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!

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.

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!

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.

First Ride of 2017 and a non-motorcycle post

So far, so good-one day into 2017 and I've ridden.  My best friend and his wife have always hosted a "Greens and Peas New Year's Celebration."  He passed away six months ago, so his widow and some friends put it on again this year.

Since they gave me his Harley, I rode it up there today, had a nice visit with lots of friends, and also ate my fill of greens and black-eyed peas.  Here's to 2017 and my dollars and cents!

And on to the non-motorcycle part of this post.  Yesterday I attended the San Diego International Auto Show for the first time.  I've lived in San Diego off and on for nearly 30 years and have never been.  Used to the International Motorcycle Show (IMS) in Long Beach, and seeing the crowds around the convention center for Comic-Con, I've always stayed away worried it will be super crowded.

Boy, was I wrong!  Yes, we've had what could be considered bad weather for San Diego lately, but I was surprised at how modest the crowd was.  I got to see and sit in most the vehicles I planned on and even got to take more test drives than expected.  I test drove a Ford Fusion (I am considering a hybrid or Energi for my next car), and the new Fiat 124 Spider and Mazda Miata.  Both share some components, as the very knowledgeable Mazda test drive hostess and a product specialist pointed out.  I also didn't know that Mazda is now sourcing their parts internally-their partnership with Ford ends when a few more engines are used up-and they now rent/sell technology to other makes.  That is why the Fiat Spider had similar parts.

I hope to post more frequently in 2017-thanks for sticking with this very infrequent blogger!

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!

3-Ride Review: Harley-Davidson Heated Jacket Liner

Good afternoon, loyal reader(s)!


It's time for another one of my very sporadic 3-Ride Reviews.  Today I am reviewing a Harley-Davidson heated jacket.  I'm not exactly sure of the model as it is an older one given to me by a friend probably a year and a half ago.  I didn't immediately put the pigtail on the battery as last winter I wasn't riding as much as I plan on this winter due to a different job.


First, a description of the jacket.  It's a black lightly insulated jacket with a windbreaker like exterior and wiring throughout-the front, back and sleeves are all wired.  It zips all the way up to a closed neck (good) and has light elastic cuffs and bottom.  There are plenty of extra plugs for gloves and probably heated pants liners too.  On the inside left is a pocket that holds the lead to the wiring harness on the bike, and it had an on/off rocker switch when my friend gave it to me.  The front outside right has a plasticized H-D patch that is tasteful and I could likely get off if I really wanted to (I no longer own a Harley) and the back center has a 1x2 inch or so Harley eagle and "AN AMERICAN LEGEND" patch sewn on.  I'm not sure I'll ever run this jacket without some top layer, so these patches are no big deal.


My first ride in this jacket was Sunday morning, and it was 36 in my garage, 39 per the official weather app on the phone.  Jacket warmed up quickly and I could feel the welcome heat at in town speeds.  About 10 minutes later I was on the freeway and cruising along for about 25 minutes at California early morning freeway speeds-so plenty of cooling wind.  I was wearing an Aerostitch suit, but the top zipper is malfunctioning and opened partway through the ride.  No big deal, as the liner kept up and I never was chilled.  Riding home at 10 AM I plugged in the liner, so test ride 2 was at more moderate temperatures-roughly high 40s/50ish.  This time I had to cycle the liner a few times, as I kept the suit sealed and the liner generated more than enough heat.


Ride three was this morning.  Again, the temperature was below 40 when I left the house.  I kept the suit sealed better this time, and once I got off the freeway for the last ten minutes riding to work I kept the switch off.  I was only wearing a light dress shirt under the liner and could really feel the heat after about a minute, and then for the rest of the ride.


This liner is an XL, which might be one size too big for me (I'm 5'10" and 180) but also allows easy layering under and above, which might not be possible if it was a large.  Considering it was a gift, I'm quite happy with the size!


Pro's-plenty of heat, easy hook up to battery then one plug, quality construction
Con's-A bit extra wiring  in leads (at least the way my bike is laid out), ripstop outer construction requires outer layer

It's been over a month....

Wow, just realized I haven't blogged in a month!  But I just got a new HJC helmet, so I'll post a "2 Ride Review" later tonight or tomorrow.  Sorry for the break.

The perils of riding in San Diego

We have it really rough here in SoCAL!  Not only can we ride year round, riding on holidays is always a special treat.

And it's going to be really really bad on Christmas Day!  The weather forecast from AccuWeather says it all:  "Sunny and beautiful".  So we get a day to celebrate Christ's birth, enjoy family, give and get presents, eat all kinds of yummy treats AND a "sunny and beautiful" day to go riding if we don't slip into a candy, cookies and feasting coma first!

Yep, we have it so rough out here.  hee hee.

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.

Just a quick post to get back to posting

After nearly completing the "Post a Day in November" challenge successfully between my blogs, I fell off a cliff in December.  So to get started again I'm posting to both the motorcycling blog and the fitness blog with links and not much else.  RoadRunner magazine posted a good article online about packing for a touring trip.  For those of us in warmer climes, it's applicable now!  For those that have had to winterize their bikes, it will at least help you dream and plan.  Here's the link:

RoadRunner Travel

That's it for tonight-safe riding!

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.

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? :-)

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!

Today's riding and wrenching

This morning I did one of my usual loops just to get a ride in.  I'll post more when it's not so late, but it was a good ride.  I enjoy this 40 or so mile loop when I get a chance to ride it either as part of a longer ride or for a quick hour or so break.

I also removed the main fairing and main fairing bracket from the Connie for some repairs.  The bracket has a couple of cracks in it and needs welding back together.  This area has obviously had some work beforehand.  My neighbor is going to clean it up and see what he can do.  I routinely remove the main fairing from the bracket and then remove the bracket if needed and made a short video on how I do that.  I probably won't post it for a week or so however as it needs some editing and I'll be away from the computer I do that with for a little while.

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!