Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
I asked the question over on hpsidecars.com (a high-performance sidecar site, where they're also quite generally knowledgable about sidecars in general). The overwhelming concensus was that my bike has lots of life left in it, and replacing the Goldwing with a "newer" one would be a fairly fruitless waste of time and money. Good enough for me.
The Goldwing hasn't been showing any signs of trouble. I was just looking at the odometer and thinking to myself, "jeez, I know these are sturdy bikes, but 75 thousand miles with a sidecar has got to be hard on a bike." Apparently, I'm underestimating the Goldwing.
Back to the regularly scheduled program.
I'm still not serious about selling the Z to get another Ninja 250, but the idea persists. I'm going to keep the Z for a year. If, in early September this year I'm still thinking seriously about trading it all in for a Ninja 250, I'll do it. As much as I can't stomach the crappy gas mileage on the Z, the potential of $1000-1500 depreciation over the course of a few months sits even less well. Was that English?
Posted at 14:38 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Arg, feeling just a trifle frustrated today.
I stumbled randomly across MotoPort clothing today, particularly their Air Kevlar jacket. I was interested to see that they had an "independent report" on the abrasion resistance of different fabrics. I eagerly clicked the link, and found a poorly edited PDF with some reasonable looking claims. And down at the bottom, where I was expecting to see "Tests conducted by XYZ Lab" and some contact information, there was... nothing. No, no second page, either. This was a completely unattributed interpretation of a lab report.
My interest at this point was basically piqued, rather than enraged. I called, and spoke with someone (probably Wayne, the owner), and we ended up chatting for about 20 minutes. In the course of the conversation, he completely dissed the Aerostich I normally wear, along with nearly every article of textile motorcycle clothing other than MotoPort clothing. That's probably an unfair characterization, but that's what it felt like.
He also basically said that no one likes a one-piece suit, and that everyone who's gone from an Aerostich to his two-piece suit is so much happier. He cited a few reviews, one on Advrider.com, and one on WebBikeWorld.com. I read through them, and while I agree that the Motoport gear sounds like good stuff, it doesn't sound like an improvement for me.
The more I thought about this, the more frustrated I got. Particularly that one on WBW, which had me thinking, "ok, yes, poly- anything is plastic and could melt, but does that mean it will?" All the assumptions in these reviews got me really riled up.
Part of the reason I'm so riled, as I think about it, is that I've spent the last ~6 years thinking that Aerostich was the absolute pinnacle of motorcycle gear, and here sneaks up this other company quietly claiming that, actually, they are the pinnacle, and Aerostich is just a slickly marketed pretender. So, did I spend $800 on a suit for nothing? Was I duped into buying a pile of crap which will be as protective as tissue paper?
The answer is no. A resounding and definitive no. Self-delusion? Could be, but hear me out. Motoport's claims are based on lab tests. Fine, but do those lab tests have any bearing on reality? Ok, 500 denier Cordura (which is what most of the Aerostich suit is made from) has a 22 pound tear strength, on the test machine. Does that mean I'll ever see that in a real-world situation? No freakin' clue! Great, 1000 denier (the reinforced bits on the Aerostich) is "stronger than leather" according to both Motoport and Aerostich. Great. Do I need stronger than leather? No freakin' clue! Probably not. As I wrote in my sander test article, you can get super duper protection, but you don't really need it. All you need is enough protection to keep your skin off the pavement in one crash. Hooray, the Motoport gear is licensed for road racing in Europe. So? Am I road racing in Europe?
On top of all this frustration, I left work today, and hopped on the Z750s to head home. Traffic was frustrating. I was riding a bit differently, trying to keep the engine above 4000 RPM to test a gas mileage theory. Then it hit me: why am I freaking out about this bike's gas mileage? I shouldn't have to worry about it!
I loved the Ninja 250. It got reasonable to great gas mileage depending on how it was ridden. The Z gets down into the sidecar bike's range, which is really not acceptable. So I'm trying Stupid Riding Tricks to get the gas mileage up. Why? Why? It's better than the Le Mans for gas mileage (with about the same real-world performance), but that's like saying that a Hummer H2 guzzles less gas than a Hummer H1. Neither one is a good representative in a gas mileage contest.
Right now, I'm about that far from selling everything and buying a Ninja 250. I'm not going to, because I know this feeling will pass, but boy am I pissed off and frustrated right now.
I'm sick and tired of struggling over what's right, and what's the best thing. I had almost the perfect bike, and I sold it. I have a nearly perfect suit, and there's no reason I should get rid of it in favor of anything else.
Posted at 18:41 permanent link category: /motorcycle
I wanted to mention that my new helmet (a Shoei X-11)is now
fitting much better. It only took a week or two until it started
fitting quite well, and now it's to the point that it feels perfect.
It's still tight, but it's no longer uncomfortable.
I haven't really had a chance to test the airflow, since it's supposed to be really good. I'll report on that when it's not 45° F outside... The noise level is definitely higher in this helmet than the Arai Quantum/f, and the Quantum was louder than the RF800 before it. Earplugs are definitely a good idea. Interestingly, I don't find that there's much wind noise, it's more like I'm hearing more of the outside world. There's less sound insulation.
Getting used to the Shoei-isms wasn't too hard, although I still react to some things, like opening the faceshield just a little, like I'm wearing the Arai.
Unfortunately, this helmet seems even more prone to fogging than either the RF800 or the Quantum/f. I have no idea what it is, but every helmet is getting worse about fogging. This is even with the FogCity liner installed. Part of it is that my glasses are fogging, but previous helmets were better at this, too. If I fully close up the X-11, I get fogging from my breath up to about 30 MPH, where others would clear consistently if I was moving much at all. I'm sure temperature, humidity, and the Z750s's fairing all impact that, but it's frustrating. One of the claims of the X-11 was improved fog resistance thanks to clever venting. Not really, on that one.
On the up side, the X-11 seems much less prone to throwing tiny bits of road grit into my eyes than the Arai did. That's a change I really appreciate. There's nothing like having a tiny, sharp piece of sand stuck in your eye to completely distract you from driving safely.
I'll keep posting occasional updates as they occur to me. Rest assured I'll have comments about venting and airflow come summer, when I'll really want it to be working.
In other news...
The Z keeps getting worse gas mileage. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've been careful to keep the revs down, although that leaves me shifting clumsily; I seem to shift far better when progressing briskly through the gears. Unfortunately, that seems like it should guarantee bad gas mileage as well, so I'm kind of flummoxed on how to treat the bike.
I was in a hurry the other day, and was revving the engine higher into its range. It occurred to me all of a sudden that, in my eagerness to improve gas mileage (down to just under 32 so far), I was riding the bike at around 10% of its potential. My getting on the gas that night represented about 40% of its potential.
But if I'm running at 10% (just under normal riding on a Ninja 250, at a guess), and getting 31-35 MPG.... why? Why? Why? Why do I have this fancy new bike which can go a million miles per hour? Why did I spend all that money on a new bike, just to ride it like a crippled Ninja 250? On that Ninja 250, I was getting 42 MPG minimum, and having a blast riding the bike at 80% of its potential most of the time.
I know why, but the reasons are all logical, not emotional. The emotional side of my riding nature is getting squelched in favor of all the rational stuff. The new bike is built for people my size. It's got enough power to be safer on the freeway. It has a catalytic converter. It's fuel injected, and is a nice, modern design. But on the other hand, I'm riding it like I'm scared of it (true in more ways than just twisting the throttle). I'm not scared of it, I'm scared of hurting my dwindling fuel economy, or having a tire slip. (The tires still feel nervous to me, and don't make me want to corner with any authority.) I can't open the throttle without slamming into a speed limit or another vehicle on the road.
I still like the bike. I mean, I get on, I start the motor, and I enjoy the feeling of riding the bike down the road. But I enjoy it less than I did the Ninja (before it started creaking and making me fear frame failure). Part of it is the fuel economy, part of it is that I dropped the bike in the first week, part of it is the squirrely tires. Part, I'm sure, is the atrocious seat, which I still haven't fixed 2300 miles later.
None of this is to say that the Z will be up for sale any time soon, but I find myself nearly constantly wondering why I don't just sell it and get a new Ninja 250. I liked the Ninja 250 a lot, before it started creaking. My only real substantial beef with the 250 is that it feels a tad anemic on the freeway. Despite that, I took it down to Portland and back, and I'd do it again. I didn't really like the 80 MPH section on I-5, but I did it, and it wasn't awful.
So yeah. None of this should be taken as any kind of action-oriented talk. I'm just thinking out loud. Speaking of thinking, I'm thinking that next, I'll try keeping the revs up on the Z, and see if I can get better gas mileage that way. Maybe below 5k RPM is actually lugging the engine enough to waste gas.
Posted at 17:35 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Arg. I just found this ad on Craigslist:
1983 Honda Goldwing - $3500 1983 Honda Goldwing with trailer Mint condition. Call Jim 425-712-9726
Why arg, I hear you say? Well, I called this Jim, and I spoke with him. If he's telling the truth, that is exactly the bike I want to replace the current Goldwing in the sidecar rig.
The current Goldwing is in surprisingly good condition, but it's got 87k miles on it. That's not a lot for a solo Goldwing, but it's a lot for a sidecar bike. Sidecars put a lot of stress on a bike, what with the asymmetrical forces and extra load.
So, I've been thinking almost since before I got my current hack that it might make sense to find a nice Goldwing of the same vintage, and swap all the sidecar gear over to it. It would be a big job, but probably not more than a couple weeks of dedicated after-work wrenching (he said hopefully).
Of course, as long as I was taking everything apart and switching it over, I'd want to clean it up and repaint parts... So, it wouldn't just take a couple of weeks, if I wanted to do it right. It would take a month or two of dedicated work (part of that time simply due to paint drying and whatnot). That doesn't include painting any bodywork, which I'd still like to do some day.
So, it would take a lot of work, and in the end, I would still have a 23+ year old rig. Not to mention the initial $3500 outlay (ameliorated somewhat by being able to sell the current bike for ~$1000 or $1500). But it would be a much better 23+ year old rig, and still far cheaper than getting a modern good sidecar rig (I'm thinking of the Hannigan Bandito specifically, at about $21k). I would have to spend over $10k beyond the purchase of this $3500 Goldwing to equal the price of the Hannigan, but the Hannigan is a better rig in many many ways (although arguably less "cool" from a retro-appreciation standpoint).
I have to ponder this.
Posted at 16:03 permanent link category: /motorcycle
The issue of reliability occurred to me last night, as I was riding
the Z. I realized that my ominous predictions that I would never trust
the Z again were unfounded. I've been riding it with my normal level
of confidence. That's good, it would be silly to shelve the bike just
because one piece of wire was routed wrong on assembly.
Unfortunately, the Goldwing isn't giving me such warm-n-fuzzy feelings. The starter has been acting up for the last few weeks, and I have a feeling it's not going to last much longer. It's been displaying all the classic signs: running sluggishly when warm; solenoid failed to kick in recently; running sluggishly when cold. I'm going to have to read up on how much utter asspain is involved in fixing this problem (ie, replacing the starter).
Posted at 11:59 permanent link category: /motorcycle
People have been talking on the Ninja 250 board about adding
acetone to the gas tank (a tiny amount, half an ounce for the 4 gallon
tank) in order to aid in keeping the carbs clean. Curious about this,
I spent a minute searching for other articles or websites about the
practice, to see if other people have had luck getting/keeping their
carbs clean with this method.
I found this article and was surprised to suddenly find myself in a world of bogus-sounding claims about increased fuel mileage and how THE MAN DOESN'T WANT US TO KNOW ABOUT IT! (Ok, not quite that wild-eyed, but it skirts the border of that territory.)
So, I'm going to try adding a bit of acetone to the Goldwing, to see if it has any positive or negative effects. I'm already keeping close track of my mileage (via the lovely and free Fuel Record for PalmOS), so we'll see if it makes any substantial difference. I'd love better gas mileage, but my original thought was, "hey cool, maybe I can get the Goldwing's intake tract cleaned out even better." That's really my goal. If I get extra gas mileage, cool. But if I don't have to take the carbs off the Goldwing and scrub them out with carb cleaner and an eye to extreme detail? Woo!
