Track Day Pics

Finally got the pics from the track photographer of the track day that I did back on May 7.


Full link is here

now I can see how poor my form was...

Thoughts of the moment

You know its time for a haircut when you walk in and your friend immediately bursts into fits of rolling-on-the-floor laughter.

I knew I had a lot of junk, but I didn't realize I had THAT much junk. Good grief I need to get rid of some stuff.

You can conceal all kinds of interesting things with the proper equipment.

Mom can barely conceal her excitement that I am home.

Now I gotta get stuff sorted out and get packed for the weekend...

Not quite folks...

Reading the news, they are going to raise the minimum wage. And of course its being heralded as the greatest thing ever to help the under-paid minimum wage worker.

Lets run this through its course.
Raise the minimum wage.
Workers are happy
Cost of everything now goes up
So in the end, nothing has changed.

Cost of living will be forced up, due to the rise in production. Thus negating the wage increase.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm ok with helping the underdog (to a degree) but this is not the solution that people think its going to be.

Now that I think about it, why is the Govt in the business of managing the "free market" anyway??

Oopsie

It was a beautiful day and I'd already sat on my duff and read a bunch of pretty much useless info on the interweb while hoping something would come up with something to do. Nothing happened so I jumped on the bike and off I went. No particular destination in mind, just knew I had to be in Alvarado by 1900. No worries it was 1600 as I fired up the Viffer.
Weather was a perfect slightly over cast, but still plenty bright day. Viffer was running great and the new tires were feeling great. Tunes rolling the helmet couldn't have matched the mood of the ride any better. Smooth and rolling along nicely. Really just one of those perfect rides. Great for clearing the head even when your not actively thinking about anything while riding.
Having no destination in mind, I was turning at random on any road that looked decent. Ran down a road (don't recall the number) and the neighborhood bull was just standing there watching me. Naturally I stopped and took a pic.


Knowing FM51 has been a haven for crashing sport bikers, I turned off on FM205 and wound my way past Dinosaur Valley State Park and wound up turning down CR1005 (I'm pretty sure that's the number) and paused at a low water crossing to walk across it and take a few pics.




After my walk across the water, I decided it was ok, and thought I'd ride across and continue my random explorations. Well, the path I walked and the path I rode were apparently different as I found a slick spot with the bike. Back end decided to take a different path then the front and down she went. No worries I was going a like 2mph at the time. I'll just pick it up and ride on.
DOH! The last 3" of the clutch lever decided to snap off. well, I can still ride it home no worries.
The kind lady standing there watching me do all this informed me that those low water crossings were slick. Where is Bill Engval when you need him?
So I get it out of the one-lane water crossing and look the bike over closer to see what damage was done.

=


Only to discover that its quite nearly pouring oil out of the top of the oil cooler. Seems the drop moved the headlight enough to puncture the oil cooler. Double check the oil and thought I'd ride it back to at least Glenrose.
About the time I got to DVSP it was clear that the bike had other plans. Too much oil was blowing out for me to continue riding. I parked across FM205 from DVSP and called HRCA.
The lady on the phone was having trouble with her computer (aren't they always? :scratch: ) and I wound up spending nearly 15min trying to get a tow setup. In the end they dispatched Don's Towing from Granbury saying it would be 2hrs before they could make it out.
As I'm sitting there on the side of the road staring at the sky, The game warden pulls out of DVSP and comes over to check on me. I explain it, he oogles the bike and drives away. A little while later, a car pulls up to ask if I'm ok. I inform them that I've already got a tow setup and am just waiting for them to arrive. They turn around and then stop and ask me if I have what I think was drugs. I had the camera in hand, I shoulda snapped a pic of their plate

As time goes on, there's no less then 6 cars pull out of DVSP full of folks that I know. Most all of them stopped to check or at the very least wave.

Laying there staring at the sky I had this random inspiration hit and snapped this shot:

I don't know, maybe the bugs were getting at my brain

Low and behold I hear a bike riding down the road and what should I see appear but a red VStrom blur piloted by a man in a Tecknic jacket. I say to myself "self, is that Bill?" soon enough I find out as he's back and it was indeed our very own Bill (Graubert) out testing his new Laminar lip. Bill proceeded to wait with me till the tow truck shows up. I am here to tell you that talking to another person is much more fun then talking to yourself!

As Bill and I were standing there, there was a gaggle of sport bikes that went by. The last of which was a familiar looking black bike piloted by a pink-helmeted rider. Bill and I both asked if that was Melanie (Vitto) Turns out we were right!

The tow truck shows up and the first thing out of his mouth is "I'm going to have to get you to sign a waver as I ain't equipped to haul bikes." :doh: well, I guess I don't really have any other options. Sign the waver and load the bike up. Took a bit, but got his straps around the lower fork clamps and get it strapped down. I'm not super happy with it, but it beats pushing the thing all the way home.

Its really a sad sight

Got her home and into the garage. I'll tear it apart and figure out exactly what I need to get it going again.

A big thanks to Bill for hanging with me while the tow truck took forever to show up.

Needless to say, I missed my Alvarado meet at 1900. Oh well, sometimes things happen.

Avon Azaro

Replace the shoes on the VFR yesterday. 7600mi in 14mo not nearly enough miles. Course I did put 4k on the ST1300, so I shouldn't complain too much.

The old tires still had some life left in them. but I thought I was going to Arkansas this weekend and I didn't want to chance the tires running out of life while I was up there. Peace of mind is worth sacrificing a few miles on a set of tires.

Ok, The previous tires were Avon Azaro ST45/46. I absolutely love those tires. Great turn in, great feel, great grip wet and dry, great mileage. I really think I could have matched the ~9,000 that I put on a prior set of Michelin Pilot Roads had I left them on. In short, I loved these tires.
I would have replaced them with the same thing except Avon release the Strom 55/56 ST tire which is being heralded as better then the 45/46 if thats possible.

So I've got new shoes on the steed so its time to ride!

Definitions

So there was some confusion about "biker lingo" in my last blog so let me see if I can't clear some of it up.

• CheapSTOC: an excuse for members of the Honda ST Owners Club to ride. This event was held in Junction TX.
  
  
• Connie: A Kawasaki ZG1000 Concours Touring/Sport Touring bike.
  
  
• vitch: say the 'v' with a spanish pronunciation and you come up with a term used for riding on the back of a bike, or in the middle of a bench seat. I was spelling around the filters on the forum I posted that on. (link is clean)
  
• Centerstand: a stand incorporated into the bike to lift the rear wheel off the ground for service. folds back in front of the tire but hangs lower then the frame.
  

If you are confused about something else, let me know and I'll see what I can do to update this list.

110 miles to no where

Today I rode 110miles and never went anywhere. All while averaging ~27mpg. So what was I doing?
I convinced Tony from EuroSport that my VFR was a Sprint ST and went to his track day at Motor Sport Ranch

Having never done this before I was quite unsure what to expect. Asked around here on TWT, read through Sport Riding Techniques, strapped a cooler and a chair to the back and headed out.
Arrived in Cresson at 0800 and got started taping the bike off (no truck/trailer) At first there weren’t many people there, but they gradually started filtering in.

While I was going through tech, Loyd, apparently he had convinced Tony that his CBR600RR was of European descent as well.

As I was starting to gear up, Loyd decided that I should at least try on his spare set of leathers, to my surprise they actually fit. Well, except for the sleeves, but I haven’t found much that fits my monkey arms. So now I’m looking the part and take off around the track behind the instructors (Tom and Guy) they are taking the track at a “leisurely” pace. I’m riding along thinking “this is fast enough for me!” fortunately for me, a few laps had me feeling much more comfortable with the track. Then it was back to the classroom while those who could actually ride took to the track.

As the day wore on, my confidence level increased and I was actually getting around the track. Nowhere near what would be considered fast, but I had a hoot and that’s what mattered.

At the end of the last session before lunch, I pull off towards the pits and notice a familiar face standing on the wall. Pull around and attempt to figure out what this foreigner is doing so far from home. Turns out she was headed home from the CheapSTOC event and made a wrong turn :-P seeing as she was there, she thought she’s stop in and take me to lunch


I’ve never ridden vitch so it was a new experience. It seemed to be a day for them.

In the first session after lunch, I was attempting to pass a Connie, panicked and ran off in to the grass/mud. Guy stopped and we rode back to the pits at a super slow pace. Don’t want to get mud on the track for the rest of the riders. He explained what I had done, what I needed to do to correct it and sent me off. I kicked myself and headed off to wash off the tires for the next session.

I wasn’t the only one to leave the track today. Couple other folks messed up turns and went on “agricultural trips”. Loyds dad got clipped in a corner and crashed. Fortunately no one was injured.
Sadly, the crash ended both Loyd and his dad’s day at the track. I had to give the leather back, so I finished the day out in my gear. Which by the way, is MUCH warmer then perforated leather!
Back on the track the next time I concentrated on just being smooth and trusting the bike. Things went great so I picked up the pace next time around.

When the day was over I was sweaty, tired and happy. I’d successfully completed my first track day and kept the shiny side up on the bike. I’d improved my riding and gotten ride of those darn chicken strips. Drug the left peg feeler twice, and Guy was telling me to take the center stand off for next time as it was dragging.

So yeah, I had a blast. Learned to trust the bike more and had a blast! Did I mention I had fun?

Am I older then I thought?

Honda West Cleburne was having a Demo Day today, so my dad and I, having nothing better to do, decided to head that way and see what we could ride.

Got over there around 3:20 and discovered that the last ride left at 3:00. But seeing as we are in there all the time buying parts for our various machines and they all know us by first name, they setup one more run for us.

The bikes they had to choose from were a pair of GL1800s, what seemed like all the cruisers Honda makes, the Reflex, and the Silver Wing. If we'd had time we would have ridden all of them, but since we only had one pass, we picked the Wings.

sorry, new camera, just had to use it

Dad got the one that had $18,799 written on it (Silver), and I had the one with $20,699 on it (Black). Mine had the Navi system, his did not. Both had the CB.
couldn't tell you how many buttons there were or what all they did
I managed to figure out how the stereo worked, but thats about all.

Dad managed to get his in Reverse and Jeff (ride leader) had to go help him out on that one.
Once he was moving in a forward direction, we took off.

The first thing that I noticed was how the Honda engineers had managed to figure out a way to drop 3-400lbs off the bike as soon as its moving. I don't know how they did it, but it sure is effective!

I actually really enjoyed taking that boat for a spin. While I wouldn't trade my VFR for it, swapping the ST1300 did cross my mind... Thus leading me to the title: Since we all know GoldWings are old men's bikes, am I older then I thought?

I have read all kinds of stuff about how well the Wing handles, and how much power it has, yada yada yada. But until you park your keister in the seat and experience it for yourself, its really hard to believe.

Dad was curious to ride them as he absolutely disliked the GL1500. Said its seat was too high, and it felt heavier then it was, didn't like the engine. Just plain didn't like it. After sitting on the GL1800 at the IMS show back in Nov, he decided that maybe it wasn't as bad as the GL1500.
After taking the GL1800 for a spin, he was just short of singing its praises (dad getting excited is saying "yippie" in sarcastic, flat tone)
Dad's too much of a cheap-skate to buy a new one, and probably a used one, but I wouldn't be surprised if he kept his eyes open for a salvage one

I was quite impressed with the bikes, and as always, very happy with the service from Honda West Cleburne

The Night Stalkers

The Night Stalkers by Michael J Durant and Steven Hartov is a tale of deft and daring, skill and courage. Well, actually is quite a few smaller stories about that.

Its a collaboration of stories of the pilots and crew of the US Army's 160th SOAR(A) (Special Operations Aviation Regiment), the pilots who fly the Special Ops guys into places. Most always flying at night, with no lights on the birds.

If you are even slightly interested in recent military history, or the military in general, I highly recommend this book.

2007 Texas Pathfinder Camporee Video

I seem to have a knack for whirl-wind trips

So, made another whirl-wind trip to GA this past weekend. And as usual, there was no real reason to go, just wanted to go.

This time I went with Pamela and Danny and we took Danny's mom's new Subaru Forester. While there's a certain appeal to riding the bike, it was nice to be able to nap while somebody else was driving.

Took off after work on Thursday and made a bee-line for GA. With three drivers we were able to make it almost non-stop and made it in 13hrs. Not bad considering its 850mi.

So we arrived after our friends/family had already left for work, so we just crashed till they got home .

Saturday we went to Stone Mountain and attempted to climb to the top. I say attempted cause we somehow missed the trail and only managed to walk 3/4 of the way around this thing.
We finally made our way back to where we could climb up, but by that time we had a pair of knees that weren't really wanting to climb and an ankle that had decided to see if it worked on its side. so we just got in the car and went home.

So we sat around for awhile and ordered pizza online. Now, I"m a geek and even *I* think that is just ridiculous. How hard is it to dial a phone!?! Pizza was good regardless and we had fun playing card games and just generally yacking.

Got up sunday and slowly, begrudgingly hit the road home around 1030 TX time. 12.5hrs later we landed in Keene and headed for bed.

Was whirl-wind trip, had some interesting tensions and discussions, but it was a good trip.

So when we going again?

A beautiful day for a ride!

Took off this morning to try my hand at a street enduro hosted by Precision Challenge.

To explain basically what this is, you leave the start point with a very specific set of directions at a set time (0900 this time) and drive exactly as they tell you. The goal is to arrive at each of the check points at the exact time they pre-determined. This repeats at each of the checkpoints along the route.

I met Ryan, Steve (friends from TWTEX.com) and a gentleman on a Harley (Mike) there. Along with the folks putting it on. Ryan, Mike and I are in the same class. Steve is in another one because he brought his wife on the back of his Tiger.

So myself and Ryan are assigned to the first group. We decide to work together to get this done (none of us had done this before).

Made the first check point ok, got our time card stamped and punched and off we went.
Got to the second check point, took of and promptly (well, 3 miles later) discovered we'd gone the wrong way. So we are now 6min behind schedule. Gotta make up time.

Traffic on I35 (where we were supposed to be) was thick and we couldn't make up any time.
good fortune shined on us once we left the interstate though and we were able to make tracks (At the posted legal limit of course )

Arrived at the third checkpoint exactly on time and took our 40min lunch break.

Got back on the road and nearly missed the 4th check point. (I think they were trying to hide from us...) Then back on the road.

Somewhere along this stretch we got to looking at the route sheet and realized things were a bit funny. we were WAY WAY ahead of the alloted time. and we were running 5 UNDER the limit.
So SH121 saw myself and Ryan running ~12mph on the shoulder trying to eat time.
Steve and Mike caught up with us and we discussed whether there was typo or we really were supposed to take 2hrs to cover ~35mi.

Finally rolled in about 20min before the route sheet time and discovered that they'd made an error in the calculations. They felt horrible, but now I've got a crazy story!

I had an absolute blast. Cost me $25 to enter and I walked away with a tie for 2nd place, a $150 check, and a nice trophy.

So when's the next one?

Ah, the sound of a Viffer...

Finally got the Viffer back in running condition Monday night. Got the valve inspection, oil change, thermostat replaced, and headlight relay replacement finished Sunday, then did the Throttle Body sync (Thank you Gary!) Monday evening.

Took her home that evening in place of the ST1300 and wow, I'd forgotten how SMOOOTH that V4 is! not to mention that slight (I think I need Staintunes...) exhaust note. Pure heroin I tell you, truely addictive.

Now I've got to decide if I want to take the ST1300 or the VFR for my first Saddle Sore 1000 in a week or so

How to spend Easter weekend as a geek

• First, volunteer to do the video for the Texas Conference Pathfinder Camporee like you have for the past seven years.
  
• Drive for 4hrs with $15,000+ in equipment in a SUV.
  
• Spend the next hour getting everything setup.
  
• Shoot people setting camp up
  
• play Ghost Recon while waiting for more people to show up
  
• capture the video and stay up till 2400 editing
  
• get up at 0600 and start filming people
  
• repeat till dark
  
• edit till 0100
  
• prompt fellow editor to work on his section
  
• while editing, crash the editing suite, thus rendering your computer useless
  
• fight with computer and finally break out the backup machine
  
• get up at 0600 and film more people
  
• escape the rain and go back to editing
  
• fight with the backup machine
  
• prompt fellow editor to work on his section
  
• get it finished and show to the people who were brave enough to stick around
  
• pack up and drive home at 0100
  
• marvel at 1" of snow on the road between Caldwell and Waco
  
• arrive home at 0530 and promptly go to bed
  
• repeat as seen fit
  

Homeshow was great!

SWAT Homeshow was Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised that it came off as well as it did.

Spent all of last week working on various things for it. Had the regular practice every day, shot video Tuesday through Thursday evenings, then I was up till almost 3AM Friday morning editing.

Friday afternoon was spent setting up and rehearsing for the show.

Saturday, I adjusted the length of a song and showed up for final setup at 5PM.
Had a bit of trouble getting all the videos from the other editor, but it all worked out. Now if they hadn't been in 1080i HD my system wouldn't have had trouble playing it . My system plays it fine, but when you are trying to compress it down to fit on a 800x600 screen its a bit slower.

The gymnastics part of the show went off really well. 95% of everything hit and thats a lot more then I was expecting due to a lack of focus in some of the team.

Looking back, it would have been very nice to have someone run the lights/sound/videos instead of having myself do all that, try to run a couple cameras and perform as well, but it really worked very well and really wasn't a problem.

Now if I could get a chance, I'll start editing the video from Homeshow and get it put on a DVD.