Life - 1

Riding in to work last week I picked up this stowaway. I heard a noise when I hit it, then after riding a few hundred feet, came to a stop sign. When I pulled out from the sign, the back end felt slightly mushy and I started hearing a ticking noise as I began moving faster. I changed road position, thinking it was the road as the stretch I pulled onto was under construction, but in the course of turning I noticed the back end was very mushy, and it dawned on me what was going on. My first flat tire on a vehicle.

Pulling off towards the side of the road as far as I could, I looked back and saw this nail sticking out of my tire. Unfortunately I was at a bad spot where there wasn't a berm to park in. After assessing the situation I decided to move the bike at a few MPH up a driveway to a storage facility where I could safely park and wait for help.

Waiting a while in occasional rain, contemplating how it had been a while since I had time to just relax and watch the rain, I was able to arrange a ride home then come back for the bike with my trailer. Loading proved to be a challenge on a wooden tilt bed trailer; my rear wheel skidded off when I tried to go up. However, there was a location with a pile of stone where I was able to load with some strategic parking and riding. Looking for a way to unload the bike off the tilt bed safely, I ended up buying a patch kit, cutting the nail out with bolt cutters, patching the tire, then inflating it. With sidewall damage like this, there was no permanent fix for the tire, but this was enough to get the bike in my shop and remove the rear wheel.

YCH examined the wheel when I brought it in and determined the damage was cosmetic. With a new tire, the bike is back on the road in time for the Triumph rally in Oley and I have a new experience to add to my motorcycling repertoire.

Having experienced many motorcycles by now, I still hadn't ridden a Harley Davidson. Generally their price is exorbitant and their reputation for quality is poor. Although typically thought of as behind on technology, they are one of the only companies selling mid-size cruisers with ABS brakes, a strong part of a purchase decision for me. In this case it came down to a Triumph Thunderbird ABS or a Dyna Switchback ABS. Both were similar in price (albeit the Triumph was new, and the Harley gently used), the deciding point came down to a review which actually rated the Harley higher; rare for this magazine which frequently lampoons Harleys. Reading about the Dyna; with a rubber mounted engine for the famous Harley vibration, and arguably the best handling of Harley's bikes, it seemed a great choice for me.

On a technical checklist basis, the Harley is inferior in nearly every way; crazy weight and balance, shaking, short service intervals, the frustrating bag mechanism, proprietary tires, the checklist goes on. It leaked oil on the ride home, which got me thinking 'oh boy'. The saddlebags had a locking component which appeared to have been broken by the vibration; this specific bike is a bit famous for the bags coming off. I believe this locking mechanism breaks as the locking pins are on a cast part, and if undetected for too long the bags jiggle off. It turned out the oil was overfilled, which is apparently common by Harley dealers. Once the oil level was adjusted, it no longer leaks a drop. I replaced the broken saddlebag component, time will tell if it happens again, but now I know what to watch for. As I do my own service work, the short service intervals shouldn't be a big cost for me.

On this four state all day tour to Harper's Ferry, I rode it long enough to get used to the shaking and certainly loved the journey. The experience reminds me of the 1952 Ford 800 I have versus my Kubota B3200. Modern Kubota is more practical in every way, and it's what I reach for to do real work, but the Ford has character all its own. I'll give and get a fair shake from this bike, and use experience to determine for myself if I like the brand.

Heated gear is something I have avoided in the past, even though I ride year around. Smaller bikes I enjoy most don't have the alternator output to power it, and the battery powered options aren't suitable for my ride length and frequency. Cycle Gear had a sale on heated gear this winter, and I now ride the Kawasaki Voyager 1700 most frequently in cold weather, which has plenty of electrical output to spare, so I decided to try a vest.

Keeping my core warm with a vest certainly extends the amount of time I can ride below 40F; typically on the one and a half hour ride to work I would need to stop once when in the 30-40F range, twice in the 20-30F range, and sometimes four times below that to walk around and warm up appendages. With the vest I've been able to ride straight to work without stopping. However, although I didn't have too much trouble with my hands before, now with the vest and the longer range I am riding without stopping, my hands were the next target for heat.

The Cycle Gear vest has matching glove liners I then purchased; this solved the cold hands, however these do have an annoyance. I expected them to be controlled via the same controller the vest has, however they seem to go full heat whenever plugged in, ignore the controller, and don't shut off until unplugging. This works fine below 30F but tends to roast my hands after a while above that, with the only way to shut them off being to unplug. Fortunately the connector is rather easy to just reach down and remove; although I do have to stop to plug back in.

Now as I'm able to do longer rides without stops, my legs and feet are starting to get a bit chilly . . .

From Motorcycle Adventures

The annual Lake Hope Rebel Rally was held September 11-13, 2015. To ensure I would be there early, I planned to head out September 10. Unfortunately, storms in my area made that idea unpalatable; although I often ride in rain, I don't find hours riding in thunderstorms to be inside my acceptable risk profile.

Fortunately it cleared up on Friday the 11th, so I headed out at my usual time. It was a gorgeous ride out with clear skies and nice weather; until I got within a few hours of Lake Hope. As I approached it became clear storms and rain were prevalent over the park; a particular issue for someone planning on setting up a tent, compounded by the fact that it would be both raining and dark when I arrived. I contemplated the idea of camping to the east where it wasn't raining, but the forecast made it clear that wouldn't help as it would be raining Saturday. So for the first time on one of these trips, I stayed in a hotel in Parkersburg, WV.

It was still raining in the morning, but with daylight to ride, in I proceeded to Lake Hope. When I arrived I didn't find any Rebels; it turns out I missed the pack leaving by 50 minutes. After enjoying a fine meal at the lodge and generally puttering the park around for a few hours, the rain finally relented so I headed to my campsite to set up. Afterwards, I went for a ride to Ash Cave, a few trips on the Zaleski roller coaster, and a few of the other wonderful motorcycle roads around the park.

By then evening had arrived, the party had returned to the cabin area and had a campfire going, so I joined in. Although the party was small; the rain had scared off most of the riders it seems; there was plenty of fun conversation and Guba's famous chili to enjoy.

Sunday we enjoyed Lake Hope Lodge's breakfast buffet which includes their delicious brisket. Afterwards, I hung around the park, explored the campground and some trails around it. Guba stopped by with a large pile of firewood, and B.O.B. the bear. After dark, DNC stopped in and we enjoyed a fine campfire on a glorious clear night full of stars; a fun change from year's past where I'm usually the only one still there.

B.O.B. the bear (shown in the picture) has been riding around the country on Rebels for 10 years. Apparently I was the only one at the Rally who hadn't ridden with him yet, so he accompanied me on the ride home. Now to plan some trips with B.O.B. before I hand him off to the next Rebel rider . . .

From Motorcycle Adventures

This Cosmic Green Triumph Street Triple has been sitting at YCH for a while now. It is one of the bikes I had been considering to replace my CBR250 as my next ABS brake upgrade. After looking around sitting on various options, I had it down to this one or a Kawasaki Ninja 650. When YCH dropped the price on this one, I jumped on it.

I was hesitant to go with a Triumph after other experiences the family has had with them. However, this one being inexpensive, and hoping that was a two-off problem, I decided to try one. Alas, I had issues too; there was a defective part and Triumph apparently isn't open Saturdays to provide any support to their dealers, and they don't provide adequate documentation or instructions to dealers as to what the computer codes mean. This resulted in a bike that wouldn't start, then one throwing error codes. Unfortunately this means my family is 3 for 3 with Triumphs not working off the showroom floor; fortunately the dealer got it working the next week and I hit the road.

Amazingly smooth bike; I'm still in break-in so I haven't had a chance to push it yet, but handling and weight are similar to the 250. I love the 'sitting on the hood' feeling which is more extreme with this bike than my other ones; it's easy to forget the bike is there. I had some concerns the bike would be too powerful, but it has very good manners; smooth and controllable power with more only if asked for.

With my Ventura Rack and Scottoiler installed tonight, I'm ready to start tackling longer distances with it.

From Motorcycle Adventures

It has been the coldest winter in my memory. First winter since I started riding where I wasn't able to ride during the whole month of January. To make it worse, we haven't had much in the way of real snow, a few inches here and there, but no glorious biblical dumps like Boston or Buffalo to really have fun with my snowblower. Just enough to keep the roads perpetually icy.

Finally as of today we had enough days in a row of sun to clear the roads of ice, and with the balmy 20F degree day I got a chance to hit the roads before February ends. My first ride of the year, although shorter than I would have liked, was glorious indeed.

If next winter is like this again, I might have to invest in a snow cycle (aka snowmobile) to make it through these trying times.

From Cooking

One of the gifts I received for Christmas was a bread machine. I had been talking about getting one for a while, as commercial breads have been becoming increasingly pasty and overly sweet as various once delicious bakers are bought out by international conglomerates more interested in profits than taste.

By this point in time we have tried quite a few recipes. Our favorite so far is undoubtedly one originally based on this Light Oat Bread recipe but with a few changes to match our tastes:

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons soft butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast

Bread machine settings: Basic, 1.5lb loaf, light crust.

It's interesting how sensitive these recipes are; with more experience I hope to get more consistent round tops for example. So far though, we've devoured every loaf.

Beyond bread, there is a recipe in the book for pizza crust. Although it took 1.5 hours on the dough setting, it made the best pizza crust I've ever managed to turn out. Looking forward to more dough recipes, and I need to try rolls at some point.

I have resisted creating a LinkedIn profile for a while now as I didn't want to manage yet another social media site I won't use. However, as it seems to be a prominent place for career connection building, I decided to give it a try.

Especially as it is more about connections than posting content, it will be interesting to see if it brings any friendships or opportunities my way.

From Motorcycle Adventures

I had been keeping an eye open for a white Kawasaki Voyager 1700 ABS at the right price since test riding one at Carlisle Bikefest a few years ago. Although I loved the test ride, Kawasaki keeps the cool color schemes for the Vaquero while the Voyager gets the boring schemes. For my purposes the rear trunk and top opening saddlebags are very useful features which trumps getting the awesome looking Orange with black flames Vaquero. ABS models add to the difficulty of finding these; buyers are seeking the safety of ABS but dealers aren't getting them in stock since it saves them money on the floor, so they go quickly when they do hit sales floors and are rarely traded in.

Finding one in Altoona at Steve Seltzer Powersports in the Pearl Alpine White / Pearl Luster Beige color combo, from the pictures I actually thought it would be too gold to appeal to me, but in person it is a mellow tan and off white combo which I enjoy. I have been debating various ways to add orange highlights, but will likely leave it unmodified at least for a while.

Rode it west of Cleveland and back over the weekend; I have no regrets trading the vStar 950 in for this one. Although I loved the looks of the 950, the cockpit dimensions never really fit me and I wasn't comfortable on it even after 21,000+ miles of riding. I regularly scraped the floorboards with the 950, but the Voyager actually has better clearance and better handling; certainly something I didn't expect moving up to a full dresser. I also really like the high seating position on this one; it feels more like I'm on top of the bike and looking over the fairing; no doubt one of the reasons I liked the test ride as it feels more open. I am thinking the full faired front is going to be too hot in the summer, but I have other rides for those hot days. That warm engine heat makes trips to Ohio in November significantly more comfortable.

2014 Lake Hope Rebel Rally

After a hiatus last year due to work, I made it once more to the Lake Hope Rebel Rally this year. Having waited to reserve until after the cabins had filled, I decided to double up the adventure on this trip as my first motorcycle camping trip.

From Miscellaneous

While shopping in Lancaster over the weekend, I found this orange Zippo at Eastern Mountain Sports marketed as a "windproof lighter." Although I don't smoke, the typical use for such a tool, I do go camping and sometimes need a light around the farm. It's also an interesting addition to my motorcycle survival toolkit. And of course there's always cool Zippo tricks if I get bored with it.

Sneak behind older gents who used to smoke, click it open and closed (it has very distinctive clink sounds) and see them perk up. Then hide it before they turn around . . .

From Miscellaneous

After looking at tractors for a few years as our old mid-1950's Ford 800 accumulated maintenance issues and is now to the point of needing major work, I finally purchased a new tractor. Critera included something that could use our existing implements, a front end loader, compact enough to haul with our existing vehicles, and a brand I am comfortable will still have parts available for another 40-50 years.

John Deere and Kubota were both at the top of my list for evaluation, but our local John Deere dealer (Lost Creek Implement) closed. C.H. Waltz was a logical choice, as I drive by a couple of their dealerships regularly in the course of going to and from work.

Kubota's B3200 hit all my critera for the right price, so I jumped on this one; especially as they had a used snowblower in stock. Although we haven't gotten much snow lately, I've always wanted a snowblower but the walk behind models aren't practical when our lane is 1/4 mile (about 400 meters). A fortuitous choice this year, as this is the first year in a while we have gotten a real winter.

From Miscellaneous

Living on a farm, we have many downed trees to use for firewood, and many limbs falling in the large yard. Both result in a lot of smaller branch wood which isn't worth cutting into burnable log sizes. Traditionally these are tossed on a large pile and periodically burned. However, I would prefer to put these to productive use instead.

As the other maintenance item with a large yard due to the many trees is trimming around said trees, wood chips seem a logical use for this stack-o-branches. My local lawn equipment shop, R. E. Davidson & Son has a line of DR Chippers, so I decided to try one.

With a large backlog of wood to test with, I have no shortage of test samples. This chipper makes short work of anything I can fit in the hopper; even some large walnut I'd classify more as logs than branches are quickly ground into little bits. Being a chipper and not a shredder, it doesn't process smaller limbs alone particularly well, but it has no problems with small stuff when it is pushed in with some larger branches.

They did go a bit cheap on the engine mount; with it bolted right to the frame it shakes fiercely when starting up. I do worry that might result in long term maintenance issues or broken engine components, although it does seem to smooth out nicely once going full speed. My other complaint is the chute. Although the little one included is mostly fine for my needs, it shoots the material out a bit too close, and as can be seen in the picture, I had to shovel my wheel out. I might end up purchasing the larger chute to fix that issue.

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.