Miles
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Everything posted by Miles
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My Insurance Co and & I have come to an Agreement
Miles replied to GolfVenture's topic in Watering Hole
Brian, the first question should be, how is your hand doing? Secondly, how are the ribs, collar bone, and lungs ??? Now, if yoyu are at all interested in getting a newer bike, let me know. I have all the time in the world to escort you around and help you shop for that newer bike. I know of some good shops in our area. Send me a post, and let's talk, about how you are doing, and what you are thinking of doing about a newer bike, or...just using your '89 Venture. Miles -
Despite the fact that I currently live on the West Coast, by choice, I am a true New Englander by birth, heart, and politics. The best road in all of New England to ride is Highway 11, from Fort Kent, Maine, riding south down to Bangor, Maine. Very nice two lane road, lots of farm land, but the hillsides are just gorgeous for leaf peepers.
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Just a few added notes here: I think you might want to check, and then re-check, that new rear shock installation. Something may not be right there, or may be loose. Generally, but not always, a bad feeling front end can be attributed to a problem in the rear of the bike. While you say in your second post that you are running I year old Dunlop E-3's, and you say the tire pressue is constant...that doesn't say much. It is constant at...what pressures? While my esteemed colleague from Ontario suggests using the OEM recommended tires pressures of 35 psi in front, and 40 psi on the rear...I would raise that front pressure to either 38 psi or up to as high as 40 psi. I am a tire (nut), and have the time, equipment, and dollars to be able to test tires and pressures. On my last ride, last 10 days on the road, but only 5 days of actual riding, I covered 4217 miles, with i year old Dunlop E-3's, and I checked my tire pressures every second day, due to altitude changes and road temps. I have found that 38 psi on the front, and 40 on the rear, work best for me. But as a caviat, I will say that I run my bike at very high speeds, and ride for 12 to 16 hours straight each day. Sometimes a solid 24 hour ride if I have to. IMHO (ha ha), I would look at the rear of your bike.
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RiderInTheSnow, it was nice to meet you on this years Three Flags Classic. I wish that more members of this forum would ride the Three Flags. Glad to hear you are home, safe, even if it is in Winnipeg. At least that is where we will end the ride next year. Take care, Miles
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Hunter 1500, it has been a long standing rule in the long distance/endurance riding community that we do not discuss the speeds that are ridden on any ride. I may have made a better statement in my original post by simply stating that I made it from Olympia, WA, to El Paso, TX. in under 24 hours. That was...I would not have posted the actual miles ridden. It is easy enough for those that read...to do the math. We have found, especially in the current time of social media, and political correctness, that posting speeds ridden only draws a negative light to our lifestyle. I am willing to discuss this matter with you in a PM, but not on an open forum. I will end this by simply stating that there are different levels of riders, as with any faction in society. Long Distance/Endurance riders simply ride a different style of riding than most others, and it is proven that the LD/E and IBA riding communities have the best safety records for riding...per mile ridden...than any other riding group, as a whole. Thanks for listening,
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Uh......my bike is Black. Which side of my bike am I supposed to keep down? Update to the ride: We left Rifle, Co. this morning, at 4:30 am, MST, and rode up to the official checkpoint in Little America, WY., and then rode further up to Dillon, MT. Today's ride was about 650 miles, cold morning, some uuuugly rain, and then hail in the afternoon. Tomorrow, we ride to Wisdom, MT.m and then finish our journey by riding to Nelson, B.C. It should be noted that my RSTD is the only RSTD on this year's ride, out of 220 bikes. There is ONE 2006 RSV on the ride...a guy from B.C., and he has never heard of our forum or website before. He has now...ha ha ha.
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Hunter 1500...so, what are you saying?
