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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Mon, 21 Nov 2005
I drove the Le Mans into work for the first time in a while today. It's odd to think that I used to ride the Le Mans every day. Now, it feels like a very strange machine to me. The flywheel is huge (nice, smooth shifts). First gear is geared very low, so it feels very much like I could just let the clutch out at idle, and suddenly be rolling forward with no further effort. The engine feels very vibey, and clatters somewhat alarmingly compared to the Z (although it's just doing what it was designed to do). The seat is surprisingly low, and the pegs place my legs at a surprisingly relaxed angle -- I think with the Z, I just gave up on trying to get my knees unbent, and started adopting the sportbike aesthetic. In all, the Le Mans feels quite loose comapred to the Z. The Z feels very tightly wound, which I realized today is quite tiring. With the Le Mans, I had all sorts of "bad" habits I didn't realize I had. The Z showed me each and every one and rubbed my nose in the spot just to drive the point home. My shifting had to become a lot more precise; starting from a stop required much more balance between throttle and clutch; throttle input was much more immediate, and therefore intolerant of sloppiness (although the Le Mans is far more demanding in on/off transitions of throttle, since it has so much drivetrain lash). The Le Mans also felt a bit wobbly in corners, which I don't recall from riding it before. On that one, I suspect my riding habits are different with the Z (and the Ninja 250 before it), and the same cornering habits on the Le Mans produce results I'm not expecting. It's very interesting to me that a machine which was once so familiar can become so foreign, so quickly. I don't feel so bad any more about having the Le Mans up for sale. It's really not the right bike for me, although I don't think the Z is either. With the Z, I'm spending a lot of time and effort just mediating my inputs to keep the bike happy. Every shift is a "clench" moment, in that I tense up so I can get the timing just right. That's no good, when you think about 6 gears, and lots of city riding. I had really hoped that in 1600 miles I would have gotten the hang of it. Shifting is better now, but it's still far from acceptable, and I'm starting to get discouraged. I still don't think I'm going to do anything about it right now, but the thought has crossed my mind more than once that I could be happier with a Ninja 250. Heck, I could replace it with a new model every 20k miles and still be ahead of the game for many many years, compared to the money I've spent on the Le Mans and the Z. I guess it's back to the ol' search engine to read up on the SV650, Monster 620ie (two very similar bikes, in many ways), DRZ400SM, and CB-1. But for all that, I can't help wondering if the Ninja 250 isn't really the best choice. Posted at 23:53 permanent link category: /motorcycle Fri, 18 Nov 2005
I've been sort of frustrated with the Z for the last few days. It all makes me hearken back to the Ninja 250, with which the very worst gas mileage I ever got was about 43 or 44 MPG. With the 250, I quickly figured out how to shift and accelerate and use the engine to best advantage without all this jerkiness. The extra power the Z has is nice and all, but I'm just not sure if it's worth the tradeoffs. Then, of course, I remember that the reason I got rid of the Ninja in the first place was that it wasn't standing up to my weight very well. The creaking made me feel like the bike was letting me down. So, that's not really a good long term answer, either. Other riders have reported living with the creaking for many thousands of miles and never having a problem beyond the noise, but I had a hard time seeing beyond it. All of this leaves me thinking that the motorcycle industry has basically left me without any choices. There are no 400-500cc bikes with reasonable performance, light weight and good fuel economy, yet which are still sturdily enough built to withstand my weight and in-city riding habits in the long haul. The Ninja 500 comes close, but I don't have the impression it's enough of an upgrade on the 250 to be worth the extra money. The Ninja 650R, which is new for 2006, could be a good choice, but it's still oversized for what I need. The Suzuki GS500 is apparently a worse choice than a Ninja 250 (although I don't recall now what the reasons were). There are a few other 250s, but they're all either cruisers (and therefore quite uncomfortable for me), or the Nighthawk, which is like a horrible joke of a motorcycle. In the current market, there are no street bikes in the 251-499cc range. Suzuki actually makes quite an interesting looking bike called the DR400SM (I think), which is a dirt bike converted for on-street use, but it's $6000 or so, and is therefore vastly overpriced for my purposes. I could find some used dirtbike and do something similar, but it would be expensive and time-consuming. I'm not really going to do anything about all this, in any case. I have the Z, it's practically brand new. It does everything I need it to, just not as efficiently as I'd like, and I still haven't gotten the hang of driving it after 1500 miles. Someday, I hope I'll find the bike that's actually the right bike for me, instead of a compromise. Posted at 00:34 permanent link category: /motorcycle Wed, 16 Nov 2005
I got the second hippo hand thing set up last night, and a freeway Driving around today, the ambient temperature was in the mid 40s, and my hands were actually too warm, between the insulated gloves and the deflectors. Kind of odd in late fall to pull off my motorcycle gloves and have my hands actually be warm. I could get used to this. The downside, of course, is that these things are fiddly. They're not dangerous, but they're also not convenient. I have to pull my hand backwards out of the bag in order to do anything off the handlebar, like adjust my face shield, or wave to another rider. Putting my hand back in isn't difficult, but it's another step that detracts a bit from my concentration. Because of these reasons, I'm unlikely to keep these deflectors on the bike unless I'm really going to be unhappy without them -- when the temperature is below about 35 for commuting, or when going on a longer trip with the promise of sub-40 degree temperatures. In another nod to practicality, I rode out to TouraTech USA headquarters, which is conveniently located about 10 minutes east of downtown Seattle. I was interested in one of these Ortlieb drybags. I was actually going with the intention of getting the medium size bag, but upon seeing both of them, particularly their size when sufficiently rolled up to be watertight, I decided the large would be a better choice for me. It should be enough to hold a pair of shoes and several changes of clothes, at the very least. I'm not sure how I'm going to secure it yet, although there's every chance it'll just fit in the basket. If not, I'm sure it'll strap nicely to the back of the seat. In any case, it provides the kind of packing ability I'll actually use on the Z750s, vs. the $900 saddle bags on the Le Mans, which I used (for real) exactly twice. Not a very good value. At that usage rate, I'd rather have spent $65. So anyway, now that I have the power outlet (for the heated vest), the wind deflectors, and the dry bag, I feel like I'm well-set for any cold weather travelling, say to see family for the holidays. I'm sure any trips I have to take this fall/winter will be full of the cold and rain, so it's nice to feel somewhat prepared. Posted at 20:40 permanent link category: /motorcycle Mon, 14 Nov 2005
I finally have what appears to be a workable system for keeping my The first iteration looked good, but in testing ended up rotating around the bar. So, I was riding down the freeway with a large air gap under the lever, and the fabric pressing down into the top of the lever. Just about where I was without the framework. However, once I found a way to secure the framework up so it couldn't rotate any more, it was perfect. I took a ride on the freeway in 35° F weather, and could reach the clutch lever the whole time. When I got back, my left hand (it being a one-sided test) was noticeably less cold than my right hand, but still not really warm. I was also wearing the heated vest and about half the insulation I would actually wear on a longer trip in the cold. All I had on was the heated vest over a T-shirt, and my normal wool sweater over all that. By the end of my ~3 mile round trip journey, my chest was no longer warm, although my lower back was toasty. All that wind blast on my chest is no doubt blowing away a lot of heat. I'm thinking of taking some of my leftover fleece and making a bib out of it to keep the front of my chest warmer. I'm definitely pleased that the wind deflection system looks like it's going to work. Should make commuting and longer trips in the cold much more pleasant. Posted at 23:47 permanent link category: /motorcycle Fri, 11 Nov 2005
I've just set the rig's tire pressures again. The rear was down to At some point, I need to figure out a good way to measure the weight on each wheel. I need to find someone with a 500-600 lb capacity scale, ideally, or rig up a 2x4 as a lever to multiply the capacity of a regular 300 lb bathroom scale. I'm sure the sidecar wheel is holding up about 150 lb of the rig's weight, but I don't know how much the front and rear wheels are holding right now. The total rig weight is 1240 according to the scales at the dump, with me on it. I figure a 600 lb scale would be up to any of the three wheels, since I'm almost positive that none of the wheels is holding 50% of the weight. On an entirely different subject... Is anyone else annoyed as hell at the auto industry right now? The price of gas goes up, and suddenly all the auto makers have this wide array of "fuel efficient" cars they're hyping. You know, the ones that get over 25 MPG. What!? Since when is a 26 MPG car "fuel efficient?" My 1964 VW BUG got 25 MPG! Nineteen Sixty Four. Is that the best you can offer? (Of course not, but who's going to buy a Chevy Aveo, winner of the prestigous "no star" rating, but which happens to get 36 MPG freeway?) What about all those hulking SUVs you've been pushing for years? You know, the ones that get 14 MPG on the freeway? The ones that have precipitated a lot of this whole oil mess in the first place? "Oh, but the buying public determines what we sell!" Bullshit! The buying public, heavily influenced by advertising money, buys the best of what you offer! Don't try to convince me that all those SUVs are the best you could do. If you offer something