Motorbike Blog

World's Heaviest Motorcycle

2008-04-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

From a German website, "das Panzerbike:

Miscellaneous

2008-04-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

Triumph Rocket III manufacturing process

2008-04-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Now I want me a British bike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKEuzxC4eGc

How the Triumph Rocket III is built. It has a great ability to change directions because it uses "argument juice from the argument lobe of the female brain".

Build a Bike

2008-04-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Allstate Insurance has an interesting site where you can design your own motorcycle. Give it a minute to load. You might enjoy watching the guys building a bike, but click on "Build a Bike" and build your own. Send me a picture of your bike. Here's mine, I named it "Black Bob".

Me and the Ninja

2008-04-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm really liking the little Ninja. I kind of get pushed around by the wind at highway speeds, but otherwise it's a lot of fun to ride, and I got 65 mpg on my last tank.

Bill's new bike 2

2008-04-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Bill & I rode to the TX207 Rest Area south of Claude & took pictures of our new bikes. It was a nice ride, but felt good to be out of the wind at the rest area in the canyon. We shot the breeze for a good long while.

The trailer project

2008-04-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

Ron and I are exploring the feasibility of using my old lawnmower hauler as a motorcycle trailer. First thing to do is paint it black.

Gary's new bike

2008-03-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

Gary got a new Buell Ulysses XB12-something. Cool bike, looks like it could climb a building. We took brief advantage of the prettiest day of the year so far and went for a ride.

Test drive

2008-03-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Ron came over and test drove the new Ninja. He liked its quickness & agility.

Bill Q gets himself a Harley

2008-03-24T06:19:00.000-07:00

Not to be outdone by my recent Ninja 25o acquisition, Bill Q has gone and gotten himself a big ol' Harley Heritage Softail. I'll dig up a more recent picture later.

New bike: Ninja 250

2008-03-23T19:55:00.001-07:00

So, I found a bargain on Craig's List and am now the owner of a virtually brand new 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 250.

It's still in the break-in period, so I'm taking it really easy for a while.

Reversed polarity

2008-03-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I turned on the key (81 6-volt Passport), and I have dash lights but the starter wouldn't crank. This is typical after the bike sits a while. So I kick start it, it runs great and I ride around for about 2 hours, thinking that I'm doing the battery some good.

The bike sits for a couple of weeks again until today, I turn on the key and I have NO dash lights. I don't want to start it and blow out bulbs with a dead battery, so I immediately remove the battery and hook it up to a meter which shows zero volts/amps. The electrolyte level is good. I figure the battery is probably shot, but with nothing to lose, I hook the leads up to my wall-wart trickle charger, and while looking for an outlet to plug it in, I notice the charger getting really warm really quickly and look down and see smoke coming out of the little charger, and by now it's really hot! So I disconnect it, but now I'm wondering where it got enough energy from the battery to do such a thing.

So, I hook up the meter again, and it still shows zero volts/amps. So I reverse the connectors, hooking negative to positive, etc., and now the battery shows fully charged, and tests good except for the polarity being reversed.

What caused this? I assume that both the battery and charger are trash, but I'm wondering what I might have done to cause this.

Couple of Ninja 250 stories

2008-03-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a 52 yr old guy who rode his 2006 Ninja 250 from Key West Florida to Prudhoe Bay Alaska.

And here is a "minimalist's" ride through Mexico on a Ninja 250.

Pretty day for February

2008-02-09T19:05:00.001-08:00

I've had my bike on a trailer for about 3 weeks now, waiting for a chance to take it to town for new tires. I've missed a couple of pretty nice riding days because of this. Today though, it was so damn pretty and a Saturday to boot, that I went ahead and took it off the trailer and cleaned it up. The tires are not yet hazardous anyway.

Also, I got myself a new digital SLR camera last week that I've been trying to learn how to use. I rode out south of Claude on TX207 to Palo Duro and took these pictures.

There were a bunch of bikes out today. February. Go figure.

Palo Duro Lookout 2

2007-10-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

Bill & I snuck off work a little early on a beautiful Wednesday evening and rode out to the rest area at Palo Duro Canyon south of Claude on TX207.

This is my favorite afternoon ride because it's only about 80 miles round trip for me. For Bill, it's about twice that.

The Glass Chicken Tour

2007-10-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Bill & I rode to Mobeetie, Cheyenne, Woodward, and Canadian over the weekend. We visited battlefields (Washita), museums, and cemeteries (Elmwood and Gage) and broadened our historic horizons. In addition, Bill has come to greater appreciate the power of the Glass Chicken Phenomenon, having come across both a natural, spontaneous Glass Chicken with regard to Temple Houston and the movie "Cimarron", and a rare sighting of an actual fired, glazed, "glass" chicken at a grave marker a few feet away from Temple Houston's.
Also, while at the Pioneer Museum at Woodward, Bill found a book containing a photo of my great grandparents and grandmother (on my mother's side) that I had never seen, which I copied and reproduce here.
Later, we stopped in Canadian where as if to add to the irony of Sam Houston's youngest son migrating to Woodward, OK, we found a big screen TV and watched as Texas lost to Oklahoma 21-28.

The Galloways

2007-09-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

These are my good friends, Marc and Ellen Galloway and their daughter, Emily. They live in Oracle, Arizona which is just north of Tucson. They were very kind to me during my visit, feeding, housing, and entertaining me with gracious hospitality.

Tucson Arizona

2007-09-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

These are just some photos I took from Big A Mountain overlooking Tucson. Nobody I know.

US Highway 191

2007-09-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

I picked up US 191 at Springerville AZ and rode it 97 miles south to Clifton. It was a beautiful ride with lots of curves, switchbacks and scenery. At the end, it turns into a big copper mine, where Phelps Dodge Corp. is turning mountains into money.

Alpine, AZ

2007-09-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

After a long days travel across the Chihuahuan Desert I began the ascent into the mountains of the Gila National Forest. I camped at a campground just north of Alpine, AZ. I got pretty cold overnight and have pretty much abandoned the idea of camping again. Between the shivering cold and the concern for bears, I didn't sleep well here.

I had brought a spare one gallon gas can with me in case I found myself too far between gas stops. Having decided that this was an unnecessary extra bulk item, I abandoned it on a picnic table. Someone will enjoy a brand new $10 gas can. Even though I over-packed, and carried many useless items, I still found myself in need of certain things. Like a battery charger for my camera. I'm about to run out of battery.

I ate dinner at the Bear Wallow Cafe in Alpine, and the food wasn't bad at all. The owner at one point, announced to the customers that: "The music you are hearing is none other than your very own waitress!", and proceeded to crank up a series of recordings that apparently the waitress had sung during some drunken karaoke night. I couldn't tell if he was proud of her or was trying to embarass her, but it was pretty awful. She seemed nice, but she can't carry a tune in a bucket.

Very Large Array

2007-09-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

At Socorro, I got on US Hwy 60 (Hey!) and headed west. There are very few towns along this road between Socorro NM and Springerville AZ, so I filled up every time I saw a gas pump.

50 miles west of Socorro, I came across the VLA or Very Large Array. This is an astronomical radio observatory made of 27 huge antennas, each one 82 feet diameter. Here's a link: http://www.vla.nrao.edu/

This is an incredible place, and I took the full walking tour. You may remember the movie "Contact" with Jodie Foster? Part of that movie was filmed here at the VLA. I enjoyed my visit. It brought back my faith in human potential which I had previously lost at the roadside "petroglyphs" earlier in the day.

Unfortunately, the bookstore was closed, so I cannot mail you a postcard. However, they have a shop online at the above link. Go to it, buy a postcard, and pretend it's from me. In today's world of advanced technology, nothing is impossible.

Cuidado

2007-09-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

I found this shady spot west of Socorro. The sign has a picture of a rattlesnake.

Moron Petroglyphs

2007-09-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Highway rest stops are few and far between in New Mexico. This makes it doubly disappointing when you find them disfigured by sad little persons of no imagination. This example is somewhere southeast of Socorro.

Valley of the Fires

2007-09-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

I camped out at The Valley of the Fires National Recreation Area northwest of Carrizozo NM. This park is just off US 380. I had never heard of this place and had no idea what the facilities were like, but was pleasantly surprised. It is a beautifully well-maintained park in a lava flow area. According to this website, "the park has many square miles of buckled, twisted lava, part of an extensive flow up to 50 meters thick and over 45 miles long that originated from several volcanoes, including one vent now known as Little Black Peak, 9 miles northwest of the dusty, windswept town of Carrizozo. The lava is called the Malpais (Spanish for 'badlands'), a name also given to several other flows in New Mexico..."

My neighbors were a nice couple in an aging Chevy camper van who indicated that they were professional campers who spent the winters in Scottsdale AZ making enough money to live in campgrounds during the other 9 months of the year. Their names were Lea and Barry, and they shared their coffee with me. I didn't bring any coffee supplies with me. They were good company, free spirit types a little younger than me, and pretty bright. Barry knew what "Malpais" meant. I should have taken a picture of them, but I forgot, so I made a small sketch of them the way I'll always remember them: with coffee.

This was a great place to camp, but I'll bet it's unbearable in the summer.

Lincoln County New Mexico

2007-09-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

Still heading west on US 380, I took a break at this rest stop somewhere between Lincoln, and Capitan, NM.

Bottomless Lakes State Park

2007-09-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

This park is just east of Roswell, NM. I thought it'd be worth a look, but I didn't stay long.

Goodnight-Loving Trail

2007-09-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing west, I crossed the Goodnight-Loving Trail and the Pecos River. The local custom is to pay homage to this famous trail by depositing empty beer bottles and dirty diapers near the marker. Having brought neither item with me, I swatted at the flies and moved on.

Tatum, New Mexico

2007-09-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

I set out for my solo journey to Arizona on Sunday, first riding down to visit Barbara in Brownfield. She spoiled me and fed me well. Fully rested, I finally peeled away on Tuesday morning.

Leaving Brownfield, I went west on US Hwy 380. My first foreign port of call was Tatum, New Mexico for gas and corn dog at Allsup's. Tatum is a non-descript little town whose main thoroughfare is under construction, and whose high school mascot is apparently an evil, one-horned, weiner-chewing sock puppet.

Day One

2007-09-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

And two.

Packing my bags.

2007-09-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

"Books. I don't know of any other cyclist who takes books with him. They take a lot of space, but I have three of them anyway..." -Robert M. Pirsig

I missed another one

2007-09-18T04:50:00.000-07:00

And this one was pretty close to home too.

My old friend Oz

2007-09-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, an old Navy buddy of mine was in Oklahoma City on business, and I was in Wichita Falls on business so I drove up to OKC to visit him. His name is Arthur R. Osborn ("Oz"), and he's from the Boston area and now works for Raytheon in Washington DC. He is a terrific guy and was a great sailor/supervisor/engineer/mentor/friend. It is a testament to the incompetence of the US Navy that they pissed him off and let him get away, because Oz is exactly the kind of people that need to be running the US Navy and for that matter, the US Government. And after that, the Galactic Federation.

Near the end of our visit we mentioned motorcycles and it turns out he's got a pretty good one and sent me a picture of it. So by virtue of this post, I hereby welcome him as the newest member of the Middle Finger Yacht Club Motorcycle Auxiliary. I hope we all get to ride together some day.

Ride to Vega & Restaurant Review

2007-09-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

Bill, Ron & I took a Thursday after work cruise to Vega via Boys Ranch Road. We stopped in at the newly opened Boot Hill Saloon & Grill in Vega. This restaurant is owned by Rory Schepisi, who was the runner-up in a big Food Network show which I never saw, but was told by my wife that it was a very big deal and that Rory got hosed. I did not take the attached picture of Rory, but stole it from the Amarillo Globe-News site (photo by Steve Lewis).

The food was quite good, but a tad pricey. You get what you pay for I guess. Ron got the Jack Ryan burger which was a big-ass burger with mushrooms and fries, $8. Bill got the Filet Mignon Chili, $9, and I got the Green Chile Chicken Won-tons, $9. My main complaint was that they seemed stingy with the ice tea. Especially after charging $3 for it.

Also, you would think that the Resistol-and-Starched-Wrangler crowd that this place attracts would be better at controlling their screaming children. Next time, I'm springing for the $5 three-day private club membership, and eating in the Saloon end. And drinking a beer as well, motorcycle safety not withstanding.

I give it 3.5 stars out of 5. They need to dump the smelly oil lamps too.

Palo Duro Lookout

2007-08-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Bill and I rode down TX207 across Palo Duro Canyon to the South Rim. Nice evening. We met a fine fellow at the rest area on a Harley Fat Boy named Steve Rohde. He is an attorney in Tulia.

On the way to the canyon, Bill pulled a "Wild Hogs" stunt, and flung his brand new cell phone into the blue at 70 mph. He immediately regretted the action and we spent some time recovering the pieces. Never found the battery.