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My riding partner and I arrived in Rifle, CO. at 2:30pm MST today. It was slightly under 12 hours to go about 740 miles. More bathroom stops than gasoline stops. Must have been....the water...from El Paso. Lots of other riders are finally starting to show up at the same hotel we are staying. This is not a checkpoint, just a way-station between checkpoints. Tomorrow morning my partner and I will be on the road at 5:00 am (late start for us) and ride to the next checkpoint in Little America, WY., then finish the day at the motel in Dillon, MT. Should be about 654 miles tomorrow. Stay tuned...
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Almost 2:00 am in El Paso. The little church mice are starting to scurry. In an hour we will be leaving El Paso...225 riders...all headed north to Nelson, B.C. The first checkpoint is in Buena Vista, CO. Then over top Leadville, CO., at over 11,000 ft. Going to be a great day.
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BigLenny, have a safe ride, enjoy riding West, and leave the misfortunes of Hurricane Isaac behind you.
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GeorgeS, please keep me informed as to how this works for you...mileage...handling...etc, in the long run. I am very interested. Before I change out my wheels and go for a 16" rear, and a 17" front, I want to hear what you think of your new combo, with the narrow from E3 on there. I know others have tried a narrow tire on the front, but...
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Okay, so the first leg of my Three Flags Classic rally ride is completed. Left my home yesterday, just outside of Olympia, WA., and made it down to El Paso, TX. in slightly under 24 hours. That was 1,727 miles from home to El Paso. Had horrendous head winds through Idaho, fuel mileage down to 28mpg. Lots of wind in the higher mountains, and...BigLenny...I have to agree with my compatriot MikeWA that simple physics on a naturally aspirated bike will show you that riding in much higher elevations will show you a lack of power on your '07 RSTD. I certainly felt that lack of power crossing passes at 6,000 and 7,500 ft. Passing power was affected, and I had to drop a gear more times that usual to go the speeds I wanted to. No rain to mention, but the heat was a killer. It was 98 in Boise, 92 in Cortez, CO, and mid 90's in El Paso. There was one particular (fun to watch) lightning show in far southest Utah, but I avoided being struck, (ha ha). Being from western WA., I really like riding in 60's degree weather. The hotter it gets, the less miles I am wanting to do. Give me a solid 60 degrees, and I can bust out 1500 + miles every day. So I made it to El Paso, and now we wait for all the "normal" riders to show up over the next two days. The we leave here at 3:00 am on Friday, head to Buena Vista, CO., then to Little America, WY., and then Dillon, MT., and finally end in Nelson, B.C. Entire round trip for me, home to home, should be about 4,500 miles. Other than lack of power at higher elevations, the bike ran excellent. The greatest asset on this ride has to be my new Russell Day-Long Saddle. My 10th seat from them, and by far the best yet. Never once had one second of discomfort in 1,727 miles in under 24 hours. Time to get into my motel room, and get some sleep. If I can, still UP from the ride.
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Bill, I have to agree with you that having a scooter around is a nice smaller bike, for local riding around. I searched for a couple years to find a smaller bike for me to ride locally, like to ride into town to pick up the mail at the Post office, or ride 12 miles up the road to have lunch with my wife. I really do not like starting up one of my big bikes, just to ride 2 miles into town, or even 12 miles to have lunch. I am not burning off the condensation in the motor in that short of distance. So after trying several smaller bikes...a nicely restored '82 Honda GL-500 Interstate...a '89 Honda Transalp...a '82 Yamaha 650...I finally decided on a '04 Suzuki Burgman 650, and I love it. It is a rocket ship for riding around locally, handles like a sportbike, gets 58 mpg, and can go any distance I want to go. And, hey, if you don't want any wooden nickles, please send them...back home...where wooden money was invented...to our little town of Tenino, WA. One of the few things this small town is famous for is that we had wooden money back in the Great Depression. It was made locally, and it was actually accepted at all banks in the western US back in the days. We have a giant version of the old wooden money on display in town. Send all wooden nickles my way.
