Travels of a Squid: Blair's beginning motorcyclist journal

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blair
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#61 Unread post by blair »

Tuesday, 2005-10-11

Trip report.

Logged a 250-mile day for the first time today.

I rolled out the 202 to Higley then down to the Hunt Highway and out to Florence. It's amazing how many big, expensive housing developments there are out that way now. Looking on a map, though, they're all snugged right up against the road. so there's some hope that we're not wasting the land entirely on sub-suburban sprawl.

Note to fellow internet motorcycling cool-daddies: If you go to Florence and are looking for someplace funky to have lunch, and you go to the Grille on Main, bring your grandma and your frilly biker jacket. This place looks like it should be a great downtown bar from the outside, but inside is a little antique/gift shop with a soda fountain for a bar (one beer on tap), and about six tables. Decent ham sandwich. Just not the atmosphere I was after.

After lunch, I got some gas and cooked down the 79 to the 77 and detoured a tad farther south to Catalina to get more gas (Shadow 600's have peanut tanks and I wanted to take no chances out here). This is a pretty ride along a cactus-lined strip.

Hopped back on and cruised up the 77 to Winkelman, for more gas. Instead of continuing northeast up the 77 to Globe, I chose the narrower line on the map, northwest up the 177 to Superior. Solid decision. Very lightly travelled, twisty, hilly, and at one point going right along the edge of one of the enormous pit-mines that hide in the rugged terrain around the state. They're ugly from a conservationist standpoint, but rather pretty if they cut through interesting geology, and geeky fun for anyone who likes massive engineering projects. Got waves from a couple of the striking ASARCO workers, which was cool.

At that point, the easy ridering was over and I was on the crowded multilane US60 all the way back into Phoenix. Took a stop at Stapley Road to get an early dinner at the Texas Roadhouse (funky chain serving the best ribs I've ever had outside of Texas, and trust me, I know what I'm talking about on the rib issue).

The weather was in the mid-high 80s, perfect for riding with a jacket on. Bright sun all the way, and scenery that makes you wonder if we can pass a law keeping the people in the boundaries of the cities forever.

I left the house about 11 a.m. and got home about 5:30 p.m. with 250 more miles on the odometer than when I left. And I didn't feel nearly as ragged-out as I'd expected.

Which bodes. Vegas is about 300 miles from me, and Rocky point only 200. The only question there is whether, since both destinations are heavily associated with getting likkered-up, I'll be smart enough to ride there, park it, have fun, stay away from the bike for a couple of days, then avoid being hung-over when the time comes to putter home.

Problems most people wish they had.
'93 Honda VT600CD Shadow VLX Deluxe

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#62 Unread post by blair »

Thursday, 2005-10-20

LOW-SIDE SKID!

Man, the shiznit hit the fan today.

First, the battery died in the parking lot, so I had to push-start the bike at work.

Then, turning back after getting it going, I was leaning hard, and didn't see the little patch of sand. Not even a single layer deep, mostly big gravelly bits. The front end slipped just a couple of inches off-line and then caught again.

But it was enough. I was watching the ground in front for the rest of the ride to dinner.

But I shouldn't have gone to dinner, I should have just taken the bike home. Because I had to push-start it after dinner, too, and it took like 8 tries. Run run run jump pop grind to a halt... Run run run jump pot grind to a halt... repeat...

And I don't think it quite charged up by the time I got home. I think the alternator or regulator or the battery is going.

And it was running rough, as well. Backfired once, and had a hiccup on starting a couple of times. Could have been a side effect of the low strength of the battery. Could just be fouled plugs. Or scorpions in the gas tank.

Time to get an appointment at the shop.
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#63 Unread post by blair »

2005-10-29

Well, my Shadow's dead. I honestly don't know how I was able to ride it home the other day, because today when I had the battery all charged up and tried to start it, it wouldn't go.

For about two seconds it showed some fire, but then it was just rr-rr-rr-rr-rr until the battery was dead again. And it's got plenty of gas.

Whatever's gone wrong, it's 'lectrical.

Probably a dead regulator/rectifier unit. Or it could just be a broken wire in the charging loop. I don't have the tools or time to dig into the bowels (this bike's a 3-D puzzle compared to most others) to figure it out. I'll have to find a way to get it trucked to the shop.

S'okay. Work has me in the office 9-10 every day including weekends right now. But it'd be nice to ride to the office and meals and stuff, while the weather is freakin' perfect...

Pity me. I do. But in the end I'll be back on the road, and enjoying it all that much more. So what's to pity?
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#64 Unread post by cb360 »

That's tough luck Blair. I hate electrical problems - I hope you're back on the road soon.
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#65 Unread post by blair »

Thanks, ceeb. I think the low-cost solution would be simply to replace everything involved -- regulator module, battery, and the wires between them -- while the bike's apart and the labor doesn't have to be duplicated.

Gonna have to see. I have no time to deal with it until next weekend at least.
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#66 Unread post by Sev »

Shudder, I bloody well hate bikes when they don't work right. Just like computers the stupidest things will cause something to go wrong. Like yesterday when I switched the order of my CD-burner and DVD drive in the computer. I jumpered them correctly for the switch and it wouldn't work until I switched it back, even though I didn't change the jumpers back...

I hope it's something simple and cheap to fix.
Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.

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#67 Unread post by blair »

A happy Thanksgiving, indeed!

