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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Sun, 25 Sep 2005
I had been all set to go buy a So, I pondered for a moment, then realized that between the sidestand, the new swingarm spools, and my jack stands, I had a solution. I grabbed a jack stand, and ratcheted it up until it was just a shade taller than the bottom of the "upper" spool with the bike on its side stand. I set the other jack stand to the same height, and leaned the bike off the sidestand. It was immediately levered up onto the jack stand, picking up the rear wheel. I pushed the second jack stand under the left spool with my foot, and was amazed to see that it worked perfectly. The rear wheel was off the ground, and suddenly spending $150 on a rear stand didn't seem like such a hot idea after all. It worked perfectly, and I was able to lubricate and adjust the drive chain with no trouble at all. I'd even be willing to believe that it was easier with the jack stands than it would have been with the rear stand, although I suspect the rear stand may be a more flexible overall option. Hooray for the cheap option! Today was also the day that saw the Z go over 500 miles, and thus allowed to exceed 4000 RPM. I took it on the freeway, and was quite pleased with how it all worked out. 6000 RPM (the new limit until I'm past 1000 miles) is just over 80 MPH indicated, or about 72 MPH. I didn't have a GPS with me, but the indicated error when I've checked before has been about 10%. I will check it soon with a GPS to see what the rear speedometer error is. I was dissappointed when the Ninja buyer indicated a strong preference for keeping the basket -- it was one of my favorite features of the bike. I figured out what might be a good way of securing a similar basket to the Z, though: using some nylon webbing (like you might find on a backpack, or in a seatbelt), I would weave the webbing through the basket and around the horn-like grab handles on the back of the Z. I procured some 3/4" webbing and a "ladder lock" (which is apparently what those fasteners are called which you lift up to loosen). I managed to get to the store (Storables near Alderwood Mall) mere minutes before the closed on Saturday. I wandered to the section where I'd previously found my Ninja's basket. There, I spied the same basket (I'd had a vague fear they might have stopped carrying them), but next to it was one which was about 2x bigger. Where the Ninja's basket was wide by short front-to-back, this bigger one was nearly square (just a touch shorter in one direction), but the same height as the Ninja's basket. I got permission to take it out to the bike, and put it experimentally on the pillion seat. It was perfect -- there's more room fore-and-aft on the Z's seat than on the Ninja's. All excited over my discovery (the Ninja's basket had always been good, but could have been bigger), I bought it and sat down to figure out how to attach it. The Z's grab handles have a channel cut in them, near the base, which is apparently designed exactly for this purpose -- it retains the strap, and keeps it from shifting forward or backward. When I got it strapped down with the webbing I'd bought earlier, it fit almost like it was designed to be there, just rocking slightly side to side since the seat was slightly crowned (who the hell did Kawasaki design this seat for? masochists?). The addition of a bungee net I had at home completed the basket, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Now that the Z is freeway worthy, and has its carry basket, I'm feeling much happier with it. I was starting to get sick of having to ride surface streets everywhere (getting up to Alderwood Mall was particularly bad). It's definitely got more power above 4k RPM. About 5k feels like the natural shift point in moderately spirited riding, so I suspect I'll get better with shifting, and possibly better gas mileage, now that I'm not constrained by the break-in requirements so much. Speaking of mileage, I'm not sure how it happened, but in the third tank of gas, where I was being very careful to accelerate gently and generally trying to see if I could get better gas mileage, it actually went down. The first two tanks were over 37 MPG, and the third tank was only 35 and change. It's not a big difference, and I don't know if it was my riding style or some other factor, but it was pretty bizarre to see that contradictory change. I'm looking forward to the Z being a much more useful bike, now that it's freeway worthy. Posted at 19:13 permanent link category: /motorcycle Fri, 23 Sep 2005
Scene 1: Interior day. IAN, our hero, sits at his IAN once again picks up the phone and dials. We hear the other side of the phone conversation through a compression filter. Thank you for calling NAPA, how can I help you? Hi, I was wondering if you have any Purolator PL14610 oil filters in stock, and if so, how much they cost. Just a second sir, let me check. [several beats] Yes, we have four of those in stock, they're $6.99 each. Great, thank you. How late are you open tonight? Until 7. Thanks. I'll be in today to get some. Bye. Good bye. IAN puts the phone down, and pulls on his riding suit. Scene 2: Interior day, inside an auto parts store. IAN walks in the door, and walks up to the parts counter at the back of the store. Hi, I called earlier, I wanted to pick up two Purolator PL14610 oil filters. You should have 4, and they should be $6.99 each. Well, you've certainly done your homework. [types on computer terminal for several seconds] Indeed, we have four of those. You said you wanted two? IAN nods his assent. Ok, I'll go grab those for you. Great, thanks. A minute passes as the NAPA DRONE dissappears into the back of the store. She returns with two filter boxes and sets them down on the counter. Anything else, sir? What are these? IAN holds up two filter boxes plainly marked "NAPA Gold". [confused] Those are your filters. No, I said "Purolator PL14610," that's what I asked about on the phone, do you not actually stock those filters? Oh, you may be thinking of our silver line, which is a repackaged Purolator filter -- these [indicates NAPA Gold filters] are reboxed WIX filters. I'll go grab two of those for you. NAPA DRONE goes back to retrieve the other filters. IAN looks slightly annoyed. How about these? [she holds out two filters which say NAPA SilverLine on them] No, I was really looking specifically for the Purolator branded filters, since I have a specific recommendation for them. I don't know what these are. [holds up one of the SilverLine filters] I'm sorry, we don't carry actual Purolator filters. So, when I called and asked specifically for that filter, with that particular model number, whoever I spoke to was telling me about these? [holds up Gold filter] I guess so. Sorry. End of scene. The rest of the conversation is not worth relating, but basically boils down to them not knowing where I can get actual Purolator filters. Does this strike you as being kind of stupid? If you call a store and ask about something, shouldn't the drone tell you if they're talking about something other than what you're asking for? As a result of that phone conversation, I had a warm-n-fuzzy feeling about NAPA, which was then dashed when I arrived to find whoever I talked to was, for all practical purposes, telling me a lie. This is the second time I've driven specifically out to that particular NAPA store with the understanding they had an actual part I wanted, only to find they no longer had it, or never had it in the first place. I'm kind of off that place now. It's 20 minutes out of my way no matter what route I take home from work, and further if I'm somewhere other than work or home. I guess I have to find some other source for that filter (which comes compellingly recommended in the link at the top of today's script). How annoying. Posted at 16:55 permanent link category: /motorcycle Thu, 22 Sep 2005
The Ninja is totally sold now. The check has cleared and the title If I get another Ninja 250 (which seems like a possibilty, although the next small bike I get will probably be a CB-1 or something just to be different), I'll probably make about 2/3 of the modifications that I made to this one. The lights, for instance, were pretty goofy. The rear SS brake line wasn't worth much. The rear shock, although cheap, wasn't actually that much of an improvement. The front SS line and fork springs, however, were huge. The new tires were very good. The custom seat was amazing. I also got an email on the Guzzi, which is encouraging. I was getting ready to put it away for the winter, to be advertised anew in spring. Later... My friend Jesse got me a new tankbag for my birthday, which finally arrived today. It's small enough to fit on the Z750s's weirdly shaped tank, but that also means it's a bit skimpy in the space department. I think it'll work where my old one was too big, but I wish it was a touch bigger. Also, Marsee, what's up with the oval shape? Kinda useless, since now, nothing with square edges (ie, most of the stuff I'm carrying) fits very well. Lots of wasted space. Oh well, it still works. The Z is nearly to 400 miles, which is encouraging. Only 100 more to go before it's freeway worthy. Posted at 23:26 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 20 Sep 2005
The Z750s has been treating me pretty well, now that I'm getting used The Ninja sold with surprising speed. I ended up selling it to a coworker, who saw my mention of the impending sale on the internal motorcycle mailing list, and was at my door 10 minutes later. I ran into him today (after seeing what appeared to be two of my motorcycles sitting next to each other in the work garage -- oh yeah, I sold that one...), and he said he was enjoying it even more than he'd anticipated. That was nice to hear, although it again gave me that twinge of regret that I may not be following the best plan. Still, I'm sticking with it. The second fill-up of the Z's tank yielded 37 MPG again. I need to keep in mind that once I can take it on the freeway, the mileage will likely improve a bit, since stop-and-go riding, even at a low engine RPM, is a gas mileage killer. I think the odometer said 305 miles when I filled it up today, so I've still got a ways to go before it's freeway-worthy. Clearly, I need more errands to run, or more free time, or something. Posted at 00:48 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 13 Sep 2005
I'm feeling better about the drop yesterday. I still feel dumb for I'm used to motorcycles which have big, heavy flywheels in the motor (Ninja aside, which is so light it kind of doesn't count). All the BMWs and the Moto Guzzi have big flywheels. The Ninja has a pretty heavy flywheel for its displacement. The Z is a very light, almost negligible flywheel. Thus, I have riding habits which are tuned for big flywheels. This includes, notably, letting the inertia of the motor carry it in some circumstances, so that I don't have to be paying strict attention to the throttle, the engine just keeps turning. This is what bit me last night, and caused the engine to stall mid-turn, dumping the bike unceremoniously on the ground. The answer to this, for the future, is to slip the clutch a lot more than I'm used to. That's not the only answer, but it'll work for the time being, until I get more used to the bike. I also need to spend some time in a parking lot working on slow-speed maneuvering, getting used to how the engine reacts in different circumstances. It's very different from what I'm used to. Add that in with more weight higher up than I'm used to (Ninja aside, all my previous bikes have had very low centers of gravity -- even the K75, which I thought had a high center of gravity, was low compared to the Z), and trouble ensues. I spent a few minutes last night bending levers back into position, and re-evaluating the damage. This helped me feel a bit more in control of the situation, which in turn helps me feel better about riding the bike. I'm not scared of riding it, but I found myself being much gentler with the bike after the drop, as if I was afraid it was suddenly more prone to falling over. I'm sure that will fade with time. On the positive side, I'm almost past the 150 mile mark, and it's about time to fill up the tank again, which will give me the first glimpse of what the fuel mileage might be like. I'm definitely looking forward to getting past the 500 mile mark, so I can actually take the bike on the freeway without violating the break-in recommendations. Later... Hmm. The bike turned in a mileage of only 37 MPG. That's about 10 MPG lower than I was expecting. Bah. Posted at 23:40 permanent link category: /motorcycle Mon, 12 Sep 2005
Bah, and/or humbug. Not a week old, and I managed to drop the Z. Damage is surprisingly light, with a slightly bent shift lever, a more-bent clutch lever, and a few scuffs on the mirror, alternator cover, and barend weight. I was able to ride off without any trouble, and the bike doesn't practically seem any worse for wear, bent levers aside. I guess I need to practice some low-speed maneuvering on this bike. Posted at 21:03 permanent link category: /motorcycle Sun, 11 Sep 2005
Wow, an exciting week. I haven't had time to write until now Last weekend, on Friday or Saturday, I was in Lake City Honda/Kawasaki to get a front drive sprocket for the Ninja, since I so completely destroyed the chain I'd put on 8000 miles before. (Lesson learned -- always check chain tension after tightening everything down.) I glanced over at the Z750s they had in the showroom, since I knew it was likely to be my next bike. Well, maybe not that exact one, since I wanted to sell the Le Mans first, but that model certainly. I noticed that the bike had a little sign clipped to it, so I walked over and read it. It said: SALE! 2005 Z750s $6,599 Hmmm! thought I. The list price is $7,099 for the bike, so this represented $500 savings. Hmmmm! thought I again. I mulled over this knowledge for the next few days, uncertain whether I should jump on it now, regardless of the Le Mans, or whether I should wait. I discussed it with Jesse a bit, and as part of that, did some math. I figured, based on reasonable numbers for setup, shipping, tax and license fees, they would probably want a final price of $7850 or so out the door. I decided on Monday that maybe I could go in and offer $7500 out the door, which would represent a small savings to me, and a slight cut in profit for them, although I didn't figure it would be deadly. I suspect the bike actually wholesales for around $5800 or $6000, so they'd still make some money on it. I wavered a bit, and then changed my mind, deciding on Tuesday that maybe an offer of $7600 would go over better. In any case, if they said no, I'd just wait until the Le Mans sold. I went in to look at the bike on Tuesday night, and ended up signing away all rights to sue so I could take a 15 minute test ride. At least Lake City didn't want a filled-out credit application before they'd let me take a test ride. The test ride was largely uneventful. The seat was still uncomfortable sloped forward, but everthing else was fine. I came back to the dealership (with another 3 miles on the odometer -- it's hard to go very far in 7 minutes in Lake City), and spent a few minutes walking around the bike, looking at it again, taking in details. The salesman I'd been working with came out and engaged me in conversation about the bike. In our talk, I asked what the conditions of the sale were (thinking it might be only on this particular bike, or something like that) and he said, "well, it goes until the 31st [...] I could probably do better than that price anyway..." HMMM! thought I. I made a spot decision, and said, "if you'll take $7500 for it out the door, including everything, I'll bring a cashier's check tomorrow." He only paused for a second before saying, "call me back tomorrow, I'll check with my sales manager, see if we can't put that together for you." We arranged that I'd call him at 10, and I departed, equally divided on whether they'd laugh at me on the phone, or say they'd take it. Wednesday morning, he called at 10:05 and jokingly accused me of forgetting to call him before saying they'd accept my offer. It wasn't finalized yet, but I just bought a motorcycle. I scrambled quickly looking for a ride to the dealership, but when one wasn't readily apparent, I looked up the bus schedule on a whim. Amazingly, Metro actually has a bus line which runs every 30 minutes and is almost literally door-to-door service between my house and Lake City Kawasaki. I got myself home via the bank, and hopped the bus, giant grey suit and helmet in tow, and headed for the dealership. The actual purchase process was pretty painless, since the price issue had already been settled, and all I had to do was sign a few forms, hand over my check, and take the keys. I rode back to work (having taken my "lunch hour" from about 12 to 3 to actually make the transaction), and got back to slavin'. Near the end of the day, I posted a brief message to the internal motorcycle mailing list saying I had a new bike, and if anyone knew of potential buyers for the Ninja or the Le Mans, to forward them my information. I was surprised to look up 10 minutes later to see a face darkening my window, and someone I'd seen around popped in and said, "I'll probably take the Ninja." My, that was fast! We talked for a few minutes, and he explained that he wanted a more fuel-efficient bike to ride to work. He is about the same size I am, so the bike is already well set up for him. It seemed like a perfect match. I told him the first time I could ride it in was Monday, so we'll see what he says when he looks at it on Monday. Pity he didn't want the Le Mans. Anyway, living with the new bike has been interesting and mostly good so far. The break-in requirement is to keep the engine under 4000 RPM for the first 500 miles, then under 6000 RPM for the next 500. Following relatively logical advice from The Internet (it's written down, it must be true, right?), I ventured a few full-throttle runs up through about 9000 RPM in the first miles I rode it, but have since generally kept to the 4000 RPM limit. The theory is that a high-pressure (ie, full-throttle) run or two will press the piston rings against the cylinder wall much harder than normal, allowing them to bed in much more completely than if the engine were kept to the manufacturer's recommendation. This method, advocated by a guy who calls himself MotoMan, has generated a lot of heated debate on the Ninja 250 board, with one side arguing that the factory surely knows best, and the other side arguing that the factory recommendation is written by worrying lawyers, and the "gentle break-in" idea is a horribly anachronistic hold over from the 1930s. I fall somewhere in the middle. I suspect that the 4k RPM break in limit is unnecessarily conservative, but I also don't think that MotoMan's recommendation to do lots of high-RPM, full-throttle runs is sensible. So, I did a few, and am generally keeping to 4k. Unfortunately, the 4k limit means that the bike's top speed is limited to about 56 MPH in 6th gear. Better than the 35 max the Ninja 250 is allowed, at least. So I'm trying to ride as often as possible, to get past the 4k limit. At 6k, I believe the bike can safely go 70 MPH, so it'll be safe to take on the freeway. The only other niggles I've had have been a sloppy setup by the manufacturer or dealership. For instance, the throttle is supposed to have 2-3 mm of play, but had 8-10 when I got the bike. The headlight is supposed to be adjusted so that the beam slopes down a few degrees, yet mine was aimed up at 10° or so, blinding oncoming drivers even on low beam. They didn't seem to miss any of the big stuff, though, and everything safety-related seems to have been done. My