Parking

A great thing about riding is that you can always find a place to park.  One word of caution, don't park too close to a Harley unless you know the rider.  That can end in disaster.

Weather FAIL!!

So yesterday I didn't ride to work.  Not that I don't ride in the rain, it's just that I don't like to ride in tropical storms or possible tornadoes.  Yesterday morning the weather people said that we were going to be smashed all day with a storm moving in from the tropics.  Well... my house got .1", that's right .1".  In case you missed it, THAT'S A PERIOD BEFORE THE NUMBER ONE!!!!!!!!!!!  Anyway, proves once again that you should ignore the weather and just ride.  The weather is gonna do what it's gonna do.

Start 'em early!

If we want more motorcyclists that are good riders, we need to start them on it early.  Both of my kids ride with us.  They have since they were old enough to reach the foot pegs (at least a little) and be trusted to hold on.  As a result, they have grown up with the feeling of leaning into the corner and being aware of the risks.  They both will get their own motorcycle before they get their own car.  I believe that this will make them better riders and more responsible citizens.  Our dream is to take a cross country trip in about 7 years.  We're toying with the idea of doing it on 250s to promote the usability of small displacement motorcycles.  (Maybe I need to lose some weight first.)

RAIN!!!!!

OK, so I haven't made my goal of blogging or riding everyday.  I rode on Friday despite the call for rain.  On the way to work I got dumped on.  I stayed dry enough with gear, so all was good.  On the way home, I somehow managed to miss most of the rain, but soon after I got home, it started to POUR and that continued until this morning in the early AM.  Now I'm not one to avoid riding because of rain, but this was a monsoon with some pretty good wind gusts.  It was the most rain we have had in Florida for decades that wasn't attached to a named tropical storm.  The weather guy said this morning that the only reason it was not named was because named storms develop on the surface and this developed in the atmosphere.  Now, looking out the office window, I see the first sun in days.  Ahhhh.  Good to be back.

Fizzergoo

This was my first street bike.  1993 FZR 600.  Great bike.  Very light, very flickable.  I loved to run the snot out of that thing.  Owned it for about two years.  I had a girlfriend that didn't like riding on the back so I traded for a car.  Worst decision of my life vehicle wise.  I lost the girlfriend and was reduced to riding in four wheels instead of on two.  It still makes me sick when I think of it.  My freshman year I rode this bike from Hobe Sound, Florida to Binghamton, New York.  Talk about saddle sore.  On the return trip, I was riding through a tropical depression from Richmond to Jacksonville.  It was so wet that my gloves bleached dye so much that my fingernails turned back.  The wind was so severe that my rain suite shredded at the seams (not what they are today) so badly that when I finally rode out of it in Jacksonville, I stopped at the Florida visitors welcome center and just threw it away.  Also when it rained, the wet would short something out and not allow the battery to recharge, so when I would stop, I would have to run the bike and dump the clutch to get it started again.  Those were the days.  I still miss her, the bike (the girlfriend, not so much).

Gear

You gotta ride with the right gear.  I used to be a squib, you know: shorts, tee-shirt, no gloves.  Been doing that for 20 years (longer if you include riding off road).  Then I take my wife to the safety-safe class and now I have to ride with long pants, riding jacket, gloves, helmet, and boots that cover my ankle if its just for fun riding.  Well that saved my butt (ankle, actually) this past week.  I'd just topped off the tank and was taking off without looking enough and a truck comes flying across the parking lot in my blind spot.  I was just barely rolling, so when I grabbed a fistful of the front brake, the bike pitched forward to right and I had to stick my foot out to keep from laying it down.  The sudden stop meant that the bike was really torquing and when I stuck my foot down, it tried to roll my ankle.  Luckily I was wearing the boots in the pic and other than a small strain that quit hurting in a few days, I was fine.  Guess my wife was right.

Smeared visor

Riding in the rain is something feared by most riders.  But then again most riders are fair weather hobbyists.  For those of us that commute everyday, riding in the rain is a necessary evil.  If I don't have anywhere to be where I would be embarrassed being wet and its not a thunderstorm, I don't actually mind riding in the rain.  In fact, I sort of enjoy it.  The worst part is visibility.  Rain riding with the visor down causes it to fog making visibility impossible (this is even worse if you are wearing glasses); put the visor up and rain gets on the inside of the visor which you can't wipe away.  The best thing I have found is to crack the visor open about an inch or so and just ride.

Motorcycle Maintenance

Since I ride everyday, the miles really pile up (minimum of 40 miles/day).  This means that the maintenance intervals come often.  Keeping a bike maintained is pricey if you drop it off at the shop for every little thing.  The good thing is, with the right tools and some Google help, most things can be done yourself.  The first thing I needed was a centerstand.  I found one for $25 at Harbour Freight.  It does the trick.  I added swing arm sliders (with some adaption from Lowe's parts) for the SV650 and have to reverse the paddles to get the Nighthawk off the ground.  Still, with a little trial and error, I've found that I can do tire changes, chain and sprockets, brakes, oil changes, radiator flush, battery changes, spark plugs, and valve covers myself.  Valve clearance checks were beyond what I can figure out, so that I will have to hire out.  So far I've saved well over $1,500 this year.

Tolls!!!

The curse of wayfaring travelers in classic literature used to be trolls.  Today, trolls have been replaced by tolls.  Much like trolls, they hide near the way the traveler must go waiting to spring on the unsuspecting rider and get their filthy fingers in your money pouch.

This morning my usual commute had a long back up from a wreck.  This forced me to take the toll road to work this morning.  That's $2 one way.  No consideration is given that motorcycles have far less wear and tear on the roads and help to ease congestion.  Nope.  We pay the same as the monster SUV with the texting soccer mom pilot that is continually threatening our lives.  To add insult to injury, we can't even use the express lanes.  Technically we can, but half the times I do it fails to register the transponder and I get hit with a toll running fine.

Just this past week our beloved mayor (Theresa Jacobs) was in the news stating that tolls were going to rise.  This after she made the campaign pledge to do something about the high price of tolls.  (To be fair, she states that she only promised to LOOK at tolls, and now that she has "things are much worse that she expected from previous...blah...blah...blah...." more politically motivated BS far from the implications of campaign rhetoric).

Here's an idea:  how about you drop tolls entirely for motorcyclists until ridership hits over 10% of total traffic?  We ease congestion, cause far less pollution, and are easier on the roads.  How about you actually promote ridership?  I know it's not the energy independence solution, but it certainly could be a part.

Fall!!!

Rode to church this morning with the family.  Beautiful sunny day.  A tad under sixty this morning with bright sunshine, a bit over 80 on the way home.  Riding two up with a loved one is very intimate.  If you don't operate on the same page, things are very unsettled and the bike feels heavy.  If you are in close contact and both paying attention then it feels seamless.  There's not many times in my life when I feel closer to my son then when we take a corner at a hard lean angle together and accelerate hard exiting.  Life is good!!! 

Oct 1 ride

First day of October and the weather is spectacular!!  After 5 long months of heat, today is the first day cool enough to actually turn off the AC and open the windows.  I went on a ride with the fam and it was a great evening.  We left around 5 and the temp was perfection.  Instead of sweating my *&@# off, it was just pleasant.  Went on some curvy roads, took some pics at Fort Christmas and then ate at Tijuana flats.  Now I'm going to make a latte, kick my feet up and watch Lost. Great day!!  I am looking forward to a great fall and winter of riding.

Chasing the Shadow

Chasing the shadow.  When I ride to work in the mornings (when I don't meet someone predawn for breakfast) I'm heading west and the sun is at my back.  These creates a loooooong shadow that I am chasing.  Since I used to travel the same route in my car, I'm sure that it was a phenomenon that I was just oblivious to.  Now that I'm on the motorcycle, it jumps out at me.  It's my favorite part of the day.  When I'm chasing the shadow, the world and its worries melt away.  When I'm chasing the shadow, everything becomes more clear.  In those moments I'm more aware of my insignificance and more aware of the presence of Him.  It's a shame that life can't have more of those moments.  Their always there.  The shadow exists.  We just have to get out of cars, away from our cell phones, and turn the radio off to notice.

I read everyday.  I love to read and I think about writing.  What I need to do is ride, read, and write everyday. So here's my commitment:  For the month of October I'm going to make sure I ride a little, read a little, and write a little each day.  I find all these things make my life richer and fuller and drive me to be a better person.  So... That means that I will post at least once everyday for the month of October.  I will read a little each day.  And finally I will ride a little each day.  Some days (like today since I had to take the care in for a new tire) that means I will need to jump on my bicycle (I ride a Schwin at least 4 times a week with my pups).  I don't want to miss the shadow.

Quit Your Whining about Gas $$$$$$!!!!

American's continue to drive gas guzzling automobiles and then whine and complain when fuel prices sky rocket.  We sold our least fuel efficient car ( a PT Cruiser, not a Hummer), kept our Scion (30MPG +/- around town) and switched the bulk of our driving to motorcycles.  Yes, the prices still hurt, but even though our daily commute has dramatically risen, fuel prices are an inconvenience and not a crisis.  Still, America does nothing to combat our dependance on oil.  On a daily basis just over 1/10 of 1% of the population commutes on motorcycles or scooters (.11%).  I propose that the US government make driving more motorcycle friendly to encourage more drivers to communte on two wheels whenever possible.  Here are some incnentives I propose to encourage more riders:

• eliminate tolls for motorcycles:  allow us to travel for free on toll roads
• allow lane splitting in all 50 states:  California currently allows this and it works well, why sit in traffic when you can still move?
• provide a large number of motorcycle only parking spots closest to public buildings
• allow motorcycles to have a 10 mile per hour higher speed limit, nothing is worse in traffic for a motorcyclist than having tailgaters riding up on you
• enforce displacement restrictions on new riders
• eliminate fuel tax for motorcycle use until motorcycles ridership makes up 20% of the total daily commuting traffic
• stop passing legislation that hurts all riders to punish squid behavior:  sometimes a wheelie is just as incidental as chirping your cars tires and is no more unsafe, let cops use their discretion.

I know that politicians will worry about the loss of revenue from fuel tax, however, think of the savings that will occur from fewer road repairs.  Motorcycles would ease congestion saving time and fuel.  Keeping traffic moving reduces the amount of polution being pumped into the atmosphere.  Think about it, more motorcycles could go a long way in helping us combat the dependency on fuel.  To make it even better, we can do it TODAY for very little cost (actually what I propose will actually save money).  High speed rail?  Come on!!  It will cost BILLIONS, take years to implement, and no one will ride it.  Think about it.