What amazes me about Iowa isn’t that every motorcycle on the road is a Harley — it’s that every other town has a gigantic Harley dealership. And they’re no ordinary dealerships, either. Think Alhambra, or maybe Versailles as built by the Chrome King.

According to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy¹, my home state of Oregon has more land area and more people than Iowa. And yet, a cursory search of HD’s website reveals 8 Harley dealers in Oregon — and 20 dealers in the Hawkeye State.

The overwhelming dominance of the cruiser in Iowa has been a mystery to me, until now. I guess you could say I finally get it.

Going Slow in a Straight Line

I’ll get the obvious out of the way first. Iowa is flat and all the roads are in a straight line.

I’ve had the pleasure of spending some time in the lovely town of Clarion, IA, and during the entire time I visited, I found one road that was not straight. It had 3 corners.

Iowa is the kind of place where a farmer can hop into the air-conditioned cab of a tractor, turn up the country hits station on the satellite radio, and take a nap while the GPS drives the tractor around the fields. We all know the jokes about riding a cruiser in a straight line, but it’s based on a kernel of truth. All the qualities that make a superbike great would be wasted on Iowa roads, except for rocket-launcher starts I suppose.

Everyone is a Farmer

This is the heart of my epiphany. Everyone in Iowa is either a farmer, or works in an industry closely connected to farming.

The high season is spring, summer, and fall. It’s not like a farmer can just take off for a week of riding while there’s beans to be sprayed and corn to be corned². If your free time consists of a couple hours stolen here and there, the 60 mile range of a bar-hopping cruiser actually makes sense.

And you know how they say a Harley’s got a motor like a tractor? Enough said.

Unresolved Questions

I still have a few things I’m curious about:

Trikes. Specifically, trikes piloted by able-bodied men in their early 40s. In South Korea, only old people ride trikes³.

The popularity of the Doo-rag of Protection:

I’ll just have to visit again. For research purposes, of course.

One Last Thing

I saw this at DIA:

Just wanted to see if Bobskoot is paying attention.

1. Wikipedia
2. Yes, I made that word up.
3. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/30/0034259

Related Posts:

• A Small Diversion
• Control Signal Bill Proposed in Washington
• Can Commuting Cause Motorcycle Burn Out?

I’ll be offline until next week or so. Here’s a short-and-sweet video you’ll likely enjoy:

(via HFL)

Have a great weekend!

Related Posts:

• Motoblog Spotlight: Better Motorcycling
• Foggy Times in the Valley

OK, so… Team Oregon Advanced Rider Training (ART).

“Welcome to ART. The first rule of ART is: you do not talk about ART.”

Hmm. No, that’s not quite right. Especially when a third of the class is a bunch of moto-blogger hooligans.

“Unfortunately, no one can be told what the ART is. You have to see it for yourself.”

That’s a little more like it.

The ART consists of two hours of classroom work followed by 4 hours of riding. The classroom component covers street skills, awareness, braking, and cornering, and is largely review if you’ve ever taken the Team Oregon Basic Rider Training.

ART is not a track class. It takes place on a track — a go-kart track — but the focus is on picking street-centric apexes and cornering lines. Aside from a strong emphasis on head turns, there’s no instruction on body positioning. If you sign up for ART thinking you’re going to learn how to drag knee, you’ll be disappointed.

This year, my third year of riding, has had its ups and downs. The low point (totaling my first SV) really did a number on my confidence, and I never had much cornering confidence to begin with. On my own, I got as far as quarter-inch chicken strips, but chicken strips don’t show the death-grip on the bars, the tension in the muscles, or the lack of faith in the tires that accompanied thousands upon thousands of corners.

Dan took this photo of me early in the class, before I really felt confident in myself or my tires.

ART pushed me to trust more, lean further, and corner faster than I ever would have on my own.

When I started scraping the tips of my boots, I knew — I knew I had to tuck my toes in closer to the bike so that it wouldn’t happen again! So I scraped the tip of my boot. No big deal. I didn’t crash. The tires held.

