May 2015 – Mechanical Sympathy

Road Trip Insanity

May 30, 2015April 4, 2017 By Timothy King

Over thirteen hundred kilometres in two days? Bring the pain! I'm still looking for a DRZ-400. I just found one way up in Thunder Bay. Here's a stupid but interesting idea: fly up Friday, pick up the bike Saturday morning and ride it home by Sunday night. Leave Saturday morning…

MotoGP vs. Formula 1

May 24, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

A very expensive traffic jam I just finished watching the F1 parade in Monte Carlo. Watching the massive, modern F1 cars (so wide they practically fill the road) following each other through the streets of Monte Carlo reminded me why I've been watching MotoGP instead. It's not uncommon to see…

Money To Burn Wish List

May 23, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

Another wish list... we were talking about what we'd do with a lotto win while camping last weekend. I'd be aiming to expand into road racing and off road riding. Here's what my cost-no-object-moto-summer would look like.LOGISTICSI've been thinking about a Ford Transit van, Guy Martin style, but now I'm…

Cheaper Teachers for a Cheaper World

May 22, 2015February 10, 2017 By Timothy King

I'm reading The World Beyond Your Head, the latest from Shopclass As Soulcraft writer Matt Crawford. In this chapter he's been working out how experts manipulate their environment in order to expedite their mastery. How an expert arranges the space around them in order to perform allows non-experts a window into…

PW80 is Rolling!

May 20, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

A fully functional stable!After banging my head against a non-starting PW80 for the better part of two weeks I went back to basic troubleshooting.The one thing I changed prior to it dying entirely was the spark plug. The only NGK I could find was a BPR6HS, the bike is supposed…

Living On The Concours

May 13, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

It doesn't happen often, I'm usually the one taking the photos. A student of mine saw me riding in to school from her school bus. I've been riding the Concours for over a month now. It came to me with a broken speedo reading 25073 miles. Today it's 25784 on it…

The Magic of Motorcycles

May 12, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

My son is a pretty shy guy, but he's an instant celebrity on the bike. When we ride home kids who might not otherwise acknowledge him want a wave. The bike seems to produce fame on demand!On my way in this morning on the Concours a little girl went running…

This Month’s Wish List

May 12, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

This changes moment to moment, but based on bikes I've actually thrown a leg over, and the shear avalanche of reports on the Ninja H2, I've got a couple of new machines on my wish list.Sport Tourer: Honda VFR800It's a jewel like machine with beautiful finish. It'll run all day,…

A Honda Wander

May 5, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

Ah, to pretend to be Marquez... I finally found KW Honda today! It's hidden around back of the big Honda car dealer peddling bland people movers. If you head around back you find Repsol themed race bikes and jewel like VFRs. On a much needed lunch break from Skills Ontario…

Yamaha PW80

May 1, 2015January 17, 2017 By Timothy King

After doing a partial dismantling of my son's new (to us) '04 Yamaha PW80, I put it back together again and learned a valuable lesson in dirt bike ownership: always turn off the fuel tap. Other than carb pressure and gravity, there is nothing else stopping your garage from smelling…