Plum Creek

2007-06-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

Bill, Ron & I raced the loop around Lake Meredith. This shot was taken at Plum Creek.

The way to Rainy Mountain

2007-05-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a map of our ride to Rainy Mountain and area from May 18th through 20. Here are all the pictures from the trip.

Motorcycle ride to Logan

2007-04-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Gary & Ron & I went for a ride to Logan N.M. today. We wanted to stop by Ute Lake to visit our water.

We took the back road to Logan/Ute Lake via Boys Ranch Road to Channing, then FM 767 to US54, through Nara Visa. At Logan, got gas and ate lunch at Cherish's Restaurant. We visited the lake briefly, then headed down to San Jon and I-40 for the quick trip back to Amarillo. The best part of the ride was FM 767 between Channing and US54. I'd never been on this road before, and enjoyed the hills, scenery, and smooth pavement with no traffic. It got a bit windy at the top of the hills at times. US Hwy 54 on the other hand is two lanes with a lot of truck traffic, and is not a very good road for motorcycles.

My trip meter showed a round trip from Amarillo of 255.6 miles .

Cherish's Restaurant on US 54 in Logan has a bit of a funky smell when you first go in, like maybe their carpet should have been cleaned or destroyed years ago. My grandmother's house had that smell. We found a table for three in the corner with room on the floor for our helmets, jackets and stuff. The other patrons appeared to be locals, faces and figures shaped with trademark Llano Estacado blandness. I thought I recognized my cousin Leonard, but it turned out to be a truck driver. Generic roadside restaurant rock music could be heard from a cheap radio in the kitchen.

The menu was pretty much standard for this part of the country: Chicken Fried Steaks, burgers, Mexican food. We certainly didn't expect much, but Ron and I were brave enough to order the Mexican Combination Plate ($7.95) while Gary played it safe by ordering a cheeseburger.

"Are the cheeseburgers good here?" he asked the waitress. I half expected her to reply, "Nope. They're awful. Quit while you're ahead."

But, she told him that she thought they were good, and we continued to expect the worst. The iced tea was good though, and was served in worn plastic tumblers, just like my grandmother's.

When the tortilla chips and salsa came, we were pleasantly surprised that the chips were warm, fresh, and delicately crisp. The salsa appeared to be freshly made and not out of a Pace jar. It was tasty with just a bit of character. I hoped that the food would be prepared with as much love and care as the chips & hot sauce.

Turns out, it was. The enchiladas and crispy chile rellano were first class. We ordered ours with the green sauce. The food was as good or better than I've had in any of the big city Mexican theme restaurants. The cheeseburger was reportedly very good too. (Although the addition of green chiles to the burger should only be attempted by the strong of heart.)

I was very impressed. The only way it might have been better was if they served beer and had a shady place to take a nap. I give the food 4-1/2 stars, out of five. The service was good, and although the place doesn't look like much, the atmosphere was good enough.

Highly recommended.

Here. Check out my mad Google Map skillz.

Gary's new bike

2007-04-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Not to be outdone, Gary found this nearly new Honda ST1300. He then sold his BMW GS650.

Bill's new bike

2007-04-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

The details are still fuzzy, but apparently Bill stole this bike from some old guy. Then he sold his Volusia.

Honda VTX 1300.

Motorcycle oil

2007-03-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

I need to change the oil in my bike. Motorcycle motor oil is about 3 times more expensive than automotive oil. I was wondering why, so I looked around for answers. There seems to be a lot of hype about the relative value of motorcycle specific motor oil.

One opinion said that motor oil with friction modifiers used in a wet clutch bike can make the clutch slip so avoid automotive oil marked with "fuel saving" additives.

Some people recommend synthetic motor oils like Amsoil, Mobil 1, etc. because they hold their viscosity longer. (Rotella is sometimes classified separately. Some say it is not synthetic enough.)

Some recommend an oil with a JASO rating of MA or MA2 (not MB rating). These are ratings for the clutch, with MA2 being best.

Some say to just use the manufacturer's recommended oil, change on schedule, and that synthetics are not necessary. This Motorcycle Consumer News article seems to agree, stating:

"there is no substantive evidence that using a high-quality, name brand automotive oil in an average street motorcycle is in any way harmful or less effective in providing proper lubrication and protection than using the more expensive, motorcycle-specific oils."

The Suzuki VL800 manual just recommends SAE 10w/40 rated SF or SG. It's good enough for me, but I read this article which indicates that it too loses it's viscosity quickly and significantly, within 2000 miles.

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html

It looks like the Shell Rotella T Synthetic oil is a good economical choice. $13 per gallon at Walmart. I'm sold.

Canadian ride

2007-03-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ron & I rode up to Canadian today to watch his daughter run in a trackmeet. It was a beautiful sunny day, mid 70's, light winds. Had a really good BBQ sandwich at the Cattle Exchange Restaurant. Just about as good a brisket sandwich as I've ever had. It was about $10 bucks for the sandwich, tea and cole slaw, but it was easily worth it. The restaurant is located in a refurbished downtown hotel building on the corner of Main & US 60. Highly recommended.

There were several motorcyclists in & out while we were there.

We rode out to the old Canadian River wagon bridge while we were in town.

I logged about 160 miles today.

Horny Toad

2006-12-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here. This is the TCU Horned Frog emblem. This is just about the extent of my custom motorcycle modification skills.

Goodnight

2006-12-16T20:47:00.000-08:00

The snow has melted and Amarillo recorded a record high of 78 degrees, so Bill, Ron & I set out for an afternoon cruise out to Armstrong County where we paid tribute to the real king of the cowboys, Charles Goodnight. At Charlie Goodnight's grave, it's apparently a local custom to leave a bandana. Some leave other trinkets, and even coins. I knew about the bandana thing though, so I made sure we all three travelled with one to leave at the site. While there, we enjoyed a saddlebag picnic of homemade pecan pralines and cookies thoughtfully provided by Jenny Q.

Some people might consider it strange to make a cemetery a destination. When you think about it though, it's the ultimate destination for all of us, so maybe it's a sneak peak into the future. Ron mentioned that it's odd how it can be comforting and pleasant to contemplate a graveyard. He's right, it is a strange sensation. I think it's like how listening to a sad song can often make you feel good.*

We stopped for coffee at the Dairy Queen in Claude and still made it home before the cold and dark set in. It was a great ride.

*That reminds me of a sad song. Souvenirs, by Steve Goodman:
"...I hate graveyards and old pawn shops,
For they always bring me tears.
I can't forgive the way they robbed me of my childhood souvenirs."

Snowed in

2006-11-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

Winter finally showed up.

Bah.

Brothers

2006-11-24T09:35:00.000-08:00

JT and Scott; Bill and Larry

Indian Summer

2006-11-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

It's one of those beautiful West Texas Indian summer days that catch you unaware, because of the rarity of its occurring on a Sunday. So, without a map or a plan you throw on some layers, fire up the cycle and take to the back roads.

Sure enough, at 70 mph without a windscreen the reality of November bites your blue jeaned legs and the back of your neck. Even your gloved hands ache for better clothes. So, you slow to 60 and the wind noise subsides pleasantly, and before long the chilled extremities are forgotten. Now you can concentrate on the flocks of migrating ducks, geese and sandhill cranes that form dark shapes over the playa lakes. Way, way up high, far above the clattering, clucking migrations, a red-tail hawk circles, supervising. It's such a nice day now, that you think if only you could convince these birds to turn and go back north, maybe we could postpone winter for a little while longer.

Eventually at this reduced speed, you gain company in the rearview mirror. A large cattle truck, probably on this lonely two lane back road on the sly in an effort to conceal his weight, status, or other impropriety from the troopers on the interstate, is coming up fast trying to make up his lost time. The idea of his stinking (and probably moist) slipstream encourages the extremities to brace themselves for the wind chill, and you roll on the throttle, on past 70, up to 85 where you notice that the road, though straight and smooth, now appears much narrower, and the brush more likely to loose a deer or antelope into your path. The truck is disappearing into the mirror now, so you relax the throttle a bit and keep a close eye on the road, looking for a turn off where you can stop, rub your hands and let the misguided trucker migrate on his way.

Instead, you find another road up ahead, branching off to the left. You had forgotten this road, an old farm road which though it doesn't connect any farms anymore, is paved none the less and is even less traveled than the other one. Now the sun is higher and is in front of you and all the coldness is forgotten. With the warming sun and enormous cobalt sky, your spirit begins to soar and you revel at the sound of the exhaust and the feel of the road beneath you. Wow, you've gone sixty miles already, and not a single bug splat. Hurray for November!

Now you're getting into the canyon country, where the featureless plain starts to show signs of breaking up into crevices and gullies. You and your bike dance through the curves at the bottom of the occasional draw or creek bed and you thrill to the sound of the engine as it torques happily each climb back onto the plain. Soon you're on the final expanse of wide open plains and you marvel at the enormity of the pool table flatness of this country.

Then suddenly, without warning, the bottom falls out and you find yourself a thousand feet above the world. The blue hills and purple valleys below in stark contrast to the pale yellow plain behind you. You are on the edge of the Caprock Escarpment overlooking the Palo Duro Canyon.

The sky has given up some of its grandeur to the vast expanse of vistas opening up below. You can see 30 miles in the distant canyons, and can just make out the road and landmarks ahead and below you. Now you understand how the hawk feels as he surveys his next meal. Never mind that your own next meal is a Subway sandwich stuffed in your saddlebag, your talons clamp the controls and you manuever the machine quickly and gracefully through the winding road past breathtaking scenery down into the canyon where ultimately you light upon a picnic
table perched near a rocky canyon wall.

The motorcycle is quiet now. Its noise is replaced by the rustling of the few remaining cottonwood leaves and the murmur of the nearby stream. You take off your jacket, unruffle your feathers, and enjoy quite possibly the best sandwich you have ever eaten.

Frame painting and GPS

2006-11-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we shot the first coat on the CT70 Mini-Trail bikes. Mine is blue, Ron has the green one. While the paint dried, we installed the new GPS on Ron's BMW. The GPS is very cool, but I have decided not to install one on my CT70. At least, not until this money thing loosens up.

Fastest growing motorcycle gang in Texas

2006-11-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

Membership is up 25% over the past 2 days. Our good buddy Bill has acquired this virtually new silver and white Suzuki Volusia. This beautiful bike is nearly identical to my silver and gray C-50 Boulevard. I got to ride it and now I'm in the market for a windshield.

New tires

2006-11-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

The red Passport gets new tires. Ron rigged up a handy hoist system with an electric winch.

Straighten up and fly right

2006-11-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

I reversed the saddle bags on my Honda. Now the wings are correctly oriented.

Me and Chuck

2006-11-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

Ron & I were looking for somewhere to ride our new bikes, so we drove out to visit the Galloways. They always treat me well. Here's me and Chuck admiring my new toy.

What makes an old man smile?

2006-10-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Rodney has a big smile on his face since he picked up his new Suzuki 2006 Boulevard C50 Cruiser. As the fall season sets in, it will be a long cold winter while the new metric cruiser awaits to hit the open highway of the Texas Panhandle.

On the trailer

2006-10-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

I went to Wichita Falls to pick up my newly purchased (eBay) motorcyle today. I was a little unsure of my tie-down job, so I was constantly checking my rearview mirror to see if the straps were still tight. This allowed me to develop an emotional bond with the bike on the way home, because it was like being followed home by a big chrome-steel-and-leather cyclops puppy.

Pannier bags

2006-10-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

I made some pannier bags (saddle bags) out of a pair of musette bags (official Army designation: M-1936, so named because they resemble a small French bagpipe called a musette) from an army surplus store. I got the idea from an internet article.

I went the extra step and made a Honda emblem stencil, and then took a double extra step and made a reverse image so that the wing would appear to be going forward on both sides of the bike. Then I took the whole apparatus and incorrectly installed them backwards so as to negate all my extra steps. However, the whole assembly will be very functional and convenient for carrying small loads and should visually appear logical so long as I am rolling backwards.

Paradigm Shift

2006-10-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Ron & Linda went to Santa Fe and brought back this beautiful, brand new BMW R1200RT. It is a magnificent machine.

Lineup

2006-09-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

Sandblasting

2006-09-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is me using Joe's new sandblasting setup. It cleaned up the frame of the CT-70 really well.

Suzuki Burgman

2006-09-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today at a carwash in Wichita Falls, I met a really nice guy who had an '06 Suzuki Burgman 650 Scooter. This old guy is an ex-Harley rider who has bad knees and cannot easily hold up a bike so this one is equipped with a pair of outrigger wheels so that it looks like a trike, even though it still has the original rear wheel in place. It also had a trailer hitch installed on the scooter. He still wore his biker do-rag bandana and his denim jacket with colors & etc. He said that this scooter will do over 110 mph, and that he rides all day at 80 mph. He's had it 6 months, and has put 11,000 miles on it. (I guess he's retired). He takes it to all the veterans rallys and he took it to Sturgis for the big rally there. He says the Harley guys give him shit, but he just laughs it off. Said he was tired of having to work on a bike all day, & would rather ride one.