That was a big turning point for me.

I took this class hoping to learn how to corner — not necessarily faster, but with confidence. And that’s exactly what I got from it, along with the joy of scrubbing my new tires down to the edges.

Everything’s Better With Friends

I shan’t neglect to mention that several mid-valley riders conspired to take this course en masse (myself, Brad, Kari, Eric, Rick, and Stacey) and that one of the instructors was none other than Irondad (aka Dan). Suffice to say, the atmosphere was jovial.

For more fresh perspectives on the ART, see

Brad, Never had one lesson…
Kari, ART class
and from Dan’s instructor perspective, Burning up the rubber!

Related Posts:

• Motorcycling Is Not Fun and Games
• Foggy Times in the Valley
• Oregon Figure-Eight Tour, Day 3

Good news, everyone! Science has discovered that the longer you sit, the sooner you die:

Even after adjusting for body mass index (BMI) and smoking, the researchers found that women who sit more than 6 hours a day were 37 percent more likely to die than those who sit less than 3 hours; for men, long-sitters were 17 percent more likely to die. People who exercise regularly had a lower risk, but still significant, risk of dying.

As a computer system administrator, I already spend over 40 hours a week sitting at a desk. All that motorsickle riding’s just a drop in a very large bucket!

Related Posts:

• Motorcyclists: Learn How to Park!
• 2008 ODOT Crash Report: A Summary For Motorcyclists
• RSS For Motorcyclists: Feed Readers and Subscriptions

Removing the rear wheel is a handy skill to have, and it’s almost mandatory for tire changes. Most shops ask you to bring in the wheels or they’ll charge you the shop labor rate to remove them for you. Save some money by doing it yourself.

This guide is for those who are new to wrenching. As such, it’s written at an exhaustive level of detail. If you’re experienced at performing your own maintenance, click here to skip right to the summary.

In this guide, we’ll remove the rear wheel on a 2007 SV650. These instructions should work for second generation (model year 2003 and onwards) SV650 models. For the final word, consult your owner’s manual.

Step 0: The Lay of the Land

Here are the areas of the bike we’ll be dealing with in this article:

Step 1: Gather the Required Tools

• #3 phillips screwdriver
• 24mm socket
• 12mm socket or wrench
• ratchet wrench
• torque wrench
• rubber mallet or hammer
• rear stand

Use the rear stand to lift the rear wheel off the ground.

Step 2: Remove the Chain Guard

First, use the phillips screwdriver to remove the two screws holding the chain guard to the swingarm.

Step 3: Remove the Axle Nut

Next, remove the cotter pin securing the rear axle nut.

Use the 24mm socket and ratchet wrench to loosen the rear axle nut.

If you have trouble getting the nut to loosen, a length of PVC¹ or other pipe can be used as a makeshift breaker bar. This will often give you enough extra leverage to move a stubborn nut.

Step 4: Loosen the Chain Adjuster Nuts

Make a note of the current position of the markings on the chain adjuster.

Next, use the 12mm wrench to turn the chain adjuster nuts clockwise. This will pull the rear wheel forward (toward the engine) and put some slack into the chain.

Step 5: Remove the Axle

Use the rubber mallet or hammer and gently tap the threaded end of the axle.

This should push the end of the axle out the right side of the swingarm.

Once the axle sticks out about an inch on the right side, you should be able to grab it and pull it free from the wheel and swingarm.

Push the wheel forward toward the engine and down toward the ground until there’s enough slack for you to pull the chain off the rear sprocket while clearing the rear brake caliper. The rear wheel should now be completely free. Pull it rearwards until it clears the bike.

Do not press the rear brake pedal while the rear wheel is removed! If you do, you’ll have a hard time pushing the brake pads back apart.

Installing the Rear Wheel

To replace the rear wheel, reverse the steps. Take care to replace the wheel spacers and chain adjusters in the same order that you originally found them. This would also be a good time to check the chain adjustment.

The rear axle nut should be tightened to 100 N·m (10.0 kgf-m, 72.5 lb-ft).

Summary

• #3 phillips screwdriver
• 24mm socket
• 12mm socket or wrench
• torque wrench
• rear stand

1. Remove the chain guard
2. Remove the axle nut
3. Loosen the chain adjuster nuts
4. Remove the axle
5. Remove the wheel

Rear axle nut torque: 100 N·m (10.0 kgf-m, 72.5 lb-ft)

Fin.

1. I’ve been informed that using PVC pipe in this manner is dangerous. Proceed at your own risk.

Related Posts:

• How to Remove the Gas Tank on Your SV650
• SV650 Mod: GSX-R Rear Turn Signal Swap
• How to Change the Spark Plugs in Your SV650

Spent any nights in a hotel lately? Consider this: the average price for one night in a hotel room in the US is $107¹. That’s a lot of money for a few hours in a bed.

For the price of 5 nights in a hotel room, you could have the gear you’d need for everything from a weekend trip to the mountains to a months-long trip around the continent — and without the screaming children, stomping neighbors, nocturnal visitors², and questionable cleanliness that so often comes free with your room key.

Here’s what this post will cover:

• 3 Keys to Evaluating Gear For Motorcycle Camping
• Shelter
• Sleeping
• Eating
• Summary of Gear Recommendations

3 Keys to Evaluating Gear For Motorcycle Camping

Outdoor equipment is all about compromise. Some gear is designed to be cheap, some is designed to weigh as little as possible, and some is designed to survive the toughest of conditions. I’ve been backpacking and camping for years, and it’s damn hard to find gear that excels at all three.

Motorcycle camping is spiritually closer to backpacking than car camping. You can only pack so much stuff on a motorcycle, and the lighter the load, the better the ride will be. When evaluating a piece of gear, consider these three key areas (listed in order of importance):

1. weight and packed size
2. durability
3. price

Pick two.

The gear I’ve selected for this guide is balanced in all three areas: it’s not the cheapest, but it’ll withstand the rigors unique to motorcycling, and it won’t give you fits of rage when trying to pack it on your bike.

Shelter

The venerable REI Half Dome 2 tent has introduced more people to the joys of lightweight camping than anything else. At $179, it’s cheap for a good tent — and believe me, this is a good tent.

The Half Dome 2 easily sleeps 2 people, and becomes downright palatial when you’re camping solo. The tent has two doors, a crucial feature in a 2-person tent. The length is long enough to accommodate the 6-plus-footers, and the dome design has a surprising amount of headroom.

One person can set up the Half Dome 2 in just a few minutes. The tent is designed so that you set the poles up first, then clip the body of the tent up to the poles. The tips of the poles and the corners of the tent are color-coded to make things even easier. Nighttime? Unexpected rainstorm? That’s when an easy-to-setup tent is worth its weight in gold.

A rainfly is included with the Half Dome 2, and I’ve yet to see my tent leak a drop even after some intense rainstorms. The rainfly also keeps the wind out and warmth in. The Half Dome 2 has two vents at the top of the fly for ventilation and preventing condensation from forming inside.

• weight and packed size: 5 lbs 8 oz (2.5kg), packs into a cylinder 6 x 21 inches long; on the heavy side for a backpacking tent, but lightweight compared to cheap discount store tents; the packed tent is easy to strap down to a motorcycle
• durability: 5 years and still going strong, no rips or tears, no leaks
• price: $179, it’ll be tough to find a tent with comparable features that costs less than this one

I highly recommend that you purchase the optional footprint along with the tent. The footprint will keep the tent cleaner, keep the moisture out, and extend the life of the tent’s floor. The footprint adds 12 oz to the weight of the tent and very little bulk when packed. The price is $24.50 but it’s worth the extra insurance.

