Afternoon spins

A fellow rider from the ST-Owners forum and I went for a quick ride around a local loop.

Another day, another friend to ride with.

Back on 2

Last year, I hit a deer. I didn't go down, but it wiped most of the tupperware from the front of my bike. After the insurance company paid Ed's Motorcycles to find and replace the parts, you couldn't tell that my Sierra Tango had had a close call.

It is now mid-April and we should be past the snow, ice and non-riding weather of winter. Someone forgot to pass the word to someone else, because snow is forecast again today.

Although snow was forecast yesterday, I saw sunshine, put my gear on and rolled out. It was kind of an angry ride, I went a little too fast on some corners (and straights) hung it out there more than I usually do and trusted blind corners. I know its not a good idea to tease the motorcycle gods, one would think I'd learned the lesson after totalling out several bikes.

Never stop learning

I signed up for the Motorcycle Safety course today in the hopes that I can learn some new ways to ride safer and maybe even faster. They actually have two courses, a Beginner's course for the never-ridden, just-learned, un-certified about-to-be-moto-pilots, and an Experienced Rider Course for folks like me to get a brush-up on the fundamentals and keep sharp.

Actually, my motivations aren't purely driven by my desire to keep riding and keep breathing. If I could describe my dream job, it would have something to do with riding in a way that wasn't mundane, but fresh and inspiring - like teaching people how to ride. More importantly, teaching people how to ride smart and live to ride another day.

As it happens, the local contractor that provides these courses is desperate for more instructors. The demand for the MSF courses is growing fantastically each year and the next nearest offering is a couple hours' drive to the west. I'd be happy as a clam to spend a couple of weekends each month during the spring/summer riding season turning people on to the joys and challenges of my favorite pastime - especially if I can show them how to do it without getting squished by a dump truck or plowing into a tree.

Its a paid job, but the salary pretty much only covers your gas and lunch. The one thing that makes me pause and think twice about going forward with this is the cost of the instructor training. "In case you don't make it," I'll have to pay $200 to take the training classes and another $125 to take the prerequisite Beginner Rider Course - the same fee prospective riders cough up. Even though I'd break even in short order, that a chunk of cash to lay out.

But I'm gonna do it anyway. Shucks, how many people can say they get paid to teach people how to ride a motorcycle? I'm sure most people wouldn't want to have anything to do with it, but if that works for them, it works for me. I hope it all sorts out positively - I'm really excited about this opportunity to give real, useful, and safety-conscious information and exercises to my new brothers and sisters on two wheels.

BadAss biker gang

Gotta do what you gotta do

We'll have a parade like the one in the video.

My favorite kind of shopping

Picture this: browsing in a store, looking at everything, thinking “will this look good on me?”, “maybe I’ll buy something, maybe I won’t”, just wandering around, not in any hurry, without purpose or direction.

BLEEEAAAAGH!!!!!

Like most guys, I really dislike shopping without knowing ahead of time exactly what I’m going to buy. Clothes shopping with the wife? Thanks, but I’ll volunteer for unnecessary dental work first. I don’t mind briefly comparing prices on similar items, but I want to get in and get out. Enter the store with purpose, direction and complete the task.

There are two exceptions:

#1 Shopping for anything electronic, gadgety or techy related. I have spent countless hours comparing which MP3 player was the best deal (I bought a 30GB Creative Zen Vision:M), I joyfully agonized over which earphones to wear with it (Bose earbuds - worth every penny), and I meticulously researched for my radar detector (Escort Passport).

#2 The other exception is motorcycles. I am anticipating an upcoming purchase, and I will gleefully neglect important obligations just to root out any nuggets of useful information.

I am also asking for your help! Any ideas, recommendations, 2nd hand opinions or links to useful info will all be appreciated.

Here’s my basic requirements:

500 mile days don’t cause permanent disfigurement

able to store a few days worth of gear

passenger seat that is actually usable by a passenger for more than 10 minutes.

minimum 800cc, at least 120 hp and close to 100 ft/lb torque - in other words, something that will get from 30-60 mph and 80-100 mph in the time it takes me to think about it and will giddyup to at least 140.

New vs. Used:

Cons for New: New bikes usually have new (unproven) technologies and that’s an unknown I’d rather not deal with a thousand miles from home. Additional maintenance costs and hassles during the breaking-in period. Cons for Used: I don’t know the service history and it may have been harshly treated. ‘Nuff said.

Pro for New: It’s mine and it’s only ever been mine. Pro for Used: its broken in, the bugs are worked out and all ya gotta do is regular maintenance and buy tires.

Price: While I’m still wishing and dreaming, I’m going to ignore price - just for now. Price is something that will factor heavily in my decision eventually, but I don’t believe a brand name is worth thousands of dollars; for example if I can can buy a new Honda for the same price as a 5 year old BMW, then I’ll take the one with the fewest miles on it.

So far I’m considering: Honda ST1300, Yamaha FJR1300, BMW R12 RT, BMW K12 GT. and Kawasaki Concours (including the new GT1400). These are all Sport/Touring bikes.

The Honda ST1300:












The Yamaha FJR 1300:















The Beemer R12 RT:














The Beemer K12 GT:















The Kawi Concourse:















The Kawi 1400:


















Of course, a more sensible alternative may be to keep the perfectly good bike that I already have and just pick up a Dual Sport on/off road like the KLR 650 and take advantage of the hundreds and hundreds of miles of backcountry roads that are all around us here.

The Kawi KLR 650:














My current ride, Honda ST1100: