UTMC

Good...bad?

Scooter is really good, no problems.

Goldwing needs better handlebars, got a set of off-road type at Bent-bike, they were wide enough. but didn't reach back far enough.

Fiddling with the handlebars, the throttle cables got stiff, now I need to fiddle with them!

Apparently, there are front forks that will fit on my bike that have the axle set 1 or 2 inches forward of the centerline of the fork.

That, and the wider handlebars would help a lot with the handling issues with the sidecar.

That's all for now, but

Thanks for Askin'!

Rex is right on time. Runs like a proverbial japanese copy of a swiss watch. Been riding to work to save parking dollars. Today, rode to house inspection, then took a long fucked up, get lost way home. Was absolutely splendid. Met a kid in my "maybe" new neighborhood. He was about nine. The subject was broached that I had other bikes. He asked me if all of them looked as cool as the Rex.


Made my fucking day!

HD has not been ridden. I am trying to ease myself into getting rid of it. The Buell? Need some tires and parts. I lust for that bike, yet it mocks me at the moment. The 250? Muerte. Crushed. Oops. Not my fault.

I have a 6fitty somewhere. Uh, yeah.

My lack of self-control in the bike adoption arena needs to stop. I think once the douchecanoe is gone? Will fund storage expansion, and then perhaps a suitable scooter. The REX needs to stay until it dies. The Buell? Ditto. The rest? Who knows. I love them all, in spite of the drama and money they cause/cost me. Bikes are my television, my Prozac, my happy place. Today? The one I rode? Did exactly what I asked. As it has many times. Seka is indeed a great friend.

Motorbikes are soulless machines - metal, plastic, grease, and fire - nothing more. Therefore, they cannot treat you in any manner. They simply do what you tell them to do, and function according to how you treat them.

That being said, mine are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.

Pretty good. Creeping up on 80000 km (50000 miles), all mine, still feelin' the love. Might want to take a look at the clutch this winter.

Well the 610 has been doing my bidding with unending willingness........... just don't ask how I've been treating it.

KZ is running like a champ and hasn't required anything but oil changes and a valve adjustment in the last couple years. I have really been enjoying that bike lately. That said, it could probably use a set of plugs (haven't changed them in a long while). It hesitates ever so slightly when rolling on from cruise to pass on the freeway.

With the hot weather, I've been avoiding the windshield of the Strom, so it hasn't even been ridden for a week or two.

we don't get along very well lately. i don't know why. I tried to save us some quality time together, took her here and there, uptown, country, bought her accessories...
but it just didn't feel like before. I kept having this uncomfortable feeeling, something about me not knowing how to threat her, she seemed lazy, like she put on weigh or lost energy. my feelings for her were slowly decreasing and i caught myself several times looking at others, or even having fantasies about some other model in magazines. I just didn't know how to handle her anymore.
It's not you baby, i's me I told her all the time. but I knew well that even if on hollidays, I negleged her. left her alone downstairs in her room and rather play/work on the computer instead.
then I got some money and decided to buy her new socks. she ws still runnning on winter's old socks and they were seriously worn out.
and now it's like our second honeymoon, she's sundenly vivid, fun, fast, makes me laugh and I feel like riding her all the time.
it wasn't me, it was her all along.
bitch.

I put on stainless front lines the other night, and went for a test ride the next day. It was nice having pressure for a change!

My bike's doing just fine, feels great to ride, very visceral. The seat's hard, the suspension is hard, but I really don't notice it when I'm riding. Even though the clip-ons are way down there, it just feels right to me. Comfortable, even.

I've been totting up a list of things it needs and upgrades I could do...
I'm a little low on fork oil.
I need to fab up a chain guard. I've got some 1" square aluminum tubing, might try to machine something out of that.
I need to check valve clearances to see how they've settled in.
This Winter I might drop in a set of high lift GPz750 cams... but I've got to get the electric Spectre tach working first because the lumpy cams don't have a tach drive.
I still want to find an 18" rear wheel and switch to this aluminum GS1100E swingarm that's hanging on my wall.

My bike and I saved each others asses on Saturday when we launched into an unmarked 15mph hairpin at 55ish, got along fine on the rest of that run and survived the altitude up trailridge road on the way home. For a day probably significantly north of three hundred miles of mostly fun mountain roads it was a lovely one with nary a complaint from the bike, although by the end my neck was angry and my ass had left.

/RM

The GTR's running fine at the moment although I feel a new clutch is in order. I nicked the back wheel off the other bike and got it through a MOT.

The Chop is languishing in ignomany at present with the clutch STILL in bits. No time no time.

The BMW is solidly reliable with just a knackered battery to overcome each time I try to start it.

The pit bike needs a new chain tensioner (sitting on the saddle, ready to go) and a load of fields to play in!

Just need 34 hour days.

Having something broken or malfunctioning on my bike is the point of stasis at which all forces within and acting on the bike are at rest. It is the way.
This time it's the headlamp switch. Which might explain why that guy pulled out right in front of me yesterday.

Barista. Cool. And I thought it meant kind of like a lawyer.

Mine works better than it actually has a right to. The whole is definitely more than the sum of the parts.

VFR800=reliable

Not that my broken leg has allowed me to touch it in the last month, maybe ina few weeks. In the mean time, my best friend is riding it daily and she continues to please.

The VT is, as ever, "in progress." Haven't touched the damn thing in months.

