Daniel E. Markle's Blog

From Motorcycle Adventures

Attended Thunder in the Valley in Johnstown, PA for the first time this year with the Steele's. I did not realize from their descriptions just how large this rally is; literally every street in Johnstown is lined with bikes during this event. This event dwarfs Carlisle Bike Fest; there are usually over 200,000 bikes at this event over the course of the weekend.

A steady stream of bikes cruise up and down the streets. To keep things from getting out of control, the police provide secured parking areas for some larger groups to ensure their bikes are safe and rivals don't attempt any mischief. For those who want to show off their bikes, a parade mid-day draws a large crowd.

From Motorcycle Adventures

I have been looking at Honda CBR250R's for a while as a next bike to try, and had settled on the red white and blue model with ABS. In the course of looking for it, this one became available used. Being orange and a significant cost savings over a new one I jumped on it.

Not many people watch it in the US; this paint scheme is a replica of the Honda Powersports team in MotoGP, a worldwide motorcycle racing circuit.

Seating position is similar to the GS500F, but the power profile is much different. This is more of a buzzy sport bike with little low end torque; whereas the GS500F likes to hang around 4k RPM for peak torque, this one needs wound up to 7k+ to get moving. Once up there, it's similar to the GS500F up to about 45MPH, over which it becomes noticeably less powerful. Less weight results in a bike more fun to flip around on the twisties, offsetting the power disadvantage. The fairing provides noticeably less wind protection, handy in this hot summer weather but which may prove a downside during the rest of the year.

Corporate treachery has become commonplace in current society, but it is especially sad to see when it hits close to home. Obvious in retrospect, Eldon Dieffenbach's purchase of Gibble's from Martin's was simply an acquisition to shut it down and secure private label contracts. It's not clear whether to blame him or Martin's for callously tossing away a local tradition.

I fail to understand the modern business theory of shutting down profitable product lines to 'focus on core products.' This rarely does anything but reduce overall profits, especially in cases like this where there was no avenue to re-purpose the product line or employees for more profitable ventures. Such tactics make sense when product lines are losing money, but in cases like this where the profit was simply 'less than our main product line' it is unclear what positive impact management was trying to achieve.

The only plus side here is the potential to improve my health, as these were one of the last potato chip brands I find worth reaching for. I'll certainly enjoy this last bag.

From Miscellaneous

It has been a long time since I looked at LEGO products, the most memorable use of which in my recent memory being The Brick Testament. Their recent forays into leveraging television shows with tie-ins to their sets has continued for years, extending nowadays to shows based on LEGO sets. On a shopping trip to K-Mart for some storage bins, I noticed a 9676 TIE Interceptor & Death Star set on the bargain shelf.

The Tie Interceptor is one of my favorite ships from the Star Wars series of movies; one of LEGO's most prominent and long running tie-in series; and it was only $7. I've been impressed at the detail, both on the model and the mini figure. The Death Star model is rather clever too, able to hold all the parts for the models, even including a loop to fasten on the top to create a planetary system model (most of these sets include a planet or moon) or for use as an ornament.

With Desura and Steam bringing an influx of commercial games to Linux, I've been trying some of these out. My favorite so far has been FTL: Faster than Light; ironically a game available for Linux without either of these distribution platforms.

Who hasn't dreamed of commanding a starship, navigating space, fleeing a mighty armada of enemies? Check out the video on the right by Nerd³.

From Miscellaneous

A few weeks ago we installed Gas heating and a Gas stove. Propane Gas prices have fallen significantly due to fracking up north, Gas now represents a significant savings in our area over fuel oil per BTU. Our old oil burner furnace needed costly maintenance, and our old electric range had developed burner problems, so we replaced both.

A 96% efficient unit, the new furnace looks like a computer inside; a giant circuit board dominates the interior. Much smaller as well, sidewalls were fabricated larger than the actual unit so the old ductwork matches up. Concerned such a small furnace wouldn't have the gusto to push through our old 4" ductwork, it actually works better than the old furnace did, with more airflow and more consistent heating throughout the house.

Best part of the install is the Gas stove; it cooks quickly with even heat and much more control than the old electric.

From Motorcycle Adventures

I've been considering adding a 'sportier' bike to my stable all summer, but haven't been happy with the condition of similar used bikes. I wanted something still practical for commuting, but which would be an interesting counterpoint to the experience on my cruisers. I had settled on getting a new 2013 Yamaha FZ6R, when I saw this 2007 Suzuki GS500F on Craig's List.

This bike has quite a few miles on it, but as I've been told and have been experiencing first hand, mileage is a poor indicator of used motorcycle quality. I've had it a few weeks at this point and am enjoying the different riding experience.

When I purchased my Rebel last year I was already a frequent visitor to both the Honda Rebel Forum and the Rebel 250 forum. The latter has a yearly Rally within a day's ride at Lake Hope State Park in Ohio. I wasn't experienced enough to make the 400+ mile journey last year, but I made it this year.

Being a Rebel 250, although it can handle freeways just fine, I don't find too many hours on them pleasant for me as a rider, so I took the Google maps 'avoid freeways' route which was approximately 408 miles. This route including stops took 10 hours on the way out and 11 hours on the way back, due to more stops on the way back to enjoy attractions I had passed on the way out. Although not much greater in miles on paper, this was a much longer ride than visiting my sister in Cleveland involving twice as many hours in the saddle.

Motorcycle Adventures

While out there (fortunately the day after the Rally so I didn't miss any festivities), the crankcase seal around the left side of the drive shaft popped out. Apparently a common problem on this bike as it's held in merely by pressure, a local Rebel-Rouser helped me out and not only picked me up, but let me use their garage and tools to repair it. Now that I've done it once, if it happens again I can actually repair this problem road-side with the right tools on hand, which I intend to carry on long trips from now on. As a side effect of this problem however, I got a chance to tour Athens, OH and Ohio University.

Logged 1,030 miles by the time I returned home, already planning to head out again next year.

My photos of the trip to the Rebel Rally this year are organized at the front of my Motorcycle Adventures Album, although I didn't take many.

Better pictures of the actual Rally part by Tigerlily 2012 Ohio Rebel Rally Lake Hope

As advertised, the Rally was mainly eating and talking with a motorcycle ride thrown in, which considering the long ride there, was perfect.

From Honda Rebel Scottoiler Install

After thousands of miles on my chain-drive Honda Rebel I love riding it, even after buying a larger bike. It has one annoyance however; chain maintenance. I experienced a few chain oiling fiasco's including over-application at times making a mess of the rear wheel, an oil spray can failure which left me coated in oil, and rain washing the oil off accelerating chain wear on rides home. Reading about chain maintenance online, many (especially in Europe, where many more people ride) waxed poetic about their improved lives after installing a Scottoiler. They aren't generally available in motorcycle shops in this country however. Finally, a moto-vlogger I enjoy regularly, M13 started raving about them so I decided to try one out.

Installation was considerably more challenging than expected, which ended up requiring removal of the fuel tank, seats, side covers, and rear wheel axle. On my 25 mile test ride this morning the chain was perfectly lubricated. Now I need some rain for a really good test . . .

Another ride video from my weekend scenic drive, this one from South Williamsport to route 44.



I enjoy the lighting on this one. While riding I was concerned the sun was too bright for the camera, but it turned out well.

Having not posted any ride videos on my Yamaha Vstar 950 yet, I made some recordings on Saturday. This one shows construction on route 15 near Williamsport and concludes with a ride over the grate metal arch street bridge.



I used to be terrified to ride on these, but now I rather enjoy them. The sensation of the motorcycle wavering underneath is interesting. Unfortunately this bridge is about to be replaced, the almost finished replacement visible on the right.

This is undoubtedly the most ominous fortune cookie I've ever gotten. Good thing I don't believe in these things.

My 2012 Inferno Orange Chevy Sonic 1.4 Turbo LTZ Manual From Miscellaneous

Back in January I ordered this 2012 Chevy Sonic with the 1.4 Turbo engine and a manual transmission. I liked the motorcycle inspired design, the color, the opportunity to try a manual transmission, and the fuel economy. I usually ride a motorcycle to work, but some days it is more practical to take an automobile due to weather and/or hauling requirements.

One of the interesting aspects of this car is the made in Europe turbocharged engine. They have a different market over there, being primarily manual transmission cars whereas most drivers here want to chat on their cell phone and shave while driving instead of actually enjoying the drive, so manuals here are stereotypically sold on the cheap. As such, Chevy decided to list this car as running 87 octane gasoline, using a control chip to detect the type of fuel added and retard the engine as appropriate. A fascinating side effect of this unusual measure is a car that actually does perform better with premium gasoline.

I get a lot of use out of Java 5 enums:

enum Galaxies { MilkyWay, Andromeda, NGC4414 }

But here's a nice trick; as enum members are actually classes, you can override the member functions they contain. I find this most useful overriding toString:

enum Galaxies {
    MilkyWay {
        @Override
        public String toString() {
            return "Milky Way";
        },
    Andromeda,
    NGC4414 {
        @Override
        public String toString() {
            return "NGC 4414";
        }
}


My first RC helicopter; a Syma 108g From RC Flight

At the Greensburg Train show in York last weekend a vendor was flying these RC Helicopters around his booth. Impressed by his precision and the low price, I purchased this one. About the length of my hand, it's designed for indoor use only.

I have been interested in RC aircraft for a while and was considering getting into the hobby this year. Although I was thinking airplanes, flying these around the house is surprisingly fun and not tied to good weather conditions. Helicopters I have looked at in the past were either ridiculously expensive, hard to fly, or both, but modern gyro technology now common in cell phones has made these quite reasonable in price and very stable to fly.

Now to land one of these on a train flatcar . . .