bryan52577

Jeff, At the Leaf Looker II they took the heads off Cherie's and put on mine. :innocent-emoticon:She was so embarrass with out the cool heads she would only ride home after dark! Took her a year before she would talk to me. Bryan

OH, yah, they are are bugger to install........NOT, it was a piece of cake, very easy (if I can do it). Thanks Cherie for letting me have them! Bryan

I got new BLING, I got new BLING, I got new BLING!!!!!!! 4th picture is with a flash light on showing how they sparkle! Bryan PS THANK YOU MIKE!!!!!

GREAT!!!! Hope I get to make this one. Missed the last one. Bryan

I was looking at a ride in that area for next year, "but due to the International Ralley it will have to wait another year now". But I found a site that gives about any kind of info you want, made by people that live there for the most part. Check it out, you may find it very helpful, I have. > For roads > http://www.newenglandriders.org/Great_Routes_and_Rides/Best_Motorcycle_Rides.htm For things to see > http://www.newenglandriders.org/BestOfNewEngland/BestThingsToSee/BestThingsToSee.htm For food > http://www.newenglandriders.org/BestOfNewEngland/Restaurants/BestRestaurants.htm You get the picture, its all on their home page. Bryan

Makes our Wisconsin Leaf Lookers run look like we were on acid or something? But way cool! Bryan

You ain't right. That's just plain mean. But good! :rotfl: Bryan

Yep, Happy Birthday! I wrote big so you can see it! Bryan

Snif, Snif brings tears to my eyes. How nice! CONGRADULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!! Bryan

They were taken from the back seat and on the swing thingy you can ride at the sky resort. Bryan

Sorry, I posted some picture to try and give people an "idea" of what the area is like. It is really better than the pictures so everyone should be suprized anyway. But sorry about the pictures. Bryan

That has got to S^&k? I had a bumble bee in my shirt but he didn't get me. Bryan

Glad you missed the ship,,,, I mean truck! They are crazy out there. Ride safe! Bryan

Sven and Olie are the only vones dat liv dar. An all dey got be snow machines. Bryan

Well I sure did not mean to leave out the ladys. And there are also many others that I think would help too. That's just the way us Midwesteners roll. Bryan

I think you, Mike, Ken, Orlin and I need to talk? I think this could be a lot of work and a lot of fun! I would be willing to help, lead a ride or what ever is needed. Mike has dealer connections that sure would help and he has also held rallys by Galena. I think if we all worked and maybe a few others that want to do a good deed for the "Family" would help, we could more than pull it off. Just my Bryan

Orlin, Man am I glad you re-enlisted, we were just about to make a trip to your place and sell a goat or something to get you the money. But we didn't know what to do with all the EXTRA money we would have left over from selling a goat? Glad your back with us! Bryan

I know this is about bicycle tires but very interesting read anyway. And kind of goes right along with what V7Goose was saying. I'm sure you can see the similarities between bicycle and motorcycle. Our company changed out all our tractors and trailers for the "wider" tires as they got nearly 20% MORE life as the "narrower" duals. (IE wider = more contact patch). WEAR TEST DATA for SELECTED BICYCLE ROAD TIRES Compiled by Kerry Irons New tire data (23mm unless noted). Thickness in 0.001 inches. http://biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/img2B4.gif TIRE USAGE/WEAR DATA (all tires 23mm unless noted). Thickness in 0.001 inches. http://biketechreview.com/cache/multithumb_thumbs/b.600.600.16777215.0...tires_old.images.img2B6.gif TUBULAR TIRES http://biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/img2BA.gif http://biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/img2BC.gif TESTING NOTES: (a) Tire not worn out but significant tread wear. (b) Tire not worn out but significant aging (crazing, cuts) © Tire worn so that casing just showing (d) Tire worn so that casing showing extensively (e)Tread separating from casing (f) Ridden by one rider who felt it was worn out at 1500 miles, then ridden 1100 more miles before the casing started showing through tread. All tires 23 mm marked size unless noted. F/R refers to whether and how much the tire was used on the front or rear wheel. Tires were weighed on a Mettler balance accurate to 1 gm. Thicknesses (tread and sidewall) are in thousandths of an inch, as measured with a micrometer accurate to 0.001". Tread thickness was measured in the center of the tread in at least 5 locations around the tire. Sidewall thickness was measured in at least two locations away from any lettering or labels. Since rubber can be compressed, an attempt was made to apply equal pressure (by feel) on each measurement. Variations in pressure could have caused thickness measurements to vary by 0.003 - 0.004". Vredesteins have softer tread than the Michelins or Contis, making it harder to get consistent readings. If people are willing to send me their worn out tires along with some key data like rider weight, mileage, use on the front or rear, and riding style, this data base can be updated with results from the newest tires. If you're interested in contributing, e-mail me for details: irons54vortex at sbcglobal dot net. OBSERVATIONS Tire wear is proportional to rider power output, which is typically proportional to rider weight. The mechanism of tire wear (weight loss) is that small particles of rubber are abraded from the surface of the tire. Force per unit area grinds off the rubber, so higher rider power and lower contact area increase the rate of wear. For a given amount of power dissipation, lower speed (e.g. when climbing hills) means that the tire will wear faster because that amount of power is not spread over as large a total tire area in a given period of time. Higher tire pressure results in a smaller contact patch and faster wear. Because power dissipation is mostly through the rear tire, most wear occurs on the rear tire, far more than can be explained by F/R weight distribution. Unless there is a LOT of heavy front wheel braking, a front tire can lose minimal weight due to wear, even after thousands of miles. Front tires may thin a little due to "cold flow" of the rubber on the casing. Front tires "age" due to environmental exposure, and so wear much faster if they are subsequently mounted on the rear. If a front tire accumulates significant mileage and is then moved to the rear, it will show about 1/3 faster wear than a new tire mounted on the rear. If there is significant hard braking (e.g. lots of steep down hills) then front tires can wear due to power dissipation. Riders who do lots of intervals, "stomp" rather than "spin," corner hard, etc. will accelerate tire wear. Road bicycle tires are worn out (casing threads beginning to show through the tread) when they have lost roughly 10% of their weight. Obviously, there are wide variations in tire construction which can shift rubber (and weight) to the tread or away from it, but for the lightweight road tire this general rule applies. There is a significant difference in construction philosophy for different tire brands and models. For example, with nominally similar high performance tires, side wall thickness has been measured between 0.020 to 0.040 inches. For tires at similar weights, this can mean tread thickness (including casing) ranging from 0.030 to 0.050 inches for tires targeted at the same performance rider. The extra tread thickness, along with rubber compound differences, explains the significant mileage differences seen between brands and models of tire. About the author: Kerry Irons is a recently retired chemical engineer who has been an active cyclist since the mid-1960s. Irons began self-supported touring with high school friends in 1965, which led to a Michigan- Seattle-San Francisco solo ride in 1970, and a ride around Lake Huron in 1971. Since that time, Irons’ annual riding has averaged 7,000-12,000 miles, including commuting to work year-round and many roller miles in the darkness of Michigan winters. From 1980 to 1985, Irons operated Cyclo-Pedia, a mail order bicycle parts business. Irons rode tubular tires for nearly 30 years, but converted (along with his wife) to clinchers in 1998. This stimulated him to record tire wear data as a way to find better tires and to understand the issues of tire wear. Discussions with members of CyclingForum.com resulted in several riders sending worn out (and not so worn out) tires to Irons for measurement, the result of which is the information presented here

"Individuality" is GREAT! I am all for it also and do the "Individuality" thing most every day. But I think the issue comes in when/if it is "outside" the laws? It may be loud and good to some but is it above the "legal" limit? If you look at most deciple ratings it is nearly impossible to make the pipes louder and be legal here in Iowa. But rarely do the LEO's do any thing about it cause most don't have an expensive tool to check them with. We have machines in our plant that I have to take readings on at a predetermind distance and I can not believe how "loud" just 85 deciples is and then the employees have to wear hearing protection. To me it is not that loud, but to the company it sure is. And then the employees all hate me cause I took the readings? I live close to a train track, the crossing has guarding and lights. Trains come throught at 10:00pm to 12:00pm and blows the horns "what I consider WAY excesive!" I am sure some LOVE the sound of a train horn, but I don't. And if I could move away from it I would. (I swear the enginers X wife lives close by.) And ALL of this is just "My opinion". Bryan

I like mine stock. I like the sound of the stock mufflers. I can hear them over the wind and engine and I can't hear $#it! I follow others that have "louder" pipes and have to stay back aways just to hear my radio. Other wise I can hear just fine like they are,,,,STOCK! Bryan

Here is one site that I have been using to see what,which & where. Seems pretty good so far, maybe you can get a few rides out of it also? Bryan

YEP! I got some of the best! The folks on this site have treated me like family from day one and I sure am not going to do anything to change that! THANK YOU FRIENDS (AND THE CHROME FAIRY!) Bryan

Yes it did, and I sure do feel bad about that part of it. BUT, it sure is purdy!!! Bryan

YES I DO!!! NO WAY I PLAN ON KEEPING THEM! And I am not sure where they got it? Bryan

Always check your bike when your "Friends" have been around it! I have no idea when it happened but a "friend" (AKA KEN) was showing me his NEW chrome tail light frame and I thought it was like COOL! Well that was a week ago at the IA, IL, WI, MO, MN M&E. And I have walked past MY bike in the garage at least 20 times since then. I can spot a dust bunny or a hair on it (thinking it's a scratch) at 50 feet! Well then today I was heading out to grill, looked down at my tail light and said "WHAT THE #$LL" is that? Looked closer and low and behold my "friend's" chrome piece is on MY bike!!! How cool is that to have such good friends? And what do you want to bet they are all LAUGHING at me cause I never noticed! :banana:YA, you all know who you are, Ken (920shrek1), Mike (Eusa1 + Cheri) And last but not least Rick (Rick Haywood + Shirley), even my wife Lisa never said anything!. You all did good not letting on! Sorry it took so long for me to OPEN my eyes!! Thank you! It's good to have friends! Bryan