To Ride an Iron Horse - Jack of the Green's Blog

[JackoftheGreen]

Just an update and some plans for the future.

We're currently planning a weekend adventure for September, this time in Colorado. We're going to trailer the NInjas and pull them down to a KOA with our truck, so we can pack all our amenities and food for the weekend in the truck and don't have to slab it on the Ninjas with 80 pounds of gear. The KOA is really close to the Grand Mesa National Monument in Colorado, which is supposed to be really great riding, and although it'll be a little cool through there in September it should be fine riding weather during the day.

This is something of a test run for the sort of riding we're hoping to do in the future. We've had so much fun riding fun roads and finding little side adventures all over the place, but the slab is always awful, even when we were on the big bikes. So the plan is to get a small Class C motor home and pull the bikes to the fun roads while traveling in relative luxury on the highway. The other advantage of course is that we're spared the cost of hotel rooms and dining out, which adds up extremely fast and always seems to be the greatest expense when we're planning. Does it balance out against the cost of a motor home? Maybe not a $120,000 Class A or even a new $55,000 Class C, but against a used $10,000 Class C? Sure. Especially given it's capability as a second vehicle and that it would replace our current camping outfit anyway. Is it a purist way to motorcycle cross-country? Of course not. But I'm not sure I care about that.

So that's my update, feel free to sound off with any feedback. Always open to those with more experience.

[JackoftheGreen]

Just wanted to take a moment and update my blog. We haven't done much motorcycling this summer so far, since we did a lot of activities with our kids through July, but hopefully now that the weather's cooling off we'll get out more. My bike is at 1800 miles since we departed for the Lolo Pass trip, and I'm just letting it run to see where it ends up when I finally park my little beast for the winter.

We did get out last weekend though to an event I wanted to share. We saw Avenged Sevenfold in concert at the USANA Amphitheater in SLC, and it was an AWESOME show. A Day to Remember opened, a band I've never heard of before, and they were alright, but A7X tore down the house after those guys packed up.

Here are some pics from the event, hosted on imgur.


DEVIL HORNS!! Yeah, and look at my GORGEOUS Rubia!


More gratuitous posing, with the stage in the background. We had GA seats on the lawn and thank god, because the pit was a mess.


[/img]It's hard to see in the dark, but that stage is insanely huge, ten stories or more if I had to guess.

So that's my update. More to come as the summer wanes on, hoping to get in here more regularly to update. I know I say that every time, but this time I mean it, LoL.

[JackoftheGreen]

So this just happened.











Can anybody guess what it is before I post the full size pictures? Let's give it 24 hours...

[blues2cruise]

Did you get your class c?

I think they are great.

[JackoftheGreen]

Not yet, we've looked at a couple and developed a plan but it's gonna be just a bit before we can afford to take that step. We're hoping towards the end of next spring we can start making some offers.

[NorthernPete]

Versys?

[JackoftheGreen]

Correct!




I debadged him last night and currently looking into some vinyl and other additions. His name is Chimera.

[NorthernPete]

I have a love it but hate it thing with the look of those bikes. I'm not sure which. Lol. Congrats!

[JackoftheGreen]

Been a few days since I posted, so I thought I'd take a second and get something new up.

Rubia and I have been trying to get more involved in the local motorcycling community, attending a few bike night events and getting to know some of the local groups and personalities. It's been a lot of fun and we've been introduced to more than a few new friends, and we're even considering going on a couple group rides, maybe do a poker run or two. Rubia suggested the other day that we might even attend Sturgis in 2018! We'll start making plans now.

Here's a couple pics from our most recent bike night. The local community does them the third Tuesday of every month at a local "college" bar, the Union Tavern. They do a raffle with gift certificates and other swag, some karaoke, and they announce fundraising events hosted by the local MCs and other events specific to the motorcycling community in and around SLC. This is the second time we've gone, and we intend to keep doing it all winter long.




And yes, that is a TMW shirt Rubia is wearing, slightly modified. Here's a picture of the back:



Hard to get better publicity than that!!

[blues2cruise]

If only I had known to "fashion up" my TMW t-shirts when I had them.

[Rubiadiabla]

Never too late to start Blues!!!!! <3

[JackoftheGreen]

Just a couple updates, since I haven't posted for awhile.

Even though it's the first half of January, temperatures here in Utah have been climbing. Our steeds are stabled, but any day now we'll get the opportunity to take them out and we're itching to do so.

I recently purchased some equipment and installed accessory fuse blocks on both our bikes. That turned out to be a lot easier than I expected it to be, although I did spend some time watching YouTube videos about switched circuits and 12V automotive relays first. The auxiliary fuse blocks have six fused spade terminals that can handle 30A each, up to 100A for the entire panel, and the whole thing is powered by a 30A relay that's switched by the license plate illumination lamp circuit, easy peasy.

Part of the impetus for installing the fuse boxes is to ease the install of Cameleon+ automatic chain oilers, a product that Carrie and I are reviewing on behalf of TMW. I've installed the one on Chimera already and will install Carrie's soon, I wont say anything about them here yet but stay tuned for the full review in March. Carrie and I will also be representing TMW at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo in Denver the last weekend of January. We'll take plenty of pictures, chat with some locals, sit on as many bikes as they'll let us and get some new tattoos! We're also going to find a sushi bar somewhere nearby and stuff ourselves silly.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up! More to come very soon.

Lastly, a couple gratuitous pics of the new bikes. Enjoy!


Carrie's bike, Kitsune.


My bike, Chimera.


24,446

[JackoftheGreen]

So here's a funny story.

Just now I was searching for a bike boneyard to help a new guy out in one of the other threads. Specifically I was looking for the boneyard that Carrie and I purchased her chin fairing from, for her Ninja 500. Found them right away, and realized they're based in Missoula, MT.

Just so happens Missoula was one of the stops on our ride through Lolo Pass last summer. Details from that trip you can find a few posts ago in this blog, we had a blast and Missoula was a lot of fun.

So our chin fairing was shipped down on a truck from Missoula, we bolted it on to her bike and drove it clear back up there. Wonders never cease.

24,513

[JackoftheGreen]

Gratuitous post to plug my new avatar!

24,730

[JackoftheGreen]

Just two quick notes I wanted to post!

First, I just hit 1000+ posts on Total Motorcycle. I've known it was coming, and I made myself not post half a dozen silly little things just to get to 1000. I'm proud to be a regular contributor here on TMW and I genuinely appreciate having this forum to voice my thoughts and ideas on.

On that note, the second thing I wanted to say is, thanks for reading! I've been keeping track of my daily views in the last few posts (you may have noticed the running total at the bottom of the last few) and I'm humbled and excited to discover I had 200+ new views in 10 days. That's a little more than 20 views a day! If you're one of the people who follows my blog and contributed to that total, feel free to sound off and tell me what keeps you coming back! 2018 is going to be a banner year for mine and Carrie's riding, and it's sure to be the same here on the blog. In fact, make sure you stay tuned because the Colorado Motorcycle Expo is coming up THIS WEEKEND! There'll be pictures and everything else.

See you later!

[NorthernPete]

Congratulations! Always good to read about adventures in winter time. Lol

[Rubiadiabla]

My Jack of the Green and I are checked into the terminal awaiting our flight to Denver where we will attend The Colorado Motorcycle Expo to represent TMW!! Stay tuned for more pics and updates.

[JackoftheGreen]

Our write-up of the CME will be up shortly on the main page, so stay tuned!

In other news, Carrie and I finally bought that class C motorhome we've been talking about! It's an older model but in great shape, and we'll be acquiring an enclosed trailer soon for porting the bikes all over with. More to come soon, but I wanted to drop a note here while I was thinking about it.

[JackoftheGreen]

Good morning everyone!
My write-up from the Colorado Motorcycle Expo is live now on the front page, check it out!

https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/40th+An ... cycle+Expo

You can also view more photos from the event at my imgur here:
2018 Colorado Motorcycle Expo https://imgur.com/a/WpaTh

[blues2cruise]

Good write up and snaps.