I Hate My Phone!!

How often have I heard that? How often have you said that?  I bet I hear that frequently from everyone that has a smart (haha) phone.  We hate how they type, swype and correct.  We hate how they sound, how they dial, how we get from here to there.  We hate all the things about them that make them ‘smart’.  But, we are NOT ready to give up all that awesome 3/4G network access to go back to a phone that just places calls!  Nope, we have to be connected.  Funny, really, how much we want them, but dislike them.  Also funny, is that I know some people that really like their phones.  I was talking to my brother-in-law just the other day (I’ve changed the names to keep the innocent protected, we’ll call him ‘Dude’) about how much he actually likes his phone.  And, then Dude hit it on the head– he knows how to run it.  He said, “…most people just don’t know how to run their phone…”; yep, that is why everyone really hates their phone.  Not because they suck so much, but because most people really don’t know how to use them.  Ok, and some of them do just suck so much.  However, instead of just googling the answer, we complain, and either figure it out or give up. 

 

So, the next time you are stabbing icons on your phone with talon like fingers, remember– it’s not the phone’s fault that you have no idea how to run it.  It’s like blaming a car for the fact that you don’t know how to run a clutch. 🙂

 

Pics for boredom

Out of boredom, I’m posting some pics, and because it makes it easier to post elsewhere… don’t ask, its just too easy, and I’ll leave it at that.

Where It All Began

For as long a history motorcycles have, and as long as racing has been associated with them (I think the first race started when the second bike was built), the modern concept of a sport bike is still pretty young.  Honestly, if a sport bike was aged, it would have just been old enough to get that 25 year old insurance discount (which it would need for its size and power!). 

Whenever I think about the first ‘modern’ sportbike, I think of something that came from the factory with body work on it.  Not the CB’s and KZ’s (or GPz’s) of the 70′, but more like what we see today.  It seems that, to most, the VF750F Interceptor was hailed as the first ‘production’ sport bike created.  It was built in 1983, and it was built to race.  This was basically the first bike created for the showroom floor so that Honda could take it racing.  And, it was impressive.  A V-4 engine, 750cc’s, 140mph claimed top speed; this thing was an animal!  One of the most famous lines that I have read/heard was “In 1983, there were two types of motorcyclist: the one that owned an Interceptor, and the one that wanted to.”  Pretty true words for the time.  Now the choices are almost unlimited for a sport bike, from a 250 to a 1400, there are countless choices from more than 5 manufacturers, most having 3-5 different models.  Then, if you wanted a full faired bike, it was the 750.  It started a revolution that has continued to this day.

Interceptor

CBR900RR

900 Ninja

Though, looking at Landmarks, I’d say that there are just a few that really  impress me.  I am pretty baised towards Japanese motorcycles, so here is my short list:  ’83 Interceptor 750, ’84 Ninja 900, ’93 CBR900RR.  Very short list.  Now, don’t miss understand, there were countless variations out there that raised the bar- Suzuki’s GSX-R series (both the 1100 and the 750), Kawasaki’s first production 600 Ninja in 1986 (which could just about be added to the short list, since, in my opinion, that led directly to the current 600 supersport series’), Honda’s Hurricane 600 and 1000, and the Yamaha’s FZ series.  Actually, the newer Yamaha R1/6 series could really be on that short list as well, but for straight up difference in the world, the first 3 really do it for me, especially the ’93 900 RR!

The 900 Ninja took what the Interceptor did, but just raised the bar.  An article I read said that the 900 was the first bike to feature the aircraft style fuel cap that was flush to the tank. The list of advanced features could go on and on, but one that I always liked was using the engine as a stressed member of the frame.  Until then, bikes used the fram to enclose the engine, which led to big, heavy frames.  This allowed the engine to be placed lower, and to reduce the weight.  Great foresight, that one.  Actually, the 900 was almost ahead of its time– it was only around the states for a few years, and many riders seemed to prefer the 600’s and 750’s.  It was the ‘lets take a big bike and make it a little smaller and meaner’ bike of the 80’s.  It took almost a decade before another 900 would set the market on its ear.  Oh, and when Tom Cruise hit the roads in Top Gun, he was riding a 900 Ninja– at the time, that was the height of cool.

So, fast forward through close to 10 years of 600 Ninjas and ZX-10’s, Hurricane 600’s and 1000’s, GSX-R 750’s and 1100’s, as well as FZR 600’s, OWO1 750’s, and FZR 1000’s, Honda dropped a bomb: CBR900RR!  This bike was as close to sex on wheels as anyone could ever get– and, in my opinion, still is.  This bike set a bar that has been improved on, but I don’t believe has ever been over come.  Many bikes are leaner, meaner, faster, lighter, and possibly better looking, but none of the bikes produced since 1993 have impacted the market the way that bike did.  Up until that point in time, it seemed as if your bike was either a light (for the time) 600, with no power below 7k, or a big, heavy bike that had tons of power from the bottom to the top, but felt pretty heavy all over.  The 900RR took the weight of a 600 (only 4 lbs more than the ’93 CBR600F2 and 76 lbs lighter than the lightest liter bike!!), and stuck the power of a 1000 (124 hp) in it to produce something that was both heaven and evil at the same time.  It made power from the starter button to the red line, and it did it while laughing loudly at every bike it passed on the road.  In 1999, I saw a ’93 on a dyno, and it put out more hp then, at 22k miles, than stock– the dyno tech told me that ‘..a Honda is like a swiss watch, the more they run, the better they get..’  I can still remember the first time I saw one.  Rolling on a ’88 EX500, in KCMO, I pulled into the local bike hangout to see this thing sitting there… huge rear tire, screaming fast with the key off.  This guy had driven from KC to Davenport IA to get this thing.  There was nothing hotter on the street.  Only a year later, I saw one pulling out of a dealership in Iowa, full exhaust, howling and awesome (I wonder what ever happened to that bike).  Oh, it had some downsides– the ridiculous front wheel at 16″ was insane, I don’t care what the engineers say.  As time went by, it lost some weight, gained cc’s and power, but that original red, white, and blue, with the massive fuel tank, still speaks to me of power and promise. 

Some would argue that the R1 was almost as revolutionary, or the GSX-R750 of the late 90’s.  Maybe the latest edition of the GSX-R1000 or the ZX-10R.  Heck, throw in the Ducati 1098 (ok, the 916 is the next closest bike in terms of cool– and out does the RR in sex appeal) or MV Agusta F4.  But all of those bikes felt to me like an awesome copy of the original. 

Honestly, I could go on all day long about bikes that are powerful, beautiful, and feed into the cool factor.  However, at a certain point, many of the bikes get lost in the crowd.  Today, one 600 or 1000 doesn’t really stand out from the other, it becomes brand preference.  Everyone has a liter bike, everyone has a 600.  But, when these three bikes came out, the Interceptor, the Ninja and the 900RR, there really wasn’t anything like them on the market.  I call them defining.  We could debate this all day long, and others will have their opinion– but every spring, I wait to see the next 900RR roll onto the showroom floor.

Just In: Riding Comes To A Crashing Halt!!

Ok, it may not be that drastic.  I know there are plenty of people out there in milder climates that are still riding.  One smart rider commented to me how cold it was riding in 60 degree weather now (this as I was preparing for snow, and my fire was lit). 

Looking back, it looks like As The Throttle Turns was pretty dry this year– partly due to my bike really enjoying the comfort of my garage–  unfortunately, I just never rode as much as I would have liked to.  Plenty of opportunity, and a few great rides out there!!  Motivation can be elusive sometimes.  Mostly, riding is the type of thing that breeds its own motivation.  The more I ride, the more I want to.  However, as was mentioned here a year or more ago, it can get easy to decide to take the cage to the store instead of the bike.  It can be simpler to take the kids somewhere in the car and not come after the bike.  Lots of ‘good’ excuses, but none valid!  Riding is more than just a physical accomplishment; more than just throwing a leg over and rolling out of the garage.  It is a mental status.  That encompasses more than just a state of mind, but it builds on the ego as well.  It’s been said many places, but by riding a bike, you join a select crowd.  Here in the USA, less than 2% of all on road vehicles are motorcycles– small group indeed!  However, it is easy to look at that bike in the garage, figure you still fit in, and jump in the car.  I’m a prime example.  I’ve had years where I rode 10k miles a year– and that is where it isn’t warm all year ’round (yeay, i’m looking at you in the south and west!).  Some years not as many, and down to less than 2,000 miles this year.  And I love bikes– I live and breathe them.  I work in a bike shop, I have helmets as decoration on my bookshelves, I have more jackets for riding, than I do for any other weather.   Right now, there are 2 running motorcycles, 3 not running motorycles, 1 ATC, and one ATV in my garage– I have my kids riding, and I love to.  But I still didn’t put any miles on this year.  My best friend has been working in the motorcycle industry for the last 4-5 years.  Opened up his own shop for used parts, and did pretty well with it.  Before he opened up the shop, he rode thousands of miles a year.  He told me that last summer he rode 600 miles.  There is something about working in a shop that seems to suck the riding out of you.  I know I read an article about a shop out in Colorado, where the owner forced himself to set up rides during the beginning of the year, so they would actually get some riding in.  Interesting mental set-up, it seems.

But, as to the ego– that is where it lies.  I know a friend of mine told me that whenever I left the motorcycle industry, I would still need some type of bike, or my ego would take a monster motorcycle hit– and he was right.  A year of selling insurance, and it was a good thing I had a bike at my disposal!  That month the poor girl was down with broken pieces and parts was one of the longest of my life!

So, I guess the moral of the story is: if you have a bike, ride it.  Realize why you got it, enjoy it, and savor every moment you have.   Jumping in the F150, and heading down the highway is no where near the same as riding your bike!!

Anyway, there was one really fun ride that I attended this summer:  We rode down 79 from Hannibal to Louisanna.  Great time– the Burlington area guys met up at my pad, we rode to Quincy to meet up with 600 mile a year D, and headed through Palmyra to Hannibal (which is a pretty fun ride all by itself).  Taught Randy and his boys what the hills in Missouri were like — they enjoyed some of the good front wheel in the air action off those hills!  Then we got our start on 79.  I tell you what– that road may be nothing compared to the southern US or Colorado or out west, but for here, that thing is awesome!  Good curves, hills, and some fun straights.  D gave a school in wheelies, I think I carved up the corners pretty well.  It was pretty fun on the way down.  When we hit the Shell station on the south end of the road, the normal stories ensued– drastically enhanced from reality, of course.  However, while the 10 or so of us sat there, a group of riders from St. Louis rolled through.  The made a day trip from St. Louis to Hannibal, and were on the way back through.  There were some nice rides in that pack;  a few Ducati’s, an Aprillia RSV Mille, a couple Triumphs, some good looking R1 and R6’s.. a few other Yamahas (one GP style race replica), a couple Honda 600RR’s and a 1000RR.  Was a parking lot full of fuel and testosterone!!  The nice thing was that every one was pretty cool… some of them came over to our crowd and asked some questions, while I ran around with my camera phone to get pics of the more exotic looking bikes.  Now, we thought we were pretty done up, in our helmets and jackets (ok, about half of us had jackets)– those guys were set up for the ride!!  Either full leathers or a jacket that zipped to pants, boots, and gloves; all sorts of high-end stuff!!  Nice guys, good looking bikes, and they were serious. 

After a while, Danny joined; he gave some more wheelie seminars on the way back.  I think most of the other guys decided that they weren’t really the ‘wheelie’ type of rider.  After a few worm burners, we pretty much settled in to a good ride back north.

Well, enough soap boxes and weak riding stories for now.  The Moviestar RR is sitting the garage with a pile of dust on her.  I may hafta clean that and put a mile on her.

Til next time, don’t let your chicken strips show!!

Motorcycology: 101 First Ride

The first ride of the year.  Time for me to drag my soap box out and give my (usually) annual rant on safe first rides of the year.  Most of us won’t haul our bikes into the dealer before our first ride, so there needs to be a spring time check list.  When that first day comes, and its just warm enough to ride, we want to hit the road…So, a few things to remember:

1) Relax–  It’s easy to get wound up, over anxious and over adrenalized.  Try to just relax a little before getting on the bike.  Otherwise, you’ll be too juiced and either grab the brake too quickly, twist the throttle too much, or get into that corner just a littl too hot.  Great way to calm down before riding are some of the next items on the list.  However, while riding, try to remember to relax every so often.

2) Clean your stuff– great way to relax (see above) and it gives you a chance to inspect your bike before heading off to ride.  Lots of us put our bikes away clean, but with the thought of fixing that little ‘this or that’… however, many times winter happens, and those things get forgotten about– brakes, levers, pins, clips or bolts.  Easy stuff, and something that will be seen while cleaning the winters dust and grime.

3) Lube your chain– just like cleaning, this will allow you to inspect your chain/sprockets, to make sure everything is still in good working condition.  No kinks in the chain, no bad teeth on the sprockets, and no worn/out of adjustment chains.  All good things to have taken care of.  (ok, if it’s shaft drive, check the oil and make sure its working properly)

4) Air up your tires!!!– probably the most important aspect of geting ready.  Even if you put your bike away with 100lbs of air, they will have lost plenty through the winter months.  Ask Danny, it’s easy to find your bike with 7lbs and wonder why it handles like a tank.  Also, its pretty dangerous: you get that person on the back, in the corner, and the tires slosh all over the road like you are riding on slime.  Another good time to inspect both the rims, the tires and the valve stems for any issues.  Granted, not much you would expect over the winter, but it never hurts to check it out.

5) Check the oil– another item that isn’t all that necessary, but a good precaution to make sure that everything is up to snuff.  Take the time to check for moisture, proper cleanliness and quantity.  Easy to take care of.

Those are the main items.  I’m sure that we can all come up with a few items to add to the list; the more check points the better!!!  Its never a bad idea to be over cautious for any ride, especially the first one of the year.

So, as you may expect, I got my first ride of the year yesterday.  I hate riding on dirty roads, but I just couldn’t wait any longer.  It was 68(F), and I had a few hours before sundown.  I met up with Danny and his brother, picked up some passengers, and hit the road.  Danny led us on some winding roads filled with gravel, cinders, mud clods, and cow manure.  But, as he says, ‘Welcome to Illinois!’.  One of the coolest things we saw as the ‘motorcycle tree’.  I forgot my camera, so I’ll go back later on to take pics to list.  Out in the middle of no-where, there is an old, run-down grocery store, on a single corner, right where the railroad tracks cross the road.  Just beyond that, there is a tree that has grown up around an old Hodaka (which has been spray painted green).  Parts of the tree trunk have intertwined through the bike, and it is now part of the tree.  A pretty cool sight to see!  Anyway, we made it back to Carthage just as the sun set.  The ride home, for me, was 20 minutes in the dark in February, and it wasn’t a warm trip.  But, it was worth every second, and, hopefully, something to last until the next warm day that is ride-able!!!

An Ending…. and a beginning!

Saturday brought along some great weather for us here in the So-So Midwest (it won’t be ‘Great’ again until this weather breaks for good).  We had near 60F weather, and I was loving it.  It was warm enough to work on a my little 50 quad, but, best of all, Robert and I got to finish off the V65.  We have been close for a while, but someone went and left for Mexico (not naming names, Robert), so we finally but the gasket and clamp on the right side exhaust, and got the clutch slave-cylinder bled!  Robert took it for a ride, it worked just like it was supposed to, so it made it back to his house!!  He is pretty excited, and is planning on riding it to work later on this week– temps should be upper 40’s and lower 50’s for the weekend!

So, as we finished that project, I began another, by taking off the front brake and master cylinder off the mighty GS250!  It was a chore, ’cause that thing was frozen on there pretty tightly.  But, it is in a bucket and ready to be worked on!  Next is removal of the carbs, changing of the oil, and seeing if this thing can run.  All in all, a good project for February. 

I had to move Danny’s RR around in my garage, so the old Ford could fit in, and it is having a hard time standing up– with totally flat tires, the bike doesn’t want to stay on its side stand (good thing there was a bicycle to break its fall!!), so, in order to keep it upright, I have a tiedown from the ceiling rafter to the handle bar.  It is quite the sight, and I’ll be taking some pictures to post on here later on as proof!  I think we will be finished with that project by the end of this month as well, so Feb will go down as the project finish month this year!!

Other than that, not much news.  We are all (ok, some of us) waiting for the Dealer Show in Indy, coming up the middle of this month.  They will have all the vendors there for anything that is motorcycle/atv/watercraft related; I am hoping that there are more than a few new and exciting things released/unveiled there this year.  I am going to make an effort to list some of the more exciting/innovative products that show up.

That pretty much sums it up for now…not much to go on at the end of  Jan or the beginning of Feb, but more to come!!

King of the world!

Most days, I wake up feeling like normal.  Things are ‘so so’, they may suck, they may be good; but, for the most part, they are ‘average’.  However, some days, at a certain point, for no reason, I feel like the king of the world!  No reason.  It just comes upon me, for no particular reason.  Who knows, it could be because the day went well, I sold something great, or bought something ‘just right.’  But, usually, its just ‘because’.  I think those ‘because’ days are the best, cause that feeling of ‘king’- (hood?, -dome?) are justified on the subconsious level—which, to me, means that it is warranted.  And, that, I’ll take!

So,  if you haven’t figured it out by now, I am feeling like the king of the world.  Dunno why, but I am reveling in it, and taking it for all it is worth.

Anyway, the motorcycle world is on the brink of bursting wide open, with spring so very close to breaking out.  I can hardly wait for the first time that I can get the all new all different CBR600RR out on the road again… granted, the RR was all new/all different last fall, but it just hasn’t had enough time on the road–tho, maybe it has almost had too much time on the road (and I think only Dwight really knows what that means)….tho, now every one can— stand up wheelies are just not for everyone, and I am one of those ‘not for’s’…. yeah, Stuntin’ Aint Easy just about became me.  However, the GRP steering stabilizer is the one thing that saved my life… or, at least, my bike, from certain destruction!!!  Poor thing, first real road test, and I tried some stand up wheelies, only to have my hand spectacularly leave the bar, almost dump me on my head, but come to steer straight again– all due to the awesomeness (is that a word) of the GPR… I am now a believer!!!

So, no use crying over spilt adrenelin, which brings me back to harldy waiting for spring to spring, and my bike to be out on the road again.  It is sitting, paitently, in my garage, under the cover of a Nicky Hayden bike cover, just waiting to roll through the gears… and, yes, if you didn’t know this, the TBR pipe ‘rocks the house big time’!!!!!  I love everything about this bike, and couldn’t love it more, unless it was just a bigger bore…tho that would make me more inclined to try stand up wheelies… yes, D, that is a horrible thought!!!!!’

But, I digress… all I can say is this.. spring is close, my B-day is close, and my bike is very close to hitting the road (in a good way) again.. yes, there is half a foot of snow on the ground, but it is very close to being thawed out and I am very close to hitting that 100mph figure again.

And, that, the 100mph figure, is what my ego thrives for.  Recently, with the destruction of my pretty Saturn (with the sunroof!), my ego has taken a little damage… but, it is amazing what the ego lives on, and a 600RR, with carbon fiber exaust, makes a huge difference in the feeding habits of an ego.  Yep, it is satisfied.  The Battlestar F150 isn’t too much for the ego to live by, while the RR sits nearby, ready to attack the road!

ok, that has to be enough ego stroking for one eve, I’m gonna go and pet the RR for a while, then hit the hay to dream about warmer climates( yeah, I hear you Phoenix guys laughing at me… at least I can take a shower at any time of the day, any time of the year).

The throttle live!!!

Oh, so close….

Over the last week, the temperature has varied wildly, and on one day, it actually, almost, touched 60 (F) outside.  I was oh, so tempted to ride my bike, but with the way my luck on the road has gone lately, I think that I may have just killed the poor thing.  So, she stayed under her cover in the garage, just waiting for that one perfect day to go riding.  …which, hopefully, provides me with clean roads, instead of these nasty, sandy, salty, cinder covered roads!

As to my driving luck, I’ll post, below, some pics of the end of the Saturn.  All my own fault, as a stupid driver, I passed through a yeild sign, and mashed a poor, unsuspecting driver (sorry!).  After a few days of worry and wonder, I found out my car was a total loss, and I am negotiating with the Ins Co over the actual value.  In all honesty, they are being fair in their dealings, so I don’t have much room to complain, other than my own mistakes. 

With that in mind, I think that I’ll need to be putting some serious miles on the Xbox this weekend, so that I can work out some of my frustrations!!

Unfortunately, there just isn’t much in the bike world going on, right now.  Ebay slowly progresses, and I’m down to 2 days on the cb125 auction  — go, bid now!– and then it’l be time to work on the GS.  But, those are things for a later time.

I did get my NASCAR blood going this morn, listening to some racing news on the radio, thinking about the Daytona 500 coming up soon– can’t wait for that!!!

Well, that is all the time for today… boredom at work is no excuse for bloggin….

Ug.

A New Year!

Once again, it seems as if its been forever since I’ve put anything to print… mostly because it has been forever since I wrote anything.  You would think that the world has been spinning far too quickly to allow me time to put things into print.  Alas, that isn’t the problem.  I believe the real culprit is laziness. Yeah, that’s pretty much it: I’ve been far too busy being lazy to think about writing.  But, hey, what can I say?!  It’s wintertime in the Great Midwest!  After a long day of staring at a computer screen, while listening to moron level customers try to describe a non-existant part, sitting in front of the tv is far too easy.  It has been a pretty good time, tho, since the last post.  I’ve had some fun playing xbox, racing around the internet and crashing people I never met.

But, enough of that.  On to what is important!  What bike things have been going on?  Hmmm…. well, bro-in-law and myself have figured out why the techs get the big bucks: we replaced the transfer case cover gasket on a old ’83 V65 Magna.  The bike was scattered all over the floor of my garage, the rear end all in parts, oil and coolant everywhere, but we got it back together, and it was fun!!  Nothing better than figuring out that you can actually take something apart, find the problem, fix it, and put it back together!  Ok, so its not all the way finished; there is one gasket on the muffler, but that is a minor technicality.

Also, I came across a set of older, smaller street bikes– a ’75 CB125 and a ’80GS250.  Both had been sitting in some guy’s garage for 10-15 years (he had no idea how long), and hadn’t run for easily that long.  With (a lot of) help, the CB shuddered to life again, in the back room of the shop.  It took some fancy carb cleaning skills, and many other talents that I don’t have to get it going, but it is a runner!  ….sort of.  The tank was in very bad shape, and I got all the rust out of it that I could, but it needs far more help than my skill set allows for.  We kicked on it (yeah, how bout, a kick start street bike from Honda?) for quite some time, and every kick blew rusty, dusty gunk out of the exhaust– what a mess!  Finally, she fired up, and ran– albeit poorly.  Eventually, the running got better, but the poor thing does burn oil at a hefty rate.  But, what can you expect, the thing is old, but sturdy!

The second bike, the old GS, may be more work.  The tank is better, but the carbs are frozen tight!  I also have to figure out the front brakes– they are stuck tighter than a drum.  It looks pretty good sitting there, tho…if you like little engine bikes with huge windshields and back rests!  I’d imagine that I’ll start tearing the GS apart soon enough.  …more bike parts to scatter all over the floor!

That’s the bulk of my excitement. Unfortunately.  I look at my RR almost every day, sitting in the cold and shivering (poor thing).  I’m seriously thinking about taking up the carpet in my basement, and letting the CBR sit in there over the winter…hmmm, or moving to a warmer climate, so I can just ride the poor thing!

Well, here is to hoping that the ‘throttle’ gets more use this year than last year!

Til then, remember: don’t jerk the throttle, just twist it with authority!

My bike, my ride, all my time!

Dear god!

It has been a whiles since I have been on here!  In that time, I have put my bike all the way back together, traded out jobs, riden tons, got Eric hooked up with his new bike, and finished the little touches on the house.  I don’t even know where to start!

So, here are some pics of the bike, from the starting point, to the finishing point.  I do love it, it sounds great, rides great, and can almost pop-a-wheelie 🙂

I just had to post some pix, I’ll get back on later to detail the work on the bike, the riding, Eric’s bike and all the good fun!