The Great Motorcycle Pizza Tour

Watch This Guy Riding On Top of a Mountain

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

This is pretty nuts. Watching it doesn't make me half as nervous, though, as watching this video about climbing an antenna tower...

A Bit of Eye Candy

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:23:00 +0000

No idea what all the cups are about.

It's always fun to see what's lurking around the periphery at car shows. In my always humble opinion, the "big deal" cars are usually the least interesting. I'm sure your brand-new Lamborghini is a wonder, but I'm more interested in the details of the Locost hiding off in an unvisited corner of the show.

Anyway, Lady Luck and I were at a car show this weekend and nearly tripped over this cafe racer. This bike makes me want to misbehave in traffic. Didn't see the owner around, unfortunately, so we weren't able to talk shop.

Triumph Gently Introduced To The Ground

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:58:00 +0000

Here's a rough way to start the day: realizing far too late that the kickstand is not up, and trying desperately to keep the bike from falling over all the way.

I tried to catch the bike in time, which I'm paying for now that the adrenaline has worn off. Instead of keeping the bike upright, however, I fell hard into the side of a truck parked next to me. At least my efforts slowed the Triumph's descent a bit.

Lifting the bike proved to be a problem, as there wasn't enough room between the Triumph and the neighboring truck to squat down and lift the bike the proper way. Luckily for me, a guy was walking by and I was able to convince him he wanted to help me pick my bike up off the ground.

It looks like there wasn't any damage to the bike, or the truck I fell on. I keep discovering new little pains as the morning progresses, but I hope a bit of soreness and embarrassment will be the worst of it.

No pics of the bike on the ground because, hey, the Triumph doesn't need that kind of humiliation. Also, my first thought was, "get the bike back up," not, "take a photo." I'm sure you can dig it.

A Thought About Running Late, As A Motorcycle Commuter

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Well before being labeled a Viking (a label I am totally OK with, by the way), I was just a guy who knew he liked motorcycles. A lot. If I were to list all the motorcycle-related things I read and watched and purchased prior to actually getting a motorcycle, you might think I had a bit of an obsession.

I know that no one would make that mistake now, of course,

Way back in those long-gone days, I read an article about motorcycle commuting that said one should not ride if sick, angry, depressed, etc. etc. And I suppose that's pretty good advice, assuming that you've got a car to get around with.

I don't. I've got my choice of motorcycle or scooter.*

According to that article, one of the many, many conditions for not riding is, "if you are running late." The reasoning being that you'll be all distracted and panicky and will end up ground into hamburger underneath an 18-wheeler and then your family will be all sad and your important projects at work won't get finished.

Well, this morning I was running late. My choice was Vespa or Triumph. I considered the 15 minutes I'd save by riding the Triumph vs. the safety of a sedate scooter ride. A wiser biker than me once said that when he had to make a decision about riding, he'd ask himself, what would Beowulf do?

And I figured Beowulf wouldn't be much for tooling along surface streets when he could be blazing a fiery trail down the HOV lane.

So I took the Triumph. Arrived early.

*OK, I can carpool with Lady Luck, but it's a hassle for her to navigate through downtown Phoenix and I'd really rather ride on most days. I could also take public transportation, which I've done a few times and again, I'd rather ride.

Smell Like a Bad Ass

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Embarassing disclosure: I used to wear this cologne back in high school. I totally felt like a bad ass. I was justified in feeling that way, though, since I was a bad ass.

Also, for what it's worth, the ladies loved it. It was actually a pretty decent scent.

How Cold Is It Where You're Riding?

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:47:00 +0000

I got an email from Noam Sayin', sometimes commenter, always scholar and gentleman, mentioning that he's been enjoying some unseasonably warm weather (40 degrees F in Minnesota??) and has made the most of it by breaking out the bikes for a little winter mayhem.

40 degrees is about as cold as it gets here, though we have had a couple days below freezing. I know some of you guys ride in much colder weather.

So, if you're still riding right now... what kind of temperatures are you dealing with?

Fantastic Motorcycle Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:49:00 +0000

Been there.

I stumbled across a blog chock full of fantastic biker-y photos and just had to throw out a link. The image to the left is but a sample of the wonders and surprises that await you.

