Toshi's thread
- Thread starter Toshi
- Start date
I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's DirtBikeSchool off-road motorcycle training class today. Specifically, I took the first part of it, the DirtBikeSchool Closed Range Exercises. It was a mixed bag. Here's why:
It cost too much, first of all. Maybe I was spoiled by the Washington State Patrol-sponsored MSF RiderCourses back out in Seattle, but those courses were $125 for two nights of classroom training and two full days out on the range with the (street)bikes. This was $250 for 8 hours split in "class" and on the dirt with a dirtbike and an instructor.It's not as if the Yamaha TT-R125L dirtbikes are any more expensive than the Honda CB125s/250s, Rebels and the like found at streetbike school. On that note, the 125cc bikes used were too physically small and undersprung for me to actually ride on the trail, although they were light weight and tractable aiding control in tight turning exercises.
I also was somewhat underwhelmed by the curriculum, which basically parallels the Basic RiderCourse for streetbikes only with different turning techniques substituted: hang off the outside of the bike in the turn on a dirtbike, stay parallel or hang off the inside of a streetbike. If I had never ridden a motorcycle of any kind before then the first several exercises might have been more useful, but I have around 5000 miles on the street now and know what a friction zone and a engine kill switch are, thank you very much. Another curriculum-related note is that the official CRE curriculum on the website ends with "Understanding steps to be covered in post-ride check." One of these steps is washing the bike. In my particular class, "understanding" was taken quite a bit farther, and I was told to wash the school-owned bike with soap and water by the coach, who stood around and did jack squat. I paid $250 to wash their bikes? What the hell?
That said, it was not all sob stories: I did get to ride around for several hours on a dirtbike and learned some new-to-me techniques that will be useful both in future dirt riding (avec ou sans motor) and in general street riding. I rode out of a third-gear powerslide. I am much more comfortable with the bike moving around underneath me on uneven terrain, which is initially a very unsettling feeling. I also got a lot of personalized feedback, as I was the sole student in today's "class."
Would I recommend the DirtBikeSchool to others? Only if the person in question didn't have any powered-two-wheeler riding experience, and maybe at a different location that doesn't force the paying customers to wash and rinse the school machines. Live and learn.
It cost too much, first of all. Maybe I was spoiled by the Washington State Patrol-sponsored MSF RiderCourses back out in Seattle, but those courses were $125 for two nights of classroom training and two full days out on the range with the (street)bikes. This was $250 for 8 hours split in "class" and on the dirt with a dirtbike and an instructor.It's not as if the Yamaha TT-R125L dirtbikes are any more expensive than the Honda CB125s/250s, Rebels and the like found at streetbike school. On that note, the 125cc bikes used were too physically small and undersprung for me to actually ride on the trail, although they were light weight and tractable aiding control in tight turning exercises.
I also was somewhat underwhelmed by the curriculum, which basically parallels the Basic RiderCourse for streetbikes only with different turning techniques substituted: hang off the outside of the bike in the turn on a dirtbike, stay parallel or hang off the inside of a streetbike. If I had never ridden a motorcycle of any kind before then the first several exercises might have been more useful, but I have around 5000 miles on the street now and know what a friction zone and a engine kill switch are, thank you very much. Another curriculum-related note is that the official CRE curriculum on the website ends with "Understanding steps to be covered in post-ride check." One of these steps is washing the bike. In my particular class, "understanding" was taken quite a bit farther, and I was told to wash the school-owned bike with soap and water by the coach, who stood around and did jack squat. I paid $250 to wash their bikes? What the hell?
That said, it was not all sob stories: I did get to ride around for several hours on a dirtbike and learned some new-to-me techniques that will be useful both in future dirt riding (avec ou sans motor) and in general street riding. I rode out of a third-gear powerslide. I am much more comfortable with the bike moving around underneath me on uneven terrain, which is initially a very unsettling feeling. I also got a lot of personalized feedback, as I was the sole student in today's "class."
Would I recommend the DirtBikeSchool to others? Only if the person in question didn't have any powered-two-wheeler riding experience, and maybe at a different location that doesn't force the paying customers to wash and rinse the school machines. Live and learn.
I do like my Versys after putting 2000 miles on it since buying it (used) in January, but it is not without its faults. Neither am I, for that matter, as I dropped it once on ice (yeah, my bad) back in February. I bent the rear brake pedal during that drop, and used a long wrench after surveying the aftermath to halfway bend it back. Why halfway? I could already see tiny cracks forming…
Anyway, I somehow overlooked in concentrating on the brake pedal that I also managed to crack off the outer 1/3 of my right foot peg. It's just not there. (It may have disappeared in spirited cornering sometime in the interim after being weakened or cracked in the drop, too, but for whatever reason I just noticed this last week.)
Additionally, on the topic of the bike's shortcomings rather than my mishaps, my wife complains mightily about the vibrations she feels through the passenger pegs while riding pillion. I'd also like a little less engine braking and a taller 6th gear so bumping up the front sprocket or dropping the rear a few teeth seems in order as well, especially since I'm about due for adjusting chain slack anyway.
This brings me to the point of this thread, to post a shopping list, partly for self-reflection before I pull the trigger in the next week or two, partly to have others look it over and make sure I'm not missing anything crucial, and partly to serve as a future resource for those who are in the same boat as me: looking for more comfortable front and rear foot pegs and seeking to get a little taller gearing.
I made up my shopping list through mrcycles.com. They're a bit more expensive than cheapcycleparts.com but they have the 2010 Versys parts listed whereas cheapcycleparts does not as of 6/9/10.
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 front foot pegs:
This thread shows how they look with lowering blocks that are not necessary for the install: http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6756)
Schematic: http://i47.tinypic.com/1zwni9x.jpg
Part Description
Part #
Quantity
Price
CIRCLIP-TYPE-E,10MM
# 482EA0100
2 (1 for each front peg's mounting pin)
$0.49 x 2 = $0.98
STEP,FR,LH for 2008 KAWASAKI Concours 14
# 34028-0031
1 (left rider's footpeg)
$28.81
STEP,FR,RH for 2008 KAWASAKI Concours 14
# 34028-0032
1 (right rider's footpeg)
$28.81
STEP,FR,RUBBER for 2008 KAWASAKI Concours 14
# 34028-0033
2 (1 rubber contact point for each rider's footpeg)
$13.65 x 2 = $27.30
SCREW
# 92009-1404
4 (2 to hold each front footpeg's rubber to the actual peg)
$2.25 x 4 = $9.00
PIN,12X42.5
# 92043-1594
2 (1 for each side to mount front footpeg)
$2.92 x 2 = $5.84
SPRING,STEP RETURN,LH
# 92145-0360
1 (spring for left rider's footpeg return)
$1.85
SPRING,STEP RETURN,RH
# 92145-0361
1 (spring for right rider's footpeg return)
$1.85
BOLT,BANK SENSOR
# 92153-1462
2 (1 for each side)
$2.76 x 2 = $5.54
2010 (rubber!) rear/passenger Versys footpegs:
Schematic: http://i46.tinypic.com/25fspoy.jpg
Part Description
Part #
Quantity
Price
BALL STEEL 1/4'
# 600A0800
4 (2 for each rear foot peg)
$0.29 x 4 = $1.16
CIRCLIP-TYPE-E
# 482EA5000
2 (1 for each rear foot peg)
$0.54 x 2 = $1.08
STOPPER,REAR STEP
# 32085-0047
2 (1 for each rear foot peg)
$2.70 x 2 = $5.40
SCREW
# 92009-1404
4 (2 for each rear foot peg, these hold the rubber to the peg itself)
$2.25 x 4 = $9.00
SPRING (rear foot peg return springs)
# 92145-1319
4 (2 for each rear foot peg)
$0.77 x 4 = $3.08
WASHER,16X26X2.3
# 92200-0043
2 (1 for each rear foot peg's pin)
$3.61 x 2 = $7.22
STEP,RR,LH for 2010 KAWASAKI Versys
# 34028-0129
1 (left rear/passenger foot peg)
$25.56
STEP,RR,RH for 2010 KAWASAKI
# 34028-0130
1 (right rear/passenger foot peg)
$25.56
STEP,RUBBER,FR,LH for 2010 KAWASAKI Versys (the whole reason to go to the 2010 footpegs, the rubber itself!)
# 34028-0133
2 (1 for each rear foot peg, same rubber found at all pegs regardless of front/back/left/right per the schematic)
$7.72 x 2 = $15.44
PIN,6X34 (note that the rear ones use 6 mm pins compared to the front's 12 mm)
# 92043-1271
2 (1 for mounting each rear foot peg)
$2.67 x 2 = $5.34
2008 Versys rear brake pedal replacement:
No schematic since this one's pretty straightforward, and all quantities 1 for this section.
BOLT-UPSET-WS
# 180AA0616
$0.45
LEVER-BRAKE,PEDAL for 2008 KAWASAKI Versys
# 43001-0084
$40.02
SPRING,BRAKE PEDAL
# 92081-1833
$5.51
WASHER,PLAIN,7MM
# 92022-228
$1.86
another WASHER, PLAIN (not 7 mm, apparently)
# 92022-326
$1.86
Kawasaki 16 tooth rubber damped sprocket: (part # confirmed here: http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=650&highlight=GOOD+16t+front+sprocket )
SPROCKET-OUTPUT,16T,# for Kawasaki
# 13144-0038
$34.60
All said and done my shopping cart is sitting at $293.10 now, with pricing again from mrcycles.com since they have 2010 Versys parts listed. That breaks down to $109.96 for the Concours 14 footpegs + mounting hardware, $98.84 for the 2010 Versys rear/passenger footpegs + mounting hardware, $49.70 to replace my bent brake pedal, and $34.60 for the rubber-dampened 16 tooth front sprocket.
It might be possible to save a bit of money off the totals above by reusing some of the existing mounting hardware (ie, front peg mounting pins) but I'm planning on playing it safe because the details are not exactly the same. In the example of the front peg mounting pins the 2008 Versys uses a 12x37mm pin while the 2008 Concours 14 uses a 12x42.5mm pin. It's a small difference but if it that's what it takes for things to slide on smoothly versus banging my head because a circlip won't go on in the garage then so be it.
Anyway, I somehow overlooked in concentrating on the brake pedal that I also managed to crack off the outer 1/3 of my right foot peg. It's just not there. (It may have disappeared in spirited cornering sometime in the interim after being weakened or cracked in the drop, too, but for whatever reason I just noticed this last week.)
Additionally, on the topic of the bike's shortcomings rather than my mishaps, my wife complains mightily about the vibrations she feels through the passenger pegs while riding pillion. I'd also like a little less engine braking and a taller 6th gear so bumping up the front sprocket or dropping the rear a few teeth seems in order as well, especially since I'm about due for adjusting chain slack anyway.
This brings me to the point of this thread, to post a shopping list, partly for self-reflection before I pull the trigger in the next week or two, partly to have others look it over and make sure I'm not missing anything crucial, and partly to serve as a future resource for those who are in the same boat as me: looking for more comfortable front and rear foot pegs and seeking to get a little taller gearing.
I made up my shopping list through mrcycles.com. They're a bit more expensive than cheapcycleparts.com but they have the 2010 Versys parts listed whereas cheapcycleparts does not as of 6/9/10.
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 front foot pegs:
This thread shows how they look with lowering blocks that are not necessary for the install: http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6756)
Schematic: http://i47.tinypic.com/1zwni9x.jpg
Part Description
Part #
Quantity
Price
CIRCLIP-TYPE-E,10MM
# 482EA0100
2 (1 for each front peg's mounting pin)
$0.49 x 2 = $0.98
STEP,FR,LH for 2008 KAWASAKI Concours 14
# 34028-0031
1 (left rider's footpeg)
$28.81
STEP,FR,RH for 2008 KAWASAKI Concours 14
# 34028-0032
1 (right rider's footpeg)
$28.81
STEP,FR,RUBBER for 2008 KAWASAKI Concours 14
# 34028-0033
2 (1 rubber contact point for each rider's footpeg)
$13.65 x 2 = $27.30
SCREW
# 92009-1404
4 (2 to hold each front footpeg's rubber to the actual peg)
$2.25 x 4 = $9.00
PIN,12X42.5
# 92043-1594
2 (1 for each side to mount front footpeg)
$2.92 x 2 = $5.84
SPRING,STEP RETURN,LH
# 92145-0360
1 (spring for left rider's footpeg return)
$1.85
SPRING,STEP RETURN,RH
# 92145-0361
1 (spring for right rider's footpeg return)
$1.85
BOLT,BANK SENSOR
# 92153-1462
2 (1 for each side)
$2.76 x 2 = $5.54
2010 (rubber!) rear/passenger Versys footpegs:
Schematic: http://i46.tinypic.com/25fspoy.jpg
Part Description
Part #
Quantity
Price
BALL STEEL 1/4'
# 600A0800
4 (2 for each rear foot peg)
$0.29 x 4 = $1.16
CIRCLIP-TYPE-E
# 482EA5000
2 (1 for each rear foot peg)
$0.54 x 2 = $1.08
STOPPER,REAR STEP
# 32085-0047
2 (1 for each rear foot peg)
$2.70 x 2 = $5.40
SCREW
# 92009-1404
4 (2 for each rear foot peg, these hold the rubber to the peg itself)
$2.25 x 4 = $9.00
SPRING (rear foot peg return springs)
# 92145-1319
4 (2 for each rear foot peg)
$0.77 x 4 = $3.08
WASHER,16X26X2.3
# 92200-0043
2 (1 for each rear foot peg's pin)
$3.61 x 2 = $7.22
STEP,RR,LH for 2010 KAWASAKI Versys
# 34028-0129
1 (left rear/passenger foot peg)
$25.56
STEP,RR,RH for 2010 KAWASAKI
# 34028-0130
1 (right rear/passenger foot peg)
$25.56
STEP,RUBBER,FR,LH for 2010 KAWASAKI Versys (the whole reason to go to the 2010 footpegs, the rubber itself!)
# 34028-0133
2 (1 for each rear foot peg, same rubber found at all pegs regardless of front/back/left/right per the schematic)
$7.72 x 2 = $15.44
PIN,6X34 (note that the rear ones use 6 mm pins compared to the front's 12 mm)
# 92043-1271
2 (1 for mounting each rear foot peg)
$2.67 x 2 = $5.34
2008 Versys rear brake pedal replacement:
No schematic since this one's pretty straightforward, and all quantities 1 for this section.
BOLT-UPSET-WS
# 180AA0616
$0.45
LEVER-BRAKE,PEDAL for 2008 KAWASAKI Versys
# 43001-0084
$40.02
SPRING,BRAKE PEDAL
# 92081-1833
$5.51
WASHER,PLAIN,7MM
# 92022-228
$1.86
another WASHER, PLAIN (not 7 mm, apparently)
# 92022-326
$1.86
Kawasaki 16 tooth rubber damped sprocket: (part # confirmed here: http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=650&highlight=GOOD+16t+front+sprocket )
SPROCKET-OUTPUT,16T,# for Kawasaki
# 13144-0038
$34.60
All said and done my shopping cart is sitting at $293.10 now, with pricing again from mrcycles.com since they have 2010 Versys parts listed. That breaks down to $109.96 for the Concours 14 footpegs + mounting hardware, $98.84 for the 2010 Versys rear/passenger footpegs + mounting hardware, $49.70 to replace my bent brake pedal, and $34.60 for the rubber-dampened 16 tooth front sprocket.
It might be possible to save a bit of money off the totals above by reusing some of the existing mounting hardware (ie, front peg mounting pins) but I'm planning on playing it safe because the details are not exactly the same. In the example of the front peg mounting pins the 2008 Versys uses a 12x37mm pin while the 2008 Concours 14 uses a 12x42.5mm pin. It's a small difference but if it that's what it takes for things to slide on smoothly versus banging my head because a circlip won't go on in the garage then so be it.
I rode today, joined for most all of it save the end-of-day twisties by Edgar on his Burgman 650 Executive, for the first half by Mike on his Kymco Bet & Win 250 (weirdest bike name ever), and for the last Connecticut-side bit by Dan on his wasp-like MP3 400. It was good. It was wet, it was dry, it was cold, it was hot, it was boring superslab and twisties alike. It was a little bit of everything, and a long day on the bike: 14+ hours start to finish albeit not non-stop and over 300 miles.
Actually, that's not quite true that it was a little bit of everything: there was a lot of antique motorcycle show, and I shot a bunch. I pared down the photos but still ended up with 44.
Gallery link: Rhinebeck Antique Motorcycle Show
A few teaser shots (click the link above to see the whole gallery!):
The motley crew at the end of the day, drying out the raingear:
Actually, that's not quite true that it was a little bit of everything: there was a lot of antique motorcycle show, and I shot a bunch. I pared down the photos but still ended up with 44.
Gallery link: Rhinebeck Antique Motorcycle Show
A few teaser shots (click the link above to see the whole gallery!):
The motley crew at the end of the day, drying out the raingear:
Trigger-pulling has been delayed, as our list of discretionary-spending priorities has been updated as such:
1) New mountain bike for me as I've been totally bikeless for almost a year and was limping along with just the 1996-era DBR Axis, set up as a fully-rigid mount, for several years before that. I'll also need a new helmet, clipless pedals (but not shoesI had the presence of mind to keep those around), and a floor pump.
The timeline for the bike + required ancillary goods is on the order of 10 days: when we start our next credit card billing cycle, that is. We pay our bill off every month but that's only through careful planning, not a regular huge surplus!
2) Motorcycle upgrades, to either be done at once or spread out across two months if cash flow dictates it to be so: gel seat pad and rubber mounted '10 Versys passenger foot pegs for Jessica, non-broken Concours 14 foot pegs and a unmolested/unbent brake pedal for me, and a top case with back rest to both store our junk/helmets when off the bike but to also allow for a range of clothing for planned longer two-up rides.
It's unfortunate that it takes several hundred dollars worth of hardware to duplicate the functionality built-in to scooters such as my MP3 (with the caveat that my MP3's under-seat storage could only barely hold my single full-face helmet while the top case I have my eye on will swallow both of ours simultaneously), but the numbers just weren't there for the scooter vs. my Versys. Cheaper, 50 lbs lighter, and 3x the horsepower is hard to argue against.
3) Replacement R/C plane for the one that sacrificed itself in the line of duty, the duty being teaching me how to fly. I'm thinking smaller, cheaper, slower, and potentially less devastating to crash as I'd really like for Jessica to learn to fly as well. Even if a small plane flies worse in windy conditions I'd like to give it a try, and it helps that there's a small plane option out there that is cheap, doesn't make any compromises for fashion (it looks like a carbon fiber stick with wings!), and has an upgrade path in that it's compatible with "real" radios.
Which plane am I babbling about? Park Zone Ember 2, with the 2 denoting that it has a 2.4 GHz DSM2 radio setup (either in ready-to-fly guise with a cheap DSM2-compatible transmitter or in bind-'n-fly guise where it comes with a receiver with which the purchaser binds their DSM2-compliant JR or Spektrum "real" transmitter).
4) New-gen iPhone 4s to replace Jessica's original-gen iPhone (handed down via me) and my 3G non-S. This is clearly the lowest priority, and we will only tackle this once we have the car paid off: that extra $212/month that will be freed up will nicely take care of the cost of two new iPhones at $199/pop over two months, and our ongoing costs shouldn't change much at all.
Oblig. disclaimer: With all these material desires we also have to make sure to use all of the stuff that we accumulate, donate or throw away that which we don't, and continue to seek fulfillment in all aspects of life (music, professionally, and in just hanging out with each other and acting goofy).
(What's in all this for Jessica? A new phone by wintertime, a more comfy riding getup on the bike, and a little plane that she shouldn't be afraid of. If it seems that most of this stuff is directed towards me, fear not that I'm being overly selfish: we track our personal spending on mint.com and she's currently about $1500 "in the lead" over the past 12 months. All this is my planning on how to catch up once we can afford to do so.)
On the topic of motorcyclesand what else do I write about these days? heh, besides everything else above, that is, right
I have this suspicion that some day I will end up with a tourer in the garage.
Why such an abomination? Well, I do like my wind protection. I don't really care about wind blast but I want more peace and quiet at freeway speeds, and a big full-fairing to duck behind really seems to be the ticket for that. A comfortable seat, heat, integrated GPS, ABS, and an adjustable windscreen (ideally while riding) are all options that are found on the old-man bikes that I find appealing because I'm an old man at heart.
Don't get me wrong: I'd love to do track days until the cows come home if I end up near a decent track, and a 600 supersport or a literbike would be great for that. I have no desire to find the limits of a sportbike on the street, however, as that'd most likely find me in jail, or in the hospital with a shattered femur. For riding on the road, at least outside of the stop-and-go of city traffic and the associated necessity for a slim bike for lane splitting, it seems that a tourer wouldn't be a half bad way to go.
I don't really envy the Gold Wing crew, tho: I appreciate the technical feat of making an 1800cc 6-cylinder motorcycle with ABS and gadgets up the wazoo including its airbag system (!), but my late-night browsing whim is caught by a truly weird-looking bike from America's "other" manufacturer, Polaris aka Victory.
Victory Vision Tour. Comes with ABS. Really expensive as are most tourers: try $23k. Looks straight out of the Jetsons as one can see above. Higher domestic content than H-D, chew on that Good reviews. 29 freakin' gallons of built-in storage space. Anti-tip extensions built on the floorboards that keep the thing upright and off its pricey plastics if dropped at slow speed, which is no joke since it weighs 900 lbs or so. Big honkin' 106 cu. in. V-twin. Has neither the grey-hair Bavarian stigma nor the grey-beard-and-HOG-regalia stigma of the H-D crew.
Have I mentioned that I tend to be drawn to weird-ass looking bikes? Heh. (and cars for that matter: I didn't cross-post it here but I was all gaga about the Nissan Juke and am trying to figure out whether it'd work out in Jessica and my future-car timeline, sometime before we head out of this joint in 2013 to start my fellowship.)
Why such an abomination? Well, I do like my wind protection. I don't really care about wind blast but I want more peace and quiet at freeway speeds, and a big full-fairing to duck behind really seems to be the ticket for that. A comfortable seat, heat, integrated GPS, ABS, and an adjustable windscreen (ideally while riding) are all options that are found on the old-man bikes that I find appealing because I'm an old man at heart.
Don't get me wrong: I'd love to do track days until the cows come home if I end up near a decent track, and a 600 supersport or a literbike would be great for that. I have no desire to find the limits of a sportbike on the street, however, as that'd most likely find me in jail, or in the hospital with a shattered femur. For riding on the road, at least outside of the stop-and-go of city traffic and the associated necessity for a slim bike for lane splitting, it seems that a tourer wouldn't be a half bad way to go.
I don't really envy the Gold Wing crew, tho: I appreciate the technical feat of making an 1800cc 6-cylinder motorcycle with ABS and gadgets up the wazoo including its airbag system (!), but my late-night browsing whim is caught by a truly weird-looking bike from America's "other" manufacturer, Polaris aka Victory.
Victory Vision Tour. Comes with ABS. Really expensive as are most tourers: try $23k. Looks straight out of the Jetsons as one can see above. Higher domestic content than H-D, chew on that Good reviews. 29 freakin' gallons of built-in storage space. Anti-tip extensions built on the floorboards that keep the thing upright and off its pricey plastics if dropped at slow speed, which is no joke since it weighs 900 lbs or so. Big honkin' 106 cu. in. V-twin. Has neither the grey-hair Bavarian stigma nor the grey-beard-and-HOG-regalia stigma of the H-D crew.
Have I mentioned that I tend to be drawn to weird-ass looking bikes? Heh. (and cars for that matter: I didn't cross-post it here but I was all gaga about the Nissan Juke and am trying to figure out whether it'd work out in Jessica and my future-car timeline, sometime before we head out of this joint in 2013 to start my fellowship.)
Holy crap this looks awesome:
Look at this. Click the link--RM's resizing does it no justice: http://i48.tinypic.com/abk00k.jpg
Then watch the trailer here: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/06/15/it’s-official-gran-turismo-5-is-coming-november-2-2010/
And, finally and most significantly, the official US release date has been set: Nov 2, 2010. Took enough time! When was the PS3 released again? Yeah, November 2006. No matter: GT5 looks awesome.
Look at this. Click the link--RM's resizing does it no justice: http://i48.tinypic.com/abk00k.jpg
Then watch the trailer here: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/06/15/it’s-official-gran-turismo-5-is-coming-november-2-2010/
And, finally and most significantly, the official US release date has been set: Nov 2, 2010. Took enough time! When was the PS3 released again? Yeah, November 2006. No matter: GT5 looks awesome.
I have a long history with balancing on two wheels.
I learned to ride bikes as a kid when I was 5 or so, and I recall riding a bicycle up and down the 30th floor hallway of our Manhattan apartment building a few years later. As I didn't know any better I thought the world of that opportunity. A few years later yet I delivered a paper route by bicycle on Mercer Island (near Seattle) in middle school, then moved southwards to a city with more open spaces nearby, Tacoma. My neighbor was keen on biking, and his enthusiasm soon rubbed off on me. Thus in 1993 my parents caved in and bought me my first real bike:
Incidentally, this is also around the age when I picked up trumpet:
That Proflex 550, horrible as it was in retrospect, was my pride and joy, and I rode it on trails all around Washington State. Here's an inadvertently artsy double exposure of me trackstanding while my friend (and best man at my wedding) Ruben waits for me to fall, or something along those lines:
Over the years that 1991-era Proflex 550 frame saw a new fork (cracked and bent the first one), stem (Girvin Flexstems weren't such a great idea even back then), handlebars (titanium!), clipless pedals, rear "shock" ("microcellular elastomer" instead of skateboard wheels, essentially), seatpost and seat, wheelset, and derailleur. By the end of its life it had about 3 inches of bottom bracket play from the sloppy main pivot.
By the time that it died I had become both more serious about the sport and more specialized in my interests. I had tried cyclocross racing and didn't quite get its allure, was a mid-pack Sport class xc finisher (not competitor by any means!), was obsessed with bike handling enough to take up observed trials, and had managed to chip off part of my ulna's olecranon process while biking down Blackcomb Mountain. Yes, you read that correctly, Blackcomb, not its neighbor now known for a monstrous bike park, Whistler: back in the day tours on Blackcomb were the only biking gig around up at Whistler Village. Funny how things change.
The fearsome-looking Canfield F1, one of the many bikes that I owned, knew, and rode.
As things changed, so did my bikes. Through high school, college, a brief stint in the working world, and medical school I went through many, many bikes. I'd save key components from one when I moved onto the next, selling the last frame and buying a replacement one used to minimize loss. In this way I went through the following bikes:
- an 18"--too big for me!--1996 Cannondale CAAD4 frame built up as an xc rig
- a GT Team Trials modified-class trials bike
- a 12.5"--way too small for me!--Specialized Stumpjumper M2 frame built up as a stock-class trials bike
- a Klein Quantum Race road bike bought in Palo Alto, CA during my brief stint at Palm, Inc.
- an Intense Uzzi SLX frame built up with a 150 mm travel 2001 Marzocchi Super T fork as an "all-mountain" bike before that term was coined
- a Planet X Bommer that I won in a contest and subsequently had stolen while parked at MIT for a rehearsal
- an Evil Imperial that I thrashed on the streets of Boston with everything from a rigid fork to a Monster T for comic relief
- a Canfield F1 prototype downhill bike bought from one of the homonymous Canfield brothers themselves
- a Diamondbackracing Axis frame--Tru-Temper triple butted tubes and Breezer dropouts!--built up with the finest of decade-old componentry
- and, finally, a commuter bike to end all commuter bikes, a REI/Novara hybrid with full fenders and a Nexus 8 hub that I built up as a homebrew electric bike with 48V 12Ah of LiFePO4 and 700 watts of power output to the ground
I may be missing a bike or two from the list above.
You get the point in any case: I loved bikes and my apartment was always full of them. This didn't last forever, however: I eventually lost that spark and, with mounting concern for the environment, felt it harder to justify mounting an expensive piece of metal (a bike) on an even more expensive piece of metal (a car) then driving several hours out of my way just to feel like I was experiencing nature. Thus I went from having up to 4 bikes at a time down to 3, to 2, to 1 and finally to 0 as of last fall, when I sold the electric bike to my parents, who live out west.
I didn't spend this time away from biking idly, of course: as should be amply obvious I took up motorcycling. Around where I live, in Long Island, it makes more sense to be on a powered two-wheeler in many ways: it can be stored outside securely; it can be ridden indefinitely at night rather than relying on expensive, finicky bike lighting; and it can keep up with the crazy, inconsiderate car drivers. In other ways it's very different, for the noise, the bulk of the machine (450 lbs wet versus 20 or 45 for a road or a downhill bike), for the restrictive safety apparel I choose to wear out of a spirit of self-preservation and a loathing of skin grafts, and for the type of people one meets. This is not to say that motorcycle or scooter riders aren't my type of person, but I feel more of an affinity with the biking crowd.
I missed riding: being able to get out in the woods and really pin it, not worrying about a cop around the corner or a car that might venture over the yellow line. Furthermore, I have ready-made riding buddies in the works: some of my scooter-riding friends have been riding easy trails recently, and one of my undergrad bike-riding buddies now in med school himself now lives less than an hour away and rides somewhat regularly.
Thus this winding tale comes to its point: I will be bikeless no more.
Just now I placed the order:
- 2009 Jamis Durango 29er mountain bike, on closeout from JensonUSA
- a surprisingly cheap replacement set of clipless pedals, as mine all either had bent axles or wore out years ago
- a brand-spanking new Giro Hex helmet for my large noggin
- a floor pump, as busting out the compressor each time tires need topping off isn't my idea of efficiency
A helmet is a helmet and a pump is a pump but the bike itself is kind of interesting looking, mainly because it's a 29er with those ungainly big hoops:
I'm psyched. These years away from the "bike scene"--greater than the 1 year physical absence from bikes would indicate--have cured me largely of my "gear whore" tendencies. Well that plus a much more strict budget these days In any case I'm totally ok with steel stanchion tubes and lower line components. I'm not planning on racing at any level--I'm fat, slow, and don't like self-inflicted pain of that amount!--and the bike won't be holding me back as it's a hardtail 29er with hydraulic discs, albeit one done up on the relative cheap. I'm in it for the ride this time around, and I hope it'll be a good one.
I learned to ride bikes as a kid when I was 5 or so, and I recall riding a bicycle up and down the 30th floor hallway of our Manhattan apartment building a few years later. As I didn't know any better I thought the world of that opportunity. A few years later yet I delivered a paper route by bicycle on Mercer Island (near Seattle) in middle school, then moved southwards to a city with more open spaces nearby, Tacoma. My neighbor was keen on biking, and his enthusiasm soon rubbed off on me. Thus in 1993 my parents caved in and bought me my first real bike:
Incidentally, this is also around the age when I picked up trumpet:
That Proflex 550, horrible as it was in retrospect, was my pride and joy, and I rode it on trails all around Washington State. Here's an inadvertently artsy double exposure of me trackstanding while my friend (and best man at my wedding) Ruben waits for me to fall, or something along those lines:
Over the years that 1991-era Proflex 550 frame saw a new fork (cracked and bent the first one), stem (Girvin Flexstems weren't such a great idea even back then), handlebars (titanium!), clipless pedals, rear "shock" ("microcellular elastomer" instead of skateboard wheels, essentially), seatpost and seat, wheelset, and derailleur. By the end of its life it had about 3 inches of bottom bracket play from the sloppy main pivot.
By the time that it died I had become both more serious about the sport and more specialized in my interests. I had tried cyclocross racing and didn't quite get its allure, was a mid-pack Sport class xc finisher (not competitor by any means!), was obsessed with bike handling enough to take up observed trials, and had managed to chip off part of my ulna's olecranon process while biking down Blackcomb Mountain. Yes, you read that correctly, Blackcomb, not its neighbor now known for a monstrous bike park, Whistler: back in the day tours on Blackcomb were the only biking gig around up at Whistler Village. Funny how things change.
The fearsome-looking Canfield F1, one of the many bikes that I owned, knew, and rode.
As things changed, so did my bikes. Through high school, college, a brief stint in the working world, and medical school I went through many, many bikes. I'd save key components from one when I moved onto the next, selling the last frame and buying a replacement one used to minimize loss. In this way I went through the following bikes:
- an 18"--too big for me!--1996 Cannondale CAAD4 frame built up as an xc rig
- a GT Team Trials modified-class trials bike
- a 12.5"--way too small for me!--Specialized Stumpjumper M2 frame built up as a stock-class trials bike
- a Klein Quantum Race road bike bought in Palo Alto, CA during my brief stint at Palm, Inc.
- an Intense Uzzi SLX frame built up with a 150 mm travel 2001 Marzocchi Super T fork as an "all-mountain" bike before that term was coined
- a Planet X Bommer that I won in a contest and subsequently had stolen while parked at MIT for a rehearsal
- an Evil Imperial that I thrashed on the streets of Boston with everything from a rigid fork to a Monster T for comic relief
- a Canfield F1 prototype downhill bike bought from one of the homonymous Canfield brothers themselves
- a Diamondbackracing Axis frame--Tru-Temper triple butted tubes and Breezer dropouts!--built up with the finest of decade-old componentry
- and, finally, a commuter bike to end all commuter bikes, a REI/Novara hybrid with full fenders and a Nexus 8 hub that I built up as a homebrew electric bike with 48V 12Ah of LiFePO4 and 700 watts of power output to the ground
I may be missing a bike or two from the list above.
You get the point in any case: I loved bikes and my apartment was always full of them. This didn't last forever, however: I eventually lost that spark and, with mounting concern for the environment, felt it harder to justify mounting an expensive piece of metal (a bike) on an even more expensive piece of metal (a car) then driving several hours out of my way just to feel like I was experiencing nature. Thus I went from having up to 4 bikes at a time down to 3, to 2, to 1 and finally to 0 as of last fall, when I sold the electric bike to my parents, who live out west.
I didn't spend this time away from biking idly, of course: as should be amply obvious I took up motorcycling. Around where I live, in Long Island, it makes more sense to be on a powered two-wheeler in many ways: it can be stored outside securely; it can be ridden indefinitely at night rather than relying on expensive, finicky bike lighting; and it can keep up with the crazy, inconsiderate car drivers. In other ways it's very different, for the noise, the bulk of the machine (450 lbs wet versus 20 or 45 for a road or a downhill bike), for the restrictive safety apparel I choose to wear out of a spirit of self-preservation and a loathing of skin grafts, and for the type of people one meets. This is not to say that motorcycle or scooter riders aren't my type of person, but I feel more of an affinity with the biking crowd.
I missed riding: being able to get out in the woods and really pin it, not worrying about a cop around the corner or a car that might venture over the yellow line. Furthermore, I have ready-made riding buddies in the works: some of my scooter-riding friends have been riding easy trails recently, and one of my undergrad bike-riding buddies now in med school himself now lives less than an hour away and rides somewhat regularly.
Thus this winding tale comes to its point: I will be bikeless no more.
Just now I placed the order:
- 2009 Jamis Durango 29er mountain bike, on closeout from JensonUSA
- a surprisingly cheap replacement set of clipless pedals, as mine all either had bent axles or wore out years ago
- a brand-spanking new Giro Hex helmet for my large noggin
- a floor pump, as busting out the compressor each time tires need topping off isn't my idea of efficiency
A helmet is a helmet and a pump is a pump but the bike itself is kind of interesting looking, mainly because it's a 29er with those ungainly big hoops:
I'm psyched. These years away from the "bike scene"--greater than the 1 year physical absence from bikes would indicate--have cured me largely of my "gear whore" tendencies. Well that plus a much more strict budget these days In any case I'm totally ok with steel stanchion tubes and lower line components. I'm not planning on racing at any level--I'm fat, slow, and don't like self-inflicted pain of that amount!--and the bike won't be holding me back as it's a hardtail 29er with hydraulic discs, albeit one done up on the relative cheap. I'm in it for the ride this time around, and I hope it'll be a good one.
For the next two weeks we are house sitting. This means we get a temporary dog--the best kind! We also have use of two kayaks that are stored on community kayak racks down near the beach (10 blocks away). All that plus it's located up in the more scenic area of Long Island, where there are windy roads, nice houses, and actual elevation changes! This means that we're much closer to our Tuesday night symphonic band rehearsal location as well.
This means my commute has gone from 5 minutes on foot to 25 minutes on the motorcycle + locking up and covering it + walking through the hospital looking like a power ranger + changing into normal work clothes in our locker room. It's more like 45 minutes total with all those steps. Oh, and the house doesn't have air conditioning! Overall it'll be a good time, however, and the lack of a/c and the presence of the dog + kayaks may well get us to be more active.
This means my commute has gone from 5 minutes on foot to 25 minutes on the motorcycle + locking up and covering it + walking through the hospital looking like a power ranger + changing into normal work clothes in our locker room. It's more like 45 minutes total with all those steps. Oh, and the house doesn't have air conditioning! Overall it'll be a good time, however, and the lack of a/c and the presence of the dog + kayaks may well get us to be more active.
This is the only waterproof iPhone case that I've seen that lets you use the touchscreen! This + some capacitive thread in the index finger of my gloves would be much, much more convenient than my current setup, which requires me to stop, take off the gloves, and snap open the waterproof case in order to do anything but use the home button.
Aaah, moto riding while i-phoning. Brilliant!
Heh. The scenario that I would definitely use it in, besides drunk texting while pulling one handed wheelies, is when someone texts me while I have the GPS app (Navigon) running. Currently the notification takes the foreground and doesn't go away automatically. As long as it's up it blocks most of my directions, dims the visible stuff in the background, and eventually the phone goes to sleep instead of staying active and updating the map. If I had this setup then one touch could hit the close button while en route and then I could continue on my merry way.
It's built but you don't want to see photos of it. In honor of my old-man status (see all the high-viz that I wear on the motorcycle) and my recognition of non-competitive status I have decided to keep the reflectors on. Even the little plastic disc behind the cassette will live on.
I can deal with the scoffing at the trailhead but might not take too many photos of it...
I can deal with the scoffing at the trailhead but might not take too many photos of it...
A 29er update:
- it looks much less goofy with the front reflector flipped so that it's in front of instead of above the handlebar, the seat at proper height to get leg extension, with my snazzy red Intense ODI Lock-On grips, and, most importantly, with clipless pedals instead of the reflector-clad cheapie platforms
- JensonUSA quality control is not so good. The bike came with a nice downtube gouge and the front wheel is out of true, out of the box
- I have become spoiled by the wide handlebars on my old bikes (Protapers or some variety of wide 31.8 dh bars on the non-xc bikes) and on my Versys. The stock bars on this Jamis feel awfully narrow. I'll give them a try on the trails, I suppose...
- still no photos since I'm housesitting and wouldn't be able to process the files from my camera or post them easily
- it looks much less goofy with the front reflector flipped so that it's in front of instead of above the handlebar, the seat at proper height to get leg extension, with my snazzy red Intense ODI Lock-On grips, and, most importantly, with clipless pedals instead of the reflector-clad cheapie platforms
- JensonUSA quality control is not so good. The bike came with a nice downtube gouge and the front wheel is out of true, out of the box
- I have become spoiled by the wide handlebars on my old bikes (Protapers or some variety of wide 31.8 dh bars on the non-xc bikes) and on my Versys. The stock bars on this Jamis feel awfully narrow. I'll give them a try on the trails, I suppose...
- still no photos since I'm housesitting and wouldn't be able to process the files from my camera or post them easily
Well...to start with...Quality Control
is overdue.
I just went on a very, very short ride. On the upside, I didn't drop the bike and am unhurt. On the downside, I managed to drop my helmet from knee level twice (!) in the span of walking 0.3 miles from my apartment to the garage, and then I found out that my Versys's rear tire is flat, thanks to a well-placed screw through the tread. I must have picked it up at some point while riding last night, and all the air escaped over the next 24 hours.
Time to find out if my AAA covers motorcycles and if any dealers are open on Sunday. If so then I'm riding/pushing the thing out to the street and calling in AAA tomorrow--they won't give you a tow from your driveway, garage, or place of residence but will from the street next to it if you're "stranded" there. If AAA in NY doesn't do motorcycles (our WA AAA RV Plus membership did) then AMA has some form of roadside/towing assistance, too. Hmph.
Oh, about that short ride: after unlocking the cover, the disc lock, the huge-ass chain securing the bike to an equally stout metal pole, starting it up, putting on my helmet, jacket, and gloves, and hopping on I then proceeded to do two moderately lurid fishtails on the 90 degree turns coming out from the garage. After the first I thought it was sand or oil on the ground but after the second I realized the tire was making some funny, crinkly noises. I can't have gone more than 500 feet in total, and spent easily twice as much time unlocking and locking the bike as riding it.
Time to find out if my AAA covers motorcycles and if any dealers are open on Sunday. If so then I'm riding/pushing the thing out to the street and calling in AAA tomorrow--they won't give you a tow from your driveway, garage, or place of residence but will from the street next to it if you're "stranded" there. If AAA in NY doesn't do motorcycles (our WA AAA RV Plus membership did) then AMA has some form of roadside/towing assistance, too. Hmph.
Oh, about that short ride: after unlocking the cover, the disc lock, the huge-ass chain securing the bike to an equally stout metal pole, starting it up, putting on my helmet, jacket, and gloves, and hopping on I then proceeded to do two moderately lurid fishtails on the 90 degree turns coming out from the garage. After the first I thought it was sand or oil on the ground but after the second I realized the tire was making some funny, crinkly noises. I can't have gone more than 500 feet in total, and spent easily twice as much time unlocking and locking the bike as riding it.
Okok. The actual bike, in the glorious surrounds of my neighborhood:Too much talking in this thread
I plugged the screw hole in my Versys's tire, btw. I'm not sure how many miles were on the tires (they may be the original ones) but in any case the bike has 8200ish miles on it now. We'll see if the plug holds up, I suppose, and there's always roadside assistance if it doesn't.
Haha... that's pretty funny.
One a serious note though, everything from the paint to the plastics and tires are made with oil... even the road he's driving on.
I like your flintstonian kick-stand.
I changed the oil and adjusted the chain slack on my Versys today. This actually was the first time I had ever changed the oil on a vehicle with my own two hands, to tell the sordid truth! I had installed air intakes, wrenched on suspension bits, and gotten dirty under the dashboard with the multimeter but had never unscrewed a drain bolt and an oil filter before.
I used Royal Purple Max-Cycle 10W40 and slightly-longer-than-stock Purolator PureONE oil filter, for the record, and bought that stuff as well as the oil catch pan from amazon.com. Free Amazon Prime for .edu addresses (like my still-active ones!) for the win, seriously
I used Royal Purple Max-Cycle 10W40 and slightly-longer-than-stock Purolator PureONE oil filter, for the record, and bought that stuff as well as the oil catch pan from amazon.com. Free Amazon Prime for .edu addresses (like my still-active ones!) for the win, seriously
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