Sleeping

Choosing a sleeping bag is highly subjective, and it’s impossible for me to suggest a specific bag that will work for everyone. Instead, we’ll discuss some important points to consider when shopping for a sleeping bag. Start by answering the following questions:

• how tall are you?
• man or woman?
• will you be camping in rainy or dry conditions?
• what is the expected nighttime low temperature?
• do you sleep hot (i.e. kick off the covers) or do you run cold (i.e. burrow under the covers)?
• are you claustrophobic?

How tall are you?

Quality sleeping bags generally come in two lengths: regular and long. The specific length will vary depending on the bag, so look at the product tag or ask the salesperson. Better yet, go to an outdoor shop and try some bags out for size.

A sleeping bag is most efficient when it’s slightly larger than you are. When there’s lots of extra room, it’s harder for your body heat to remain concentrated within the bag, which is the key to staying warm and why most bags feature the “mummy” shape.

Man or woman?

Most manufacturers offer bags designed specifically for women. What’s different in a women’s sleeping bag? The lengths are shorter, the girth is wider — for hips, ya know? — and there’s more insulation since women tend to feel colder than men.

If you’re a gal who’s taller than most or runs like a furnace, skip the women’s bags and head straight for the men’s.

Will you be camping in rainy or dry conditions?

Sleeping bags have one of two kinds of insulation: down or synthetic. Down is warmer per ounce of weight and packs down to a smaller size compared to synthetic insulation (though recent technological advances have made synthetic much more competitive). However, down is more expensive and useless as an insulator when it’s wet.

If you select a down bag, it’s imperative that you keep it dry, and that includes when it’s packed inside your luggage. If you don’t want to worry, buy a synthetic bag.

What is the expected nighttime low temperature, and do you sleep hot or cold?

All sleeping bags have a temperature rating, which is a number made up by the manufacturer to give you an idea of the lowest temperature the bag was designed for. Unless you’re planning on a winter expedition, you’ll probably be fine with a three-season sleeping bag, i.e. a bag that’s rated somewhere between +15°F and +40°F. The key is finding the balance between the nighttime temperatures you’ll encounter and your own sleeping body temperature.

Examples:

• in the mountains, tend to run hot: start at 15°, then add 10° = 25°F bag
• in August in moderate elevations, tend to run cold: start at 30°, then subtract 10° = 20°F
• in hot climate, tend to run cold: start at 55°, then subtract 10° = 45°F

When in doubt, choose the lower temperature rating because you can always unzip the bag when things get toasty.

Are you claustrophobic?

If the idea of sleeping in a mummy-style bag gives you the jitters, look for a rectangular bag. Just be aware that rectangular bags are not as warm, so buy one with a lower temperature rating.

Putting it all together…

Here are some three-season sleeping bags for comparison purposes.

A good all-around synthetic bag is the The North Face Cat’s Meow at $159. It’s available in both men’s and women’s versions in regular and long lengths.

A sleeping pad is a must for a good night’s sleep. A pad smooths out the bumps from debris under the tent and helps keep you warm by lifting your body away from the cold ground. My pick for a sleeping pad is the Big Agnes AirCore, a bargain compared to other air pads at $49.95.

• weight and packed size: 22oz and packs down to 4 x 8 inches
• durability: Stacey’s had one for three years and no leaks
• price: $49.95

Eating

The Snow Peak Gigapower stove is perfect for those new to outdoor cooking. It’s ridiculously tiny and a good deal at $39.95.

The Gigapower is a canister stove, which means it requires fuel in the form of a pre-filled canister. Such stoves are the easiest to use. Simply twist the stove onto the canister, open the fuel valve, and light with a match. On the downside, new canisters are harder to find in remote areas and the empties require special handling for disposal³.

• weight and packed size: 3.5oz and folds down to 4 x 2.6 inches
• durability: 6 years, countless pots boiled and meals cooked, and never a problem
• price: $39.95

A nice compliment to the Gigapower stove is the GSI Pinnacle Cookset. $39.95 gets you bang for your buck: a lightweight pot and insulated drinking mug, a folding spork, a pot strainer, and a stuff sack that doubles as a sink for washing up.

Best of all, stow your fuel canister and stove inside the pot, and you have a compact mess kit that weighs less than a pound and measures about 5 inches square.

• weight and packed size: 10.8 oz, 5″ x 5.4″ x 5.5″
• durability: I don’t own this particular kit, but I’ve had good experiences with GSI gear. This set has many favorable reviews at REI.
• price: $39.95

Summary

Do you have a recommendation for gear that’s compact, lightweight, durable, and is cheaper than what I’ve listed? Please share!

1. Hotels.com 2009 Hotel Price Index (HPI)
2. one word: bedbugs
3. Most household hazardous waste disposal facilities will accept empty canisters for recycling.

Related Posts:

• Get Packed For Motorcycle Camping: Picking the Right Gear
• Get Packed for Motorcycle Camping: Securing the Load
• None of the Gear, All the Time

The good thing about Pirelli Diablo Stradas is that they’re fantastic tires. The bad thing about Pirelli Diablo Stradas is that they’ve been discontinued.

What you say!!¹

You may be wondering why I’m bothering to review a tire that’s no longer with us. My reason is this: you can still find Diablo Stradas on sale at many tire retailers, and since it’s been discontinued, they’re often priced at a discount. If you’re facing a sport-touring tire purchase in the near future, give these a moment of your time.

The Test Mule

My “new-to-me” SV650 was fitted with a set of Diablo Stradas prior to purchase. The bike had 8,380 miles when I bought it. The tires had a couple hundred miles on them, but still had plenty of nubbies like a fresh tire would.

Front Tire: 120/70 ZR 17 (note that the stock front tire on the SV650 is 120/60 ZR 17)²
Rear Tire: 160/60 ZR 17

I prefer to keep my tires inflated at the high side of the pressure range, so I kept the front at 40 PSI and the rear at 42 PSI.

The manufacturer's air pressure recommendation. (Click for full size image.)

My SV650 has been fed a steady diet of commuter miles on surface streets mixed with rural highways and twisties. I avoid interstate freeways like the plague, and can claim with certainty less than 300 freeway miles on this set of tires. Nor has this bike been ridden on the track.

I tend to ride conservatively and at The Pace. I’m not interested in dragging knee on a public street. Yes, I have 1/4 inch chicken strips and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Hopefully that gives you a good idea of the kind of riding I do and what this set of tires has been subjected to.

Grip

The first test faced by the Diablo Stradas was the Pacific Coast Highway and they performed admirably, delivering predictable feel and smooth turn-in. Holding a line in a corners was spot-on, and the tires never felt wobbly or unstable at any speed.

The grip offered by the Diablo Stradas is confidence inspiring, and I certainly never came close to over-riding their capabilities. Front and rear braking traction was smooth and reliable, and I never experienced a rear wheel skid during routine braking — as I had several times before on a set of Michelin Pilot Road 2s. Unlike the PR2, the Diablo Strada is a single-compound tire, and I wonder if the hard, long-wearing center on the PR2 contributed to the ease of inducing a rear wheel skid. Or maybe my braking technique improved significantly overnight.³

Lastly, the performance of these tires on rain grooved pavement is second to none. They appear to be nearly immune to the typical “wishy-washy” feeling common to riding on grooved surfaces.

Wet

As an Oregonian and a year round rider, I put thousands of miles on these tires during one of the rainiest springs in recent memory and the Diablo Stradas performed freakishly well. You have to be trying really, really hard to break loose the rear on wet pavement.

Longevity

I’ve put approximately 7000 miles on this set of tires, and the rear is just now approaching the center wear bars. The front has plenty of tread remaining.

The rear tire wore very evenly until my recent 1800 mile trip through Eastern Oregon, where the combination of a heavy load and thousands of miles of hot chip sealed pavement accelerated the wear in the center of the tire.