So, get yourself on over to The World Is Flat and check it out.

(Photo swiped from http://aproposfoto.blogspot.com/. I presume Michael Schmidt holds the copyright.)

Getting Used To A Slower Pace

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:07:00 +0000

For about a month, I rode the Vespa in to work instead of the Triumph. The Vespa, since it has a 250cc motor, is technically freeway legal, but I take surface roads instead. 80 miles per hour on a scooter, even a big scooter like the GTS, is a bit too thrilling for me. Especially because that's the upper limit of it's speed, and traffic here generally moves slightly faster than that.

Rather than be a sitting duck on the freeway, I buzz along the city streets to work, and just enjoy the extra torque of the big motor (as compared to a 150cc scooter) on quieter roads. Slow is fun, especially when there are interesting things to see along the way.

The Triumph, however, let me know it was getting a bit lonely and jealous of the Vespa, so I decided I'd resume riding the freeways on the Speed Four and let the Vespa chill in the garage for a bit.

Apparently, my traffic and speed tolerance went way, way down over the last month. I read a journal of a bicycle tourer recently, who said that riding in a car, experiencing the speed and peril of fast traffic, after several months on a bicycle was absolutely terrifying. My experience was similar.

It was hard to keep my speed up, because it just seemed too dang fast. I had to keep a close eye on the speedometer to keep from holding up traffic. And other drivers are maniacs, swerving from lane to lane and invading my personal bubble too often. The ride home was the same.

This morning's ride in wasn't as bad, but still a bit too thrilling. Makes me think I might start riding the back way on the Triumph, at least while it's cool outside. A bit of tranquility while riding is a good thing.

Or, maybe I'll keep riding the freeway and get my nerve back.

How Wrenching On Your Own Bike Makes You More Awesome

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0000

That's one sexy rotor

This was going to be a post about how to change the stator on a Triumph Speed Four. Then I remembered that there are about five other Speed Fours on the road, so it wouldn't be especially useful for very many people. Also, as repairs go, it's pretty darned simple. The most challenging issue is finding the cause of the problem. The rest is spinning a wrench, which you can probably find a video about on YouTube if you need a little extra help on the Righty-Tighty, Lefty-Loosey concept.

Cost savings aside - which were substantial in this case, a few hundred dollars at least - there is a great deal of value in pulling your bike apart, fixing the problem and then putting it all back together the right way.

For one thing, it takes a good deal of courage just to start the job if you don't already have experience working on mechanical things. I pulled a lawn mower engine apart and put it back together back in high school and I still get nervous before tackling a new repair. And the idea of checking the valve clearances on this bike makes me break into a cold sweat.

Next up, it forces you to be persistent. Especially when the bike is your main mode of transportation. Nothing ever goes smoothly, there's always a challenge of some sort. For example, rare is the repair that doesn't require removing other critical parts - hoses, the gas tank, a carburetor, etc. - in order to get to the broken one. After the troubleshooting, removing those bits is usually the most difficult part of the job. And then you've got to get them all back into place. A lack of persistence means a non-running bike (case in point, the VX800 languishing in my garage...).

Taking a closer look at the issue of parts you have to remove in order to get to the part you're interested: working on a motorcycle forces you to be careful and methodical. It's best to learn this lesson before you find yourself staring at a Ziploc bag containing a couple different springs, several bolts in varied sizes and a note that says "carb and fuel pump." You'll have a chance to learn this lesson again when you drop one of those bolts into some inaccessible part of the bike and spend an hour trying to fish it out with a flashlight and a wire clothes hanger.

Along the way, you'll get plenty of opportunities to practice your troubleshooting skills. Motorcycles are reasonably simple machines, but they're still made up of several systems that have to work together correctly in order to deliver the necessary air, fuel and spark the motor needs in order to run. Every system added increases the complexity a bit, and modern bikes have quite a few systems.

Which leads into the final point. To the uninitiated, a motorcycle may as well be a kitchen appliance, just like cars. It's a hunk of metal that does a particular thing. When it stops doing its particular thing, call a repair shop. For those of us in the know, a motorcycle is far more than an appliance, and deserves personal care and respect. Working on your own bike lets you get to know each system, and see how they work together. Ultimately, you end up with a much better understanding of how your bike works, which is a very good thing.

Especially when you finally run into something you can't/don't want to do and the mechanic tries to tell you the problem is that you're low on blinker fluid.

As in every situation, knowledge is power, and doing your own wrenching will increase your level of knowledge in a hurry. When you use the skills you developed (while trying to get your own infernal machine on the road again) to solve a problem for someone else, they will be impressed. Beers and high fives will be forthcoming, and you'll be glad for the bloody knuckles and frustration you endured trying to get that confounded oil filter loose.

A Bit of Linky Love

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:50:00 +0000

I was trying to come up with something clever to say about riding in cold weather, and then I saw that Steve over at Scooter in the Sticks had beat me to the punch. I'm going to try out his tip about warming one's hands on the headlight tomorrow morning....

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:21:00 +0000

Lady Luck and Santa Claus have both said something about me "splattering [myself] across the roadway like a douche" if I were to get a Ducati Superbike for Christmas. I'm a little worried the holiday might pass without finding a bright red bike under the tree.

But, really, who needs a shiny new high performance Italian motorcycle that makes 195 horsepower and only weighs 361 pounds when I've got a wonderful family and wonderful friends. I'll gladly take the treasures I'm lucky to have over a fussy motorcycle any day.

Though, I wouldn't kick it out of my garage if it showed up. Just saying.

Best wishes for you and yours!

[Stoppie Santa photo stolen from SportBikes.Net.]

Photographic Evidence, Per Request

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:57:00 +0000

You asked for it, you got it. I stopped on my way home last night to get a photo of the strip club from this post, and took another photo in the dark this morning.

Unfortunately, I was running a bit late this morning and the sun was already rising, so the lights don't show up as well as I'd like. Also, the effect is much more impressive when zipping past at 45mph.

Click to embiggen.

Inviting, eh?

Tranformed into a holiday wonderland.

Delightful Instructional Video On How To Change Your Oil

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:54:00 +0000

Apparently, this video demonstrates the proper way to change the oil for an SR500.

If you're like me, you'll find it entertaining even if you don't own an SR500.

(Thanks to The 520 Chain Cafe)

So, Would You Do It?

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:58:00 +0000

Get a few bikers together and wait for the Isle of Man to come up. The question will come up eventually: would you do it?

Well, would you?

(Inspired by Baron's post.)

Urban Adventure Scooting - Holiday Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:23:00 +0000

For the last five years or so, I've worked in a rough part of town. The office is quite literally along the tracks that divide "bad" from "really bad." There is a large bridge nearby under which there is usually a large encampment of people. I haven't seen any people gathered around a burning barrel for warmth, but it's just a matter of time.

When I ride the Triumph to work, I generally take the freeway, and only ride through a couple miles of the city to get to work.

When I ride the scooter, however, my only choice is to ride right through the ugly parts of town. The parts where strip clubs don't have signs apart from "Open." The parts where you're likely to see a guy wearing a Halloween hockey mask walking down the middle of the train tracks at six in the morning, a week and a half after Halloween.

Naturally, it is a much more interesting ride than taking the freeway.

One of the things I really like about riding the Vespa is that the slower pace and routes brings me through neighborhoods that have Christmas lights up at this time of year. The lights, by the way, are my favorite part of Christmas. I am firmly in favor of decorating with twinkly colored lights regardless of season.

I believe I mentioned the route I take to work, that runs more or less parallel to the train tracks, goes through an ugly part of town. I ride past scrap yards, discount automobile dealerships, an RV repair shop, an incredible variety of adult bookstores and strip clubs, and many squat grey buildings with generic company names on the outside, like Diversified Amalgamated Fittings. I'm pretty sure I pass by the clubhouse for the "Legitimate Businessman's Club." These kinds of places don't put up Christmas lights.

Except, apparently, for one of them. There is a strip club in a building you couldn't pay me enough to go in to just off the road I ride. The kind of place that has an A-frame sign on the main road that has "Girls Girls Girls" and an arrow, hand spray painted, to bring in customers. The building itself is made of unpainted cinder blocks. It looks like a big utility shed.

They have decorated the hell out of their building. They have lights strung all around the building, and on the "grounds." In the dark of an early morning, it almost looks wholesome with all those lights up. I can almost imagine actual gentlemen inside, gathered around a fireplace in a wood-panelled room, smoking pipes and exchanging witticisms.

Of course, on the way home, in the light of day, it's a creepy building you still couldn't pay me enough to go in.

Finding things like that is what makes riding the Vespa entirely worth the extra time.

Oh, Hello

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:51:00 +0000

Cough, cough, geez, a bit dusty around here.

So, November came and went. I wrote a great deal of fiction (which you can read here, if so inclinced), and have now had two weeks for my brain to recover from that ordeal.

As such, I should have some new content for you here very soon.

Just A Quick Update

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Point One: Over the weekend, I replaced the stator in the Triumph. The Speed Four is, once again, Triumphant. I'll try to post some more details about that fun process later.

Point Two: November first is tomorrow, which means it's time for National Novel Writing Month. And, once again, I'll be posting each chapter as I write them straight to a novel blog. If you've dug the Holy Rollers stories in the past, you'll probably like this one too. You can get to it here: http://winkingatdeath.blogspot.com/

A Bit Of Wisdom We Can Borrow From Sailors

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:13:00 +0000

There is a poorly kept secret among sailors that rarely makes it into the awareness of folks who don't sail: One is safest in the deepest and most remote waters, and most at risk close to shore and near other boats. A smart sailor tries to ensure he/she has plenty of sea room at any given time. Sailors get a bit anxious when something gets inside their personal bubble. A sailor's personal bubble, by the way, is a lot bigger than you'd think. In fact, prior to GPS, the general wisdom was to go around obstructions marked on the chart by a mile or more, just in case you weren't where you thought you were. This is still good advice, by the way. More than one sailor has trusted the GPS a bit too much and ended up on a reef.

The reason a sailor likes a lot of sea room is because there is only so much he/she can control. A sailor can control which way the boat is pointing, sail trim and... that's about it. Really, he/she can only control how the boat moves through the water - which is also moving most of the time. The water's current, waves, and the wind have a constant impact on the boat and where it ends up. In the wrong conditions, a sailor can do everything in his/her power, and still get pushed into a nearby obstruction. Because of this, maintaining as much sea room as possible is vital. Even when racing, sailors give the other boats plenty of room, because it's embarrassing to smash up another sailor's boat when a wave pushes you into them.

How does this apply to motorcycles?

I think we can agree the safest places to ride are those places where other people are not operating their vehicles, and there aren't a lot of things to run into. A square mile of blacktop with no obstructions would be a pretty safe place to ride.

Of course, it would also be impossibly boring after an hour or so, and such a place doesn't exist anyway. Here in the real world, we spend most of our time riding in areas where there is traffic and/or plenty of obstacles to avoid.

Motorcycles are uniquely nimble, in terms of motorized vehicles. They accelerate quickly, require little space to maneuver, and modern motorcycles have effective brakes. This leads, I suspect, to a bit of overconfidence on the road. I regularly see motorcyclists tailgating, sneaking into tiny gaps in traffic, and generally using as little space on the road as possible.

I'm not going to say that finding the opening isn't a heck of a lot of fun, but the cost of playing in small spaces is a lack of a cushion if things go wrong.

There are roads here in Phoenix where traffic bunches up on itself. Everyone is driving roughly the speed limit, but crammed right next to one another, and right on the bumper of the car ahead. I shudder to think of the pileup that is going to occur one day when something goes wrong and no one can stop or evade in time.

The only we can control is how we move through traffic. When I find myself in situations where I don't have enough space for evasive maneuvers, I do whatever is necessary to give myself a safety cushion. If I have to slow down and annoy the S.U.V. behind me, so be it. I can be patient. If I can pass or change lanes, I will. The more space between me and that distracted driver in a Lexus, the better.

Seek out and maintain ample "sea room" while you're riding. I guarantee you'll find your rides more relaxing and enjoyable, and you'll have increased your margin of safety.

This Is Relevant To My Interests

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 03:10:00 +0000

I'm not going to make a habit of posting LOLCATS but, well, here.

From icanhascheezburger.com

How To Determine The Cause Of Your Charging Problem

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:20:00 +0000

I'm no stranger to tracking down electrical issues. My first bike, the VX800, developed a charging problem within three days of bringing it home. It turned out to be a bad rectifier, and replacing it was an absolute nightmare of back-ordered parts, and then contending with getting the old rectifier off the bike. Suzuki, in their infinite wisdom, located it on the back of the motor, just in front of the exhaust crossover tube. And the bolts holding it in place, for no understandable reason, had stripped Philips heads.

I'm still recovering from the trauma of that repair.

So now the Triumph is having charging issues. Here's a quick guide on how to go about figuring out the cause of the problem if you've got a bike with a stator and regulator/rectifier (You probably do. If you're not sure, find out before proceeding.). In yesterday's post, I mentioned the value of a multimeter. Have you got one yet? You're going to need it, so go get one. I'll wait until you get back.

Step One: check your fuses. It's probably not a bad fuse, but it would be embarrassing to pull everything apart only to find the problem was a fuse.

Step Two: Set your multimeter to test DC voltages. I'd set it to at least 20 volts. Start your bike, and put the red probe on the positive battery terminal, and the black probe on the negative battery terminal. Rev the motor to 2500 RPM. If the voltage is less than 13.5 volts, there's a problem. If it's higher than 13.5 volts, rev the motor to 5000 RPM. If the voltage is more than 14.8 volts, there's a problem. Go ahead and shut off your bike for now.

In my case, the voltage was about 12.5, and didn't change at all when I revved the motor. At this point, I guessed the stator was bad, but it's best to be sure, so I continued on.

Step Three: Pull all the plastics and other parts off your bike keeping you from the connectors for the stator and regulator/rectifier (RR). On the VX800, the connectors were hidden under the gas tank and were a real drag to get to. On the other hand, the connectors were super easy to get to on the Speed Four, just tucked under the rear plastic on the chain side of the bike.

Disconnect the RR from the stator and battery.

If you don't know what a RR looks like, it's the finned, octagonal hunk of aluminum with wires coming out of it in the photo to the left.

Step Four: Set your meter to read resistance. Test from each of the three yellow wires coming from the RR to each of the red / black wires. If one of the readings indicates a short (zero resistance), you need a new rectifier.

The rectifier on the Triumph is fine.

Step Five: Check the resistance between all combinations of the three yellow wires coming from the Stator. It should be a very low resistance, probably less than 1 ohm, but it should absolutely not be a short circuit. Also check from one of the yellow wires to engine ground. This should read maximum resistance (an open circuit). Again, if you've got a short, the stator is bad.

My stator appeared good here.

Step Six: Leave the stator and RR disconnected. Set your meter to read AC voltage. Start the bike, and check the voltage coming from all combinations of the three stator wires. The three voltages should all be the same. If one is significantly different, your stator is bad. At idle, you can expect the voltage to be around 20 volts, and it should go up to about 70 volts at 5000 RPM. These voltages can, of course, vary depending on the bike.

On the Triumph, at idle, the voltages read 24, 24, 4. Bad stator. The good news is, the stator on the Speed Four looks exceptionally easy to replace.

So now for the fun part: The OEM stator for the Speed Four runs about $600, and there appears to only be one company making aftermarket replacement stators for my bike right now. Hopefully, this one company will prove easy to work with.

If you followed the previous steps, found nothing, and are still having trouble, chances are you've got a bad connection somewhere. I am not jealous of you.

For a really, really thorough troubleshooting guide, check out this fault-finding chart provided by Electrosport.

I also found this thread provided by the Triumph Rat forum most helpful.

Fun With Batteries, or, How to Load Test Your Battery In The Comfort of Your Garage.

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Since the Triumph is currently on time out for being naughty and not charging it's battery like a good motorcycle, I thought I might ride the Vespa to work today.

Last night I went out the the garage to make sure the Vespa was still healthy and happy and likely to start come this morning. Sadly, it was not. The battery has caught a nasty case of "dead."

Incidentally, you can be certain that your battery is dead and not just very, very sleepy by doing an impromptu load test with your multimeter. You have a multimeter, right? If not, get one. Especially if you like European bikes. You can get a cheap one for practically free, and you will use it a lot once you realize how awesome it is.

Start with a fully charged battery. If you battery isn't charged, attempt to charge it. You have a battery charger, right?

Set the voltage test on your multimeter to 20 volts and turn it on. With the fully charged battery in your bike, connect the red multimeter probe to the positive battery terminal, and the black probe to the negative terminal. It should probably read somewhere over 12 volts. If it's less than that, and you just charged the battery, that's bad.

Anyway, turn on your ignition and see how much the voltage drops. It might go down a little, but shouldn't go down more than maybe one volt. Hit the starter button. If the voltage drops dramatically, you've got yourself a dead battery.

Of course, if you don't have a multimeter, and for some reason you aren't willing to shell out $5 to get one, you could also do the following: Try to charge the battery, and when it's done charging, attempt to start your bike. If the starter blows a raspberry at you, your battery is toast.

Now when you go to get your battery replaced because it's still under warranty, you can tell the helpful employee that you load-tested the battery and it is dead, so please make with the free replacement.

Turns Out It's A Triumph After All

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Electrical issues and oil leaks. Yep, a modern Triumph is still a Triumph.

OK, so it took until the bike reached 40,000 miles for these issues to come up. And if you show me a motorcycle that doesn't leak oil and develop electrical issues, I'll show you a bike that's never been ridden.

Still, kind of a pain in the butt. My battery isn't charging. I've stuck the multimeter on the battery, and I can rev the motor to my heart's content with no increase in voltage. I'll have to figure out if it's a problem with the rectifier or the stator.

Fun times!

To Give Fear a Square Kick in the Shin

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:58:00 +0000

From what I've read, and otherwise gathered from talking to folks that don't ride, motorcycles scare the hell out of a lot of people. As in, "Oh my god, that motorcycle parked over there is going to lunge at me and eat my travel-sized dog."

People have told me they don't ride because it's too scary, and they don't know how I do it.

Here's something to consider: motorcycles scare the hell out of people that do ride, on occasion. Any biker will be able to tell you about a time he/she almost shat in his/her gear. It might have been an oncoming truck intruding in the lane, or gravel in the middle a fast curve. If you've never had to check your pants after a ride, you haven't been riding for very long.

It's not a lack of fear that lets us continue to enjoy riding, it's just a good supply of nerve. Nerve as in ability to cope in a demanding situation, in equal measure with impudence and audacity.

Some people don't have enough nerve to get on a bike in the first place. Some don't have enough nerve to make it beyond the first high-intensity experience. That's OK. At least they know their limits now.

But a select few are the sort who survive a close call, yell "Wahoo!" and ride on, because letting fear win is unthinkable.

Long time riders are the ones who have it together enough to face a terrifying situation, respond correctly, and then look over at fear and death and give them a cheery wave just to shine 'em on a bit. It takes a lot of nerve to get back on a bike after that.

The Weather Here Has Been Contemptible

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:33:00 +0000

The heat here in Phoenix has been overwhelming for the last several weeks. Extremely high heat and high humidity just sucks. Coming in to the office covered in sweat isn't much fun, and getting home absolutely soaked with sweat is less fun. So I've been carpooling with Lady Luck.

I was getting a bit twitchy from the time away from the bike, though, and I am glad the temperatures are falling.

This morning I rode in to work for the first time since early August. It's funny how quickly new routines develop, and how difficult it can be to get back in to an old routine. I got my boots on, and then had to stop and think about what gear I needed to put on next.

It's probably for the best, then, that I was less than two miles from home when I encountered a guy in a Mustang that wanted to race. Silly man, Mustangs are many things, but they aren't fast.* Not compared to a bike, anyhow. After giving him a brief demonstration of how inertia impedes velocity, I felt like I was back in the groove.

Fall is just around the corner, which means comfortable riding. Hooray!

*I can say that because I really like Mustangs, even if they're a bit poky.

Useful Hand Signals For Motorcyclists

noreply@blogger.com (Lucky) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:40:00 +0000

This was too good to leave hidden away in the comments. Thanks for directing me to this, Scott.