybe I can post more specifics on what I did and why in future posts.

1986 Connie

Rolled it over 100,000 miles
Cracked the Main Fairing Bracket (again)
Stripped main fairing off and removed bracket for neighbor to re-weld (again)
Changed Front Tire
Changed Oil
Had a pinhole radiator hose leak (see 1994 Connie projects...)
Removed and re-installed hard bags and antlers

1994 Connie

Used as transportation bike for almost 1,000 miles/good shakedown
Had a friend repair tank leak
Killed two fuel filters in four days using said tank due to rust inside it/replaced fuel filter three times (lol-but wasn't funny limping a starving for fuel bike home twice in four days, including some roadside networking with a Sheriff Deputy!)
Relocated 1986 tank and bodywork and spare bodywork to make 1994 all red
Moved/removed antlers and hard bags for commuting use, then back to 1986
Re-bleed front brakes but still too soft.  Replaced pads but still not gripping right
Drained radiator fluid and scavenged down pipe and hose for use on 1986
Documented brake and fork repairs needed prior to returning to full-time use

So I've been using 2.5 Connies to keep one on the road.  Tomorrow I celebrate 7 months of not owning a truck or car for me and only occasionally using a family members or friends!

Keep the knees in the breeze friends!

1400 miles to go

Just a quick post as I haven't updated this blog in a while.  I'm still riding the 1986 Connie and slowly getting the 94 back together.  The 86 now has 98,600+ miles on it and depending on work travel should roll over 100,000 miles in April.  Then it will be time for a tough decision as the registration is due that month.  It's not very expensive to renew, but I will be re-registering the 94 once it's back on the road too.  Insuring and registering two bikes (plus the project bike when it's done) gets expensive since I travel a lot and can only ride one anyway!

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.

Quick post on total mileage

I found a formula error on my mileage database last night, so when I updated the numbers my average mileage jumped up to nearly 19 miles a day for the past twelve years.  I'm also 221 miles short of 85,000 lifetime miles on a variety of bikes.  I'll probably do those miles by Sunday between my annual pre-Thanksgiving Dinner ride and other trips.  The 1986 Kawasaki Concours went over 96,500 today as I close in on 100,000 total on that bike-it had about 81,000 when I bought it.

Have a great Thanksgiving and hope you can get some riding in if the weather is nice where you are.

Riding again-fairing bracket welds worked great!

Got the 1986 Kawasaki Concours back together yesterday morning before church.  It was pretty straight foward although tabs my neighbor welded between the supports were a bit of an obstruction for the speedometer.  Tightening the bolts down pulled the brackets together tightly enough not to be an issue.  Also everything had to be squared back up, and all the years of various repairs and work-arounds had to be sorted out.  Some are no longer needed while others needed adjustments-like brute force to line up the windshield, the main fairing and the inner fairings!

I rode around some yesterday-no real "ride" but so far it's a big improvement.  Lots of the bouncing and shaking is gone, and the signs of rubbing and chafing I saw during this project were likely caused by the fairing bracket failures.  3621 miles to 100,000!

Update on Kawasaki Concours Main Fairing Bracket Re-welding

I got my Kawasaki Concours main fairing back from my neighbor, and as usual he did a much better job than I anticipated and looks great.  Not only did he repair the cracks in the tubing, he cleaned up the old repairs and made triangular pieces to reinforce the corners.  He also repainted that area a nice gloss black-covering up the faded and scratched paint and some rust.

While its not really late time wise, I just flew in from the East Coast and three hours "ahead" still.  I'll maybe re-install it tomorrow morning, especially if I wake up long before I need to be at church.

I'll also get some photos of the great work Mark did!