What did you do with your bike today?

Got back from Maggie Valley, NC, late Sunday night. I rode up to Panama City on Thursday and did about 400 miles, a bit longer than it should have been due to an unplanned detour. The ride along the Gulf beaches on US 98 was beautiful. At PC I loaded the CB350 onto my friend's trailer and rode up to NC with him. (I felt like I was cheating!)

Friday morning we ran the Blue Ridge Parkway from the west to NC215 with me as Ride Captain. That afternoon we ran part of it again, with me as part of the group. Worked out well, as a few of us wanted to ride aggressively and a couple wanted to cruise slow. We had the fast riders in front and just waited for the slower ones at each stop or intersection. Everyone got what they wanted.

Saturday morning we (board of directors of VJMC) met with Dale and Matt Walksler of Wheels Through Time Museum and discussed doing future events there. Then lunch at the museum and then a ride up to Hot Springs on 209, aka The Rattlesnake.

I probably rode 300 miles up in the mountains and drug pegs a couple times. We left on Sunday and my friend dropped me off at Thomasville, GA, and I rode home from there for a ;length of, I think, 300 miles.

I'll try to post pics later. Monday I was sick and I am just now catching up.

Cheers,

Mike

Behind now, as the last few days have been pretty busy. Just got back from a ride on my Bonnie to north of Spartanburg, SC, and back. Left Thursday night about 11 pm and arrived 12 hours later. Had lunch and climbed a tree and waited for sunset. Climbed down and did the same thing the next two days. No deer; apparently they have not had the requisite cold snap to set in the rut. Got up Monday and rode 13 hours home.

Got up this AM and headed to the Orange County Convention Center for the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIM Expo) where VJMC was setting up a few vintage bikes. They were at 24 when I left in the afternoon and expected 4 more today. The Expo is shaping up and looking like it is going to be a great event with Suzuki and Yamaha there and many other exhibitors, over 300 they say. I will be there all morning and until about one tomorrow through Friday and then all day Sunday and Saturday. Stop by! The club is going to raffle off a few of my books during the show.. Maybe you'll get lucky.

Cheers,

Mike

Went out and took a photo of the engine bar and skid plate. All I did so far was run to the post office and to lunch.



Cheers,

Mike

As usual, I am a day or two late.

The Bonnie had rolled past 24,000 over a thousand miles ago, so I decided it was time to check the valves. I had put it off because I didn't want to disable the bike while I waited for new shims, if required. Finally got down to it and found all the valves within spec, with the exception of the left hand exhaust, but the specs call for .250 mm to .300 mm. Both exhaust valves measured .305 mm, which I figured was close enough, being just out by 5/1000 and on the loose side. This saved me having to pull the camshaft and wait for new shims.

Ran out on the CB350, while the Bonnie was "topless," to the auto parts store and picked up new plugs. After 12,000 miles the old ones were a bit black, but had always checked out nice and tan before, so I am assuming the air filter needs need changing, which is recommended every 12 grand, anyway. The filter looked clean, but then it is hard to know by sight whether the filter is clear or not. Makes sense, though, that if the bike continued shooting the same amount of fuel into the cylinders, with less air, that I would end up with black plugs. Guess I'll order a new filter and see how that goes.

Then yesterday, all I did was ride out to lunch on the Bonnie and pop in to the local Walmart (ugh!) to check out mounts and accessories for GoPros. At AIMExpo I had gotten a coupon for $100 off, so in the next couple days I plan to buy a Black Edition. Also rode up to the local watering hole last evening, hoping to catch a friend, Dan, who has a almost new pair of chaps in his saddlebags that he is going to give me. Dan didn't turn up, so I guess I'll go up tonight again and see if I have better luck catching him. (Don't worry folks, I was drinking O'Douls!)

Today, I have a crazy idea to make up my own saddlebag standoffs for the Triumph. Going to go out and measure up the mounting dimensions, and later pick up some rod (I already have some flat stock for the mouning tangs) to try and weld something up. I love my Cortech bags (with clip on top bag), but the back side is getting chewed up a bit rubbing on the shocks, so I am hoping to preserve them this way. I am not much of a welder, but this seems like a good thing to practice on and something my little arc welder could handle.

Cheers,

Mike

Got back from a family trip to Spartanburg, SC, yesterday. On the way up on Thanksgiving Eve, 300 miles from home and 300 miles from our destination, the alternator bit it. Got to spend Thanksgiving morning, bumming ride to Brunswick and hauling back and alternator, then installing it in the cold of the parking lot at the hotel. Ended up getting to my brother's place for dinner on Thanksgiving, with no more problems.

Got on the bike today. My wife forgot her medication when she went to work, so I rode it over to Lakeland, about 30 miles from here. On the way back I had my only really close call and almost went down. I was turning left off the hgihway. There were two cars in front of me and a truck/trailer in front of them, all turning left, too. I took on outside entry and swung wide for the corner, when the two cars in front slammed on their brakes. Luckily I was not close, but they stopped in the middle of the turn. I applied the brakes quickly but with too much back brake and the rear slid around to my right. Somehow, I managed to ease the brake and keep it from going down, because, I think, I was already starting to straighten up because of my wide entry. Turns out the truck/trailer had dropped a truss in the turn. I don't know how the cars, who were on top of each other and close to the back of the trailer, didn't hit each other or the truss. Funny, it didn't even shake me up that much (although I stopped down the road to check the bike and see if I needed to chill form a minute). I found a nice new tire rub on the rear at about forty five degrees, but all else was fine. Time just kind of stood still while it was happening and I did not panic, just thought to myself, well, here it goes! I was sure I was going down, although I was probably only going 20-25. I thought as it happened what a hassle this would all be if I went down.

Cheers,

Mike

Always a day late...Here's what I did yesterday:



Scottoiler V-System. As time goes on and I can see how it performs, I will report back, but almost every review I've seen is positive.

Cheers,

Mike

Took the Bonnie out for a short ride to see how the new rear tire felt. I just had this mounted yesterday. The Metzeler Lasertec (OEM) tires have been pretty good but I have been a little disappointed at how quick the rear wears, and they're not made for gravel or dirt riding. My rear had flattened in the middle pretty badly; so much so there was almost no tread left in the center while the tread was almost like new on the sides. Thanks Florida riding! I am trying this Pirelli Scorpion Trail on the rear which is designed for 90% or so onroad and 10% dirt/gravel. The tread looks pretty beefy compared to the Metzelers, but time will tell if they wear any better. I was impressed so far, though, with the feel of this new rubber, althoug I took it pretty easy as these were just the first few miles.

This picture also shows the new location of the caliper. Stock is pretty vulnerable in front and below the swingarm. This ought to be much better.



Cheers,

Mike