7000 miles is fairly good for a single-compound tire that skews heavily toward the “sport” in “sport-touring”. If that describes your riding style, you’ll find the Diablo Stradas to be an excellent value.

Final Rating

I like these tires so much that there’s a brand new Diablo Strada rear tire sitting in my garage at the time of writing. I’m looking forward to getting several thousand quality miles out of it. But when it comes time for my next set of tires, I’ll be trying out the successor to the Diablo Strada: the Pirelli Angel ST. Word on the street is that it’s even better.

1. You have no chance to survive make your time?
2. Changing the front tire on your SV to 120/70 ZR 17 is highly recommended and results in improved turn-in while cornering. It was such a common mod that the new Gladius comes with a 120/70 tire stock.
3. Highly doubtful!

Related Posts:

• The Slime Power Sport Tire Inflator
• 2009 In Review: Popularity Contest
• Guest Review: 2009 Triumph Street Triple

Some questions asked of The Google which ended up pointing to this blog:

sv650 premium fuel

Not necessary.

do motorcycle crashes damage frame

Sometimes.

mosquitoes at clyde holliday campground oregon

Yes.

scared to get back on my motorcycle after a crash

Standard advice: Take it one day at a time, and don’t push yourself. If you’re not feeling it, don’t ride.

What worked for me: I love riding too much to quit, so I forced myself to ride. It helps that my wreck was due to my own fault, and I learned from those mistakes.

did angelina jolie really ride motorcycle in salt

Yes. So did her stunt double.

Related Posts:

• Motorcycling Is Not Fun and Games
• A Good Motorcycling Day
• Retiring from Motorcycling

Day 9 – July 10, 2010 (Saturday)

Start: La Pine, OR
End: Corvallis, OR
Mileage: 171 miles

And on the 9th day, we rode home. The end.

I don’t mean to be glib, but that’s exactly what happened. The fun part is the first 30 miles or so on the Cascade Lakes Highway. After that, it’s a slog on Hwy 58, a road that’s ruined by too many cagers who floor it in the straights and snail it through the curves, big rig trucks, and RVs.

After we arrived home, Stacey found this stuck in one of the vents of her jacket:

She said the impact felt like being hit with a rock.

That’s a little what the end of this trip felt like. We had an exhilarating, interesting, nerve-wracking, surprising, exhausting, splendidly wonderful time, and we can’t wait for the next one.

Thanks for reading!

By The Numbers

Miles Ridden: 1738¹
States Touched: 5
Friends Visited: 2
Gas Stops: 19
Gallons of Gas (SV650): 33.71
Average MPG (SV650): 51.2
Critters Nearly Surmounted: 3²
Arguments Between 2 Stac*ys: 0
Smiles Per Mile: ∞

1. depending on which bike you ask
2. plus an untold number of ground rodent near-misses

Related Posts:

• Oregon Figure-Eight Tour, Day 6
• Oregon Figure-Eight Tour, Day 8
• Oregon Figure-Eight Tour, Day 1

Last weekend, a bunch of us went to the Triumph Demo Truck Event up in Canby. I didn’t post about it because I couldn’t add a thing to the recaps Troubadour and Trobairitz posted of the event.

A few days later, we heard that Trobairitz had won one of the door prizes: a $100 gift certificate from the event sponsor, Cascade Moto Classics. Neat!

Later that evening, I checked my voicemail and guess who won the other door prize? Me! I’ve never won anything like that in my life so I was very surprised.

The prize was a super-sweet Triumph leather jacket, and the gal at Cascade Moto Classics was kind enough to let me exchange the original prize (a men’s jacket) with one that would fit me a lil’ better.

The downside is that wearing this jacket on my Suzuki would make me a total poseur. Though I do know someone who rides a Triumph that would match nicely…

Related Posts:

• Riding the New Bike Home, Day 1
• Upcoming Event: Corvallis Bike Night, Feb 4 2009
• When Your Bike Hits 100,000 Miles