Miles

Rick, buying a new bike is a pretty lousy excuse for not attending the Great Pacific Northwest Meet & Eat, especially when you did not bring the new bike home.

Hey, nice bike. Too bad about the rain you rode in...it looks like it washed all the paint off your new bike,. and left you with the primer. Now, a Black bike would not have that happen to it.

Yes, it was 82 degrees and sunny out for the 1st annual Great Pacific Northwest Meet & Eat.

Was that a rhetorical question, or...did you want an answer to that ?

Forget it...we are not helping you with that.

Brian, if I bought my wife 25 grand in diamond jewelry, she would be mad, and ask...why didn't we just buy a new motorcycle, rather than wasting the money on stupid diamonds? I am lucky that my wife rides her own bikes, and she understands the desire...and need...for a new or different bike. Rick...what bike is it that you have a need to buy? If we know trhat, we can better help you.

Maybe I should read that book. I was bron in Limestone, Maine. Hmmmmm.....

Okay, I am riding down to Redding, Cal this morning, a quick 550 mile jaunt. This is your last chance...Nor Cal riders, to have Dinner with Miles. If there are any people that are hungry, call my cell, (360) 250-3667, and I will meet you for Dinner tonight.

Red, I put 42,000 on the 2012 Super Tenere' in just a couple days short of 1 year. So, for all intents and purposes, we can call it one year. You know...I am not big on write ups, as there are other riders that do much better than I at waxing poetic about the bikes. I may ride a lot more miles than they do, but they write more words than I do. I do not want to switch places with them. I sold the Super Tenere', because I learned the expensive lesson...after trying the BMW R12GS, and then the Yamaha Super Tenere', that when in gravel and dirt for long distances, one does not need or want a large displacement engine. You never really get to run the engine at the desired sweet spot that it was designed to be run at, when off the paved roads. I do not like to ride a bike for 10 to 20 hours a day, using less than 50% of the engines potential power. I have decided that my next adventure bike will be a wee-strom. In my opinion, the DL-650 is the most utilitarian of bikes made today. It can be used for so many purposes, and does so well at so many of them, that it is the Swiss-Army Knife of motorcycles.

SEE..even the masked man behind the curtain says that others should not listen to him. Just wait until midnight, and that bike of his will turn into a Pumpkin...oops...it already did:rotf: Yes, Rick, the alternator drive gear was improved, and I took that to be included in the upgrade of the '06 and later years, with the lasrger 1300 watt alternator. As far as better radios and speaker in the '06 and later Wings, the radio and speakers in my '06 were the same as what was in my '03 & '04 Wings. The radiator and cooling fans were also the same as earlier bikes...BUT...what they did was to chnage the ECM unit, so that the '04 and later bikes would not overheat at slow speeds like the '01 - '03 bikes would. If ridden in 1st to 3rd gear and slow speeds...heavy traffic, hot weather, the '01 to '03 Wings would get very hot on the guage, shoing up to the Red zone. The problem was in the direction that the cooling fans were spinning, and the ECM units. They changed all that for the '04 bikes, and problem resolved. After all this harassment, I better have to buy you lunch on Saturday. It is the least I can do.

Rick, we are holding THEE Great Pacific Northwest Meet & Eat this Saturday, whther you show up or not, and whther it rains late Saturday night or not. I have it on good authority that it will NOT rain on us while we are at the restaurant. Period. Now, for you people that have to ride in a day in advance...it is only 250 miles from your house to the M & E...and then stay over an extra night after the M & E...that is on you. If it were ME...I would ride there that morning, that piddly little 250 miles ride you have...and ride home that afternoon, again...that piddly little 250 mile ride you have. It may rain very lightly on Saturday NIGHT, and some scattered rain on Sunday. Nut...you live in the Pacific NorthWET, so you are used to it. Are you afraid your Pumpkin bike will start to spoint if left in the rain too long ?

Wilkie, for Pete's sake, do not listen to anything that a Pumpkin rider has to say. Have you seen the colour (that is color fo us US folks, but colour for those Canadians) of his bike ? The only real upgrade to the '06 and later bike...'06 to '10, was the alternator going from an 1100 watt to a 1300 watt. The bike has more than enough electrical juice with the 1100 watt alternator...so much that in 2012 they downgraded it to a 1200 watt. Do not pay attention that that masked man behind the curtain up in B.C.

Kevin, what year is your R12GS ? Thatis an R12GS, isn't it ? I "had" a 2005 R12GS, that I sold to my riding buddy that works at Amazon. He is the guy that rode all the adventure rides with me in the last year, and thern...after the ride down to and back from Bolivia/Chile', he bought my Super Tenere', and has now sold the R12GS. So, indentify that Beemer, and the year.

Wilkie, in my opinion, if you are going to go with a bike that is not a Venture, then the '04 to '05 Wing is the bike to go with. Yes, I love....LOVE...my new F6B. It is by far the funnest, fastest, best handling 1800 Sport Wing that I have ever owned. And Deepforkriver is right about the farkles being done within the next year, and my test riding. But...having owned a '03 Wing, and a '04 Wing, and a '06 Wing, I would recommend a 2004 to a 2005 Wing, and here is why. The 2001 to 2002, and some of the 2003 Wings had issues with the cracked cross-member on the frame. Buying a used one, it is difficult to tell whether that frame issue has been correctly resolved on that bike, or not. I know that my 2003 Wing, with over 100,000 miles on it in the first year...was discovered to have a frame that was completely cracked...all the way around...on that cross-member. We did not discover this until Mother Honda inspected the bike at the factory in Marysville, OH, when they were taking my '03 in...and giving me an '04 in exchange, because of the miles I had ridden in that one year. The point being that "if" the bike had a cracked frame, and was repaired/replaced under warranty, or is the frame has cracked since that time...it is not worth getting. There are '01 to '03 Wings out there that have huge mileage on them, and are riding along just fine, after the repairs to the frame, and some that did not need the repairs to the frame, but why take the chance. Also, it was the first couple years of the new model, so...get one that is a few years into the new model. On the '04 & '05 Wings, the reason they are BETTER than an '06 or later Wing...is that in '04 & '05 you still could get an ABS version of the bike without having to be a pimp daddy, by adding so much garbage to your Wing, that to get ABS on an '06 or later, you were forced to have the Comfort package (heated grips and heated seat) and the Nav package (Hondas' version of a GPS) and finally they would let you have the ABS added on after all that. The issue is that a heated seat is just plain STUPID...and the Honda GPS does not allow you to do everything while in motion. You have to STOP the bike to make some adjustments. So, by buying a '04 or an '05...you get a proven production bike...no frame issues, and available ABS (if you want it) without having to wear a purple felt hat that says you're a pimp daddy. The '04 & '05 Wings will cost less than a later model also, so that is good. Personal opinion...get the ABS version.

I had this conversation with my wife yesterday at lunch. It seems that in the first accident...the one where two bikes collided head on...there was indeed a crotch rocket (AngryAmish was correct) that went too wide, because of speed, through a curve, and crossed over into the oncoming traffic lane. Coming from the other direction was a single rider on an HD. They met head on in the curve, and both riders were thrown off their bieks in the impact. The only one to DIE in this accident was the crotch rocket rider. The HD rider does have injuries, but not life threatening. In the second accident a couple was riding their bike, a large touring bike, and it did not state what brand or model it was...when they were hit head on by a large 4x4 pickup that was passing another car, and crossed over into the bikes' lane, from the opposite direction. Both the people on the bike were killed.

Bob, if you are not going to Freebirds' MD...are you going to B2Dad/B2Mom's Barbeque on May 18th ? Reason...I was going to hand you this R/R that I promised to give to you for free. If you are not going to be at one of these functions, let me know, and I will ship this out to you faster than you can buy your own storage shed to store your trike, your trailer, and lawn furniture:rotf: I was thinking of shipping it to you anyway, because...I just knew you might not be there:( Let me know, and send me a PM of where to ship this, but...when you get it, please do not store this at your neighbors house:shock3:

Condor, the number listed is for my cell, and I usually have it with me. I have raced a few times...a LONG time ago, at the Scramento Mile, and the San Jose Mile, and Castle Rock, etc. The swap meet in Auburn...part of the Classic Japanese Motorcycle Club bike show, has 93.14159 % of the parts are old Japanese bike parts. Bring the teens, if you want, as there are lots of things happening at the flat track races, and the kids will have a blast. Or...leave them home, so that you can have a blast.

I am staying at the County Fairgrounds in Auburn, on Friday and Saurday nights. The place is a hoot, with Flat Track racing on Friday night, and we all have a great time. You are VERY welcome to come visit with me and my two friends that will be there, in the shade on Friday afternoon and evening, and then we walk a couple hundred feet over to the race track, and enjoy good old-fashioned dirt track racing. It is bikes racing, not cars. Saturday is the bike show and swap meet, so we hang out there all day, look at old the OLD parts from the '60s Japanese bikes, and have a good time. Auburn is not far from you, and you could make this an annual thing. The Fairgrounds in Auburn are easy to find, and I can meet you at the front gate.

Hummingbird, I am a doctor, or...at least I play one in a soap opera:rotf: So, allow me to set that anchor, and I will make certain that it never comes loose again, no matter how much fun you are having.

Condor, I will be in your area on June 28th and 29th. Going to Auburn, for the Classic Japanese Motorcycle Club Swap Meet and Bike Show. I go every year, and my best buddy/riding mate always enters a bike or two and always wins his show class. BTW...if ANYONE in far Northern California wants to have dinner 2 nights from now...Wednesday night, May 8th, anywhere in the Redding, Anderson, Red Bluff area, I wil be there, and available. Come on, this is a free meal, and a delightful dog n' pony show. No, SilvrT, do not go there with a joke.

OH NO....Now everyone is going to be able to find it.

It does look good, BUT...I would have rather seen a picture of it on Aussie Annie:cool10:

So, how many Frog Legs old is Don ? Happy Birthday old Frog Legs...

Don, as others have already said...thank YOU for posting this about Mike. Mike, money has been sent. I may be old-school too, but I know how to send money via PayPal. And Mike...when things are all figured out here, if you need more...just PM me. Miles:backinmyday: