Tim’s Motorcycle Diaries – Page 46

Tires & Wheels

The wheels are off the Concours. Tomorrow they’re off to school to have the tires off and the bearings pressed out, then it’ll be over to Erin for some wheel magic at Fire Ball Coatings. If this goes well Fire Ball are going to be my go-to for advanced paint treatments.

In the meantime I’ve been going over the bits and pieces, getting it cleaned up. I suspect I might be the first person into the rear drive hub in many moons.

The Bridgestone on the front was manufactured in November, 2007 – that’s eight years and two months ago! Ipads weren’t invented when this tire was made! I’m not experienced or fussy enough to tell the difference between new and old/mismatched rubber, but I hope new tires are going to transform this bike’s handling.

The rear Dunlop was manufactured in March, 2011 – four years and nine months ago. Not as bad as the Bridgestone but having two different branded tires on the bike isn’t ideal either.

Even though the Dunlop is almost five years old and I have put 10,000 miles on it (plus whatever the guy before me did), it’s still got the rubber nipples on it – that’s one tough tire.

Removing the rotors was a pretty straightforward process. I aim to clean them up and maybe paint them or at least clear coat the middles before putting them back on.

I saw a TV show on current bike customizing trends and they said they had Axel Rose came in and bought a ‘distressed’ Harley – a new bike that is scuffed up to give it character (patina in the tongue of customizers). I come by my patina more honestly.

The cover inside the drive side of the rear rim – pretty grimmy, but getting cleaned up.

The rubber weighted piece under this cover (and the cover itself) were in there good, it took
a fair bit of cleaning and wiggling to get the cover out.

The shaft drive with the rim off. Doesn’t look too bad. I’ll give the rear sub frame a clean and lube while everything is off.

Concours ZG1000 looking like something out of Star Wars,
and ready for a hover conversion!

Candy gold on the left looks pretty spectacular, but my old warrior is getting the plain gold. Fire Ball Coatings has me
thinking about a project bike that I could really bling out though: power coated frame, candy coated rims… the works!

The Toronto Motorcycle Show 2016

A 10°C day meant a number of people stole a ride over to the
show… in February!

Despite a rather miserable experience at the ‘Supershow’ in January, I went to the Toronto Motorcycle Show yesterday and it reminded me why this is my favourite show.

After NOT having to line up for ten minutes just to get into the parking lot, and NOT having to line up for forty minutes to get tickets, and NOT having to line up for another half an hour to get in the door, we immediately found ourselves on the show floor sitting on bikes and chatting with people.

When you’re done,
you’re downtown!

Yes you have to pay for parking, but the ticket prices are similar and you can buy them online without worrying about having your information stolen. There are still deals available at this show on accessories, but the real focus of this one are the manufacturers themselves. Everyone attends this event (unlike the Harley/Kawasaki only ‘Super’ show). I got to sit on Ducatis, Indians and Triumphs, as well as every other major manufacturer. And when you’re done you’re downtown in Toronto. We met up with family, had dinner and went to the Aquarium after. When you wander out into the airport/industrial wasteland around the International Centre all you want to do is get as far away as possible.

Inside, the show itself is laid out well with wide aisles so you aren’t waiting for clumps of people to filter through (the line ups never ended in January!). With that many manufacturers on display you get to see a broad range of machines and talk to people from all brands.

This is the kind of professionally run show I’m not embarrassed to bring my wife to. I’ll be back next year. This one is a keeper.

This is the show to sit on a Triumph! The new Bonneville T120 in this case.

Kawasaki had the H2 and the H2R on display!

… and the Anniversary Ninja.

Number one of thirty!

How do you get my wife, a non-rider with a Master’s degree out to look at bikes?
Put on a professional show like the Toronto Motorcycle Show!

Bimmer browsing. Like Harley, BMW know how to put on a show.

The Africa Twin… finally! Nowhere to be seen in January, but on display at the Honda stand here (it’s surprisingly tall).

The bike she adores: the Indian Scout.

The difference between Dani Pedrosa and I on a Honda race bike? He doesn’t look like a circus bear on a trike.

Once again, the bat-bike like Honda NM4 was Max’s dream machine.

The show is on again today – if you’re in the GTA on this Sunday afternoon wondering what to do, a trip down to the CNE for the Toronto Bike Show is a good idea.

Motorcycling & Autism

Originally published on Tim’s Motorcycle Diaries in March, 2014.

In 2004 my wife and I had our son Max. At the age of three his daycare provider was wondering about his reactions to sudden loud noises and encouraged us to have him in for assessment. This was a difficult process for me, I didn’t want him labelled and pigeon holed for the rest of his life, but at the age of seven he was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.

Autism presents in an astonishing number of ways. In Max’s case he’s hyperlexic, and has many of the social cues you’d associate with autism (lack of eye contact, nervousness around strangers, generally missing social cues). Encouraging Max into activities that other kids would leap at was always tricky. We tried soccer for a year, but it wasn’t his thing; Max does things in his own way. When we started him on a bicycle he was slow to get into it and then wouldn’t take the training wheels off. After an intensive week last summer with Kid’s Ability he was shooting around on two wheels.

We built him a bike (pretty much from scratch) and he’s been inseparable from it since. Last summer was, coincidentally, my first summer motorbiking. While I was fettling my bike, he was fettling his. I took him for a couple of short rides around town on the Ninja, but I was worried about how much attention he was paying on the back there.

This past weekend we took the bike down to Guelph on a sunny but cool Saturday morning. With the topbox (and backrest!) on, it was a lovely ride. I was no longer worried about him disappearing off the back.

He is very excited about the idea of riding which has me wondering about autism and motorcycling. I think he enjoys the anonymity a helmet gives him (something not uncommon in autistic people). In addition to the sense of anonymity is also the mechanical sympathy I see in a lot of autistic kids.

My day job is as a high school teacher of computer engineering and we have a high number of autistic kids in our program. I think they enjoy computers because they are consistent in ways that human beings simply aren’t. That consistency creates a trust in those kids; they can work with a computer and know that it won’t be bizarre, random or emotionally difficult. Some of my most focused, strongest students are on the spectrum and present a deep, nuanced understanding of technology.

Having a son who is autistic, I’ve moved from a professional relationship with autism to a much more personal one. When it’s your own son you start to see it in yourself as well. My own mechanical empathy has a lot to do with my seeing machines as more than a sum of their parts. Where I find people difficult, often frustratingly so, machines reward consistency and right action; I like them for that very reason, and suspect that my son does too.

I tried looking around online to see if there have been any links made between autism and motorcycling but I couldn’t find anything other than a lot of ‘rides for autism’. The immersive nature of motorcycling fits nicely with the hyper-focus many autistic people are able to demonstrate. You get to be anonymous inside your helmet and alone with your thoughts. On top of it all, motorcyclists seem to have an intense relationship with their rides, what many ‘normals’ would consider to be mere chunks of metal, or worse, pointless infatuations. A sympathetic if not empathic relationship with machines is a trait many motorcyclists and autistics seem to share.

I suspect there is a deep and lasting relationship between motorcycling and autism. I wonder that there is nothing written about this anywhere.

Gitchigoomee Iron Butt

I’d originally read about touring around Lake Superior and called it the Gitchigoomee Goaround. I figured it’d be a week of riding. I came across another motorbike blog where the guy was talking about doing it in 24 hours. It turns out that focused, long distance, intense rides have a club! The IBA.

It turns out that circumnavigating Lake Superior is 1673kms, which happens to be just over 1000 miles. Leaving and returning to The Sault and going south through Michigan and around Superior to Ontario again, it would be a two border crossing trip with an awful lot of winding lake-side roads in between. That would be an ironbutt you’d earn the hard way.

What better time to do it than Thanksgiving Day weekend (October 12-14) in Canada? If we met up at Sault Ste. Marie on Friday and prepped, we could leave early Saturday morning before sunrise when there is minimal traffic at the border. As the sun rises we’re already making tracks through Northern Michigan.

The route: Sault Ste. Marie and back to The Sault, 1039 miles in 24 hours!

44 miles per hour (70 km/hr) average speed is needed, so packing in fifty miles per hour (80km/hr) gives you the wiggle room to stop for things like gas, or peeing, or eating, or a cat nap.

In a world of perfect efficiency with no road works, border crossings, traffic lights, mechanical considerations, weather, or traffic, keeping a steady 44 mph would be pretty easy. Doing it with all those things and the onset of a Canadian winter (along with early sunsets and late sunrises) raises the stakes.

I think I’d want to get in shape for this one. I was going to dare a buddy of mine to do it this year, but maybe this would be a better next year dare.

Update:

With next year in mind I’m adding in the weather this Thanksgiving weekend for Thunder Bay and Sault Ste Marie, which should give us an idea of what to expect. With showers on Saturday a Sunday to Monday run looks like it might have been the best bet. Cold at night, cool during the day, the right kit would be imperative. Leaving The Sault about 4pm so that the last hours are done in daylight on the afternoon of the next day. By the time we’re pushing east again the sun should be getting high in the sky so we’re not riding into it.

Sault weather days

Sault weather nights

Thunder Bay days

Thunder Bay nights

Warming up into the teens during the day, flirting with freezing over night.

Tim’s Ten Bike Wishlist

One of the pieces they had in the recent big 100th edition of Practical Sportsbikes was a 10 bike wishlist. Being a magazine focused on older sports bikes, that’s what their lists were. My wishlist is more wide ranging, covering everything from pre-war classics to the latest digital machines. There is a bit of 80’s representation, but it also has a pile of other bikes both old and new.

My dream list would lean heavily on the dreams…

Tim’s Ten Bike Wish List:

1) Granddad’s Coventry Eagle

I’ve talked about my Granddad’s Coventry Eagle previously. This particular wish involves me coming across old NG4743 in a barn and restoring it myself. Being able to restore and ride a bike that should have been in our family for multiple generations would be a moving experience. I saw some Coventry Eagles at the British Motorcycle Museum a couple of summers ago and got surprisingly emotional at the idea of riding one. The most magical one would be the one Bill owned. If you’re going to wish list, wish hard! I couldn’t begin to guess what this would cost as it probably doesn’t exist.

2) Kawasaki Z1000

There are a number of modern bikes that have caught my eye. A consistent choice has been the shamelessly anime inspired, Sugomi designed Kawasaki Z1000. New ones go for about fourteen grand Canadian. I’m partial to the orange one from a few years ago. There is a low mileage one in Drummondville, QC for about nine grand. As modern naked bikes go, this one is big enough to fit me and scratches every Robotech Cyclone anime dream I had as a kid. The only thing better would be if it could transform into battloid mode – and it looks like it might.

3) Honda VFR750F

Most of my 80’s bike fantasies revolved around the Honda Interceptor. The VFR-750F RC30 came up on many of the Practical Sportsbike lists as well; it’s an ’80s kid’s dream superbike. Because it hits that nostalgic twang, it’s now a collector’s item and an expensive proposition, but hey, this is a dream list! Something like this would allow me to maybe edge into vintage racing and track days, though both things are pretty thin on the ground in Ontario. The RC45 race bike derivative would be an even better choice for vintage track riding.

4) Yamaha XT500

Another nostalgic choice would be a twinshock trail bike that I could use in vintage off road events. I’ve thought about trying to get my father-in-law’s old Suzuki, but he sold it on and I’d probably end up paying more than it’s worth to get back. Thanks to Henry Cole and crew, I’ve got a soft spot for Yamaha XT500s. A restored XT would let me pursue silly things like classic enduro rallies and the V.I.N.C.E..

5) 1938 Triumph Speed Twin

With all the research into World War 2 I’ve been doing, the Triumph Speed Twin keeps coming up as a huge leap forward in two wheeled technology. If I were to own a pre-war bike, this would be a more likely dream choice. Perfect versions go at auction for $24k+ Canadian. I’d be happy with a less perfect bike that I could actually use.

6) 2019 Ariel Ace

The Ariel Ace is one of those bespoke and bizarre machines that could only exist for me on a dream bike list. Since first seeing the almost architectural design of the Ace’s girder front forks and trellis frame, I was smitten. The Ariel uses a stock Honda motor but is otherwise a custom machine that you can design to your own wishes. At £24,950,this is very much a dream list bike.

7) Kawasaki H2

The Kawasaki Ninja H2 supercharged superbike is an unbelievable piece of engineering. Since the first time I saw the state of the art processes Kawasaki uses to mold the supercharger to hearing it break the sound barrier while spinning, I was a fan. This dream bike is north of thirty grand, but it’d let me maybe see the dream of 200mph on two wheels, all while listening to that supercharger chirp.

8) CCM RAFBF Spitfire

CCM’s Spitfire custom model comes in a variety of styles, but my favourite is the classically styled Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund Spitfire. This 600cc customized thumper is a lightweight thing that looks like it would be a blast to ride on twisty roads. As a modern bike with classic styling, it would fill a niche in my dream garage that nothing else does. £18,000 isn’t cheap, but dream list, right?

9) Honda Goldwing Touring

Say what? A Goldwing? One of the functions of my dream bike garage would be to participate in as many different kinds of riding as possible. Of all the big touring bikes, Honda’s new, lighter Goldwing is the most capable all-round tourer there is, and it’s Honda bullet-proof. Another bike north of thirty grand, it’s something that would only be on a dream list, but it means I could take a happy pillion with me and tour like we mean it.

10) Husqvarna 701 Enduro

Husky’s 701 Enduro is an off-road capable bike that’ll also handle the roads needed to get you to the edge. This would be another one of those bikes selected to let me experience a specific kind of riding. The 701 only weighs a bit more than I do but is a big, capable off roader that would fit me, keep up with traffic when needed and still be able to off road. At about $14,000 Canadian, it isn’t a cheap dream off roader.

I feel like I’m missing a modern track day bike. A Honda Fireblade or Yamaha R1 would be on my shortlist for that duty, though with no Ducatis in the mix here, the new V4 Panigale R would probably win dream bike wishlist status over the more mundane Japanese choices. I might be convinced to swap the Z1000 out for that.

I’m also partial to weirdness, and a sidecar outfit would scratch that itch. I like older styled outfits, so a Royal Enfield or classic modern Triumph with a bullet sidecar would be a cool thing to add into the list, perhaps after swapping out the XT500. I only leaned toward the Goldwing as a touring option instead because you get to lean on the Honda.

Rather than go the Husky route, a stranger choice there might be getting a Lyndon Poskitt rally bike made. At thirty to sixty thousand Euro, they aren’t cheap, but that’s what a dream bike list is all about, right?

***

I’ve managed to cover a range of bikes from the early 1930s to the latest models. With a sweep of almost ninety years and what are some truly weird options, I hope I’ve managed to express just how diverse and strange my motorcycling proclivities have become. My final list would include bikes manufactured in England, Japan and Europe and range in price from pretty accessible to pretty much unattainable.

If nothing else, a dream bike list lets you stretch your expectations and expand your considerations around what you might ride. From doing the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride on my grandfather’s Eagle to seeing the wrong side of two hundred miles per hour on a supercharged dream machine, for me the dream stable is about opening up possibilities rather than creating a museum exhibit.

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Dipping a Toe in Georgian Bay

The plan:

The execution:

Why you going looking for the Niagara Escarpment: it’s the only place where you’re not riding on the crown of your tire all the time in Southern Ontario.

A bit windy, but otherwise perfect weather. 24°C in Elora down to 18°C on Georgian Bay in Thornbury; comfortable without ever being sweaty. The 360° shots are from a Ricoh Theta 360° Camera, the rest are taken from my Samsung S5 smartphone. Videos are at the bottom.

Getting ready for liftoff.

The wind fields of Shelburne

The look on my face when I’m about to ride up River Road out of Hornings Mills.

A thumbs up from Max, he likes the twisties.

A pheasant and baby! But you can’t see it due to poor resolution and lens distortion. The Theta is an interesting idea,
but even with giant, unwieldy files, it still has poor image quality.

Thornbury Harbour

Thornbury

Big sky on the never ending farm field ride home.

Another Tiger double take. There is another!

Smartphone pics:

Creemore for lunch at The Old Mill House Pub (never had a bad meal there)

The new adventurers (a Kawasaki Versys & Suzuki V-Strom), along with the Tiger
that has always been (mine’s 13 years older – made back before Ewan & Charlie did that thing)

A map of the good bits: https://goo.gl/maps/zpdGaSLMuy82

Coast to Coast to Coast

It can be done! Coast to Coast to Coast in Canada. It’s a monster ride though, over twenty thousand kilometres, all in the second biggest country in the world.

Leg 1: Go West Young Man

Starting from home in Southern Ontario I’d strike west up the Bruce Peninsula and over Manitoulin Island and up around Lake Superior. From there it’s a straight shot across the Prairies and then through Calgary into the Rockies. Through the Southern Rockies and Vancouver and then a ferry over to Vancouver Island and on to Tofino on the Pacific Ocean.

Leg 2: True North, all the way

Dempster Highway, North West Territories

From Tofino it’s back across Vancouver Island and then north up the coast before taking the ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert. The ride from Prince Rupert is where things start to get tricky. You’re on paved if very remote roads all the way up to the Dempster Highway and then it’s hundreds of kilometres up to the arctic circle and the mid-night sun. By 2016 they hope to have an extension of the highway all the way to Tuktoyaktuk on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, then it’ll really be coast to coast to coast.

Leg 3: Eastern Promises

After dipping a toe in the Arctic Ocean it’s back down the Dempster before striking east through Grande Prarie and Edmonton. The trip east retraces a bit of the Trans-Canada past Winnipeg before crossing Northern Ontario to Montreal. It’s then up the North Shore to Quebec City before crossing the St. Laurence and making the turn at Rivière du Loup and heading into New Brunswick. Crossing New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it’s then a ferry ride to Newfoundland for the final leg to Cape Spear, the eastern-most point in Canada.

I think I’d have to make a point of crossing Confederation Bridge on the way past just to have set foot in every province and every Territory you can ride to in Canada.

The round trip is over twenty thousand kilometres, all in Canada, crazy! Between higher kilometre days on highways and the lower mileage moments in the north, I’d hope to average 800kms a day. If I could keep that up it could be done in just under a month (27 days). Aiming at July of 2015, leaving on Canada Day (July 1st), I’d aim to be back home by July 31st, giving me four extra days in the mix to get the job done. Leaving at that time will also mean seeing the mid-night sun above the Arctic Circle.

At about $60 in gas a day (3 fillups), a conservative $100 for lodging and $40 a day in food, I’d have an operating budget of $6200. BC Ferries look like they’ll be about $260. To get on and off Newfoundland it looks to be about $180 in ferry costs. I’d land at Port Aux Basques and cross NFLD on the way to Cape Spear, but take the Agentia Ferry back directly to Sydney for the ride home. All in I think I’d be looking at about seven grand to cover the trip.

Bike-wise I think I’d be considering sport touring options. The vast majority of mileage would be on pavement, with only the push north on gravel. Tire-wise I’d start on street tires and then switch over to something more multi-purpose in Whitehorse for the ride to the Arctic. If John Ryan can go from Prudhoe Bay on an FJR, I don’t think I need to go full-SUV motorcycle with an adventure bike to get up to and back from the arctic. The rest is a high mileage ride on first world roads. I’d want to do it on a bike that makes corners fun.

My current choice would be a bike that handles long distance duties well. The Kawasaki Concours is just such a machine. Two-Wheel Motorsport happens to have just what I’m looking for, a low mileage 2006 that would do the deed. With a shaft drive and a bullet proof reputation, it would cover the miles enthusiastically. My other bike choice would be the new Honda VFR800F. It’s another sports tourer that could swallow these huge distances with confidence.

The final piece would be the media. A Gopro clipped onto the bike would be running whenever the bike was in motion. I’d also have a mobile video camera and my trusty Olympus SLR for other footage. The trick would be not to get hung up with the photography, I tend to lollygag when I have a camera in my hand.

If the production was stepped up a notch, I’d meet up with my production crew at various spots along the way to off load footage and do some stock footage of me on the bike (which wouldn’t happen so much when I was alone). Ideally I’d have a wingman for the trip and we’d both take turns at filming (and half the cost of lodging). The trip itself would offer a live webfeed of mileage covered and where we are, including uploads of recent images and footage.

In the more fully-decked out version I’d go to OLN or Discovery Channel or the Travel Channel for some media support. Then Telus, Rogers or Bell for some communications support, and finally to Kawasaki Canada or Honda Canada for some bike support. It wouldn’t hurt to hit up local, provincial and federal governments to help as well, this is a uniquely Canadian focused trip, and with the final leg of the Dempster Highway finally happening coast-to-coast-to-coast is at last a possibility, it’d be nice to get the word out.

For more check out Coast to Coast to Coast 2.0.

Hibernating a Motorcycle: Tires

Dave Hatch’s Motorcycle Experience is doing a series on how to store a motorcycle over the winter (or for any extended period). The first bit is on how to prepare and look after your tires while the snow flies outside:

So, make sure they are clean and at maximum pressure when you put the bike away, and move the bike every once in a while to prevent the tire from settling on one spot. It was interesting what Warren Milner, the tire expert, said about what super sticky sport bike tires can do in extreme cold. It’s an issue with all super sticky tires evidently.

Space Limitations

At 12x20ft, I’m feeling the pinch…

I wish I had a bigger bike cave. With only a one car garage I’m having to pick and choose my next steps. In a perfect world I’d have room for active bikes and a workshop at the back with longer term projects on the go.

The 2 ½ car option at 24x30ft would feel cavernous by comparison to my cramped 9x20ft space, but a garage that big would mean I’d probably have to keep cars in it. A safer bet would be an outbuilding workshop, like this Canadian made prefab kit.

They have an A style 20×30 footer for just over $12 grand. That would be wider than my current space is long. Instead of my meagre 180 ft², I’d have a whopping 600ft². That kind of space would let me chase down all the loose ends I’m considering right now.

My current urges run toward a couple of dirt bikes for my son and I, a distance capable road bike and something more intimate for short blasts and track days. While the working bikes get their occasional maintenance, I’d also like space for a project bike.

Roughly to scale, that 20×30 workshop would fit the bill nicely.

A Commute Home from a Different Angle

Some variations on a theme. Instead of attaching the 360 camera to the mirror, I’m trying some different locations. This time it was attached to the wind deflector mounted above the windshield:

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