I'll report back, although it'll take a little while. I don't find myself aboard the Goldwing all that much these days.
Posted at 11:22 permanent link category: /motorcycle
I finally got a chance to wash my suit. My goodness. It's been a
while.
This time, I'm trying the following method:
It feels a touch excessive, but I'd really like to get the suit waterproof again, and I think the two things keeping me from getting that effect are excess oil/dirt left over despite washing, and excess detergent left over in the suit after washing. Thus all the wash then all the rinse cycles.
Hopefully, the final result will be a suit which is nicely waterproof for more than a few weeks.
I noticed, while I was busy taking the pads out of the suit, that they're all breaking down and crumbling, so I suspect it's time to replace them. Fortunately, a full set of pads is "only" $60. For some reason I'd thought they were over $100, so to see $60 was kind of a relief.
Posted at 16:31 permanent link category: /motorcycle
I was just discussing and pondering the concept of tiered access
motorcycle licensing. This is something I've been thinking of for a
while, probably several years. I always figured I was alone in my
interest in this subject, and was therefore surprised to find this:
Tiered licensing: reader responses from motorcycledaily.com.
Most interesting!
The thought which has occurred to me, which I haven't seen mentioned yet, would be to base the tiers not on horsepower or engine displacement, but on power:weight ratio. This would have a number of interesting effects.
First, it would mean that someone wanting to get a Sportster 883 (relatively low HP, relatively high weight), would be able to do so in the first years of ownership. The ratio of power to weight is completely independent of absolute horsepower or weight or engine displacement -- it has everything to do with how fast the bike will rocket you into the next state, though.
Second, it would provide an incentive for motorcycle manufacturers to stop inflating their HP and deflating their weight numbers. Right now, most manufacturers do whatever they can to make the HP of a motorcycle look as high as possible -- measure at the crank, strange lubricants, etc. They post that number prominently in the marketing materials, and it can be a deciding factor for some buyers.
Similar story with weight. They post a "dry weight" which is impossible to achieve with a production motorcycle. Does it include the battery? Does the battery have electrolyte? Fork oil? Brake fluid? No one knows. The dry weight is always this impossibly low number, but again, it makes the bike look better, and some buyers may make a decision based on the number.
But if the HP is high, and the weight is low, then the power:weight ratio will be high, probably artificially so. If the P:W is high, then the bike is out of reach of the tiered license holder. Hold on for a second, the manufacturers might say. If we publish the rear wheel horsepower (typically 10-15 HP less than crank HP) instead, and give the curb (ie, fully-fueled and in a real-world condition) weight, the P:W ratio goes down! It becomes accessible to more riders! We can sell more of them!
It's curious logic, but I think it might work.
Of course, the problem with all this is that the first (and most selfish) thought that spurred this interest was a desire to see more 250-500cc bikes in the country. Those bikes won't necessarily have the lower P:W ratio that would meet the license restrictions, so no one would necessarily have any incentive to import them.
Hmm. That's no good. (Yes, I'm being slightly silly, but bear with me.)
How about a system where the first tier is a displacement limit, like 400cc, and the next tier is a P:W ratio limit? That might be the best of both worlds, although it starts to get complex. A P:W ratio limit is difficult to legislate, since you have to define which numbers to use (ie, manufacturer numbers? measured numbers? who does the measuring? how do you pay for the (necessarily standardized) measurement?).
Another wrinkle, raised by one of the commenters in that link I mentioned above, is that anything mandated which would decrease interest in motorcycling is likely to be a death-knell for motorcycles. Motorcycle owners are, on average, aging pretty quickly, which means that we're not getting a lot of fresh blood in the form of young riders. If we do anything which kills off interest in riding a motorcycle, that process will likely accelerate.
It's an interesting problem, and one I'm going to continue thinking about.
Posted at 11:34 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater