motorcycle – Page 19 – Mechanical Sympathy

Lyndon Poskitt and an inside look into the 2018 Dakar Rally

If you’re new to the Dakar Rally and you love motorbikes, I’ve got a way in for you.
Lyndon Poskitt has raced in the rally a couple of times now but this year he has raised the degree of inside media coverage to a new level. If you follow his site you should get daily inside looks into what it’s like to ride in the toughest class (Malle Moto is only the rider with no support crew doing everything from maintenance to navigation to riding over thousands of kilometres for almost two weeks, alone). Riding a motorcycle in Dakar is the hardest thing you can do. Some bike riders retire onto four wheels as they get older, but the bikers are the hardest of the hard core.

Lyndon’s media crew made an hour long documentary that reviews his race from last year. It introduces you to both the sheer physical exertion, luck and talent, both technical and riding, that is needed to get through the race as a malle moto rider. After watching this it’ll seem nearly impossible, but Lyndon’s back at it again this year.

You get a bit of background on Lyndon from the video. This isn’t a rich guy playing at racing. Lyndon’s magic power is being a mechanical engineer. His mechanical sympathy and technical talent allow him to prepare his bike as well as any mechanic would. For the past couple of years, since a near death experience, he has been riding around the world participating in races and rallies as he goes. He has sourced all his own support for this.

The Dakar is the mother of long distance rallies. It used to run from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal in Northern Africa back in the Twentieth Century. The BBC made a great documentary about it called Madness in the Desert, if you’re interested in a detailed look at how the Dakar started.

Political instability in Saharan Africa moved the rally to South America in 2009 after decades of running from Europe through the desert to Dakar. The move didn’t make things any easier.

If you enjoy motorsport and watching people pushed to the limits of endurance and skill there is little that approaches it. While there are many factory riders and teams on their fully funded rides, the Dakar always has a healthy bunch of privateers racing, so it doesn’t seem like the millionaire’s club that a lot of motorsports do. There is something very genuine about the Dakar.

If you’re interested in other forms of motor racing beyond bikes there is everything from quads to cars to massive trucks. None of it is easy and all of it challenges competitors with thousands of miles of racing through every conceivable ecosystem, from jungles to Altiplano to desert dunes. This year it’s running from January 6th to 20th.

LINKS

Follow the Dakar on Twitter. On Facebook. On YouTube. Carlton Kirby on Twitter (my favourite announcer on the race if you can find him on Eurosport)

Countdown to Dakar.

Dream Racer: another great documentary on privateering in the Dakar.

Last year’s Dakar: A Dakar with teeth!

Ever wanted to get old knowing you did something exceptional while you still could? Dakar Dreams…

n00b’s guide to Dakar.

The deadly Dakar.

Rally Raid Network: Countdown to Dakar

If you’re interested in helping out Lyndon’s efforts, you can do so here:
http://ift.tt/2Ca00Fq

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The Third Way

I was at Skills Canada’s National Competition in New Brunswick last weekend and had a rainy Sunday morning in Moncton to listen to Michael Enright on the Sunday Edition on CBC radio. His piece on bicycles versus cars stressed the enormous gap between coddled, cocky cagers and the noble, spiritually empowered bicyclist.

As someone who doesn’t live only a bicycle ride away from everything I need (because I live in the country), I felt somewhat excluded from this urban (urbane?) discussion. As someone who stays out of cars whenever possible and doesn’t ride a bicycle, how can I possible survive? I’ve found a third way ignored by both cagers and the messianic bicyclist.

What is this magical third way? It’s the motorcycle of course. You enjoy that feeling of flying that the bicyclist on the radio refers to, but you do it without forcing a third lane of traffic everywhere you’re going. Motorcycles actually reduce congestion and improve traffic flow and do so without demanding bike lanes in already overcrowded urban centres. You don’t see motorcyclists riding into opening car doors like you see bicyclists. Though they thrive in that environment, motorbikes aren’t only suitable for urban use. People in suburbs and rural areas can still use them to cover useful distances quickly. You don’t produce the spontaneous righteous indignation that bicyclists seem to be able to generate at will, but you also don’t show up to work smelling like sweat and spandex.

For less than the price of an economy car
you can buy a Yamaha R1 that accelerates
faster than anything you’re ever likely to
meet and still gets better than 40 mpg.
Cutting edge Italian style can be yours in a
Vespa that costs about what a fancy road
bicycle does but can run at highway speeds
while getting 100 miles to the gallon.

You aren’t suffering for choice when it comes to two-wheeled motorized transportation. Want to buy a Canadian built, Canadian owned company’s bike? The Can-Am Spyder offers older riders a stable, efficient platform to enjoy being out in the world. Love Italian exotica? Italy has more than a dozen current manufacturers of motorcycles producing everything from race ready Ducatis to stylish Vespas. The Japanese produce an astounding range of bikes from the ground-breaking super-charged Kawasaki H2r to the futuristic Honda NV4 which manages to look like the off-spring of the batmobile and a stealth fighter while still getting better than 60mpg.

If you like the traditional look you can find modernized classic Triumphs and evolutionary Harley Davidsons that all use fuel injection, have anti-lock brakes and are both dependable and efficient ways of getting there in style. There is a motorbike for every taste from subtle to gross.

The third way means you are paying road taxes to help build and maintain the roads you’re using (bicyclists don’t), and you’re not asking for your own lanes because you have no trouble flowing with normal traffic. You never see a motorcyclist take to the sidewalk and abuse pedestrian space like you will with bicyclists because motorcyclists consider themselves road going vehicles all the time and not just when it suits them. That kind of responsibility happens when you’re paying for the infrastructure you’re using.

The police officer redirecting traffic just told me to pull into
the full parking lot – you can fit bikes in without needing new
infrastructure to fit them. All those unused triangles suddenly
have a function.

The third way means that, like bicyclists, you have to share the road with distracted, idiotic cagers who barely pay attention to what happens beyond the air conditioned box they find themselves in, all while they burn copious amounts of gasoline moving themselves, four empty seats and a couple of tonnes of vehicle around with them. It’s a dangerous business sharing space with these vain-glorious, self obsessed tools.

What do you get in return for that vulnerability? You are present in the places you pass through, alive in the world. You smell every smell, feel the sun on your back and arrive feeling like to you travelled through the world to get there instead of feeling isolated, superior and more than a little clueless. The first time you lean into a series of corners and feel like you and your bike are one is a magical experience. You can’t take on the spandex righteousness of bicyclists, but you can take comfort in knowing that you’re using way less of everything to get where the cars are going, and you’re doing it with a much bigger smile on your face.

The kind of defensive riding you learn on a motorbike (who is at fault doesn’t matter, you need to be responsible for the ineptitude of those around you) can’t help but make you a better car driver. I’ve been unable to squeeze the statistics out of the Ontario MoT, but I’ll bet you a coffee and donut that if you compare any age group with G class car licenses and G and M (car+motorcycle) licenses, you’ll see a significant drop in collisions when they drive four wheelers. You can’t help but internalize that kind of defensive mindset if you’re going to ride motorbikes for any length of time. Bicycling isn’t a parallel to driving a car because you aren’t held firm by the same traffic flow and right of way issues, so bicyclist paranoia doesn’t translate to driving like motorcycle paranoia does.

For most who can’t afford the excess
that is the automobile, the motorcycle
offers real mobility.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more democratic vehicle than the motorcycle. As a means of economic, efficient transportation, there is nothing better. If you don’t believe me, look at any developing country. The motorcycle is what allows many people who can’t luxuriate in the first world isolationism of the automobile a chance at mobility in the modern sense.

While urban cyclists find god and battle the soulless commuting automobilists on The Sunday Edition, I’ll enjoy my third way. I only wish it was a consideration in the misery that is most urban commutes. Rather than chasing utopian dreams of bicycle lanes in a car free city, why not consider a compromise that lets us immediately reduce gridlock? Ontario could start by following the examples of more motorcycle friendly jurisdictions by allowing filtering, reducing insurance, offering more parking (easily done in unused areas of parking lots designed for three ton SUVs) and easing access into motorized two wheeling by supporting and encouraging training. We’d see an immediate uptick in the efficiency of the roads we have now.

LINKS
Commuting by Motorbike is Better for Everyone
Mega-Mileage Scooters

Motorcycle Media: Ride with Norman Reedus

A well made piece of motorcycle documentary!

I’ve been watching Ride With Norman Reedus on AMC over the past few weeks. What you have here is an incredibly approachable celebrity who is obviously a giant bike nerd doing all the rides in the continental U.S. that he’s never gotten around to doing.

This isn’t some Harley-or-nuthin kind of biker exercise either, Norman throws his leg over everything from a Rolands Sands BMW R9T Special to a Zero electric bike, and that’s just in the first episode! By the end of the season you’ve seen over a dozen machines from half a dozen different manufacturers. Norman obviously loves his bikes and he isn’t particular about the flavour.

He likes his customs, but you’ll also find him riding
everything from state of the art Ducatis to 1950s
BMWs, often in the same episode.

Another nice touch is that this isn’t a boy’s own/Charlie & Ewan masculine and manly bike trip. Norman goes out of his way to find motorcycle subcultures when he’s riding, and that often includes female riding groups and partners. You don’t notice what a change this is from the usual testosterone charged motorcycle media until you see it done this differently.

The production values are excellent. With aerial establishing shots and a wide variety of atmospheric images used throughout the ride, it doesn’t feel like you’re following a map so much as actually being where the ride is (much like you would on a bike). Norman himself has directed film and published a book of photography, and he’s frequently stopping to take photos of his own or bragging on the nice little SLR he’s using. A camera geek after my own heart!

In stark contrast to the hard man he plays in Walking Dead, Norman has an easy going Californian vibe that makes him both approachable and a joy to watch. When a woman at Deal’s Gap says he looks like Darryl from Walking Dead he shoots right back, “yep, that’s me!” with a big smile on his face.

This show is going to get a lot of people interested in trying out motorcycling. I hope to goodness AMC is already planning for another season (though calling five episodes a season is a bit much). This show can’t cost that much to produce and it has a ready and expanding audience. Ducati and Triumph should both get a nod for obviously ponying up new bikes for use in this, but it was money well spent. The others should be lining up to provide bikes for the next round. A surprise riding partner or two (Valentino Rossi?) would be most excellent. Having Vale show Norman around Tavullia would be epic.

In case it isn’t clear, I’d highly recommend this if you enjoy travel documentaries. If you’re into motorcycles at all you’ll love it. Norman in Europe? Norman in Japan? With so many motorcycle subcultures to explore, this could easily become a world wide phenomenon.

Finding Parts & Service in a Pandemic

They ain’t kidding, but setting up online ordering without
actually setting up online ordering isn’t great business.

Trying to get parts in is never easy in Canada where no one likes to get their hands dirty. It’s even harder during a pandemic. The worst I’ve seen so far is Canadian Tire, who are a complete wreck. Their web-page barely works and their online ordering system is in shambles. It turns out aiming for the lowest prices on the cheapest Chinese made goods in the stingiest way possible doesn’t make for a resilient response in an emergency situation. I’ve yet to pass by the local store without a massive row of annoyed customers standing in line out front of it (I’ve yet to bother going in), and the one attempt at ordering a simple, in-stock item has resulted in weeks waiting. Don’t go to Canadian tire virtually or in person, they can’t handle it.

Amazon was also a mess early on in this with orders sometimes taking up to three weeks to arrive. They seemed to improve recently when I actually got an order the same week I made it, but they still aren’t anything like as efficient as they once were. I just ordered some spark plugs for the Triumph on Amazon (once you’ve got the tank off you want to do all the servicing because it’s a bit of a faff to get in there). Canadian Tire didn’t have them or won’t let me in to find them. That Amazon order sat there unresponsive for 3 days before it shifted to ‘shipping’, but in the 24 hours since there are no shipping updates and the shipment is still untrackable.

So, trying to get parts during this slow-burn pandemic sucks right? Not always! The other day the trusty Triumph Tiger actually stalled on me at a light. I looked over every I’ve done on it (which is a lot) and realized I’ve never done the fuel filter, and I’ve put over 25k on it since I’ve had it. If the Tiger is idling low and stalling on idle fuel starvation from a way-past-due fuel filter is a likely culprit. But oh no, it’s a pandemic, I’ll never find parts!

