Valley of the windmills

Today I was able to get away for a little while, after doing some yardwork and some dishes. I've been dying to really feel what the bike is like on a twisty road. And I haven't been on a "technical" ride with my full leathers on yet. I figure it might be good to break them in and see how they really feel.

The sky had some high cloud cover here and there, but the sunshine was strong, in general. It was good that I had my dark faceshield on the helmet. I loaded up the MP3 player with Bad Company's 10 from 4 and Boston's Don't Look Back. I had contemplated bringing along my camera, but I passed on it- I didn't want to stop, if the riding was good and the rhythm was right. Today, for the first time, I decided to ride with a Breathe Right strip on my nose. I saw Valentio Rossi do it and it seemed like a cool idea. I zipped my jacket and pants together and I was off. I headed out the door around 2:30.

I decided to go up Patterson Pass Road, starting in Livermore, heading toward Tracy. I had been there once before, but last time, I was stuck following a really slow moving pickup truck. I didn't want to be out for very long and I didn't want to go somewhere I wasn't familiar with. It was a good choice. This time, there was no one in front of me and no one in back of me the whole stretch. It was great!

Mr. Moto handled all the bumps and twists with the greatest of ease. There were some things that I need to correct or make a note of for the next outting. First of all, don't tuck the pants so deep into the boots- it makes it harder to bend the knees and it's nearly impossible to pull them out, once the boots are zipped up. Make sure that I ArmourAll the seat before going out next time. With the leather pants and the texture of the saddle, there's way too much friction. It's even hard to slip to one side at a stoplight. Turn up the MP3 player another 10 volume bars, from 26 to 35- okay, 9 bars. Check the front brake lever. It's set to 3, but let's play around with it. Something that was buggin' me was the boots were too grippy on the footpegs and movement seemed impaired- it might've been the pants tugging at the boots. We'll see if it is the same next ride, after I leave the pants out more. And, it would be nice if I lost 10 pounds or 2 inches in the waist. Not only will I look more svelt, the pants will sure be a lot more comfy.

"Handling" Mr. Moto

Since I had just about everything off of the bike and I was doing some pretty significant changes to the suspension and brake system, I figured I might as well do just a little bit more. Let me list the changes I've done to him, since the end of last year.

1) Changed the oil to a racing synthetic
2) Put in a K&N oil filter
3) Flushed the radiator and used Water Wetter
4) Raised the gas tank 1/2" to increase air flow
5) Replaced front and rear brake lines with Galfer S/S
6) Replaced front and rear brake pads with Galfer
7) New Dunlop 208ZR tyre in front
8) Flushed brake fluid and replaced with Galfer SuperDot4
9) Swapped the rear shock with a GSX-R, which raised the rear by 1/2"
10) Installed Race-Tech .80 fork springs
11) Installed Race-Tech cartridge emulators
12) Changed fork oil to Bel-Ray 15W at 130mm
13) Dropped triple-clamps 2mm to influence head angle
13) Adjusted sag, both front and rear, to 32mm

Some of these changes are more significant than others, but all together, wow! they really make a difference! The handling is a little more plush (though I can't tell the difference as much as others have raved about it on the Net). The suspension feels so much more confident, whereas I can't really tell how fast I'm going anymore. Because of the suspension advances, the bike sits higher off the ground, making it harder for me at stoplights, but the tradeoff is remarkable. And it might just be having a new rounder front tire up there, but it doesn't take hardly any pressure to initiate a turn. It's like the bike had power-steering- almost like the bike can read my mind, when I want to turn! The braking is more crisp, which is really noticable from higher speeds. And since I made those simple maintenance adjustments with the clockworks of the bike (i.e. motor oil and air intake), Mr. Moto runs through the mid-range much more freely. Very sweet! All in all, the cost of all what was forementioned was a hair under $600, but then there's tax, and of course, there's always some lube, solvent or tool that you're going to end up paying for.

The REAL test ride

Today was a pretty exciting day, as far as commuting goes. The weather has finally gotten warm enough (for the time being) to ride to work. The sun is coming up earlier, so I was able to swap out my face shield for the dark one- no sunglasses for me!

Well, the commute started off when I was trying to get into the left lane on Bernal, right as Case St. intersects. There's usually a huge backup in the left lane, as people are lined up to turn left onto Case to drop off their kids at school. I cautiously split the lane and just as I was about to claim the pole position in the left lane, some twenty-something bitch in her Daddy's bimmer pops left in front of me without signaling, of course! She was about six inches away from knocking me over! Looking first would've been nice. Angrily I honked her, which activated the headlights to blink. Then I gave her a stern birdy! Too bad for her, I split the lane and she had to sit next to me, as we waited for the light to change green. I didn't badger her anymore- I've done that myself...to a motorcycle cop, no less. The rest of the ride to work was pretty uneventful. Now, coming home was a whole nother story.

Now that the suspension is hopped up, the height of the bike is also hopped up. I can barely get one foot down at a light anymore! The bike handles like a dream, so I don't mind. I had driven down Alcosta and took a right onto San Ramon Blvd. I was pretty excited about taking that new smooth onramp onto the freeway. As I was approaching, I was getting ready to do my stuff. I started to turn right onto the onramp and I saw the new Lexus covertible punch it- he was probably trying to get his ya-ya's off, too, being that it was his new car and all. I was kind of negotiating the drop in, still not really sure of the suspension and all. I swept to the outside left lane and was going to punch it to try and catch that guy, but then the engine kind of stalled! I looked down to see that I was in the redline! I had never done that before! The suspension was so calm that it tricked me into thinking that I wasn't even going to fast, that's why I tried to gun the throttle! Very interesting, I thought to myself... Next, I was getting onto the freeway- I was trying to merge over to the carpool lane. When I got to the leftest lane, I tried to up-shift only to find that there was no 7th gear! I was already going 95mph! I had no idea that I was going to fast! I can only believe that it was the work of the new suspension, giving me the stability, tricking me into thinking I was going much slower than I was actually going.