Miles

Patti, congratulations for being drawn as the WINNER in the Freebirds' lodging contest.

That is a good point, and I suspected that this issue might come up. I do highly doubt that a large group will ashow up, given the "time" and "location" factors of having Dinner with Miles will involve. My intent was to have Dinner with one or two people at a time, a more personal setting, where we could really talk, get to know one another, and not have a menage' a twenty. I am more than happy to lay out the 13 different dates and locations that I will be available for Dinner, but...some may find that it is too late in the evening to wander too far from their homes. And, most will be mid-week, late in the vening, so they will have work considerations to think about, so again...will not wander too far from home. By the time I am done doi9ng a 1000 mile day, and pull into a town for the night, to stay at a hotet and find a place to eat, it will usually be about 8:37 pm. That means...Dinner with Miles at 9:03 pm. (you have to love the precision of the times) Given the hour...and being mid-week...I am gambling that it will be only 1 or 2 people at a time, if any. So, Carl, to answer your question, I am buying Dinner for anyone that shows up on any of these specific 13 Dinner dates. This does not include other dates that I will already be having Dinner with a large group of folks, like on Friday night, May 17th, when the group from the B2Bdad/mom comglomerate ride to a locale restaurant and have dinner together. I will be in that group that rides from the Martin, TN. motel to dinner. The 13 Dinner with Miles dates will be more personal settings, some place where I can Meet & Eat with fellow or gal VR members, while on the road, journeying through their neck o' the woods, on my way to and from a VR or other event. Later today I will posts and list all 13 dates for the Dinner with Miles opportunities. I do know what the dates are right now, but I need to attach a location to each date, so I need to figure out where my 1000 mile days are going to take me each day of each ride this year. That, my friends, is commitment...when you are planning this far in advance to doing a 1000 mile day, each day on the road, and planning a specific place to be at, to have a Dinner date, so I "have" to be there. And folks, once you get to know me, you will find that I will in fact be there, with no excuses as to why this happened, or that happened. If I say I will be there at a specific time...I will be there 5 minutes before thast time. Period.

Okay, here is the deal: If any of you remember the book and movie, Dinner with Andre'...I have decided that it might be FUN:cool10: to start a new thing with my rididng this year. As I have stated before, I am planning on attending several VR events this year, which means I am riding from the Seattle area to Tennessee and back...then riding to Ohio and back, then riding to Galena, IL., and back. I have several other rides scheduled too, but they are not VR rides, however they can fit into this FUN plan too. On each of my rides...if there is anyone that lives along the way, and wants to have Dinner with Miles, I will try to go out of my way to be at a place and time so that we can have Dinner..."on me"...and then I continue on my ride. Example, I am leaving here on Wednesday morning, May 8th, to ride down to Redding, Cal. to have my new seat done by Rick Mayer. That means that on Wednesday evening, I will be at a hotel in the Redding, Cal area, and available to have Dinner with anyone that lives in that area..."on me". Next, I am leaving home on Wednesday, May 15th, early morning, and riding to Dresden, TN for the B2BDad/Mom barbeque. So...if anyone lives between Seattle and Tennessee, and wants to have Dinner with Miles on Wednesday night, let me know, and I will let you know where I think I will be that night. Probably about 1000 miles East of Seattle. Do you get it ? Dinner with Miles is on me. I am buying. And I do not have all night to visit, but can take about 90 minutes to 2 hours out of my rest/sleep schedule to visit with VR members. Questions?

Kevin, of the 215 miles today, it rained for about 150 miles. With every raindrop I thought of Rick (SilvrT) whining about how he would melt in the rain if he had to ride down from B.C. to the Meet & Eat that "was" scheduled for yesterday:rotf: Despite the rain, it was an excellent ride.

Dear Goof-Ball, as you very well know Honda stopped using a Cassette player back in the days of the wooden wheels. However, this bike does have a USB port hidden inside the left saddlebag, and I have already loaded up a 16gb flash drive, plugged it into the USB port, and it operates through the audio system, which...when in All Random, I can listen to 3600 different songs, of over 13.4 gb of music, from coast to coast, and never hear the same song twice. It works very well.

Brian, no...not yet. Too early to tell. And I am hard on fuel mileage anyway, because of speed. I reasly believe the total range will exceed 200 easily, and maybe 250...dependent upon speed ridden.

