My Dad bought a motorcycle

http://shopteacherbob.blogspot.com/2013/04/now-its-spring-for-sure.html

Yeah, you knew that. He dropped off the plate and the weather was nice so I gassed her up and delivered the bike last night. Gonna miss that bike.

I rode the Viffer to work yesterday. I do love this one, too. It needs a chain bad so I'm going to have to park her until I get a little maintenance done. I need a special tool to adjust the chain. The ride seemed a little mushy so I need to see what's going on there as well. It could be that I'm just used to the old bike but if the heavier bike with a 90lb. weakling in the saddle seems mushy...might be time for a fill and drain of the forks.
The shock has a reputation for being lackluster so that's not a surprise.
Nice today, maybe I'll find time to take some proper photos.

Motorbikes and riding suits

I have been very busy of late but quite fortunate. No complaints. I didn't think I'd get a new bike this year. I've got a new bike.

Such a clean garage.

I hate selling vehicles because I always take a bath on the sale price and I'm not a fan of dealing with knuckleheads. I sold my bike to my dad. Couldn't have been easier.

All cleaned up for the new owner.

I'm up to my ears in stuff to do at home and on the job. Hey, that's a much better problem than not having any work. So moving right along...

The Super Suit

So I told you I ordered the Aerostitch Roadcrafter one-piece riding suit. I was worried about the fit but I don't think it could fit any better without tailoring. My concern was that the 40L would be too large and I'd be in the same pickle as my last set of gear. No sweat. It fits well and there is some room under for layering. It's still on the tight side there so I'll have to be selective about my layering but I can wear my British Commando sweater under it. The wrists are a bit tight with that on. With some newer polypropylene long underwear and a fleece I'll still have some room.
I wore the suit twice now. The first time it was 42° with a light drizzle on the way in at 5:30 a.m. I was wearing a t-shirt, collared shirt, and jeans. Slightly chilly in the chest area. The gloves I chose that morning were just elkskin with no insulation. I got to work dry but my fingers were cold. On the way home at 5:00, it was raining pretty good but had warmed up to 52°. I forgot my glove covers so my hands got soaked. On the sides of the suit there are waterproof zippers with a velcro flap over the top to allow you access to your pants under the suit. I forgot to zip one and I could feel my hip getting wet on the ride home. I also got what is known as Aerostitch crotch. There is a flap down the front of the suit that stops about where your left leg starts. The zipper continues down to your ankle. It's one continuous zipper from neck to ankle. For some reason there is a tendency for water to get in right around that area and I had wet pants. Not too bad but I was going home, not the other way around. If I had gotten to work with a wet crotch I would have been upset. The next time I wore the suit it was a pretty good rain on the way in and a fucking downpour on the way home. No issues that time. I was dry as a bone. I brought along the rain covers and I also Sno-sealed my gloves and boots. My boots are waterproof anyhow but I have to wear metatarsal boots for work.

Wet on the outside

I think it's a matter of knowing the gear and knowing what to look out for. The big zipper is a bit tricky to get the hang of. I actually got one of the teeth at the top a little beat up but I didn't realize the zipper has a locking mechanism and you must use a zipper pull to move the zippers. The instructions explained that you should try the suit on and take it off a few times in front of a mirror to get the hang of the zipper and the in-out procedure. The procedure is counter-intuitive. That matters not however, because if you just do it the way they say it's surprisingly easy to get into. So for the most part, I'm happy. I will be riding more but the way the weather is I'm not going out of my way to ride until I get my gear dialed in. After the 52° and rainy...it snowed a day or two later. And then a day or two later it snowed again. And the next day it was 50° and sunny. It makes about as much sense as trying to figure out what time it is in any given part of the state.

The paperwork for the Viffer is sorted and I'm legal. I can ride it at will now. It will need some TLC and I plan to do a little this and that to her. The Old Man came by and rode the S-Wee on Saturday. He decided he couldn't live without it so he wrote me a check. Shit, that was easy. I told him I'd wash it because after the  gear tests in the rain the poor thing was filthy. It was nice today so I gave it a bath. Well, sort of a whore bath. My water sucks for washing cars and bikes. I got all the ickyness off the bottom and cleaned the wheels and just stayed away from the paint. Otherwise it would just be spot-central. Actually, this was the first time I used my hose since last year. When I filled up my bucket it looked like chocolate milk. One of these days I've got to get one of those garden hose water softeners.  (Maybe not for $150.00)

I've got the new scoot and I'm pretty well geared up to ride so now I just need to...ride.

Rock on.

Twenty Five Degrees...

...was the ambient temp on my ride in today. It was about 40° on the way home when I shot the pics. I'm about the furthest thing from an early riser there is so there was no time for photography on the way in. My fingers would have been too cold for camera manipulation anyway. Methinks heated grips are in order if this is going to be a regularity. That and a balaclava, but Mom's working on that. I had trouble figuring out where to put the thermos as well. If I had any cash in the coffers, I'd be adding some commuting/touring farkle right about now.

Hard bags, heated grips, and a taller windscreen are all this really needs for me. If I was to ride for longer stretches a different seat would be a necessity.  But for now I'll stick to what I find in my tool box. I stuck a little thermometer on the dash just for grins. It bounces about ten degrees when the bike is running but for days like today it's novel. It looks like it belongs on the side of a barn. Not very sporty. That odometer is just embarrassing for a five year old scoot. Only one way to fix that.

Gotta remember how to set the clock....

I thought I was the first to ride in to work this year but I got beat by a guy old enough to be my dad and recovering from a gunshot wound to the hand. Seriously. He didn't ride today but interestingly, he called me a psychopath for riding today. Twice. A little pain to know your alive keeps the cubicle at bay...for a while. 50° tomorrow but rainy. I don't have proper rain gear so I'm gonna keep on truckin', but maybe it'll wash some of the gravel and salt away.

Rode my bike to work today

This morning was perfect riding weather. Nice little chill in the air. Sunshine. Perhaps a bit too confidence inspiring however. Going up a nice ninety degree left handed hill the rear tire got a little loose. Not too much speed but a bit too much lean angle. Just enough slip to wake me up a little more than usual.
Ride to work day is coming up... July 16th.

Paddock Stands pt. 2

I finally made some time to install my Heli Bars on the SV. I will not be riding the bike for a while due to the weather and well... the weather. I used the triple tree stand with my new T-Rex front stand and it worked very well. They reccomend you do not raise or lower the bike by yourself. I raised it myself but had a friend help me lower it and I would definitely reccomend that. Having the bike hanging from the lower tree makes taking the top tree off a breeze. (you are correct Markus!!) The bar swap went well and I think the small amount the bars move from stock will be just what I need comfort-wise. Visually, the bike looks the same. The Heli bars are very nicely made. You can do a search on YouTube for Heli Modified and see some videos fo how they are made. I think this will be the ticket. The next project will be to eliminate that snow shovel hanging off the back of the tail section.
(pictures to follow)
Rock on.

Paddock stands, you say?

The effect is sort of lackluster when I try to leave you hanging about some paddock stands and then have a couple of post that don't mention it. Just after the video of winterizing the bikes, I started looking for some stands for the SV. I did a little asking on the SVrider.com boards and the general consensus was buy Pitbull stands. They are top notch. High quality stuff, they say. They run about $125.00 for the rear stand. I wanted a front and rear set and for convenience of lifting, spools would be nice. As long as I'm wishing, how about the triple tree attachment for the front stand so I can do brake and fork work too? Enter T-Rex racing. Someone on the board mentioned the T-Rex stands and said for the average non-race guy who needs a stand for winter storage and basic maintenance these stands are the cat's pajamas. You can buy the stands through ebay or direct from the T-Rex website. I went the ebay route. After an email or two I got a quote for the rear, the front with tree adapter (includes a bike specific stud) in the color of my choice, rear spools, and shipping for $165.00. From Texas to NW Indiana in two days. They are bolt together stands and are not of the quality of a Pitbull stands but are well made and fit the bill. These stands are to the Pitbulls what the SV650s is to the Ducati 748. Not the top of the line but gets the job done equally well. And if you are going to use it with your Ducati Falcon 50 they might be a bit too large. O.K. they totally dwarf the poor little bike but it's a funny picture anyway. By the way, the rear stand is made to be used with or without spools but the contact is more positive with the spools and the spools offer a bit of crash protection. I haven't tried the triple tree adapter yet. The SV has a plastic cover over the bottom of the stem and I didn't have much time in the garage tonight to take it off. I just took a picture of it hanging on the garage door track.