previous assessments of the bike remain true. The stock mirrors stink, showing me a lovely view of my elbows rather than what's behind me. Apparently they vibrate pretty badly at higher RPM. The stock seat stinks, sloping forward uncomfortably, and being uncomfortably firm. I can't imagine how anyone at Kawasaki could have spent any time riding the bike with that seat and actually allowed it out the door. It's not a firing offense maybe, but it's definitely a dope-slap candidate. I know I'm going to fix the seat, either doing it myself, or taking it down to Rich's. At this point, I'm thinking I'll shape the foam myself, and ask Rich's to make a cover for it. I'm going to order these mirrors to replace the useless ones which came with the bike. I'll probably machine the bar-end weights to mount them, since that seems like the most attractive way to do it. Another slight annoyance is the speedometer, which runs up to 170 MPH, and doesn't even sweep all the range it could, resulting in a very difficult gauge to read. The odometer/clock setup is also sub-par, in that on the speedometer display, you can show the clock, or the odometer, or either of two trip odometers, while the tachometer side always displays the fuel gauge. Problem is, I'd really like to be able to see the clock and either the odometer or a trip odo at the same time. Generally, I don't need a fuel gauge, since they're never very accurate anyway, and I'm very likely to continue using a trip odometer for that function. That's a relatively small complaint, though. Today, now that I finally have a few hours free (thus this journal entry), I took a half hour and changed the oil. The bike has 109 miles on the odometer, and that seems like plenty of time to get the first wave of crap out of the engine via the oil. I'll change the oil again at 600 miles and put in a new oil filter. Overall, I'm very pleased with the bike. Little troubles aside, it's very smooth, and quite precise. The engine is obviously very powerful, although I've only seen a small amount of its performance with the RPM limit. Once I get the seat fixed, it'll be very pleasant to ride, and once I'm past the break-in limitations, it'll be a great every day ride. Now I just have to sell those other two bikes... Posted at 15:20 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 06 Sep 2005
Today's Day o' Maintenance went pretty well. I painted over the The Ninja was similarly painless. Surprisingly, I found that the chain sideplates had started wearing on the side of the front sprocket. I'm not sure if that's just an indication of a worn chain, or if it means the rear wheel was misaligned, or what. Posted at 13:28 permanent link category: /motorcycle Sat, 03 Sep 2005
Foster's finally finished with the sidecar bike's rear wheel today, With any luck, tomorrow will be the last time I have to do anything to this accursed wheel. They ran it through the dunk tank, and no more leaks were found. Pull out the lucky rabbit's foot, this may be the one. I also picked up another chain for the Ninja today, which required a trip to three separate stores, one to get the chain, one for the front sprocket (which is almost certainly dead), and one for the rivet-type master link. I could have had a clip-type at any of the other two stores, but I really like not having to check that the clip hasn't fallen off. Grand total on the chain was around $150. Bah. The worst part is that I brought this (unknowingly) upon myself. No one to blame but me. Oh well. At least I know better now. So, I guess tomorrow will be fixing up the sidecar rig so it can roll again, then rolling it out of the way to do the Ninja. I ride the Ninja so often these days, particularly as I watch gas take steady aim at $3 per gallon, that I really can't afford to be without it for long. I noticed at the Kawasaki dealership on Lake City (where I acquired the front sprocket) they have a Z750S on sale for $6599, which is $500 of the normal price. That's incredibly tempting, and I'm racking my brain trying to figure out how I can afford to buy one even though the Le Mans hasn't sold yet. This is exactly the bike I want, and that's a really good price. Of course, that's not including shipping and setup, nor taxes and license. Posted at 11:09 permanent link category: /motorcycle Thu, 01 Sep 2005
I just found I've been thinking more and more about converting a Ninja 250 to electric power, which would involve removing the gas motor and tank, and installing a bunch of batteries and an electric motor. It would be an ambitious task, but not one which is beyond my skills. I mentioned a while ago I was interested in the Electric GPR -- this is an offshoot of that. I still don't know if I'll do it, but particularly as I watch gas prices soar after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, it starts to look really attractive. Posted at 13:06 permanent link category: /motorcycle Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net. |