Tim’s Motorcycle Diaries – Page 11

DIY Garage Expansion Plans

I’ve always been tight for space in the the < 1 car garage I’ve currently converted into a bike hole:

It’s a good size as a workshop, but when I’m trying to store two bikes in there it gets awkward. The easiest fix would be some alternative storage for bikes. Using shipping containers to build a garage is a thing. There is a company nearby that sells them, though the prices aren’t public. They seem to go for two to four grand, which seems a lot for a metal box, but I’ve heard lower prices about.

A ten foot container next to the garage would look something like this:

With some driveway expansion and levelling I could connect it through the currently useless back door while making it a drive out storage shed. With the garage no longer having to hold bikes it could become what it’s a great size for: a workshop.

Another alternative is to just build an extension off the side of the existing garage wall:

The long, cold Canadian winter has me thinking about ways to make my limited space more usable.

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Motorcycle Haiku and Autumn Photography

motorcyclists blown
in the wind with fallen leaves
clinging to summer

On-bike photos using a Ricoh ThetaV 360 camera attached to the windscreen with a flexible tripod auto-firing a shot every few seconds…

Soon enough TMD will go back into Canadian Winter Hibernation Mode and it’ll be all mechanical repairs from under a foot of snow in here…

Over 20°C and very windy on Friday. Everyone was out, bikes blowing in the wind like leaves, clinging to the last breath of summer before the long dark swallows us for months. This year is particularly sinister with pandemics and second waves breaking over us. Canadian winters are inherently isolating, but this year doubly so. Look after yourselves.

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Track Days & Dirt Days

Two goals over the summer as far as biking goes: go to a track day and get in some off road experience. Fortunately I’ve got choices for both nearby:

That’s not too far!

1… Track Days: Grand Bend Motorplex does beginner track days at various times throughout the summer. I’m going to make a day where I can go down there and give the Ninja a workout in a track environment. It’ll be an early start, but if I can time the weather right it’ll be a great opportunity to develop more fluid riding and gently get a feel for how the bike handles in more extreme conditions. A hundred bucks doesn’t seem bad for a full day of track time.

If not Grand Bend then there are other options. Cayuga is $125 for a day and an hour and forty five minutes south through Hamilton. Mosport and Shannonville are both venues for Riderschoice.ca, who offer track days there. I haven’t been to Shannonville since I did the Nissan advanced driving school in the 1990s, it’d be nice to go back. Shannonville does their own track days, for $145 a day. Calabogie is way out Ottawa way, but it ain’t cheap, though the track is supposed to be fantastic.

2… Off Road Training: Yamaha Adventures is a lovely hour and a bit ride north of where I am. The full day package on their bike isn’t cheap ($329), but it would give me a chance to get a feel for off-road riding without the equipment overhead.

Trailtour also offers trials and dual-sport courses, both of which are cheaper alternatives, and they happen to be under an hour south of the family cottage. Trials riding is very technique intensive and would do a lot to improve my balance on any bike.

As many different experiences in as many different circumstances as I can manage, that’s the goal this year.

Dangerously Close to Hipster Cool

The Concours customization continues slowly. The (too short) Canadian riding season is staggering to a close, so I’m out on the Tiger whenever possible (3°C this morning). Soon enough the snow will fall, the roads will become salty nightmares and I’ll have lots of mechanical time on my hands. Today it’s a cold front coming through with high winds and torrential rain that has me in the garage instead of out on the road.

The front light is now prepared to go into the wiring loom, as is the rear one. Both front and rear are LED units so I’m having to make a few changes to get them happily connected to the twenty three year old loom. I’m going to mount the rear lights higher up under a rear cover that’ll also wrap up the back of the seat.

I’ve got basic framework in place – I’ll eventually paint it all flat black so it fades into the background, but for now I’m just leaving it metal coloured. I was originally going to get the body panels done in thin metal so it looks Mad Max-ish, but that doesn’t look likely to happen any time soon. I was watching Out of Nothing the other night and they said they’d taught themselves fibreglass body panel building, so I intend to do the same. I’ll work out the panels in bucks and then make fibre glass finished product; it’ll be a good project.

I’d originally tried a smaller coolant tank in the back, but it couldn’t handle the needs of the bike, so I’ve relocated the stock one under the back seat. With panels in place it’ll be all but invisible.

As much as possible I’m hoping to keep the bike looking mechanical and simple, but with some carefully sized fibreglass I should also be able to keep the ugly bits out of sight.

Up next is wiring in the lights and finishing the back end. After that it’s just making fibreglass. Two side panels for the back and the rear cowling for sure. The stock front fender is way too heavy looking, so I’ll be looking at options for that. I might do something strange to frame the radiator – that top rad hose is a natty looking thing.

The only mechanical part I’m looking for is a very basic instrument gauge. I’ve been collecting ideas on Pinterest, so eventually I’ll come across the ideal piece and grab it.

I heard once that Axl Rose bought a new Harley and had it customized so it looked old by adding patina to it. Only a rich person would do something so asinine. The Concours has had a long, hard life; it comes by its patina honestly. What I love about the bike is that it’s mechanically very sound (now). Rebuilt carb, rear hub, bearings, brakes – it’s new in all the right places, but you couldn’t tell from looking at it.

It’s getting to the point where this thing is starting to look dangerously hipster cool; I might have to grow a beard.

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There Are These People Called ‘Hipsters’

Hipsters with their coiffed hair and well tended beards (even the women)
ride their Scramblers to interesting places

I’ve been reading the somewhat baffled traditional motorcycle media’s reviews of the new Ducati Scrambler. With few exceptions these articles are being written by Baby Boomers who find the idea of “hipsters‘ to be very mock-worthy. That Ducati is aiming the Scrambler at a younger audience really seems to get up the nose of Boomers who are used to everything being about them.

Being a Generation Xer I’m skeptical of any kind of social organization and assume nothing is ever about me, but I also find that I have more culturally in common with other people of my generation than I do with any other social distinction (race, class, education, religion, politics, citizenship…). When living in Japan the GenXers we met had so many shared experiences with us that we just fell in together; the times in which you find yourself define you. If you’re looking for a review of social organization by birth cohort (generation) then this piece by The Social Librarian will catch you up. See if it doesn’t do a decent job of describing your generation.

I’m not sure why people can’t treat generational differences in the same way they treat cultural differences. You’d be a big jerk if you decided to travel around the world and spent all your time talking about how every other culture is stupid compared to yours, yet people don’t seem to hesitate when doing that about other generations. That Baby Boomers, themselves once torn apart in the media because of their newness, are now having a go at hipsters shows just how bad their memories are getting as they age.

At 3:16 you get a good look at how the media

inflamed this situation rather than reporting it

accurately. You’d think Boomers would remember…

As a bald forty something who can’t grow a nice beard, I still find that I enjoy hipster bike media even though I could never pull off the look…

If Hipsters make beautiful films and love riding,

then I think I’m a fan…

According to the urban dictionary, hipsters “value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.” What’s not to like about that? Unless you’re a cranky, old, conservative, Boomer motorcyclist who thinks that the pinnacle of motorcycle evolution is a Harley Fat Boy, you’d have to think it delightful.

Beards, hair product & old bikes…

Hipsters are one of the primary movers of the café racer resurgence. They enjoy looking back before the neo-liberal globalization that Boomers have brought us, I can get into that too.

Given a choice between hanging out with a bunch of Harley Boomers at a Tim Hortons or a group of Hipsters at an artisanal beer bar/gastro-pub, I know where I’d head.

I’m left thinking maybe motorcycle magazines need to diversify their writers instead of hiring all the guys they went to high school with in 1970. Maybe then anyone other than a Boomer might get a fair shake in print. In the meantime, go Ducati, go! A successful Scrambler means all those traditional, conservative motorcycle magazines will have to update their staff (maybe even hire someone born after 1965!), or face irrelevance.

The world moves on. Enjoy hipsters while they’re here, soon enough they’ll grow up and sell out like everyone else has (some first-class GenX skepticism there, eh?).

The desperate attempt to pry motorcycles from the well manicured hands of the hipster is ongoing…

Ancaster And Back Again

Elora to Ancaster and back again… about 160kms

Another weekend another good ride, this time to Ancaster and back for an edcamp. One again the Concours impressed with its ability to cover miles with ease.

It was about 6°C when I left at 7:30 in the morning, and up in the high teens when I came back mid-afternoon. Both ways was comfortable though behind the fairings, and the new jacket is light-years beyond the old one in terms of both warming and cooling.

I had a moment riding when I was flying through the air on the back of the bike realizing that there is nothing about doing this that I don’t enjoy. It was a windy day, the roads post Canadian winter look like a war zone and it was cold, but even with all that I was still stringing perfect moments together as I flew down the road. I had a moment before the big trip last week when I was wondering if I’m not taking too many risks riding with my son. What finally put me right was realizing that driving a car can end you as well, but we do that much more often and usually while paying less attention. I looked back one time as we were winding our way through Beaver Valley and saw Max with his arms out and eyes closed flying through the air behind me. I would have hated myself if I’d have never given him that experience. Riding might be dangerous, but competence and attention can go a long way in mitigating those risks, and the rewards are impossible to find in any other mode of transport.

The more I ride the Concours the better the engine seems to get. On the way home I stuck the phone behind the windshield and got the video below where you can hear the Concour’s happy noise.

Sulphur Springs Road – a better way in is on Mineral Springs Road, the top of Sulphur Springs is rough!

Mineral Springs Road on the way back, it’s still Ontario bumpy, but it ain’t dirt and it is twisty!

Back up in Centre Wellington, the Concours takes a break where I took the first road pic of my former bike

I always thought that the Ninja was a delight to rev, but the throaty howl of the Concours in full song is hard not to fall in love with:

Flight of the Concours

… with musical accompaniment by Takeshi Terauchi & The Bunnies!

Riding the Roman Empire

Across the top of the Mediterranean over two weeks.

This time of year always feels like about as far from a ride as I’ll get. It’s in the minus twenties outside and it’s been snowing for days straight. Time for some cost-no-object daydreaming…

If I jumped on a plane late in the evening on Friday, December 22nd at the beginning of our holiday break, it’s a long slog because there is no direct flight to Athens, but I would eventually get there on Saturday afternoon. A night in Athens and then I could begin a long ride in a warm climate across the north coast of the Mediterranean on Christmas Eve, passing through the heart of the Roman Empire on my way west to Lisbon for a flight in time to go back to work.

I have to be back at it on Monday, January 8th. There is a direct flight from Lisbon, Portugal back to Toronto on the Saturday before. Could I get from Athens to Lisbon in thirteen days?

It’s about four thousand kilometers through Greece, Italy, France and Spain to Portugal. That works out to an average of just over three hundred kilometres per day which means plenty of time to stop and see things or a big day of riding followed by a day off. Because it’s Europe there are always autostradas to make up time if needed. It appears Athens to Lisbon is a very doable two week ride.

Here’s a possible day by day breakdown with a couple of days off. All the maps are highway averse, looking for local roads and the time it takes to ride them. Should things get backed up, big highway miles could happen to make up lost time:

Here’s a link to the spreadsheet with working links to maps.

There are a couple of longer days in there, but there are also two days off completely and some short, half days of riding. There is plenty of time to stop and soak things in en-route to our western return point.

My weapon of choice for this trip would be the new Triumph Tiger Explorer I’m crushing on, in matt cobalt blue. Tall Tigers fit me well and this one is perhaps the best one ever made. As a cross countries mover there is little that can beat it, and that new blue is a lovely thing. I think I’d do a burnt orange on the engine guards and pannier logos. I’d also redo the badges in matching orange.

The new Tiger Explorer is 24 pounds lighter than the old one, gets better mileage and has a host of advanced features that make an already good long distance bike better. The big three that powers it would comfortably carry a passenger if I could convince anyone to do this with me. If we’re touring two up I’d luggage it up and make sure we could carry everything with us, but if I was solo I think I could just get by with the panniers and leave the back end looking less luggage-y.

Outfitting it with luggage and a few odds and ends from the extensive options catalogue is always fun. I only got myself into four thousand dollars of trouble there:

The solo, lighter Tiger looks a treat.

Expedition Aluminium Panniers – Waterproof Inner Bags Pair $160.00
Engine Bars – Black $364.99
High Rider Comfort Seat $340.00
Heated Passenger Seat $535.02
Quick Release Tank bag $131.57
LED Fog Lights $555.00
Adventure Tail Bag $295.00
Aluminium Radiator Guard $84.99
Expedition Pannier Mounting Kit $450.00
Expedition Panniers – Black $1,265.00

In a perfect world I’d get my Tiger shipped from my garage in my England house to the Triumph Dealer in Athens where I’d pick it up on December 23rd. I’d drop it off at the Triumph dealer in Lisbon on January 6th and either convince my cousin to ride it back to the UK or get it shipped back.

I’ve got the kit needed to do this now, but having a look at the latest European gear, I think I’d spring for a new helmet to do this ride with. The Roof Carbon is a piece of industrial art that gives me the benefits of a closed face when I need it and an open face when I’m in need of some wind. The iridium face shield would make this thing look like something out of battle of the planets.

Since it’s a daydream, it ain’t cheap. I’d fly business there and back, so flights are north of seven grand. Getting the bike delivered wouldn’t be cheap, assuming it was waiting for me in Europe to begin with. But hey, if you can’t daydream big, why daydream at all?

NOTES:

Sat Dec 23 to Sat Jan 6

13 full days + 1/2 a day on each end

~4000kms – 307kms / day

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2015 North American International Motorcycle Show

This was my son and I’s second go around at the big, messy NAIMS. It feels more like a jumble sale than a bike show, but we have a good time storming around the International Centre in Mississauga.

This show’s best attribute is its timing. Just as everyone is getting snowed in and a bit stir crazy along comes this ludicrously large motorbike extravaganza to satisfy all appetites.

We did it backwards this year, wandering around the clubs and smaller vendor hall before pushing through the big halls and finally getting to see the custom bikes (we missed Hall 5 last year).

It was nice to talk face to face with a fellow CoGer (they had a stand). It makes me want to get out to one of their local meetings. That they don’t dress like pirates (which seems to be a thing with many of the other clubs) ingratiates them to me even more.

Ironically, both times we’ve purchased things at this show we’ve done it from Two Wheel Motorsports, our local dealer. One of the instructors from my motorcycle licensing course works there and he always remembers me, which is some good customer service. This time around I stumbled upon an armoured jacket that happened to have my initials on it. $100 for a $270 retail jacket? Nice. My son also got some iron man coloured leather gloves ($50 retail, twenty bucks at the show) that he was very happy with.

NAIMS is definitely good for shopping, though many of the larger retailers there didn’t seem to be offering prices much different than on their webpages. It’s also pretty much the same gear over and over again. If you’re looking for something a bit off the beaten path (like ROOF helmets?) then you’re outa luck.

The custom show in Hall 5 out back was full on bizarre. Some beautiful paint on some plain ridiculous bikes, Hall 5 is where the pirates with disposable income go!

We enjoyed the show, but once again, grumpy old men selling Victory Motorcycles growled at my son when he tried to sit on one… it’s always a good idea to bring a bike to a show and not expect anyone to sit on it. Once again, Kawasaki and Harley were the only two manufactures that showed up and provided bikes you’re expected to sit on.

The Toronto Motorcycle Show comes along in February down at the CNE. That’s the one you want to aim at if you want to actually sit on bikes. We’ll be there ready to sit on everything!

Sonny Barger’s Let’s Ride

I just started Sonny Barger’s Let’s Ride. I have to admit, I’d never heard of him prior to picking up the book. He’s evidently quite famous for uncovering the Hell’s Angels in the 1970s in the U.S..

I’m only a couple of chapters in, but he is a straight talker who doesn’t come off as weirdly particular about his motorbiking. He’s as hard on Harleys as he is on European or Japanese bikes. If you’re looking for an honest, knowledgeable review of motorcycling over the last half century in North America, this will do it for you.

I just got through his description of the British and North American failure to respond to the Japanese motorcycle invasion of the early 1970s. He pulls no punches and his insight describes the sense of superiority and apathy that was rampant in non-Japanese motorcycle companies at the time.

Barger is an American patriot at heart, even if it means he had to spend three miserable decades riding under-engineered Harley Davidsons. I sympathize with his loyalties, but don’t share them. I appreciate how he keeps saying that my own priorities in riding may be different from his. He offers advice without limiting your ability to express your own interests in riding. Sonny is a big ‘merican bike fan, but he understands that people come to biking from a variety of angles.

One of my earliest motorbike memories was sitting out on this corner when I was six or seven watching a parade of old Triumphs, Royal Enfields and Vincents power through town.

Myself, I’m a complicated guy. I’m a Brit who emigrated to Canada when he was eight years old and then paid off all his student loans by working in Japan. I’ve been living outside of my native culture for so long I’m not even sure what it is any more. My earliest memories are of watching old British bikes thumping down the road outside my grandparent’s house in Sheringham.

As a teen in Canada I was a giant anime nerd and loved Japanese motorcycle culture. My dream bike was a Honda Interceptor because it reminded me of Robotech mecha.

So how do I take Sonny’s advice? With the realization that I’m getting into motorcycling from a very different direction than he did, and he seems OK with that. I’m still finding his experience and explanations of biking to be very informative.

I’m enjoying the book so far, Sonny has a great writer’s voice (especially when he goes off the deep end and gets really opinionated). If you want a book that offers you an inside look at motorcycling, Let’s Ride is an enjoyable, informative read.

Rear hub gaskets & Moto Guzzi’s MGX21 Flying Fortress

I was at Two Wheel Motorsport yesterday dropping off the Concours’ rear hub to get the inner gasket re-done. The rear hub comes off easily enough, but the Clymer’s manual said that with the special tools required as well as how much a pain in the ass it is to evenly heat up the hub housing to remove the inner plate (you can’t use a torch, it’ll warp it), this might be one of those times when DIY is more trouble than it’s worth.

Looking at the cost I was in for nearly $200 for two tools I’d probably only ever use once, and they’re rare enough that you can’t rent them. Between that, the heating bit (they suggest maybe using a hot plate), and the fiddly nature of the internal components which have to be shimmed just right or you end up with a very clunky drivetrain, this seemed like a good time to make use of a professional. Two Wheel said they could do the job for about $250 taxes in.

The dangerous part about visiting your local dealer is walking through the rows of new machinery. On my way out they had a flock of Moto Guzzis, which I have to admit I have a soft spot for after reading Melissa Hobrook Pierson‘s The Perfect Vehicle.

As I wandered down the aisle, looking at everything from modern adventure tourers to stripped down cafe styled Guzzis, a young salesman appeared. I’d been reading about the not at all shy and retiring Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress in Motorcycle Mojo and wondered if they had one. It just happened that they did, down the end of the row. He pulled it out for us to have a look at…

If you’ve read anything about my time with motorbikes you’ll know that cruisers and their bagger derivatives are about as interesting to me as a plate of spam, but these recent European designed bikes, while heavy, can still actually lean into corners and are surprisingly usable.

There is nothing about the MGX-21 Flying Fortress, so named because it was inspired by the American World War II bomber (an odd choice considering said bombers probably dropped ordinance on and around the Moto Guzzi factory), that is subtle. The enormous bat-wing fairing, acres of carbon fibre and those big opposing air cooled cylinder heads poking out of it all just in front of your knees make for an over the top look at me statement; this is a machine for extroverts.

As a big guy I find that most machines are tight in the knees and generally look too small for me. I even look like I fill up the tall Tiger, but Guzzi’s Fortress looked and felt like it fit. The salesman said that like so many heavy but well balanced machines, the moment you start moving the weight seems to disappear.

This big, black Guzzi makes a unique statement. You can find similarly styled American bikes, but they don’t have this red-headed Italian’s European flair. At nearly twenty-four grand you’re going to have to be well off or really wanting to make that statement in order to get onto one.

No one does fashion and beauty like the Italians, and this new Guzzi, while seemingly an odd choice for the venerable Italian builder, exudes charisma and charm. If I had my own version of Jay Leno’s garage this Lombardy beauty would be in there for those rare days when I want to put myself on a pedestal.

It certainly is.
Even if it’s not your thing, have a look. Like an Italian Comtessa, she might be out of your league but a joy to behold.

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