Today I took my '06 RSMTD for its' last ride, under my ownership, and delivered it to the new owner (some chap from B.C. that resides on this forum). I rode it 215 miles up to Sumas, WA., and met with the new owner, wherein he promptly stashed it inside a trailer, to haul across the border tomorrow morning, and deal with all the paperwork mess. A look at the last time it sat in my driveway this morning: [ATTACH]76082[/ATTACH] And then stashed inside his trailer for a ride across the Canadian Border: [ATTACH]76083[/ATTACH] Of course, the bike ran perfect today, (other than the fact that it has been sitting inside my shop for the past month, and NOT attached to a Battery Tender, so the battery was low), and I did feel a sense of remorse in selling it, after all the work I put into it. I believe the new owner will enjoy this bike.

So...Rick, this is why you wanted to claim that it was too rainy to ride down to Lacey, WA, for the Great Pacific Northwest Meet & Eat...you had plansm to attend anotyher function ??????? Come on, you got busted, and now we have postponed our function because you were concerned about a little rain, and now...a lot of others riders cannot make the new date of May 11th. Like Kevin-vic-B.C., that rode down from Victoria on Friday, had something to eat in Lacey, and rode back on Saturday. Man, you are in soooooo much trouble:rotf:

Joe, if you want to ride up to the Dresden, Tennessee gathering on May 18th, I will have my bike tere, and you can ride it. Funny thing...I have learned the hard way that it is a must that you should test ride a new bike (new bike to you) before you buy. When I went to this dealer to buy a brand new 2012 ST1300 ABS, I took it for a short test ride...like 1 mile, and brought it back, saying...no No NO, and was ready to leave. I have owned a 2003 ST1300 ABS before, but this ride reminded me of WHY I no longer ride that kind of bike. Before I could leave the parking lot, the owner of the dealership asked me if I would test ride a new F6B that they had sitting right there. They had 6 models of this bike, and no sales yet. Sure, I will test ride it for you. After another 1 mile test ride...just 1 mile, I brought it back and said let's write up a deal on this. I paid only $ 17,500.00 for a bike that lists at $ 19,999.00. The dealer I bought from has no problem letting experienced riders take a test ride, and they sell them for less money than anyone in North America. It is worth flying out here to save a few thousand dollars. Miles:backinmyday:

John, very good on the ride and the mileage, but a 1978 Honda Goldwing was stark naked, as a standard bike, with no fairing, no saddlebags, no trunk. If it had these items on it, most likely Vetter equipment, then someone added those items. The Interstate and Aspencade models did not come out until a few years later.

Well, guys, to be precise...I finished the ride in 23 hours and 45 minutes. As I was approaching the official finish line, back at Hotel Nevada, in Ely, NV. I thought for a moment about continuing to ride for the additional 15 minutes, or close to it...you know...maybe a little 8 mile ride out past the finish line, and the same 8 mile ride back to the finish line, like,...why waste 15 minutes of clock time, if I have 24 hours...and not a second more to do this ride. Then it dawned on me...what if I go past the finish line, and get a flat tire, a speeding ticket, or anything else? I was not going to gamble on the last 15 minutes. So I pulled intot he finish with 15 minutes to spare, but I knew I had over 2150 in mileage, so I was comfortable with what I did. My bike...a '94 GL-1500 SE,. loaded with 14.8 gallons of petroleum based fuel, and two 32 oz. bottles of Nitrous. For this very specific rally, the IBA threw out the limitation on fuel capactity, which at the time was 11.0 gallons. The second place guy, on a BMW K1100LT, rode 1932 miles. The 3rd place guy on a BMW K1100LT, rode 1822 miles, and the 4th place guy on a Honda ST1100 rode 1736 miles. My overall averaged speed was...well, technically I am not allowed to say, but I will say that you guys figured it a little low. The math is...2156 miles divided by 23.75 hours. My rolling speed was approximately 15 to 20mph faster than that. Hey, the entire point to that Big Bang Rally was to prove WHO could ride the most miles in 24 hours...period. They underestimated what a GL-1500 with Nitrous could do against those Beemers. Lastly, I am hoping the comment about "bennies" was a joke, because the IBA is very strict about the use of any kind of drug. LD/Endurance riding is all about the science and experience of riding long distances, under endurance conditions. I do not, and never will...take drugs. No coffee, no tea, no caffiene, no religion, no politics, etc.

