Blinded by the Light

Finally, I got every thing buttoned up last week and Lucy is running again! It's amazing how difficult a bike can be sometimes.

A simple addition of driving lights gave me an excuse to catch up on some overdue maintenance such as a radiator flush, however removing and reinstalling the tank several times to do so caused me to break a fuel fitting which required replacing said fittings. Which in turn gave me an opportunity to have my mechanic check the valves and replace the fork oil while I waited for parts to arrive.

I spent all of last Friday morning poking, prodding, cutting and slowly picking away at the plastic fuel fittings from the metal flange.

Removing plastic from the metal flange

SUCCESS!!!

Once the first one was out I attempted to very carefully remove the second fitting with a 19mm socket. I knew deep down what I was in for and as I ever so slowly turned the socket counter-clockwise it became easier and easier to turn, then suddenly it was too easy to turn... sure enough the second fitting broke and I was back to poking, prodding, cutting and slowly picking away at the plastic again.

2nd fitting broke

At least I knew what I was doing this time so the chore went a little faster.

All clean!

All cleaned up and ready to install the new fittings. I skipped down to the post office to pick up my treasures.

oooohhhhhh.... shiny!

Assembly went smoothly, I put the tank back on without the fear of breaking the fittings and got the battery in and bodywork back on.

Now to wait for darkness to test my lights. I rolled her outside, pointed her up the street and hit the switch.

WOW, those are bright! Let's see... if I aim this one down a little bit and this one to the left just a tad.

Headlights low beam

Headlights low beam with ADVMonster lights

Nope, still bright. Oh well, we'll see how many drivers I can blind during my commute.

Drivers seem to be used to LED lights as only one vehicle flashed their lights at me all week, a pretentious BMW driver with projector beam headlights at that. Really?!?

The lights did vibrate loose so I had to add lock washers to the mounting clamps and blue Loctite threadlock to all the mounting bolts and to where the light housing separates.

Thanks for the photo Mattsnook 

The lights produce a much brighter, white light than the headlights and draw very little power, but they do draw power. So much so that I have to decide which one auxiliary unit to use at a time as not to max out my wimpy little 350W charging system. I can run the lights if I keep my heated grips on low or run my grips on high if I shut off the lights, how frustrating and I haven't even entered my heated liner into this combination yet.

Let's see... liner off, grips high, lights off or liner on, grips low, lights off or liner off, grips off, lights on or liner off, grips low, lights on.

Or buy a Tiger Explorer 1200 with a 950W generator......

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photogallerys/Triumph-Tiger-EXPLORER.jpg

I suspect I'll be driving the car much more this winter than previous years, my commute is now just over 10 miles longer and the microclimates between home and work can differ significantly.

Happy Autumnal Equinox everyone!!!

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heartstrings that play soft and low...
~Van Morrison

One Thing After Another

Summer has come and is nearly gone, the sun dawns later and will be setting sooner as the days get shorter and fall approaches. This means I'm already commuting to work in the dark and soon enough my commute home will be the same. I have the gear to handle such daily slogs but my bike is lacking a bit of kit. The stock headlights are fine until I encounter oncoming traffic, then I'm pretty much riding blind, I have to hope and trust I don't come upon any roadkill (raccoons, possums, nutria, coyotes) or other hazards in the road such as shredded truck tires, mattresses or a 5 gallon bucket of oil strewn across two lanes of a busy corner. (Thanks for the warning Andy).

To combat this I visited ADVMonster and placed an order for their Model 30 Spot Light and Model 44 Flood Light to mount to my crash bars.

Now all I had to do was wait. I ran the bike low on fuel as I knew the tank had to come off to run wiring for the lights. Friday came and my lights were still in transit so I removed the tank and proceeded to do a radiator flush and coolant change. Triumph designers brilliantly placed the fuel tank on top of the radiator cap so to flush the radiator one must remove the battery to remove the tank, drain the coolant, flush the system, fill, reinstall the tank and battery to run the engine to operating temperature, let the bike cool, remove the battery and tank, drain, fill, reinstall the tank and battery, run the engine, let the bike cool, remove the battery and tank, drain one more time before filling with coolant. So this procedure took up all of Friday morning and the garage smells of fuel and coolant, but this service was done.

My lights came in Friday afternoon so like a happy boy I skipped down to the post office to fetch them.

They look like very nice lights at a reasonable price, I read many good reviews on several different forums. I watched YouTube videos of riders demonstrating their newly mounted lights and I was anxious to receive mine and get 'em mounted... but how?

Spot on the left/Flood on the right

ADVMonster LED Lights

I pondered how to mount these and drove all over town buying several different pipe, conduit, cable, wire and bar clamps before finally discovering ground clamps! They gave me a good solid base and a perfect pivot point to attach the housing bracket.

Lowe's online photo

I spray painted them black and attached them to my bars. Mounted the lights and ran the wires up into the dash to power and a new switch I picked up at Napa Auto Parts. I relocated my Hot Grips switch to access the factory blank in the dash so it looks stock.

I installed the battery, checked and double checked the wiring making sure everything worked then decided I better check the air filter while the tank is still off. Got it cleaned, re-oiled and installed.

Now to button everything up, I put the tank back on one last time, plugged in the fuel pump and attached the fuel lines...... SNAP! What was that?!?

I knew what it was but I was afraid to look.

$($%(*!$*^%)@)$%*)$#*%^%(#!#)@$%! A broken fuel fitting!

The bottom fitting is not so fitting.

If Triumph has an Achilles' Heel, it has to be their plastic fuel fittings. There was a recall and they would replace the male elbow fittings but not the female fittings in the tank itself. So when they break, you're in for a bit of surgery to get the plastic threads out of the metal flange. You can read the surgery procedure and what I'm in for at The 520 Chain Cafe. Thanks for the write up Joe C.

I'm in search of the metal fittings now and since the bike is out of commission for another week or so while I wait for the parts to come in, I have an email into my friendly local mechanic to see if he'll fit me in for a valve adjustment. With my luck recently, I'm not going anywhere near the inside of the motor. I already have one bike in pieces, I don't need another one taking up space.



Bad is never good until worse happens.  ~Danish Proverb

Calculus and Spotwalla, not my best subjects...

Ahhhh, what a beautiful Friday morning and a wonderful start to yet another three day weekend. The birds were chirping and singing away, the sun welcoming another day and the temperature hovering at a most pleasant 68ºF.

This is definitely riding weather.... but where to go? Why not check Bobskoot's Spot page, make a few calculations and surprise the weary traveller for lunch?

MotoBlogger "A" leaves Crescent City, California at 7:31 AM, while MotoBlogger "B" leaves Corvallis, Oregon at 8:59 AM. Both MotoBloggers are traveling at the suggested speed limit of 55 mph, what time and where will the two MotoBloggers meet?

Pretty simple right? Pull up Google Map, chart my course to meet BobSkoot in Reedsport.


View Larger Map


Evidently there was a minor miscalculation in my calculus word problem, one cannot expect either MotoBlogger  to maintain the suggested speed limit of 55 mph. MotoBlogger "A" isn't expecting MotoBlogger "B" nor does MotoBlogger "B" expect MotoBlogger "A" to stop for breakfast.

I rode out Highway 34 and halfway up the Alsea twisties before coming upon a logging truck, this will not do, so I turned around and rode back down to the bottom to try another run. The great thing about riding solo is one can be easily distracted, unfortunately riding solo one can be easily distracted. You don't know how tempting it was to take a quick detour up Marys Peak.

But now I need to make up some lost time, oh how I love the desolate roads of an early weekday morning.

I pulled into Waldport and made a left turn down Highway 101 south toward Florence. Evidently every single tourist piloting a lumbering Brontosaurus was also up and at 'em early this morning.
(No offense Gary).

Online photo of lumbering Brontosaurus

No matter, I was ahead of schedule and made it to Florence with time to spare. I stopped at a local Bi-Mart store to use the restroom and call Trobairitz for an update on BobSkoot's location.

Bob had stopped for breakfast in Port Orford and is on the move again. A quick calculation puts us about 90 miles apart so I am off to Reedsport where I was instructed to stop and phone Trobairitz for another update. The problem with owning dumb phones is reception is spotty at best and they don't have bluetooth to link to my Sena, so I have to stop to check messages or make calls. This requires removing my helmet and I couldn't be bothered.

I hadn't seen BobSkoot in Reedsport so a darted down to Winchester Bay. Well, wouldn't you know it, I passed who I thought was Bob just north of Winchester Bay so I pulled over, checked a text message and turned around to race back to Reedsport.

Now there aren't too many riders that I haven't been able to catch, evidently I am about to add one more to the list. I checked every gas station in Reedsport thinking Bob may have recognized A BRIGHT ORANGE TRIUMPH TIGER and stopped to wait for me, but no luck.

No way he was that far ahead of me, but I didn't see him so it was a possibility. I took off to Florence to catch him, I felt like I was chasing my tail. I checked every gas station in Florence thinking Bob would need fuel soon, but no sight of him. I called Trobairitz again for an update, "he is south of Florence, go back to the bridge and catch him" and off I went back through town to wait at the bridge. I called again, but Spotwalla hadn't updated yet. This is where I realized Spotwalla has a 20 minute lag and I didn't have Bob's Spot page address to give her, all I could do was wait....

"He turned East onto 126 toward Mapleton, go get him" and I was off again.

I've ridden with Bob before, it's not like him to ride fast but I was just not catching him today. I stopped in Mapleton to call for an update.... no cell service. I had a 50/50 chance that he headed toward Eugene on Hwy 126 or toward Triangle Lake on Hwy 36, personally I had enough motorhomes for the day and I hate 126, so Triangle Lake it was.

Needless to say, 250 miles and a full tank of fuel later, I waited for Bob at home. I never did catch him. However, I learned that it was him I passed in Winchester Bay and he did stop for gas in Reedsport after stopping BEHIND McDonald's to use the restroom. He snuck past me in Florence by skirting up 126 while I was north of town and we passed each other once more in Corvallis as I rode by the Team Oregon headquarters.

We did enjoy an evening of visiting, he saw me off Saturday morning as I was scheduled to teach and he graciously took my seat at Saturday morning coffee.

Thanks for the spirited ride Bob.

Sacrifices... not necessarily

There was so much going on this weekend, we normally attend our local Da Vinci Days festivities but with other events going on this same weekend such as the BMW MOA Rally in Salem and the 34th Annual Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend that available Team Oregon instructors were in short supply.

I knew months in advance and made sure to leave my calendar open so I would be available to teach this weekend. Even though it would've been neat to check out the rally, meet up with other riders and visit the numerous vendors in attendance, I don't own a BMW nor do I much care for large gatherings of people, let alone a bunch of BMW snobs ;)

The Cycling Classic needed volunteer marshals to ride motorcycles for the event and direct traffic, shuttle photographers and cameramen as well as other official duties. I don't much care for the desert of Central Oregon, especially in the middle of summer. I grew up in hot, dry, desert country of sagebrush, sand and pine trees so I suspect I didn't miss much there.

What I did do though was spend an awesome weekend with a fantastic group of new riders. I had so much fun, the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and each one of them passed with flying colors! This was my first class where every student passed both the skill evaluation and the knowledge test, not a single retest was issued.

So it wasn't me that made the sacrifice at all, I feel bad for the other instructors that missed out on the opportunity to teach this particular class of students. What a great weekend!

I pulled the trigger

On the advice of several fellow motorcycle safety instructors, including peer pressure from a certain someone in Minnesota and a blog challenge from another, I ordered an Aerostich Roadcrafter Light one piece suit.

What's in the box?

I've been teaching and saving my pennies for some time now to fund such a purchase, but it was the extreme temperature differences in my commute that had me finally placing an order. I head off to work at the butt crack of dawn when temperatures hover around the 40ºF to 50ºF mark, then I head home in the late afternoon heat of 82ºF to 95ºF plus. This means that I am layering and wearing my winter gear to get to work and packing my mesh gear to ride home. Where to put all this gear? My saddlebags are busting at the hinges trying to hold all my jackets, liners, sweaters, gloves, glasses, visors and of course  my lunch. There has to be a better way.

Gore-tex

I took advantage of Aerostich's Fourth of July Sale where they offered the TF3 shoulder, elbow and knee pads for free with the purchase of a suit. It is rare to find such a deal so I jumped on it.

Suit, pads, gloves and t-shirt

Of course I had to add their Hot Weather Vegan Gloves and a T-shirt to the order. Karen at Aerostich said that the Vegan gloves were their most popular gloves but their supplier quit making them and they are trying to source another manufacturer. I wanted to order the winter gloves as well but they were out of my size. Who would have thought Vegan as being so popular...  we ride among you.

Happy boy

I managed to wear it for an 80 mile round trip ride to Eugene bike night and love it. The convenience of slipping it on and off is well worth the price of admission, although I am still new at it so the quick 10 seconds or less is more like a clumsy 20 seconds.

Struggling with the zipper

I'm still fine tuning the padding location, the collar is a bit stiff and I'll need to experiment with layering during next week's commute, but so far I am very happy. Off for a ride today to break it in, figure out the zipper and cut down my mount and dismount time.

Addendum: Rode out to the coast today and the suit was comfortable from the 95º heat of the valley to the low 70ºs of the coast and back to the valley heat. I like it!

Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit.  ~Aristotle