better, I'm guessing people would buy it. I've been on the search for more fuel-efficient transportation for years, which is one of the factors that lead me into motorcycles in the first place. My Honda Civic was pretty good, returning about 30-32 MPG on the freeway, and in the upper 20s in town. But then again, that was an economy car. If I had to buy a car right now, the choice would be between the honestly fuel efficient (like, 50 MPG, beating out even the Ninja 250 for me) Toyota Echo and the appeals-to-my-baser-instincts Mini Cooper, which still gets good mileage, and isn't an enormous space-hog. Note that neither of those are especially expensive cars (although the Mini isn't exactly cheap, either). But you know what's not on that list? Anything American built. How is it even possible that American automakers are still stuck in this "bigger is better" mindset? Actually, I don't want to know the answer to that, because I suspect the answer is "my fellow Americans" more than it is anything else. Yes, I know this basically contradicts my argument above. Anywya, back to the original point, I'm still annoyed that automakers are dusting off the redheaded stepchild models and trying to make out as if they've been right there, plugging for good fuel economy all along. Posted at 15:57 permanent link category: /motorcycle Thu, 10 Nov 2005
I rode the sidecar rig in today, and stopped on the way home to Posted at 23:08 permanent link category: /motorcycle Tue, 08 Nov 2005
Fooey! The hippo hands are a dud. I finished the second one tonight, and took them out for a spin in the 40 degree weather, to see how they'd work. They actually kept my hands warm (not just the lack of freezing, but actually warm), so from that standpoint they were a remarkable success. Where they fail is that they collapse with the wind, at one point actually applying my front brakes for me. Talk about a no-no! And with the wind pressing on them that hard, it takes a conscious effort to reach the brake lever, another powerful no-no. So for now, I must shelve the idea. However, I'm already pondering a sort of aluminum cage which might alleviate the problem. I really like that my hands were actively warm, when without protection they would have been quite chilled, even through the thick gloves. Posted at 23:05 permanent link category: /motorcycle Mon, 07 Nov 2005
I rode into work this morning with my one hippo hand on the left I didn't have the arm opening clipped down, so I suspect I was getting a lot of wind swirling back in. I'll try it clipped down on the way home, and see if it makes much difference. If it does, it would probably make sense to figure out the correct size opening, and actually cut down the fabric so it's just always that size. At about 50-55 MPH (the fastest I go on my morning commute), the fabric was starting to press into my hand a bit with the wind pressure, but it wasn't a problem. I noticed it, but found that getting to the clutch lever wasn't any harder than without the muff, it just involved that extra sensation of hitting the fabric first. That night... The test hippo hand works pretty well. It's not perfect, but it definitely made a difference. After a trip of about 10 minutes on the freeway at 40° F, my unprotected hand was noticeably colder than the protected hand, both inside medium weight winter gloves. On a long trip, I strongly suspect it would make the difference between merely being cold and being utterly miserable. Definitely worth the investment of time and money. Clipping down the opening worked pretty well, and I suspect it made a definite difference (I didn't try the unrestricted opening on the freeway). Unfortunately, due to the relatively floppy nature of the whole affair (no internal plastic to stiffen it), the wind blew it down over the turn signal switch, making it somewhat dicey to signal a left turn. It's not a deal breaker, but it could be better. The wind is also blowing the fabric against the glove, which may allow more wind chill to leak through than if it were held away from the glove a bit. Posted at 23:55 permanent link category: /motorcycle Sun, 06 Nov 2005
Ok, so this is pretty cool. I had recommended to me, a while ago, I was thinking about putting offroad-style brushguards on my handlebars, but couldn't really find anything that fit. I thought about heated grips, but then there's the electrical draw, and they only heat the palm-side of your hands (which sounds nice until you experience your palm nearly burning while the back of your hand feels like it's getting frostbite). Electric gloves also came highly recommended, but again there's the current drain, and they're expensive, over $120 for a pair. So hippo hands were on my mind when the weather turned cold again in the last month or so. I had this crazy idea in my head -- a pair of these things which could be transferred between the Z and the Goldwing. It didn't seem like it'd be that hard; they both have barend mirrors, and are both laid out about the same, handlebar-wise. I contacted the guy behind hippohands.com, to see if he had anything that would work. He very quickly responded saying he didn't have anything that would work with barend mirrors. When I asked if he had any pointers on building my own (which seemed like the logical choice), he responded with the discouraging words that a prototype, when you have the bike in front of you, typically takes 20 hours to finish. 20 hours! Yikes! I got some fabric anyway, a yard of heavy ballistic nylon, and a yard of on-sale midweight fleece ($25 total in materials). I knew it was too much fabric, but at least I'd have extra if I messed up the first time. I got myself into the garage tonight, with some newspaper, scissors, tape, and a stapler. I figured I'd make a few prototypes in paper first, to see if I could find a shape that'd work for both bikes. I set to work, and quickly discovered that it didn't take much imagination to come up with a functional shape. In fact... I got out the tape measure, and measured the controls and handgrips on both bikes. Yep, a piece of fabric 11 inches long at the fold would work just fine, and... Indeed, it could just be made square, and should be quite functional. I tried to figure out what was wrong with my thinking. Nothing I could find. I cut out a piece of lightweight scrap fabric, 11" x 28", and tried folding it over the handlebars. Looked like it'd work perfectly. So, I steeled myself, and cut into my relatively expensive ballistic nylon. At $15.50 a yard, you wouldn't want to make anything too big out of it, but that amount will probably make 3-4 complete sets of hippo hands, if I felt so inclined. As I proceeded, at each step, I tried to figure out what could be wrong with what I was doing. Nothing ever occurred to me, so I kept going. It ended up taking about 2 hours, but by the end of the evening, I had one nearly finished hippo hand, which gave every appearance that it would work perfectly. It fits on the bike, either side, without trouble. Without gloves on, I didn't notice any interference with controls. There was plenty of room, so fitting gloves in there should be no problem. Even in the few seconds of having my hand inside the handlebar muff on each side, it got noticeably warmer. The one problem I foresee with this design is that the opening is very wide, and could conceivably allow swirling air in, chilling my hands. I already have a stop-gap solution, though, in the form of binder clips, those ubiquitous office accessories. I'll just clip the opening down to whatever size allows me to get my hand in and out, but doesn't leave more room than that. That also solves the problem of how to keep the muffs on the bars, in case the velcro fails, or the wind catches them strangely (which I'm not actually very worried about). Putting my first muff on either side was pretty quick, and taking it off was very quick, just a matter of undoing the velcro strips down each side. The ballistic nylon is supposed to be waterproof, but I'll probably help it along with a nice coat of Scotch Gard before I make any real tests, just so I don't have to worry too much about the whole thing getting waterlogged if it starts raining. Now I just have to get some more thread, put the finishing touches on number one, and make number two. I think I have a winner. Posted at 23:54 permanent link category: /motorcycle Fri, 04 Nov 2005
I spent some time recently researching new tires for the Z750s. The problem is, what do I possibly replace them with? There are literally dozens of choices out there, at least 5-10 of which come highly recommend and reviled depending on who you talk to. Generally, the contenders seem to be the Bridgestone BT020s (which I already have on the Le Mans, and know I like), the Continental Road Attacks, a few Pirelli models, the Dunlop D220, Avon Azaros... Are you confused yet? I sure am. I had initially settled on the Conti Road Attacks after reading only good things about it (a rare thing on the diverse Intarweb), but when I started calling to find prices locally, every shop I called said, "oh, I wouldn't go with those..." When pressed, they couldn't explain their reasoning beyond "I haven't heard good things about them," or "we've never sold one of those [so it must be no good]." That was kind of weird. I'd just go with the BT020s, since I already know them and like them, but then I read all these people saying things like, "and when I replaced those stone-like BT020s with an XYZ tire, it was so much better!" Although I like them, what if there's something that much better out there? Someone I respect a lot, Ian on the Ninja 250 board, absolutely raved about the Avon AV49/50s (aka Azaros) on his Honda Hawk. I liked the looks of them until I read another review, and the reviewer described them as having a twitchy lean-in, where they would suddenly fall into the corner. No actual problems, they held just fine, but it felt like they pulled you into the lean. This is probably the behavior I most hate in motorcycle tires, so that leaves them out (even looking at the picture, I could see they were fairly peaked in the center). So, after a bit of thought, I decided it would make more sense to just hang out and see what I can see with the stock tires. Maybe I was just nervous from the initial falling-over incident I had with the bike. Since I made that mental shift, I haven't felt them being nervous at all, but I also haven't been in any of the situations that caused the problem in the past. I guess I'll just ride on. A few hundred more miles should give me enough information (now that I'm paying attention) to know whether they're really slippery in wet conditions or not. Posted at 10:22 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. |