The Speedy is being bitchy, but she's in TV200's capable hands to get back on the road... but DAYUM, I miss having my bike!

(M's Savage is running very well, also thanks to Mr. TV200, but it doesn't have quite the oomph I require for my moto fix.)

:L

--Jaeger

I spent the weekend riding a 45 year old scooter and loving it. It was brought to life from its long sleep in storage and in barns and, at some point, somewhat underwater, for this weekend. I usually ride newer scooters with the rotary induction and I really enjoyed the way this piston-ported bike went down the road. It has a lower frequency of vibration that gives a relaxed feel to the ride- funny how that can be as true at 160cc as it is at 1380ccs! The soft old springs and sprung bench seat gave it a lazy, bouncy feel. The speedometer needle bounces patiently around 60kph no matter how fast you are going, and the brakes encourage a lively and alert foresight. The paint (what remains) is original, so it was just cleaned up with mild abrasive and hit with Pledge.



Thanks to scoot.net user Adam for the pic. Check out the Smallstate gallery to see what he and I were up to this weekend.

That scooter treated me great this weekend.

My bike, VN750, runs just fine. She's jetted way to rich, possibly only at idle-20%, or maybe throughout the band. Smells like she's throwing gas out the tailpipe in the alley when I start her up. Once warmed up, she won't even idle at a stoplight without me revving above 2500 rpm (idle 1100). Otherwise, no complains, plenty of pep. We ran down a few county highways last night together. Quite a lot of fun. She saved both our asses on an "OH shit, gravel on a 35mph turn that's being taken at 65", for which I thank her. I'll tune her carb in Sept when twotimes has a garage.

Just got my 5k service done, and elected for a bit extra while it was in the shop.

With a new ignition chip, derestricted airbox, and debaffled pipe, the Tuono feels like it's off it's meds now!

The persistent reluctance to run evenly at 35k is evidently just a "quirk" of this machine, and a constant encouragement to be in a steady state of acceleration.

It's noticeably more powerful and quick on throttle, loud as fuck, and I've come to accept the riding position as pretty damn comfy, if not ultra sporty.

We're still getting fully acquainted, but all the little things I've been meaning to get to are finally done, and things are good.


Heading over to Lake Chelan for the weekend, and have a lovely and thrilling ride with JX planned. Maybe a "detour" via US 20 is in order?

Whiskeywrist wrote:run evenly at 35k

That is an awful lot of revs for a twin

/RM

roadmissile wrote:

Whiskeywrist wrote:run evenly at 35k

That is an awful lot of revs for a twin

/RM

Oooohhh, i need that chip!

It's just the around town stuff when it gets annoying- I'll have it sputter right when I'm over in a tight, slow corner- it can be a bit alarming!

It may just be my riding style, too.

I'm not used to having to use the clutch so aggressively to modulate my speed- my SV and my TS3 were both just buttery in all rpm's, and I never had to develop those skills...

3

POINT

5k

rather.


*ahem*

Decimals are dodgy little fucks- gotta watch em like a hawk!

Looks like good bike Karma is coming into play for one and all...life is good.

On the bad side of shit.

CVT is rooted, and that may not be all. Parts are looking like being pricey: one guy said about $300, which is a lot to put into a scoot that you paid nothing for, and wouldn't necessarily buy in the first place if it cost much more than that.

Not really sure what I'll do with the little fucker right now.

I certainly do miss the bugs in my teeth.

Douchecanoe started leaking oil.. needs an outer primary gasket.. 33k miles on it so i guess i shouldn't bitch all that much.

the yammycycle sits in the garage, neglected. i don't feel like tearing into it.. and the crazy daytime heat continues to sap any motivation.

The rmz takes a licking and doesn't ever gripe. unless its hot and it boils over.. but i ride the shit out of it and it seems to enjoy it.

Whiskeywrist wrote:It's just the around town stuff when it gets annoying- I'll have it sputter right when I'm over in a tight, slow corner- it can be a bit alarming!

It may just be my riding style, too.

I'm not used to having to use the clutch so aggressively to modulate my speed- my SV and my TS3 were both just buttery in all rpm's, and I never had to develop those skills...

Can you tweak the Throttle Position Sensor like on the SV? Makes it much more controllable in-town at low RPM.

I don't think it's a TPS issue- it's fine from idle to 3k, and again at about 4, but there's a rough/inconsistent patch right at 3 and a half.

It seems to run better in that band cold, too.

I did the TPS twiddle on my SV, and know exactly what you mean.

Maybe just a mapping issue?

Something I could pin down with a PC and a Dyno eventually...


Another side effect of the recent work: 3-5 more mpg! This bike's never been a sipper, so having 35-38 a gallon is pretty good.

Not running, for the second time in two months. All for some stupid fucking spring that some dimwit took out, and it's cost me $100 in synthetic oil alone so far, not to mention labor and time missed at work trying to fuck with it. When it runs, it runs faster than shit, but it's not worth a fuck to me if it doesn't start every goddamn time and go when I tell it to, efficiently and without breaking. I'm going to fix these problems ( petcock, floats and oil plug) and if it fucks up again in the next 6 months I'll sell/trade her, no fucking mercy. I want a Uly or a Strom anyway, the Bandit has too much power to be good for my license anyway...

at the risk of jinxing things...THE 916 IS ROCKING THE FREE WORLD!!!!!

Needs a new front tire and an oil change (both on the slate for this weekend). Thereafter, LOOKOUT PCH! The goose is coming to tame ya!