Latest update

Hope all is well with you both and you’re staying on top of the study / work thang.

Mum hasn’t vomited this weekend – she managing the anti nausea medication better (taking it before she needs it) and so was able to bypass that bit.

We had a nice day yesterday – Eugene came for lunch, Rene cooked, I bought Mum a silly fluffy hat in the shape of a cat to keep her head warm and it was all very relaxed and lots of laughs.

Typically, she took all of this as a sign that she was ‘getting better’ and evidence of how ‘tough’ she was but of course that’s not the case at all, the mouth ulcers are starting and the hair is beginning to cover the pillow in the mornings and come out under the shower. Today she’s at a psychological low point. The hair coming out is distressing her more than I thought it would, so we had a chat today and next time I come, we’ll take what’s left off and be done with it – make a day of it – funny photos and all.

Get home from work, grab the mail, dump it on the kitchen table. Amongst the usual junk I notice an odd (old) looking hand written letter – don’t really get many hand written letters these days. On it is a return to sender label dated 1.10.11. It’s immediately clear, without paying too much attention, that the handwriting is neither mine nor Cindy’s.

Closer inspection reveals that it’s post marked May 26, 1944  Check out the 3 cent stamp with an eagle pictured and the words ‘Win The War’.

The envelope is in bad shape, and torn open in several places. Perhaps we’re not meant to read it – after all, it’s not for either of us.

Regardless of the contents, this conjures up some curious thoughts like how does a letter survive/exist within the USPS system for over 66 years and why would they send it back now?

Of course, we’re probably gonna try to find out who it belongs to and see if we can get it to the rightful owner, or a surviving relation as might be the case.

Another thought; the house we live in was built in 1930 – wonder if the letter was sent by the original home owners.

This is kinda cool and creepy at the same time.

It’s been a long winter, by California standards, and while it’s not quite over, I’ve decided to deal with the cool temps and plan a ride for myself this weekend. For various reasons, I couldn’t find anyone available to come with me, so it looks like it’s just me, myself and I. No worries, riding is, for the most part, a lone experience – just means I won’t have anyone to shoot the sh*t with at the end of the day’s ride.

Given the season, It seemed to make sense to pick a destination where the chances of decent weather are more likely, so I went with “hottest, driest, lowest”.

We’ve been to Death Valley many a time – used to be an annual ritual, part of a rally gathering (Death Valley Daze DVD, for those that are familiar). Seems we don’t do the rallies so much these days – not that they’re not fun, but sometimes the associated rules, conditions and politics can dampen the experience.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been, and not that I’m expecting much to be different, it’ll be good to go back as it such a unique destination.

I’ll save details about the trip for my return and use this post to touch on the route I’m planning to take.

Dan, a long time friend, fellow rider and trip advisor (the guy knows more about California back-roads than anyone else I know), reminded me to consider taking 178 along the Kern river. It’ll add a few miles to the trip, but well worth it.

The plan is to leave on Saturday morning, no later than 5am. I’ll eat before I go and other than fuel stops and photo ops, I’m expecting to only stop briefly for lunch. Looking to make it to Beatty, NV (Atomic-inn – it’s too cold to be camping) by around 3pm that day.

Because I’m staying in a hotel, I should be able to pack light which will leave room for things like extra camera gear, tools, 12v compressor, tire repair kit and my Kindle.

Should be a fun. I’m excited.

BMW design and colour/style departments seem to be challenged at times – beauty in the eye of the beholder? I think BMW did a pretty decent job styling the new K1300s, except when it came to the design of their “hatch” saddlebags. Unfortunately, these are the only hard bags offered by BMW Motorrad for the K1300s. Of course, I could go with some after-market option, but there isn’t a lot on offer (hard bag wise) that I think would work with the look of the bike. Then there’s soft luggage. It too has its pros and cons – I think the main con being that you usually can’t lock it – but it’s generally fairly easy to remove and there are some decent looking and functioning soft bag options on the market (many of which will work with most models of bikes rather than being bike specific).

Of course, BMW has a range of soft luggage; tanks and tail bags. After spending some time researching the net, I focused, in particular, on a (BMW Sport 2 soft bag) 52 litre tail bag that seems to be getting good reviews. Not a fan of the space-suite silver finish, but that seems to be typical, strange, BMW styling cues (why can’t they just offer it in plain black…).

BMW Sport 2 Soft Bag

Given that it’s BMW (Broke My Wallet) branded, it was a tad expensive, but it does seem to be a nicely made, well thought out piece of kit.

It includes a nice, clean mounting system – hooking over the rear seat or tail rack if you have one – the bottom is a hard plastic/rubber which helps it maintain its form, it has plenty of pouches and sensible zippered access points as well as an internal waterproof liner, carry handles and a shoulder strap.

I haven’t taken it out yet – weather’s been a bit cold of late – but I’m hoping to plan a get away for sometime in the new year where I can test it out.

So far though, I’m happy with the purchase. As for the silver finish – well, it’s kinda growing on me (although I still wish they’d offer it plain black).

55lt sport 2 bag

Front view

Tags: Bikes, Bmw, Bmw Motorcycle, Bmw Motorrad, Bmw Sport, Bmw Styling, Cues, Decent Job, Hatch, Litre, Luggage, New Year, Pouches, Pros And Cons, Rear Seat, Saddle Bags, Saddlebags, Soft Luggage, Tanks, Wallet, Weather

Changing out sprockets/counter sprockets on a regular chain driven bike is a fairly common practice, considered a cheap and easy way to change the gearing on a stock bike – taller for better freeway riding, shorter for city duty.

The Dyna, with its 6 speed transmission, is geared tall from the factory. In its stock setup, 6th gear is only really used at 80 mph and up (any earlier and it
starts to lug) – not very realistic when you consider the national legal limit is 75 mph.

I decided, since I primarily use the bike for around town (it has no fairing or windshield), that I wanted to lower the gearing.

Considering the Dyna’s drive configuration, there are several options to lower the stock  gearing (larger rear sprocket, smaller transmission sprocket, smaller engine sprocket), and of course, with each option you’ll need to weigh up any ‘negatives’ e.g. associated cost, effort (mechanical ability), specialty tools required, speed sensor impact, belt length, etc.). I decided to go with the smaller transmission gear (from 32T to 30T). The only real negative – speedo would be out by about 5-7 mph (speed sensor is driven by the transmission sprocket). I hear there is some electronic speed sensor calibration available, but at this point, I’m not too worried.

With the transmission sprocket buried in the primary/transmission case, this was going to be a bit more work than doing a gear change on a standard chain-driven bike.

Stock configuration runs a 32T txmn pulley, 66t rear sprocket and a 131t belt. Changing to a 30t txmn gear means we get to use the stock length belt. Parts list for this upgrade included:

• Andrews 30t transmission pulley (drag# 1201-0227)
• Primary gasket kit
• 5 new chaincase fasteners (recommended in service manual)
• Heavy-Duty clutch spring (optional)

“Special” tools list include:

I had been dragging my feet with the mod, between the honey-do list and wanting to ride in any spare time, the parts and tools lay on my work bench for weeks. I ended up taking the bike to Miles and Brian of DIA Motorsports to do the work. They have a great set up, clean shop, fast turn-around and they won’t charge you an arm and a leg.

FXDF Fat Bob

First thing I noticed was the clutch pull – it grabs earlier and more precisely.  Then it  was time for a test ride. Whoa! It pulls great. No more stumbling, lag, sluggish feeling. It’s smooth and fast. Also, looks like I can start using OD.

I did notice the speedo seems to be out quite a bit. I’ll run it with the GPS over the weekend to measure the difference. Maybe I’ll need to consider recalibrating the speedometer sooner rather than later.

If you’re considering this mod, I  highly recommend it – great bang for the buck upgrade.  I’m very happy with the outcome.

Here’s to hoping the weather holds out this weekend…

Tags: Dragging My Feet, Drive Configuration, Electronic Speed, Gasket Kit, Heavy Duty Clutch, Impact Wrench, Mechanical Ability, Rear Sprocket, Sensor Calibration, Special Tools, Specialty Tools, Speed Sensor, Speed Transmission, Speedo, Stock Bike, Stock Configuration, Stock Length, Stock Setup, Transmission Case, Transmission Gear, Transmission Pulley

7.3.2007 – 10.18.2010

We’ll miss your chirp…

Click here to see a few pics

Tags: House Sparrow, rescue

Took a little jaunt down south to meet up with a few friends to go ride Palomar Mountain. At least that was the plan. The weather turned out to be perfect, conditions were clear, traffic was light, and I was riding the ‘sleeper’ – couldn’t have asked for more. Of course there were seven of us that met up, and as the day rolled on, that number whittled down to three, but for those of us with the energy and desire to continue, we squeezed about as much out of the daylight hours as we could.

All told, at least for my part of the trip – from my house, I ended up riding just shy of 375 miles.

And that ride looked a little something like this…

SoCal ride

What a great day!

Palomar Mountain

Tags: Daylight Hours, Desire, Jaunt, Palomar Mountain, Traffic, Weather

Talk about a Homer Simpson moment…
Maybe I didn’t read/understand the instructions properly, and maybe the poor quality pictures didn’t help, but seems I didn’t install the 02 eliminators  Also, for some reason, TPS was set a WOT – which explains why the AT kept modify the map at 100%

Anyway, Mickey of Cohen Motorsports sorted it all out and the built a custom map for both the front and rear cylinders.

Not sure how the results stack up, but it sure does run a whole lot better – no more hiccups, surging, backfire, or pinging. Runs like a champ now! 

Tags: Champ, Eliminators, Hiccups, Homer Simpson, Map, Mickey, Poor Quality, Rear Cylinders, Stack, Tps, Whole Lot, Wot

Often the question asked when it comes time to buy a new lid.

I grew up in a country where helmets were mandatory (as they are in California), and wouldn’t dream of riding without wearing one. I currently have a 3/4 helmet, a couple of  full face helmets (getting old) and have had, in the past, a modular (flip up style) helmet. I always buy safety certified (DOT/Snell), but not always the most expensive kind (expensive doesn’t necessarily mean safer).

Ask anyone who knows and cares about quality safety gear, which is their favorite helmet manufacturer, chances are they’re going to say either Shoei or Arai – both great helmets, both (at least in the full face graphic version) generally pretty pricey. Luckily there’s a ‘fashion’ statement to the designs, and style which means, unless you’ve gotta have the newest model, you can often find deals on the web for closeouts of certain models. Case in point, Shoei just came out with their new X-12 helmet. However, the X-11 is still an excellent model (provided it fits your head shape). Is the X-12 really THAT much better than the X-11? If, like me, you don’t really think so, then good deals can be found on the ‘older’ x-11 models. Also, Arai just came out with their new RX-Q. Better than the ‘Profile’ model that fits my head shape?

Shoei X-Eleven K2

My point here is that I’m not one for spending top dollar for a helmet, although I do care that it has the appropriate safety ratings. But when it comes time to shop – albeit for a helmet or anything else – I like to shop for deals/bargains. I’ve been properly fitted for Shoei’s and Arai’s at vendor booths, and while I like their style, quality and looks, I just struggled with forking over $800 for one (I think I see helmets in the same class as good sunglasses – seems I’m prone to break/loose a good pair of expensive sunglass and fear the same of an expensive helmet).

So my bargain hunting paid off in the past when I scored a great deal on this Shoei X-Eleven Kagayama 2 TC-5 - in the colour and style that I really liked/wanted. It’s a great looking helmet (better in person) that fits me really well and I managed to buy it new, for approx 60% of retail value.

That’s a Shoei in my kit, now I just need (want) the elusive Arai – and here it is. It’s a (Hiroshi) Aoyama racer replica. Not necessarily the colour/graphic style I would have picked, but it’s growing on me (and the deal was too good to pass up).

Aoyama racer replica

And here is Hiroshi Aoyama aboard a 250cc KTM in the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix. Aoyama made his MotoGP debut this year Emmi Caffé Latte Team Honda aboard a RC212V. And as you can probably guess, a new Aoyama Race Replica has been released in recognition of the ride  - one which I wouldn’t mind buying when the dust settles and the price drops

Hiroshi Aoyama

Tags: Arai, Bargain, Bargains, C2, Case In Point, Closeouts, Fashion Statement, Full Face Helmets, Good Deals, Head Shape, Helmet, Helmet Manufacturer, Hunting, K2, Quality Safety, Safety Gear, Safety Ratings, Shoei, Snell, Sunglass, Sunglasses, Tc, Top Dollar, Vendor Booths

Unlike cars, where you can adjust the seat position, mirrors and steering column, bikes are rarely one size-fits-all. Okay, so that’s one excuse for modifying a bike, and in this case it applies to the Beemer. Having ridden the bike over long distances already, I’m able to recognize a couple of areas of adjustment that would help make the ride position more comfortable for me:

Issue #1: wrist pain

Proposed solutions: Grip puppies, bar risers, cruise control device (manual), strengthen (focus) more on supporting the upper body through the core

Related comments: The riding position, while not as aggressive as a true sport bike, still has me leaning forward more than I’ve been used to. I’ve installed a set of Grip Puppies, which help with dampening vibrations more than anything, and have ordered a set of IDI adjustable handlebar risers which I hope will help solve the problem (I’ll give an update once I have them installed). I’m also considering a set of rearsets, but will wait and see how the other changes work out. If you scour the net for reviews regarding, in particular, the K1200s and K1300s models, you’ll often come across discussions about specific techniques for riding theses bikes. The suggestions generally follow a theme of using your mid section to help support the weight of your upper body while riding. I’m not sure if there are similar discussions along these lines with other sport/sport touring bikes, but it seems somewhat common when talking about the later model KS bikes. I have tried the methods described by others, and it does indeed provide relief and improve the comfort level. However, it is – at least for me – quite an effort to maintain and sustain.  Ehh, maybe I need to stop being such a weakling – do my sit ups in the morning and eat my weeties.

Issue #2: wind protection

Proposed solution: aftermarket windscreen.

Related comments: Several windshield options available for this bike, but I hate that it can be such a crapshoot-expensive-trial-and-error exercise. I spent a bunch of time reading reviews and posting questions to help identify which particular windscreen would work best for someone of my height (5’11″). Finally decided on the MRA DB Racing shield. Given that you don’t really look through this shield to see, I went ahead and ordered the smoke/tinted version. As an added bonus, with the windshield installed, looks like the tinted version will also provide better visibility for the instrument cluster.  Again, I haven’t had a chance to ride with the new shield, but will report back  when I have.

Additional convenience, protection and usability items added include: triple tree base RAM mount for the GPS, and a very nice billet fuel cap made by SlingShot racing (cause we don’t need no stinkin’ factory key lock gas cap), and frame, fork and swing arm sliders from R-G Racing .

The weather for this weekend is looking perfect for riding.

Tags: Beemer, Cra, Cruise Control, Handlebar Risers, Issue 1, K1200s, Long Distances, Mid Section, Rearsets, Riding Position, Seat Position, Sit Ups, Sport Bike, Sport Touring Bikes, Steering Column, True Sport, Vibrations, Weakling, Wind Protection, Windshield, Wrist Pain