Dealing with "LEO"

I am not sure why this comes up in various motorcycle forums. Without getting into a lot of discussion of the why, here are somethings to do (and perhaps some to not do).

1. Be respectfull! It doesn't matter how agitated you are. Demonstrating will only make a potentially bad situation bad or worse.
2. This is NOT the trial! That being said, admissions of guilt can and most likely will be used against you. Avoid any admissions.
3. In spite of the crazy stories to the contrary, creative excuses will almost certainly not make the ticket go away. Use at your own peril.

So - let's here your suggestions!

Olympia Moto Sports Phantom

Living in Seattle and riding this time of year will test your gear. Not only is rainy weather to be expected, it gets downright chilly. Morning rides or late evening rides are going to wet and cold (ok - if your lucky, just cold).

I have a First Gear jacket and pants that are about 5 years old. They have worn exceptionally well - but I decided it was time to get something new (read - latest technology) and I definitely wanted a two piece this time around.

I slipped out of work a little early last night and picked up an Olympia Moto Sports Phantom one-piece. I got the grey (pewter?) one.

I had seen the video of the guy getting into the suit in about 10 seconds (or something ridiculas like that). Trust me - the first time you put this bad boy on will take a lot longer than that! :) Oh yeah - and the first time you don this garment you will also get credit for a short cardio workout.

I am right at 6' tall with a 29" inseam. I am also a little on the heavy side (tipping the scales at 250). I have always had a problem figuring out the fitment of clothes - and in particular, motorcycle gear. I phoned Olympia Moto Sports and spoke with one of their phone support people. They were VERY helpful - to the point that call alone is probably why I chose Olympia.

Before I get into the features of the one piece, I want to point out a very cool design feature. Most riding pants are difficult, if not impossible, to get sized for inseam challenged people like me. When your belly dimension is longer than your inseam - let's face it - nothing fits off the rack. The Phantom can be hemmed without affecting the integrity of the garment. The zippers don't go to the very bottom - there is just velcro down there - so hemming is no problem!

Back to the features I like: the thing is WARM! It got a little chilly last night (my temp gauge indicated 39) and I was on my 1125R. Zipping along at 75 would have been VERY chilly with my old gear. Wind would "leak" into the coat somewhere (typically the back of my neck or up the bottom of the coat). With the Phantom, I was TOASTY warm! I can't remember a ride in that temperature range when I was that comfortable!

This morning on the commute to work we have a "light sprinkle". In Seattle, when it is light rain, that is the equivalent of 100% humidity. I other words, EVERYTHING is dripping wet. I stayed as dry as could be. It was GREAT!

There are a bunch of pockets and I am still figuring out how to layout my stuff to use the pockets conveniently. Getting to your wallet in your jeans with the Phantom on is not easy - but doable. I will likely move my wallet to the Phantom to avoid the wrestling to get my wallet out. I was tempted to ask the pretty lady pumping gas at the next pump to reach into my suit and help get my wallet out - but realized that might have come across as a lame pick up line. Maybe next time...

Falling in love with your bike (again)

Ahhh.... I love days like today. Great day at work and decent weather for the commute home. I decided to take the long way. I think every rider who commutes to work has a "long way" - a route you save for the days you just want to ride.

Today was just such a day. I found my rythem on that oh so familiar route. The bike and I were one. Shifting was effortless. I hit my line in every corner. Everything just clicked.

I love my bike. :)

Plugging tires - why it is a bad idea

One of the things I see posted on just about every motorcycle forum is "I have a puncture in one of my tires. Is it safe to plug?"

The rubber liner is essentially a very thin high density rubber whose job is to hold the air inside the tire cavity. The rubber of the sidewall and tread area are composed of lower density rubber that is not designed to hold air but is far less permeable than the casing which is not designed to be exposed to air pressure.

The risk that one runs when using a plug is that the plug has not made a complete seal with the rubber liner. There is no way to verify this seal - just because the tire doesn't leak doesn't mean the rubber liner is sealed. If the rubber liner is not sealed and the leak is only contained by the external rubber, the casing will become pressurized. As the tire runs through its heat cycles the pressurized exterior rubber becomes soft and the casing delaminates from the exterior rubber. This is also known as tire separation an is a VERY bad thing! When you see the tread carcasses on the highway from big trucks - that is what happens to your bike tire. Not good.

Use a patch to get you to where ever you can get a replacement tire. Simple as that.

Chatterbox XBI

Sorry for the delay in posting. Since my last post, I picked up a Chatterbox XBI Bluetooth headset for my full face helmet. It replaced the CAMOS - for reasons I am happy to detail!

The CAMOS is a total and absolute joke! The US distributor, Benchmark Helmets, is also a joke. The product has marginal (and that is being generous) documentation and required 3 seperate phone calls to Benchmark Helmets to get to work. When I finally did, the unit was used exactly 4 times. Then it quit working. I phoned the retail outlet trying to get a return - and they dropped the line from their inventory citing "Too many returns, no support". I then chased Benchmark - for several months. They finally got me an RMA number and I shipped the unit back to them. 4 months later, I don't have a replacement unit from them nor do I have my money back. Phone calls and emails to them go unanswered. STAY AWAY from CAMOS and Bluetooth Helmets (unless you are just a glutton for punishment).

I got the XBI in mid-August. I was doing a fair bit of tooling around on multi-day bike rides. I wanted music and/or traffic reports as well as to be able to receive calls from work/home. The unit does this VERY well. Setup was not that great - and ultimately did require one call to their tech support. Fortunately, they were helpful and we got the sync question resolved while they were on the phone.

Battery life is good - but I hope in future versions they improve it slightly. Starting with a fully charged headset, I got about 3 hours of talk time out of it before the headset lost power. Yeah, I know - what was I doing on a 3 hour phone call on the bike? Working actually - taking a conference call that couldn't be avoided.

That actually talks to the quality of the sound. No one on the call knew I was on a bike in motion! Now, my participation on the call was primarily listening.

Actual Police comments from around the country

1. "You know, stop lights don't come any redder than the one you just went through."
2. "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They stretch after awhile."
3. "If you take your hands off the car, I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document."
4. "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."
5. "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that's the speed of the bullet that'll be chasing you."
6. "You don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything I want to on the ticket, huh?"
7. "Yes,sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I mention that I am the shift supervisor?"
8. "Warning! You want a warning? OK., I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."
9. "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"
10. "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy and corn dogs and step in monkey poop."
11. "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."
12. "In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC."
13. "How big were those 'two beers' you say you had?"
14. "No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to, but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we can."
15. "I'm glad to hear that the Chief (of Police) is a personal friend of yours. So you know someone who can post your bail."

AND THE WINNER IS....

16. "You didn't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't. Sign here."

Tales of traffic holligans

I spent much of June out of the country on business. When I got back in early July, I noticed a remarkable increase in law enforcement targeting sport bikes. I personally got pulled over 3 times over the July 4th weekend. Each stop was nothing more than a short conversation that ended with the "ride safe". I was a little put out over the stops - I was well within the posted speeds, all my lighting works properly, my bike is properly tagged, etc. At best I was going 5 over the speed limit on 2 lane highways. Not exactly what one would define as the bastian of illegal vehicle activity.

I phoned a rider friend who is a State Highway Patrol Officer. He told me about the statewide crackdown - and to expect more scrutiny when I ride a sport bike.

He sent me this link of a news story that ran while I was out of town - attached is the link.

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_061608WAB_motorcycle_stunts_I-5_SW.da04f5b.html

All I have to say is - WHAT ARE YOU GUYS THINKING?

Laying down your bike

I went to a bike night event at the local pub last night. We had a pretty good turn out - there was about 80 bikes that rode in. Good times had by all.

At my table, one of the riders was telling a story about a recent accident he was in. He was riding in his own neighborhood - speed limit was posted at 25. He was going a little fast - he thought he was doing 40. A car backed out of a driveway and he layed down his bike to avoid a head on collision.

He was banged up pretty bad - but his bike was totalled.

While I really have a lot of sympathy for his pain and his loss, I really don't understand the need to lay the bike down. Obviously, laying it down is probably a lot better than a head on collision - but what about going AROUND the car? Or - and this is one of those 20-20 hindsight statements - why not go a little slower so that you CAN stop?

I am not trying to be contentious - but very rarely do I hear a story about laying a bike down that I don't think that was a stupid move. I am sure there are situations where there simply was no other choice. I ride every day - both as a commute as well as for pleasure. I see my share of cagers trying to violate the laws of physics (like trying to occupy the same space I am) every day.

But I have not had to lay down my bike once in 30 plus years of riding.

I think the key is to ALWAYS have at least 3 paths to take if you need to take action. Bikes are far more agile than cars - can accelerate faster, brake faster, turn quicker - you have a lot of options. And when the road doesn't give you options for evasive driving - slow down!

Stay safe out there.

How to wheelie - excellant video

An excellant tutorial on how to wheelie.

Aligning motorcycle wheels

To make sure my wheels are aligned I use a cheap laser pointer.

It is really helpful to have your bike on a stand. I use the Pit Bull stands - both front and rear.

You will also need something to secure the laser pointer. You want the laser pointer to be high enough to at least shine along the sidewall of the rear tire. A brick works pretty good - and I typically just tape the pointer to the top of the brick.

I use a piece of wood for the "alignment measurement". Get a piece of wood about six inches wide, and mark the center. Add another marking equal to half of the rear tire width.

Place the wood on the front tire with the center mark in middle of tire and outside measurement on the laser side.

Place brick and pointer at back wheel so laser crosses both sides of rear tire and points at wood on the front tire.

If laser points at outside measure get a tape measure and put it on both rims of front tire so the laser light shines on the tape measure to see if you have to move rear tire.

Things I learned in 3 days on my Buell 1125R

A total of 5 of us took a couple days vacation to ride on the Eastern side of the Cascades. These are the things that I learned 1131 miles later.

1. When riders are equal in skills, the 1125R is faster than a 2007 GSXR 1000. I beat my buddy (who I NORMALLY can't keep up with) in a 2 mile "drag", a 10 mile circuit, and every other way we "psuedo raced". Since we always bet (and always the same amount), my trusty 1125R earned me $10 (we ONLY bet $1 per bet). Of course, it cost me $20 in gas - but having his signature on each dollar bill is priceless.
2. When the entire pack (except for yourself) gets a speeding ticket - you have to buy dinner. Especially when they got the ticket trying to catch up to you.
3. Women - regardless of age - seem to like a sexy bike. Oh - and the 1125R is sexy. Yet another reason for my friends to hate me.
4. Bungied luggage (tail bag) doesn't like wheelies. It really doesn't matter if they are 1st gear, 2nd gear, or 3rd gear wheelies. Ok - maybe I am wrong - bungied luggages HATES 3rd gear wheelies.
5. Stoppies are scary. Especially if you don't know how to do one safely.
6. Deer in the road near dusk are VERY scary. Time to get off the road when the bambies are wandering about.
7. At least two of the bed and breakfasts between Winthrop and Lake Chelan, WA have a rule - no motorcycles in the living room.
8. At least on this trip, birds will crap on a GSXR before a Buell. In a total of 7 stops for food over 3 days, my GSXR buddy got his bike crapped on by birds. The Buell - spotless. Guess birds around here have good taste.
9. My electrical gremlins seem to be gone. She started each and every time - no worries.
10. It is a little scary how fast she will get to triple digits.
11. Saying "Yes Sir, Sheriff" is a good thing.
12. We all forget to thank our law enforcement officers. This is my thank you to Sheriff X (you know who you are). I probably did deserve a ticket - but you were great about it. It was sorta lame - a 41 in a 35 is a little tough - and I get that you are supposed to ticket people going 5 over - glad you didn't see me outside of town.
13. Fuel economy varied widely. Of course, over the few days, there were tanks I TOTALLY flogged her. On those - I averaged about 30 MPG or so. On the super slab - totally being a law abiding citizen - I got 41 MPG.
14. If it at all possible, I love this machine more now than the day I took delivery. It makes me a better rider than I am, delivers more grins per mile than anything I have ever ridden, and has caused my bald spot to grow hair (ok - that last one MIGHT be an exaggeration).