The weather in Oregon this Spring has been extremely cold and wet. Dry, sunny days are as rare as a Congressional Republican in favor of tax hikes on the wealthy. Sunday was dry, partly cloudy, and not overly cold (meaning, it was above freezing). So I rode.
I had never been to Gaston, Oregon so that was my first destination. I fueled up in Sherwood, then headed west through Laurel and Laurelwood, two amazing little communities. The climb up and over the hill between Laurel and Gaston provided phenomenal views east, and then west, of what the northern Willamette Valley has to offer. Once in Gaston I headed south on Hwy 47.
I was getting hungry by the time I got to Monmouth so I stopped at J's 99 Cafe for second breakfast. Once that was done my GPS got confused, thought Philomath was north of my location, and got me lost in a neighborhood trying to find the highway southeast. I had to use my Jedi Navigation Skills to find it, but once I did it was smooth after that.
The Kings Valley Highway, 223, runs from Rickreal south to Philomath and is a must-ride. I saw 30+ sport bikes heading northward as I rode south. The skies were cloudier the further south I rode but the pavement remained dry. Even the rooster ring-necked pheasant standing on the side of the road in Pedee agreed it was a day worth enjoying.
In Philomath I turned east and crawled through the Corvallis area before crossing over I-5 and into Lebanon. Again, my GPS was ass-backwards and steered me wrong. I had to ride north on Hwy 20 before cutting back east through Crabtree. From there I knew the way by heart and only referenced my GPS for speed verification.
I fueled up again in Sublimity and noticed something interesting, albeit purely coincidental. My second fuel-up of the day was only 7/100ths different than the first, in terms of gallons consumed. Once in Mulino I veered east again to pass through Colton, then up to Estacada and Sandy and home. The day's ride was 250 miles.
Map route
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
I'm in the latest Aerostich catalog
The 2011 annual Aerostich catalog came in the mail today. It's kind of like the Cabelas catalog but for motorcyclists. I was reading it cover to cover as I usually do, and was pleased to see Neil Peart sporting their new leather Transit suit on page 5. I always figured one of his quotes would appear in the catalog, not a full picture.
Page after page, I kept turning. When I came to page 152 I saw something very familiar. On the bottom half of the page was a photo of yours truly standing over Kiger Gorge on Steens Mountain, wearing my Aerostich Darien jacket, showing its distinctive retro-reflective strip across the back. It was a picture taken by Janice, a friend from California that went to Steens with me and her husband, Mark, back in September, 2010. The caption reads:
"Traffic? What traffic? (Steve Williamson standing over Kiger Gorge on Steens Mountain in Southeast Oregon. Photo by Janice Nelson, 2010)"
I had sent the photo to Aerostich shortly after returning from the trip. They thanked me for the pic but never said another word about it.
Page after page, I kept turning. When I came to page 152 I saw something very familiar. On the bottom half of the page was a photo of yours truly standing over Kiger Gorge on Steens Mountain, wearing my Aerostich Darien jacket, showing its distinctive retro-reflective strip across the back. It was a picture taken by Janice, a friend from California that went to Steens with me and her husband, Mark, back in September, 2010. The caption reads:
"Traffic? What traffic? (Steve Williamson standing over Kiger Gorge on Steens Mountain in Southeast Oregon. Photo by Janice Nelson, 2010)"
I had sent the photo to Aerostich shortly after returning from the trip. They thanked me for the pic but never said another word about it.
New site format
I am experimenting with an entirely new site structure and engine. I am currently using Wordpress for this blog, but am contemplating switching to Drupal.Please check out the new site at www.ruckerworks.com and let me know what you think.
Wash and ride
The weather in Oregon apparently didn't get the memo about global warming. I guess that's why they call it climate change instead. The planet is getting warmer, on average, but some areas will actually see colder and wetter weather. So far in 2011, Oregon has been acting more like southeast Alaska. It has been cold and wet and dry days have been few and far between.
Saturday was dry, although not overly warm. I started at 8 AM, pulling my V-Strom out of the garage, hooking up the garden hose for the first time since last Fall, and giving my bike a much needed wash. I ride all year and washing it during the Winter months is like trying to make the bed while you're still sleeping in it. It took a while but eventually I got all the nastiness off. After giving it a towel-dry, I pulled it back into the garage and propped it up on the center stand to re-lubricate the chain.
After doing a few other chores around the house and eating brunch, I decided to get a ride in. I fueled up in Estacada, then headed up the Clackamas River highway 224 toward Ripplebrook Ranger Station. On this run I focused on practicing smooth cornering while hanging off the side for better cornering speed. It takes some getting used to and looks rather dramatic. It's also unnecessary because I don't corner fast enough for it to matter. However, it's a lot of fun and that's reason enough.
Just before crossing the river at Indian Henry Campground I saw three guys identically dressed in blue and white leathers taking pictures of their three identical blue and white Yamaha sport bikes lined up in a pretty, neat row. We waved and I zoomed over the bridge and up the hill on the other size. Once at Ripplebrook, I turned around and headed back down the river to home.
This run is about 65 miles round-trip and includes mostly big sweepers with a few slower curves thrown in for variety. The scenery is dramatic and there are no stop signs once you leave Estacada. There are occasionally slow cagers and every once in a while I see law enforcement, usually on summer Saturdays when the sport bikes hit the road.
Monday, April 4, 2011
A shameless plug...
... Spark plugs, that is. Friday after work I rode over to Yamaha Sports Plaza for some scheduled maintenance work on my 2007 V-Strom. After 35,000 miles, it was time for a new air filter element and spark plugs. I went with the touted K&N air filter and the NGK spark plugs recommended by the service manager, Steve. While there I had them grease the speedometer sensor in the front axle. After a while it can dry out and make an odd chirping noise.
I rode home before the rain started. To anyone that isn't aware of what's been going on in Oregon lately, we've had an extremely wet winter and Spring. March had one or two days without measurable precipitation, and that was it. It's been nothing but rain the rest of the time, and lots of it. The few dry days we've had have been noteworthy, and even die-hard web-footed Oregonians are starting to grumble about the sun's absence.
It was dry again on Sunday, so I rode up to Ripplebrook ranger station and back. It's one of my standard routes. The bike performed great and the new air filter and spark plugs make it feel like new again. It never felt old and has been rock solid for all 35,000 miles, but psychologically it felt new again. You know what I mean.
I've been practicing leaning off the bike a little bit on my turns, a la Leon Haslam and Valentino Rossi, etc. I don't corner fast enough for it to be necessary but it's fun to do. I'm considering taking a Total Control course and being able to lean off your bike is one of the things they teach you. Lately I've been dreaming of getting a sport bike in addition to my V-Strom. I don't necessarily like to go fast but I really like carving up the twisties.
From a practical standpoint, a sport bike doesn't make much sense, though. My V-Strom is capable of harder cornering than I am, so why get an even more capable bike until my skills jack up enough to utilize it? That's where Total Control comes in. Not only is it a good idea to gain further mastery of the bike from a safety and confidence standpoint, I think the new skills it imparts would add some excitement to an already exciting motorcycle. Cornering like a sport bike is fun, but having the skill to live to do it again another day is even better.
I rode home before the rain started. To anyone that isn't aware of what's been going on in Oregon lately, we've had an extremely wet winter and Spring. March had one or two days without measurable precipitation, and that was it. It's been nothing but rain the rest of the time, and lots of it. The few dry days we've had have been noteworthy, and even die-hard web-footed Oregonians are starting to grumble about the sun's absence.
It was dry again on Sunday, so I rode up to Ripplebrook ranger station and back. It's one of my standard routes. The bike performed great and the new air filter and spark plugs make it feel like new again. It never felt old and has been rock solid for all 35,000 miles, but psychologically it felt new again. You know what I mean.
I've been practicing leaning off the bike a little bit on my turns, a la Leon Haslam and Valentino Rossi, etc. I don't corner fast enough for it to be necessary but it's fun to do. I'm considering taking a Total Control course and being able to lean off your bike is one of the things they teach you. Lately I've been dreaming of getting a sport bike in addition to my V-Strom. I don't necessarily like to go fast but I really like carving up the twisties.
From a practical standpoint, a sport bike doesn't make much sense, though. My V-Strom is capable of harder cornering than I am, so why get an even more capable bike until my skills jack up enough to utilize it? That's where Total Control comes in. Not only is it a good idea to gain further mastery of the bike from a safety and confidence standpoint, I think the new skills it imparts would add some excitement to an already exciting motorcycle. Cornering like a sport bike is fun, but having the skill to live to do it again another day is even better.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Bridgestone Battle Wings compared to Metzeler Tourance
Once I got the stock Trailwing tires off of my V-Strom (after less than 6,000 miles) back in 2007, I switched to Metzeler Tourances and loved them. I've had three sets on my bike and got between 8,500-10,000 miles per pair with outstanding grip on dry pavement and reasonable performance on gravel/dirt (although I didn't exactly put them through their paces off-road). They are a great tire and I highly recommend them, but they are expensive.
For my latest set I switched to Bridgestone Battle Wings (BW502 rear, BW501 front). I've put 5,000 miles on them so far, a few hundred on gravel (including a flat tire in Frenchglen, Oregon) and quite a lot on wet pavement, and feel they equal the Metzeler's in performance but at a lower cost. I fixed my own flat using one of those mushroom plugs and it's held air ever since.
The Metzeler's seemed to flatten in the center fairly quickly while the Bridgestone's are maintaining their rounded shape. I'm not riding at extreme lean angles, and in fact have probably put more straight-ahead miles on this set than any of the Metzelers.
The Battle Wings have excellent grip on wet pavement, and although I don't push my tires to their performance limit they provide a grip that inspires confidence.
I expect to get a full 10,000 miles out of this set of Battle Wings and have felt they are a great value -- very good performance and capability at a very reasonable cost. Just like my V-Strom.
For my latest set I switched to Bridgestone Battle Wings (BW502 rear, BW501 front). I've put 5,000 miles on them so far, a few hundred on gravel (including a flat tire in Frenchglen, Oregon) and quite a lot on wet pavement, and feel they equal the Metzeler's in performance but at a lower cost. I fixed my own flat using one of those mushroom plugs and it's held air ever since.
The Metzeler's seemed to flatten in the center fairly quickly while the Bridgestone's are maintaining their rounded shape. I'm not riding at extreme lean angles, and in fact have probably put more straight-ahead miles on this set than any of the Metzelers.
The Battle Wings have excellent grip on wet pavement, and although I don't push my tires to their performance limit they provide a grip that inspires confidence.
I expect to get a full 10,000 miles out of this set of Battle Wings and have felt they are a great value -- very good performance and capability at a very reasonable cost. Just like my V-Strom.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Clutch assist
I have plenty of strength and grip in my hands but on long rides, especially those with stop-n-go city action, my left wrist gets fatigued and sore to the point of outright pain. This is probably due to my career as a programmer -- I don't have carpal tunnel syndrome but all that typing has definitely taken its toll.
The extreme reaction is to get rid of my V-Strom and get a bike or scooter with an automatic or semi-automatic clutch/transmission, such as a Honda Silverwing, Suzuki Burgman, or Yamaha FJR. Those rides all have their pros and I would consider each for their own merits, but for now I want to keep riding my Suzuki V-Strom. An easier approach is to find a solution that reduces the amount of force required to pull in the clutch lever on my current bike. That's where Moose Racing products come in.
On the advice of someone on the Stromtrooper.com forum, I ordered the Moose Racing Easy-Pull clutch system from Motorcycle-Superstore.com. It costs $36 and I received it the very next day (their warehouse is in Medford, Oregon, just a few hundred miles from my home in Sandy). It's a small device that is installed in-line, between the clutch lever and the clutch cable. It uses an internal cam with three settings that adjusts the amount of force required to engage the clutch. Because it uses a cam, the amount of force required is not linear; initially the amount of assistance is minor but increases through it's range of motion. The amount of force required to hold the clutch fully engaged feels to be about half of what it was previously.
Installation took less than an hour, half of that time involved removing my OEM hand-guards. The device has four screws that give access to the cam inside. The cam can be adjusted by the position of a small metal pin in one of three holes. I chose the 'best assist' position. Once the cover is put back on, the whole device goes back in place in a matter of minutes. An adjustment could easily be made within minutes on the side of the road using nothing but a small Phillips-head screwdriver.
Here are two pictures of what the device looks like installed on my bike:
The extreme reaction is to get rid of my V-Strom and get a bike or scooter with an automatic or semi-automatic clutch/transmission, such as a Honda Silverwing, Suzuki Burgman, or Yamaha FJR. Those rides all have their pros and I would consider each for their own merits, but for now I want to keep riding my Suzuki V-Strom. An easier approach is to find a solution that reduces the amount of force required to pull in the clutch lever on my current bike. That's where Moose Racing products come in.
On the advice of someone on the Stromtrooper.com forum, I ordered the Moose Racing Easy-Pull clutch system from Motorcycle-Superstore.com. It costs $36 and I received it the very next day (their warehouse is in Medford, Oregon, just a few hundred miles from my home in Sandy). It's a small device that is installed in-line, between the clutch lever and the clutch cable. It uses an internal cam with three settings that adjusts the amount of force required to engage the clutch. Because it uses a cam, the amount of force required is not linear; initially the amount of assistance is minor but increases through it's range of motion. The amount of force required to hold the clutch fully engaged feels to be about half of what it was previously.
Installation took less than an hour, half of that time involved removing my OEM hand-guards. The device has four screws that give access to the cam inside. The cam can be adjusted by the position of a small metal pin in one of three holes. I chose the 'best assist' position. Once the cover is put back on, the whole device goes back in place in a matter of minutes. An adjustment could easily be made within minutes on the side of the road using nothing but a small Phillips-head screwdriver.
Here are two pictures of what the device looks like installed on my bike:
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