BMW Motorcycles of Las Vegas held an open house yesterday with free food and drink, free dyno runs,  a raffle, plenty of cool old bikes, great vendors, and lots of great people   I wasn’t about to miss out on a fun time like this

28 April 2012 - 1969 BMW with a sidecar

28 April 2012 - 1969 BMW with a sidecar

28 April 2012 - 1950 BMW R5 1/2

28 April 2012 - Unknown vintage BMW motorcycle

28 April 2012 - Unknown vintage BMW motorcycle

28 April 2012 - Unknown vintage BMW motorcycle

 If you like vintage BMW motorcycles, this was the place for you to be yesterday   I really don’t know all that much about these specific bikes, but if you’re interested there’s a great documentary here

28 April 2012 - My V-Star 650 Classic on the Dynojet mobile dynomometer

28 April 2012 - Horsepower and torque curves for my V-Star 650 courtesy of Dynojet

28 April 2012 - Horsepower and torque figures for my V-Star 650 courtesy of Dynojet

 I’ve wondered for quite some time just how much horsepower my V-Star has.  There are no factory figures published anywhere that I can find and everyone else has just been guessing.  Some thought it might be mid 40′s.  Turns out it was quite a bit less than that.

The averages for the three runs were 33.62 HP and 34.1 lb-ft of torque.  I’ve only had 33 HP hauling my 550+ pound motorcycle and my substantial posterior everywhere 

I actually had a pretty good laugh at myself over this because I’d been worried before I got a motorcycle that the 423 pound (with fuel etc.) G650GS only has 50 HP and I thought that might not be enough

28 April 2012 - BMW R1200C

 An “R” designation on a BMW motorcycle means that it has a horizontally opposed, two cylinder engine with a shaft drive to the rear wheel.  They’ve been making this type of engine since the very beginning just after WWI.  Over the years, there have been several different styles of bikes with this powertrain and some have lasted longer than others.  The most popular is the R1200GS which is a dual sport on and off road bike.  They also currently make a sport tourer called the R1200RT and a roadster which is the R1200R.

The R1200C was dropped from the lineup a few years ago with BMW citing the unsuitability of the engine for the cruiser tastes in the U.S.  They’re not too expensive (relatively) on the used market and I’d really like to have one someday

28 April 2012 - Advertisement on the Dynojet mobile dyno truck

28 April 2012 - Dynojet mobile dyno truck

 I did remember to get a couple of pics of the Dynojet setup!  Really, these guys are great

28 April 2012 - Akrapovic Morsus custom motorcycle

28 April 2012 - Akrapovic Morsus custom motorcycle

28 April 2012 - Yours Truly on the Akrapovic Morsus

 Last, but certainly not least was a surprise to me.  Akrapovic is a European exhaust manufacturer.  They mainly make systems for sport bikes, but have branched out recently to make systems for bikes like Harley Davidson and the BMW K1600GT and GTL.  They showed up to show off the new products and they brought a treat for everyone in attendance.

The Morsus is a custom motorcycle that Akrapovic commissioned a while back which won quite a few awards.  I’d seen pictures of it online and even the video above, but I never thought I’d see it in person so I was very happy to have this opportunity

That’s all for now, but I’ll try to post more soon.  Have a great day everyone

———————-

It was a beautiful day. The service was very nice indeed. The flyover by the Hornet and Kfir was most excellent.

Lex Departing

Some of us at Fort Rosecrans. Among them are Pogue, me and xBradtc among the bloggers along with Beth, Armando, John and a couple I do not remember.. Wing Wife took the picture .

Wing Wife is in this one(nice lady in the blue)

A large number of folks were not bloggers but simply enjoyed reading Lex……and who didn’t?

I also managed to run into a man who I had common friends and acquaintances with past and present.

But my moment was delivering a message from our good blog bud, Pinch Paisley.

I went up to Mary Lefon and told her I had a message from Pinch on the East Coast. Lost the voice for a moment then. Gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug. She returned both and then pressed a Memorial Challenge Coin into my hand. Almost lost it completely had it not been been for Mary and Marcia(Wing Wife) along with Beth.

Gonna miss him,  yeah, definitely. Even on the occasion he gave me constructive criticism, it was good. That will remain between us now, eternity. The relationship was always mech to pilot, Petty Officer to Captain. It was better that way.

Chant du Départ is up and running and I’m sure the author wouldn’t mind a few more people in the comments   Stop on by and say hi to a cool former Air Force guy if you’ve got a few moments free

17 March 2012 - A nice, rainy ride home from a Saturday at work

 There’s a lot going on in my life right now, but I’m going to try to post much more than I have so far this year

The weather forecast in California over the weekend called for rain and the real world didn’t disappoint!  Management at work requested volunteers for some overtime over the weekend and I figured I’d do what I could to help out and reap a bit more money.  It was work.  That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

There was also a sleep study jammed into the weekend as well.  It was supposed to start at about 2030 hours, but didn’t start until half an hour after midnight.  Starting with two hours sans CPAP, the test finished with four hours on the CPAP.  No, I didn’t get too much sleep.  Add to that the fact that Monday and Tuesday were to be 10.5 hour days including lunch.

I knew all of this was supposed to happen on Saturday as I headed home from work.  The skies had held the promise of rain all day long out here in Las Vegas, but it wasn’t until I walked out to my motorcycle that the clouds overhead delivered on that promise.  That was something I had hoped for all day as I looked out the windows

Riding is wonderful anytime with very few exceptions.  Variety is the spice of life.  Weather in Las Vegas can be hot and it can be cold, but it’s usually clear.  I don’t have much in the way of rain gear, but I also don’t usually mind getting wet because it’s different and I like that.  Saturday let me go play in the rain again which was a most welcome diversion from the normal pace and flow of life, even if it was only for a couple of miles and a few minutes

It’s time for me to go get some sleep and prepare for another day at work tomorrow.  At least it’s going to be a normal shift instead of more overtime

Have a great Wednesday, everyone

Eye in the Clouds - Courtesy John Carmichael

 I saw this posted on Facebook and it immediately became my desktop background at work

The caption reads:

A photo I took from seat 7F, westbound somewhere near Chicago… 34,000+ feet… Was captivated by the arch created it’s own frame for the Cumulus Cloud

The photographer is a fellow blogger who I’ve known online for quite a while now and I hope he’ll forgive me for failing to add a link to the blogroll on the right until tonight   John Carmichael is another milblogger and photographer and his published works are well worth your time   He was very kind in allowing me to publish this photograph here for your enjoyment   I found John’s place quite a while back through a link over on Neptunus Lex and he has a fitting tribute to Lex posted at his place as well

Head on over to Carmichael’s Position and browse around a while – I think you’ll like the place

Thanks again, John