Finally got a little time to work on this. I picked up a new regulator/rectifier module at the local Honda dealer (it was couple of dollars more than the same new part on eBay, but the guy cut me a 25%-off deal and I knew I could return it if it didn't work) yesterday afternoon. Got a chance to sit on a Rune, too. Man is that thing big. I could just touch my butt against the backrest and reach the bars--and I'm a short-legged 5-11! It'd be a comfortable ride for someone 6-6 or so. And the gas tank looks humongous compared with the 2.5-gallon jug on my 600.

I almost blew off the rest of the day at work to come home to try the repair, but I held strong.

I bolted the module on this morning, choked the bike to life, and took a ride. The real test wasn't in the first start; my Battery Minder had gotten the battery to full charge. The proof would be in the second, third, etc.

After about ten miles, I stopped and filled the gas tank. Then tried to start up.

Va-ROOOM!

Cleanest start in months.

So that's one data point. But it's a strong one. The first start took a while because the fuel line was dry. 3 or 4 two-second cranks, which would be near to draining the battery. Having it come to life at the gas station like that is very good news.

And it ran smooth the whole way, none of the light surging and faltering it had the last time I rode with the old part.

The final hurdle is how will it behave over three or four days of normal use. Repeated starts were what taxed the battery the most, leading to the push-starts, so a clean, strong charging system will make that weakness go away.

So here it is a beautiful sunny holiday, and I have a ton of work to do. I have a huge deadline tomorrow.

And I'm tempted to just say the hell with it all and go soak up some wind...
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#68 Unread post by blair »

Sunday, 2005-11-27

The day my visor committed suicide.

Seriously.

I was driving north on Rural Road between Warner and Elliot, and my visor lets go of the left temple and flings itself into the street.

There's no traffic near me, so I take a slow u-turn to go back and pick it up. I see some cars coming towards it, which makes me pull inot the center-turn lane and slow down. The first pick-up truck misses it, but the second nails it squarely.

"Thanks a lot, jackass!" I yell.

After the little gaggle of cars passes, I pull around again and stop next to the visor.

It's in one piece, but the front has been ground into the asphalt pretty good, so it's basically unusable.

Not debilitating, as this is my smoked, daytime visor. I have my clear one in my saddlebag at all times, so I just put that on.

I don't think it would have been usable even if it hadn't been hit. I think it came off because a tiny piece where it clips into the retention system snapped off. Luckily, it's a piece on the visor and not the helmet, but neither looks like it could take too much abuse.

I can stroll by HelmetHarbor (http://www.helmetharbor.com) on Tuesday and get a replacement.

At any rate, my bike seems to be all better. Now when I start it, it's almost like it doesn't even get a full crank before it's running itself. The new regulator/rectifier is keeping the battery charged well enough that it's topping off the initial spark. Nice bonus.

However, winter is coming (yes, to Phoenix), and it was fricken' cold out there today. I'm either going to have to add to my leather collection or not ride when it's well below 60.
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#69 Unread post by blair »

2005-12-07

The Update Roundup.

Visor
Turns out, a little tiny piece broke off the helmet, too. Luckily, it has no effect on anything when the visor is closed. But when the visor is open, it lets the latch on one side flop open. I emailed the manufacturer and they'll be sending me a whole new ratchet mechanism for that side, for free. Nice, huh?

The question is, if the broken doesn't affect the fit of the visor when it's closed, and since the visor forces the ratchet closed, making it impossible to leave the visor unlatched while riding (unless you ride with it open, which is dumb), then how did the visor come off in the first place?

At any rate, I bought two replacement dark-smoke visors. Just to have a spare.

Electrical

Working like a champ. It just plain makes the bike run better to have enough output from the regulator to keep the battery topped-off. Like having a new bike.

Collision

Not on my bike. But in my car. Yes, my Lexus. Yes, it's painful to discuss.

I was pulling out make a right-on-red, and because of a concrete barrier on the left, I didn't see the traffic coming until I started moving. Then I did, and I stopped to let it pass.

I was cursing the barrier (they're common on freeway off-ramps around here) to my lovely passenger, when (*thunk*).

25-year-old kid in a pickup truck who clearly wasn't watching where he was going at all jams into my tail without so much as a screech of brakes.

So we pull into a parking lot and exchange info and all he's got for proof-of-insurance is his AAA card and my warning bells are going off and he smells a little so we call the cops on the sly, mostly to ensure we have a police report, partly in case the guy is looped.

Long story short, he's uninsured, I'm leaving the legal schmutz to my insurance company, nobody was hurt, and the less it incurs into my daily thoughts the better.

But the point is, what if I'd been on my bike and that had happened. No warning, no screeching, no idea he was behind me in the first place... I'd be discussing brands of cervical collars and pricing artificial limbs...

Cold

It's cold out here in the desert. 34F this morning. Too cold to ride, unfortunately. I've learned to pack extra layers in my saddlebag. Just a medium-weight sweatshirt under my leather and liner makes a huge difference.

I'm dropping broad hints, and I think I may be getting a nice new neck-gaiter from Santa this year. I want one. And some leather gloves with furry liners and long whatever you call the part that goes over your sleeve. And chaps. Because what boy wouldn't want chaps if he had a legal and hetero reason to get them. But if all Santa brings me is the neck-gaiter, he's one cool elf. :santa: :littlebike1:

P.S.

Just fielded a voicemail from the body shop. $4709.95. Kids, when you're behind a Lexus, even at 10 mph, keep the same distance as if you're going 70. And if it's mine, double that. And pay your insurance bills.
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#70 Unread post by Sev »

Does that mean you're stuck with the bills? I hope that your insurance will at least cover it somehow. But that'd drive your premiums up and... ERGH, I hate insurance companies.
Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.

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