The Burgman is Suzuki's answer to the Honda Silver Wing. I've been reading up on both, and people ride these things everywhere. They are not just an urban commuter bike, but are a true touring machine. It does seem like most people on them are pretty old though. (Yes, I know what you are thinking. Go to hell.)

-Fuel injected, water-cooled 650cc v-twin engine
-The engine is tuned for emphasis on torque at the low and middle portion of the rpm scale
-Suzuki Electronically Controlled Variable Transmission (SECVT).

The Holy Grail

2006-09-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Since I was in Jr. High, I've always wanted a Honda CB77 Super Hawk 305 motorcycle like the one Steve McQueen is on in this picture. These things are getting scarce and expensive. Well, it turns out there is one on the roof of Skooterz Biker Bar. When we were there, they let us stack some tables and climb up on the roof and look at it.

We need to figure out a way to talk them out of the bike, but so far the owner isn't returning our calls.

Biker Bar Trip

2006-09-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

Ron and I took the C70's to town and stopped at a couple of biker bars on Sixth Street. We were pretty well received by the Harley guys. Had a burger at Moose's, and the folks at Skooterz bought us a beer and looked over our bikes.

This was the first time to take these little bikes into town. It was really fun, I enjoyed the ride through Thompson Park, North Heights, and Sixth Street.

CT70's disassembled

2006-08-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

We took apart the CT70 Trail Bikes. Ron's is the red one, mine is the yellow one. There are not as many good parts as I thought.

Honda C70's

2006-07-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

It turns out that after we got the blue C70 running, it was the most fun to ride (compared to the ST-90 and the CT-70). So, Ron finds this red one on EBay and we make another road trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma and pick it up. Then he finds the yellow one locally in the Thrifty Nickel. So now, between us, we are in charge of a fleet of motorbikes. Soon to become an empire.

All three of these bikes are 1981 Honda C-70 Passports. They have a 72cc 4-stroke engine, 3 speed transmission with an automatic clutch, and a 6 volt electrical system. They are part of the Honda "CUB" family which are the most popular form of motorized transportation on the planet. They are rather rare in the U.S. though. Honda stopped importing them in '84, to make room for the US appetite for bigger & faster bikes.

CT70's

2006-07-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

We've come up with a couple of basketcase CT70's. We're not sure, but think they can be rebuilt. The frames are straight and most of the parts are there. We'll probably spend more than they are worth to get them running, but what the hell. It's a good excuse to turn some wrenches.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

2006-06-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ron is a master at figuring out how things work. While I struggle with tools, study the repair manual and fight with the parts, Ron calmly repairs my carburetor WITH HIS MIND.

Ron's new shop

2006-06-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Ron has built this great shop behind his house and there's lots of room for motorbikes, scooters, cycles and other junk. It's like a great big blank canvas, just waiting to be filled with crap.

My first project was to get my little blue Honda C70 Passport running. My wife Barbara bought this bike at a garage sale about 15 years ago and apart from occasional mistreatment from my sons, has stood in storage, neglected for all those years.

The carburetor was full of varnish, and had to be disassembled and cleaned. After installing the carb and checking for spark, we still had trouble getting it started. Finally, Ron brings around a garden tractor and ties one end of a short rope to the tractor, and the other end to the handlebar column on the bike, and pulls me down the alley and into the street. I hammered the shifter into gear and about 1/2 a block later, she fired and bolted on me, very nearly ramming into the back of the tractor before I remembered how to slow it down.

After a lot of smoke, backfiring and laughter, the little bike finally leaned out and idled more or less. Next time we should use a longer rope. It was great to get the bike running again. I felt like a twelve year old with a new toy.

ST-90

2006-06-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ron and I were talking one day about some little motorbikes to use while camping in our newly built teardrop trailers, and we got the idea to find us a couple of old Honda trail bikes. Ron found this one on EBay and we made a road trip to Poteau, Oklahoma where we picked it up. It's a Honda ST90.

While passing through Okfuskee County, we stopped at the old Morse Cemetery and paid respects to my dad, enjoyed a Natural Light in his memory, and tried to remember the lyrics to Merle Haggard's "Working Man Blues".