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Naugh-T, very happy for you that you survived that one. It is always a close call when a large truck tire decides to explode...and we are close by. I had a very similar thing happen back in 2003, riding an '03 Wing with ABS, while going West on I-90, about 50 miles East of Ellensburg, WA. I came riding up in the left lane, approaching a semi-truck rig. I have learned to try to always look at the tires on these rigs, and...look for objects stuck between the dualy sets of tires, like large rocks, or bricks from construction sites. Any item stuck between dually tires are like a missile, if they let loose and come flying out. On this occassion, I saw that the truck's left rear tire was already starting to flap its' retread carcass, and at the last second I hit my ABS brakes for all that the bike could handle. I mean I hit those brakes HARD. The moment I did, that tire let loose, and there were big and little pieces all over the road. About two seconds later, the inner core of the tire blew, like a shotgun going off. I managed to avoid 99% of it, because I came to a full stop on Interstate 90, and there was no other traffic around to impede my use of the road. I then got on my CB, and told the truck driver that he just blew a left rear tire. Thankfully...he pulled over as quick as he could, and both he and I worked for 10 + minutes picking up tire pieces that had scattered all over the road. Sh*t like this happens, and WE have to pay attention to road debris, as well as the tires on bug rigs. Especially look for items stuck between the dually tires on the rear set of wheels.
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Are there any other members of this forum that will be riding on this years....37th annual...Three Flags Classic ride ???? If so, give me a shout, and we can meet up in El Paso on Thursday, just to say, Howdy. I will be leaving my house on Tuesday morning, and riding straight through to El Paso...about 1,775 miles one way. I should be there by Wednesday morning, as it should take me about 24 hours to ride that 1,775 miles. If there are any other 3FC riders here, just look for the very dirty Black RSTD in the parking lot, and that will be me, trying to wipe off a few of the bugs collected along the way.
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I fired off an innocent e-mail to them also, and will see if they respond. If they do, I will post it back to you. Miles
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Ray, congrats on completing your IronButt ride. Question, are you certain that your ST1100 is a 1999 ? The color would indicate that it is a 2000 model year? Again, congrats. Miles:cool10:
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The link I posted was for the watertight covers for Radar Dectectors. I am not aware of any watertight covers he has for GPS units. However, if anyone has a Garmin Zumo...they are already waterproof. That is the entire point to getting a Zumo...it is waterproof. Miles (uses a Zumo 550)
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Dave, the mounting of the Valentine One was pretty straight forward. Yes, it does have a front and rear...AND...side facing detectors. The arrows of the read-out face tell the rider where the radar is coming from...front...rear...or sides. When mounted, the rear facing detector is not at all obstructed by myself, or anything else. It has a clear line of sight to everything behind my right rear side. Miles
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A few weeks ago I asked the question about what riders are using for a cover for their radar detectors...if you use one. I now have replaced my radar detector cover, and thought I would share this info with you, as well as pictures...and pictures of my new Radiator Protector Screen. Very short story: about 15 years ago I was using a new Valentine One radar detector on my '97 BMW R1100RT. On one of the rides, from Seattle to San Francisco...I am standing on the side of the Insterstate shaking water out of the speaker hole of my new Valentine One...because the lousy windshield of the R11RT directed rain water straight at the radar detector. If it weren't for Valentine's great warranty, I would have just wasted $ 500.00. Valentine took care of me, and from then on I started using a rain cover for my radar detectors. At first it was just the saran wrap style covers they "used" to sell, that were like miniature shower caps. Then about 6 years ago I bought a real neat cover from LegalSpeeding.com, as they sghowed them and sold them at the Seattle Motorcycle Show. I still sued that same cover for 6 straight years, and it worked...perfectly. Even when transferring my detector from one bike to the next, the detector cover always did its' job. When I decided to put my updated Valentine One on my RSMTD, I thought it would be nice to get a new rain cover...sort of as a present for the radar detector. I went shopping for a new cover, but LegalSpeeding.com no longer carried the same cover. The one they sell now is large, bulky, and butt ugly. I did a thorough search, and found that the one I wanted was sold by the manufacturer out of New Zealand. Currently, there were NO distributors in the USA. I asked a supplier of Long Distance...IronButt rider products if he would start selling these covers. He agreed, and now they are again available to us...at a much lower price. I got my new cover, and again...I love it. It is a thin clear plastic, that snaps together like a tupperware product. It has one hole in the area of the powercord, to allow hook-up of the cord. I can tell you thast this thing is 100 % waterproof, and my previous one that lasted 6 or more years, also lasted through more than 350,000 miles of hard riding. If you are interested, go to: http://www.sampson-sporttouring.com/radar_detector_weatherproof_covers.html Here are some pictures of mine, installed on the bike: [ATTACH]70840[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]70841[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]70842[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]70843[/ATTACH] As the guys website shows, they have these covers for several models of radar detectors. My point folks...is IF you use a radar detector, these covers will save you LOTS of money by protecting your detector from rain or other elements. Secondly, here are pictures of my new Radiator Protection Screen: [ATTACH]70846[/ATTACH] I made this myself. It cost me less than $ 13.00. It is made out of a balck painted piece of 2' x 2' sheet metal that I bought from Home Depot. It is very easy to cut to size, fold a bit here and there, and then is attached at one point only, at the very top. I love it, and it does a great job of protecting my radiator. Thanks, Miles
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Mike, sorry to hear that the plastic tank we all discussed at the WA. State Meet & Greet would not fit inside your saddlebag. Here is another option. www.tourtank.com Search ther website, because...I think...they have smaller ones for the use we discussed. In fact, I went and searched the site for you, here it is http://www.tourtank.com/TourTubes.html They have two sizes...a 1/2 gallon bottle that measures 4" x 14", and a 1 gallon bottle that measures 6" x 14". The 1/2 gallon bottle is $ 109.00, plus $ 12.00 shipping, and the 1 gallon bottle is $ 129.00, plus $ 12.00 shipping. They seem expensive, but...they are made to safely transport fuel. Miles
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Kelly, asking about tires....you will get a lot of opinions. IMHO...for what it's worth...I would go with the Dunlop E-3 on the rear. Personally, I would not buy a Michelin tire...at all. As I said, it is all a matter of opinions. Miles
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Spark plugs. Do I remove the tank?
Miles replied to BigLenny's topic in Royal Star and Royal Star Tour Deluxe Tech Talk
I do NOT remove the fuel tank or anything else when changing the spark plugs. If you do, that is your choice, but it is not mandated. I also use NGK Iridium spark plugs. They truly do last 75,000 miles. For the small extra cost of these plugs, they are well worth it, as you do not have to change the plugs as often. I have been using NGK Iridium spark plugs for the last 400,000 miles of riding, and have never had one fail, and always get at least 75,000 out of a set. Miles -
I am committed, or need to be, that I will be at the 2013 International Rally next year. And, I will assure that at least 6 riders from Washington State will be there too. Oh, BTW,. it is 2148 miles one way from Seattle to Galena, IL. Miles:bighug:
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In response to RandyR and Big Cat... RandyR, I am also, while the bike is down for the rear wheel change, going to replace the rear diff with the gear change for the Vmax. That will solve that issue. Big Cat...I am way too old and too wise to install a car tire onto my motorcycles. Most of the people that have gone to the Darkside, have either come back...to the light...or have at least admitted that there are serious concerns with the soft/flexible sidewalls of a car tire on a motorcycle that puts a large amount of load on the sidewall of tires when cornering. I am all about experimentation...but far too smart to do something like that. And, as to the guessing as to how the wheel is ging to be cut...and rewelded, what they do is to cut out my existing center hub, and then weld that into a 16" wheel that has an opening for a center hub to be mounted and welded. They do not use my existing spokes from the current OEM wheel at all. However, having said that (which is what they told me on the phone), I will have to wait and see what the finished product is, and then we will know, as wel as pictures to show the product. Miles