Wow, that is very cool Brad. Good for you folks, and thank you for rescuing the puppies.

Chief, my honest opinion is that it is the most fun I have ever had on a Wing. It is faster, lighter, handles better, blah blah blah than a normal GL-1800 Wing. It is so good, I hate to call it a Wing. I have only had it for 3 weeks now...to the day, and have spent about 2 grand in accessories on it. I think that other than the new custom seat that I am having done on May 9th, I am done spending money on accessories. Yesterday I rode over to a guys house about 15 miles from me, he sells the Windbender windshields, the Firecreek accessories, etc., and he was having a huge maintenance day at his shop, installing a LOT of parts and accessories onto a large group of Wings that had come from all over the Northwest, including Canada. When I came pulling into the lot on my new F6B, it was like time stood still. Everyone stopped what they were doing, mouths agape..and no one talked for like 30 seconds. Then thay all started to come over and look the new bike over. I only knew two people there, but there was 30 people that couldn't get their eyes off this new bike. So, I am very happy with it. Lots of long rides scheduled for this year. After the new seat is made on May 9th, then I leave here on May 15th, so that I can be in Tennessee 2 days later (2415 miles) for the B2Bdad/mom barbeque. I look forward to the ride.

Oh NO...you changed two things at once. Thta's okay, as long as it improves your tire mileage. FTIW, I run between 5 and 7 psi in the front forks of my '06 RSMTD. And, yes, you goofballs, the air pressure in your front forks does have affect on the front tire wear.

Pam, good for you. That is great to be back on the road, and back to riding after the surgery. YEAH !

That "may" be a good point, regarding cornering limits when riding two up, but since I do not ride two up, unless you call an aux. fuel cell a passenger, then I won't have to worry about that. I have ridden mine hard through the corners after lowering it, and it does just as well, if not better than before. No cornering limits for me. Why not adjust your rear air suspension for the passenger, to avoid cornering issues. If you run 40 psi riding solo, then run 47.314159 psi when riding two up. That is air in the rear shock...not the rear tire.

First, I wish the best for your Son, in recovery of his knee, and in his Air Force training. Next, I believe the time change from Tucson to San Antonio is only 1 hour, not 3 hours. There is only a 3 hour time change is you go from the Pacific Time Zone (San Diego, CA.) to the Eastern Time Zone (Jacksonville, FL.) Given that Tucson, AZ. is in the Mountain Time Zone, and San Antonio, TX. is in the Central Time Zone, that should be a change of 1 hour. And last...do you really want to put it out there asking people what their longest day riding was ? Okay...2156 miles in 24 hours, on May 31, 1998, certified by the IBA as the first official ride of over 2000 miles in 24 hours. Done at the Big Bang Rally, Ely, NV.

Rod, those are cool pictures. An idea...cut down the top of the tree, removing all branches that would eventually fall on passing Harleys', and leave about 10 feet of the truck and roots in place. You would end up with a 10 foot tall naked trunk left standing. Then have a chainsaw artist come out and carve a really cool looking scene into the remaining trunk, like...a lightning bolt, or something...so that you have the remains to remind you, and your neighbors, or what happened, and it would be cool to see every day.

Mike, run 40/40 when measured cold. If you are hauling the trailer, run 42 on the back tire. Do not raise the tire pressure on the back with just your wife added, as most of us have luggage that weighs more than your wife. 115 lbs...are you kidding me ? My aux. fuel cell weighs more than that Really, run 40/40, or 40/42 with the trailer.

Right now Cobra is finishing its' new 6 into 2 into 6 pipe for this new bike, and it is in all Black finish. The Valkyrie was labeled an F6C, and this new bike is the F6B. The C on the Valkyrie was for Cruiser, and the B on this bike is for Bagger.

Leland, I really don't know what to say, that hasn't been said already. The current front tire on my '06 RSMTD...same year and model as yours...has over 10,000 miles on it right now, and it looks great. So great...that I put a new E-3 on the rear, and figured that the front will probably last as long as the new rear tire. With the very low mileage you are getting...something is wrong. Miles

James, I understand WHY some riders raise the back of their bike, or the leveling kit, and yes it does make for better front end response, and parking lot handling. However, in lowering the rear of my bike, I found it to be more comfortable to me, handles just as well, or better...because I am more comfortable. The bike has not suffered any...none...nada. It does give you a feeling on sitting "in" the bike, rather than "on" the bike.

I too...completely agree. After reading the intro post on this thread...I was waiting to see if anyone would speak up about your tires being UNDER-inflated. Thankfully, RSTDdog did this for us. Most people run their bike tires UNDER-inflated. If you go by what the bike manufacturer says...then the tires are under-inflated. People, I am asking you...ney...I am begging you, please get your heads out of the sand...stop wasting your money...and learn to properly inflate your bike tires. I have seen this form many years where riders either have NO ideas of what their bike tire pressure should be (really!), or they have them under-inflated, and believe their pressures numbers are correct, when they are NOT. A new set of Dunlop E-3's, properly inflated...on a newer RSTD or Venture, should easily hit the 20,000 mile mark, or more. Period. If you are getting cupping at 2500 miles, then YOU are the problem...not the bike. My 2006 RSMTD has Dunlop E-3's, F and R, and I inflate them to 40 psi...F and R, and the reason I do that, is because I do not haul a passenger. The 40 psi on the rear works for me, because of less dead weight back there. And, I ride at high speeds, and corner very well, so if I can pull over 20k out of a set of E-3's, then you can too...IF your tires are properly inflated. Quite frankly...this has gone on long enough. In todays world of modern technology, the social media, the internet, and bike forums...there is NO excuse in the world for a rider to NOT know that the proper tire inflation numbers for their bike is much higher than what they have been running. If you want to waste your money, running tire pressures that are too low, then do it...just don't complain anymore about it. If you want to run the proper tire pressures, listen to those that "actually" ride a lot of miles, and get twice the mileage out of a set of tires than you do. There is a darn good reason why companies like Dunlop and Avon pay me to test tires for them...tell me to go put 10k miles on a new set of tires in this corner of the US...in the next 10 days. These companies want real world testing, on the road, from a rider that can ride the miles and deliver the test results, so that other riders can benefit from these tests. It seriously upsets me when I stand in the parking lot of the Start hotel for the Three Flags Classic Rally (ride from mexico to Canada) and I see tires on newer Goldwing 1800's that are "obviously" under-inflated...and I can tell just by looking at the tires. When I ask the bike owner what pressures he runs, he either says...I dunno...or he says he runs what Honda tells him to run. To me...this is a lazy azz rider that is too lazy to get down on his hands and knees and check the tire pressures himself, so he leaves that up to some lame-brained shop tech to do, and the shop tech does not ride this bike. The shop tech probably does not ride this model of bike, or...worst case-scenario...does not ride a bike at all. When we now have a crowd gathering around this poor bike owners bike...and we actually check the tires pressures...on a bike that just came into the parking lot within the last 30 minutes, which means the tires are hot...and we find that this guy has 28 psi in the front tire...and he rode down from Canada to Texas...what does that tell all of you ? I just do not get it...why riders are lazy, stupid, or apathetic about their bikes tire pressures. These tires are the only contact patch we have with the road.

I too installed the Baron's Lowering kit on my '06 RSMTD, and got the kit from a member of the forum (thank you). I did take measurements before and after, and it lowered the rear end of the bike exactly 1.5 inches. Personally, I think the bike is much better lowered...than raised. But hey...what do I know:confused24:

Sorry Randy, I casnnot offer any advice on a GPS, other than the more expensive Garmin ZUMO models. To me, they are worth it. I do get it, why others are buying the lesser expensive models, and making them work. It makes sense. And I say, good for you. I could update my Zumo 550, but I haven't. I could sell it for more money than what a brand new in the box Garmin Zumo 665 would cost me, and make money on the deal, but I haven't. In fact...I don't even listen to the sound of that lady that is stuck inside the little Garmin unit...always telling me "where to go". I have mine muted, so no sound comes through. Personally, I find it to be an annoyance to hear her squeeky voice. I say, keep the GPS you have, do not listen to the voice of the little lady hiding inside your GPS, and...go ride more miles.