The trickiest part was actually finding the fuel filter. After searching around fuel lines under the tank I ended up looking in the Haynes manual only to discover that the fuel filter on a 955i Tiger is *in* the fuel tank. This fully submerged fuel filter sits behind a panel on the side of the gas tank.

Finding a fuel filter for a 17 year old European motorcycle during a pandemic should have been a nightmare, but it turned out to be the easiest thing I’ve done parts wise, maybe ever.

Inglis Cycle in London is 140kms away, but they’re still my local Triumph dealer, so I fired them an email asking if they had what I was looking for. For over ten years from the late ’90s to the mid zeroes Triumph used the 955i engine in the majority of their models, and they all used the submerged fuel filter in the gas tank, so they aren’t uncommon.

Within a couple of hours Ken at Inglis had emailed me back. After removing the filter assembly from the tank I discovered a pretty beaten up gasket with multiple rips, so I asked if they could add that in with the filter. Ken had both the filter and gasket in stock and said he could ship it out to me for $15. Considering it’s a 280km round trip that would have taken me most of a day, fifteen bucks didn’t seem bad. I thought that meant postal service and a week long wait. The box showed up the next morning via a courier. If you’re looking for quick, capable service during a pandemic, Inglis Cycle has their act together.

So the fancy gasket and new filter all went in flawlessly within 24 hours of ordering the parts, but I’m still stuck without a bike because I can’t seem to find anyone to safety the Honda and the spark-plugs I’d ordered from Amazon two days before I even began emailing Inglis are still in the ether. The moral of this is I should have just ordered the spark plugs from them too and cancelled Amazon and their inconsistent service. The other lesson learned is that once you find dependable service during a social distancing slow down, make sure you reward it with your spending power.

The trusty Tiger is in pieces instead of putting on miles thanks to Amazon’s hit and miss service.

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Beautiful Sunset Ride

T’was a lovely evening and everyone was napping or having quiet time, so I pulled the Tiger out and went for a cool, sunset ride up and down the Grand River. Almost no traffic at the end of the day, but lots of bugs on my visor when I got back.

Here are some photos of the ride. If you’re curious about how I’m doing this, I’m getting an article on it published in Adventure Bike Rider, but in the meantime you can find the how-to on my photography blog here.

All photos taken on a Ricoh Theta clamped to the wing mirror. Screen grabs were post-processed in Adobe Lightroom. The ‘little planet’ photos were uploaded through the Theta software to the Theta website and then it’s a one button click to get the tiny planet look:

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

Triumph Tiger sunset ride – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

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Hot Weather Riding

I tend to run hot, body temperature wise, and find that I can ride well into the single digits without too much worry. My people come from a cold, wet place and that’s what I’m built for. Heat, and especially humidity, are my achilles heel. I’ve gone to great lengths to try and find hot weather riding gear that will allow me to ride when it’s sweltering.

Currently my go-to hot weather gear is a Fieldsheer mesh jacket in the lightest colours I could find. I’ve never understood why someone would go with a black mesh jacket. It defeats the purpose of trying to stay cool, unless you’re just aiming for the other kind of cool.

This jacket is brilliant. It keeps the sun off you while feeling like you’re not wearing a jacket at all. I think I’m actually cooler wearing this than I am in a t-shirt; much less likely to burn anyway.

The pants are where I’m having trouble. A few years ago I found the most ventilated pants I could from Twisted Throttle. These Macna vented pants do a great job of running air over my legs, but do very little where I need it most around my crotch. To supplement those pants I got some riding shorts with a crotch pad, but they strangely disappeared, leaving me to ride with regular cotton underwear which is not remotely up to the job.

One of the great things about the convertible Roof Helmet is that you can swing it open for some wind on your face. Even in that configuration the visor covers most of your face protecting you from Canadian sized summer bug impacts. I just wish Roofs were a bit better ventilated across the top (the newer models might be, but they won’t give me one to test). An adventure/off road styled Roof with a roomier chin bar and more ventilation across the top and back of the helmet would be a must-buy for me.

A long time ago I found the Alpine Stars vented SMX-1 boots and have never looked back. I’ve put tens of thousands of kilometres on them and beaten them senseless, but they still do the job so well that anything else on my feet doesn’t feel right when changing gears. They also keep my feet cool and are even good for walking around in (though they are very broken in). When and if these ones give up the ghost I’ll go get another pair just like them. The lightest ones now have a touch of Valentino yellow on them, which is no bad thing. They keep changing the colours, so maybe I’ll get lucky and have a shot at some Lucifer Orange ones when I need them.

I’m focusing on fine tuning the bike/bum interface. The best time of year to buy summer gear is the fall, and this fall is no exception. Klim gear is usually a bit too rich for me, but I was able to find some vented Klim Savanah pants for under $200CAD. I’m looking forward to seeing if the Klims really are all that.

I’m also replacing the biking underwear that wandered off. It isn’t cheap, but a good pair of technical underwear was the suggestion from many people when I asked. Sixs makes a wide variety of riding focused sports underwear, so I went with the butt padded, seamless boxers. The other pair I had looked a little less fancy, so I’m hoping this will be money well spent. Their range of gear covers everything from top to bottom, so this might be the first of many purchases.

In order to keep the dreaded monkey butt from rearing its ugly head during hot weather riding you need moisture wicking underwear. On my long ride last weekend my cotton boxers were soaked when I got back and I was so sore I couldn’t sit down. You do not want to get sweaty and wet under there, but your butt is on a black, vinyl seat so it’s going to trap heat. I’ve been looking into options to introduce some air under me. Adventure Bike Rider Magazine mentioned Cool Covers a few issues back, but they don’t make a cover for my fifteen year old Tiger.

Another option is the Bead Rider seat cover. I’ve heard mixed reviews on beaded seats though. They work well on shorter rides but over a long day they start to feel like torture. I’m still considering my options here but the Cool Cover’s futuristic look appeals more than the cabbie look of a beaded seat cover.

When I asked online, two super-stars who had just managed to complete a Bun Burner Gold very hard to do long distance ride had some hard won advice. Everyone swears by technical sports underwear that wick moisture, so that’s an easy fix even if you just go for Under Armour or something like. Wolfe’s suggestion of a Bill Meyers custom seat isn’t cheap but isn’t as expensive as I feared it might be (about the same as a new set of tires). The old padding on my seat would benefit from a refresh and would go a long way towards making the Tiger all day rideable.

His other suggestion of the King of Fleece cover follows a popular bike habit of using pelts to separate your butt from unforgiving vinyl. Sheepskin is a traditional choice, but I suspect some of the engineered solutions above might produce better results.

There are various new seat options, but not for my old Tiger, and spending that kind of money on a new seat for an old bike doesn’t make much sense. If I’m going that route, I think I’ll be giving Bill Meyers a call. A Canadian winter would be a good time to send the seat in.

I’m curious to see how the new undies and pants will do on hot future rides (which are only going to become more common). The old, stiff seat may eventually get some attention, and I have a contact in mind in Bill Meyers. You’ve got lots of options for finding ways to ride in comfort even in hot and humid weather. Hopefully this helps you find ones that work.

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Finally Putting The Ninja To Bed

That’s one clean Ninja! And the water isn’t solid outside today.

We got swamped with snow and very cold weather early this year, but we’re enjoying a thaw now. It’s finally given me the chance to clean up the Ninja and put it to bed for the winter. I fear I’ve been neglecting the Ninja while the Concours demands attention, but leaving it goopy over the cold months wouldn’t do it any good, and it really cleans up pretty.

Once I get a bead on the oil cooler situation, I’m hoping to get the Concours back in shape and then begin working on the fairings and paint.

I picked up a metal, vintage Triumph sign for the garage.

After a wash and some lubrication, the Ninja’s ready for bed.

Meanwhile the Concours is still oil cooler-less. I’m waiting to
see if our machine shop teacher can seal the crack in the banjo bolt housing.

The Always On Motorcycle, or: to scramble or not to scramble, that is the question!

Time to put the bike away, right? Not so much… it’s 10°C and sunny out today!

I was all proud of myself for pushing into late November on two wheels this year. When they finally laid down salt and sand after the first real snowfall I put the Concours away and stripped it down for winter maintenance. I like having a twenty year old motorbike, but it isn’t a hop on and go kind of machine, it needs TLC.

A bigger mistake was putting away the KLX even before that. A newer machine with no need for heavy maintenance, it would have made sense to keep it handy just in case. The past week I could have ridden in to work several times, but I’m finding myself bike-blocked by too early hibernation habits and a single purpose motorbike.

Riding into the frost line is a good time!
Next year I’m going to keep an iron horse
saddled just in case.

I coulda been riding in this!

I wouldn’t be going on any long rides, just commuting, but that means 2-up with my son to drop him off at school. I got the Concours because it does this job well while still letting me fly when I want to. The KLX just manages the job of carrying me (it struggles to run at speed on the road with my 250lbs), but with storage and a second passenger? I think it would be fairly miserable. Perhaps that’s what’s stopping me from hauling it out of the shed again.

It’s away too soon! Too soon!

The Concours isn’t going anywhere, but the KLX, while a good introduction to off road riding isn’t the Swiss Army knife of a bike I was looking for. Come spring I’m going to liquidate some biking assets and go looking for a more multi-functional alternative.

I think I’ll clear $1000 on the XS1100 I’m currently fixing up, and I think I’ll be able to get what I bought the KLX for ($2000). Getting the $600 back I spent on the little Yamaha should also be possible. With $3600 on hand I have some interesting choices when it comes to a Swiss-Army knife bike I can keep handy for multi-surface riding while also being able to ride 2 up while commuting. The 650cc dual sport class of bikes has three contenders worth considering…

$1700 sitting in Kingston. an ’01 with 55K, well maintained,
KLRs are cheap and plentiful. It’d also be more generally
usable than the KLX.

I’m thinking once again about a Kawasaki KLR650. A tank of a bike. Not fast, but fast enough, able to carry two up, and rugged. If looked after it’d hammer along for a long time. The KLR is the darling of the cheap adventure rider and has an awful lot of after market accessory clobber as a result.

$3400 over in Waterloo. Top of the price range, but it’s an ’05
in immaculate condition with 24k on it. Nice photography too!

Honda makes an equivalent bike, the XR650. It looks more off road focused, and it’d be my first Honda. Other XR650s hover around $3000 with low kilometres. They seem a bit more expensive than either the KLR or the Suzuki, but Hondas are famous for holding value like that.

An ’05 with 33k out in Brockville going for $3200…

I looked at a DR600 last year, but shied away from such an old bike (this was an ’89 in poor condition). The DR600 evolved into the DR650 which is still in production today.

All three of these 650cc dualsports have enjoyed strangely long production runs with minimal changes. That gives them a deep and well supported parts availability though.

I could creep into the adventure bike genre proper for about twice what I’ve got. At under ten grand I’d consider the current crop of mid-sized adventure touring bikes, especially the ones with some off-road capability. The Honda NC750x rolls out for just under $10k. Suzuki’s V-Strom 650 is five hundred bucks cheaper, and the Kawasaki Versys 650 is a grand under that, though it isn’t much of an off-road machine. The Honda CB500x rolls out for seven grand, making it an even cheaper option. These bikes tend to put on the airs of an adventure bike without delivering any real off-road abilities. Being new they’d all handle the job of an always-on/Swiss army knife bike better than the venerable Connie though.

Triumph’s new Bonneville Scrambler is a pretty thing.

Yep, we look good on that!

At just over ten grand I’m into Triumph Scrambler territory. This would scratch both the classic itch as well as the multi-surface riding itch. I’m not interested in MX riding. My off roading would be dirt roads and light trail riding. Staying away from the brightly coloured, long shocked dirt bikes would be OK with me, especially if I were on a classic looking Scrambler.

My kind of off-roading… very civilized!

The Scrambler genre has picked up as of late, with Ducati and BMW both entering the fray. Yamaha is also doing it (though overseas), and Scramblers have long been a favourite of the custom crowd. But unless I can make more space, a home made custom isn’t the dependable always on machine I’m looking for… though that hasn’t stopped me before.

Rather than just jumping into another dual sport that puts function before everything, maybe I should just start working toward the Scrambler I’d rather have.

However, the adventure bike rabbit hole goes all the way to the 1%er land. On the way to Silly-Rich World you’ve got some multi-faceted mid-level adventure machines that are both stylish and capable.

With much disposable income I could go with the new Triumph Tiger 800cc XCx (about $16k). With more cash on hand I’d be onto the new Triumph Tiger Explorer (north of $20k) or perhaps Honda’s newly re-released Africa Twin (maybe $17k?). In this territory you can get a stylish, long-distance able, off road capable machine.

Once you get into the high end adventure market things get silly quickly. Suddenly you’re thinking about Ducati Multistradas and superbike fast KTM Super Adventures. Bikes with more computers than a moonshot. Every time I read an article about these bikes they are described as fantastic, followed by a long list of all the things that broke on them but were covered under warranty. I guess that’s an adventure of a sort.

These kinds of bikes wander into more than just disposable income. If I’m buying a bike like that I’d better be at my leisure. Dropping upwards of $30k on a motorcycle that can handle dirt roads (but needs expensive TLC every time you do) should mean you’ve also got a stable of a dozen other bikes and lots of time to ride them.

Back in the real world I’m motivated to expand my riding season and have a machine on hand that can do more than one thing if the Connie is feeling her age. Come spring I’ll be considering options to scramble or dual sport, but it’ll be scrambling unless I can afford an actual adventure bike. If I’m going to look for a multi-purpose always on bike, I’d also like to get one that tickles an aesthetic itch.

Escape

It’s that time of year again. Dreams of escape surround me. If I left right now I could get in and out of Tuktoyaktuk on Canada’s north shore before the snows arrive (just). I might have to bomb up there in a van just to get out in time, but then it’d be heading south across the Americas for months, chasing the summer.

The west coast as autumn falls would be glorious. As the snows start to fly in Canada, I’d be into Mexico and Central America. An unrushed few weeks working my down through the many border crossings would be much less stressful if I didn’t have to be somewhere somewhen. Crossing the Darien Gap from Panama to Columbia is five days on a boat and a chance to take a break from the saddle.

The boat lands in Columbia. Once in South America I’d find somewhere to bed down over the holidays in Colombia or Ecuador before rolling south into the South American summer. Spending Christmas on an empty Andean shoreline facing the never ending Pacific would be glorious.

I’d push south and see Machu Picchu after the holidays and then try and catch at least one stage of the Dakar Rally as it thunders around Peru in January. A Peruvian desert stage would be awesome.

As summer wore on in the southern hemisphere, I’d continue south to Ushuaia on the southern end of Argentina. After going from arctic to antarctic, I’d work my way back up to Buenos Aires and start the process of packing up the bike for a trans-Atlantic crossing to Cape Town.

https://adventuremotorcycletravel.com/listing/darien-gap/
http://wildcardsailing.com/motorcycle-shipping-to-colombia/
https://tkmotorcyclediaries.blogspot.com/2017/04/todd-blubaughs-too-far-gone.html
…for what it feels like to peer over the edge into a never ending ride.

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Pretty Calipers

The brake caliper rebuild moved into the ‘nerd-lab’ downstairs where my son does his lego and I usually focus more on digital tech. With Why We Ride playing on the projector I got to enjoy HEAT while I rebuilt the rear caliper.

The only time I had to go out to the garage was to blow out the caliper pistons with compressed air, otherwise it was some light bench work while watching a very pretty film.

I’m still monkeying around with 3d modelling tools. I’m trying different resolution settings on the Structure Sensor. I also tried using itseez3d instead of the factory software. It made for an interesting variation (itseez3d uses the ipad camera to take a lot of texture photos which it mixes into the model).

It only took me a couple of hours to sort out the fronts and have everything looking sharp. Blowing out the pistons was a bit trickier as there are two on the front and the smaller one (less surface area) didn’t come right out with the air. I’m worried that I scored them too much removing them. I guess I’ll see when I put them all back on the bike.