[sardonicus87]

I'm riding the piss out of mine, 3 days this week I guess,

this morning I took off, did some tasks that had to be done, stopped by Ring of Fire HD to grab a drink and look at some 2019's then headed home

I did take the windshield off for this trip. Totally different bike when you do that. I'm so used to the windshield being on it, it's almost difficult to maneuver in parking lots, but not really. I threw on the Oakley's and cruised down the interstate the few miles necessary, and frankly, I don't see how people travel great distances like that at interstate speed without a full face helmet

Great day to be motorcycling today

If you got a windshield like the one that was on mine, you'd rather ride bare naked at 80 mph without it, than to ride 30 mph with it.

I actually get LESS wind without it, and way better handling. No idea what windshield it is, but it was total crap for sure. Some quick release thing.

For me, wind in my face doesn't much bother me actually. Wearing a full face long distance like that, although I know I should, wears my neck and shoulders out with it's extra weight. I've been lucky so far on long trips, wearing the half, that no rocks have been thrown from tires or something. I probably should just split the difference and tough it out with a 3/4 that has a face shield. I actually had one somewhere...

Once I win the lottery and get a Road Glide though, I won't have to worry about it anymore. :laugh

 

[sardonicus87]

Nice one @bbally. I wish our cops were predictable like that, but you can never find one on street patrol when you need one, all the LEOs are always tied up with all the property crime we have here (my state has twice the national average). I was on the look out for one yesterday too, I was behind a guy that was texting on his phone the whole time for 10 miles, in the left lane, and several times had to swerve back in his lane from drifting.

Funny how though, when I feel like tearing it up a little, there's always 20 of them in a 10 mile stretch.

I still haven't been doing much, avoiding doing anything I planned and puttering around town.

Took my wife to breakfast at IHOP today since it's been a while since I have had her on the back. Ran into some churchy "faith riders" there. It always kind of annoys me. Like, I have nothing against anyone or their religion or what they want to do, more power to them, but they're always so damn pushy. And around here, you can't just say you're not interested, because then they push harder. "Well you don't have to come if you're happy with your church, but we get together for other rides, here's my number, call me, call me RIGHT NOW, so I have your number." so you can't even just give them a fake number and leave.

They're pushier than the Mormons man, and will talk your ear off before letting you leave. I don't want to be mean to any of them, but it's getting to the point I might just have to. I don't want to be tied up in a 20 or 30 minute conversation after the third time I say that I have to go because I have stuff to do.

That's not so much them, everyone around here is like that. You'll be half out someone's door, back turned to them saying "bye" and they'll follow you all the way to your car, then lean on your door after you get in so you can't shut it, just to keep you trapped in a conversation.

 

[sardonicus87]

Well, today was a great ride. It was cloudy off and on all day, so the high temp only made it to 90 I think. Anyway, had to do grocery shopping. Headed in, a breeze was picking up and the clouds were darker. I thought "damn, it's going to be raining right when I will get a chance to ride...".

Get home, and it only had drizzled a little in a few spots, but the rain I saw on the radar was just north of town. Heavily clouded though. The earlier drizzle, rain to the north and the clouds really cooled it down to about 80 degrees when I got to ride, so that was nice, and it wasn't all bright and sunny (I actually prefer cloudy weather, can't stand the brightness even with sunglasses).

I think I found the twistiest road that's in-town. Even has a sign part way down that shows twisty for 2.5 miles. Relatively speaking, it's actually not all that twisty, but it sure beats all the other straight roads here.

I have also been figuring out different routes to get around. There's some fun bits, though said fun is very brief. I think I might throw on the chest harness tomorrow and video some of what I am talking about. The satellite image from Google doesn't do it justice.

One in particular is a left turn that's pretty sharp and requires a pretty deep lean angle. The other is a 5-way intersection that is only fun if you catch the green light, makes for an interesting right-left S curve over some uneven road (slight hill + how the roads are cambered there).

Now if the stupid traffic would ever stay out of the way... :cussing

 

[sardonicus87]

hey kyle, glad you are getting some ridding in. i hate to be dogmatic but would ya send another pic or two of your scoot. that is one of the very best looking harleys i have ever seen. that color is my favorite, bar none. i love my limited but butt ugly it is. your color would help, but ya know pig lipstick. no denying it the softies and rk's are the best looking and the best examples of them are ef4n's old delux and yours. keep her shinny hermano, that's a mighty fine harley.:grin

Thanks man. Yeah, I get lots of comments on how good she looks, even when it's a little dirty. I try to keep her that way. She looks and sounds great, I won't lie. But hopefully by the end of the year, she'll perform just as well (gonna get 10:1 pistons, performance cam and headwork, retune, if I get this estate closed and it'll give me enough to cover most of the cost).

I think part of what makes her look so good is that she's not totally naked. Just skimpy enough. Like a lot of women just seem sexier and more tantalizing in skimpy clothing rather than full on naked.

Yours isn't ugly to me by any means. I'd sure love a touring bagger of some kind myself for the longer trips.

Here you go. She could use a good wash and wax at the moment, I just hit some of the chrome with glass cleaner for these two pictures. The third one I took a few weeks ago for some reason I don't remember. You can right click them and hit "view image" to see them full-size if they're shrunk on here.

I pulled out my chest mount for my phone and it's broken. Out riding now, stopped for coffee and a cigarette. Still going to try to video those fun bits, but I will have to put my phone in the handlebar mount, hopefully it doesn't vibrate too much.

 

[sardonicus87]

I didn't get to make the video. Rain got the roads too wet to take the one turn how I wanted, not that it matters because traffic was stupidly slow, and I didn't catch the green light at the other intersection. I tried though. Other problem, part way through, it lost focus from the road and brought the focus to the bar and cable.

good lookin softail kyle. how tall and what brand are your bars? im lookin for a set for my softail, and those look really good on that bike.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

No idea. Measuring them, rise is 13" (from bottom to top, not from the center of the bar), bottom width is about 16.25-16.5" (outside to outside), 10" or 11" pull back as best I can tell, about 36-38" wide from outside to outside at the grips. They're on a 1.5" riser (from the tree to the bottom of the bar, 2" to the center of the bar). 1" diameter.

The bar definitely came from J&P Cycles (I remember when my father ordered a replacement after dumping it). I know the base is knurled for the riser, and it looks like it was not factory drilled for the wiring. They're definitely pretty cheap, probably J&P brand to be honest. Though, I can't find any 13" or 12" bars on their site that fit close to these measures that are knurled for the risers. They're not "dimpled for late model controls" either.

The super wide base at the bottom looks kind of goofy though without that bar bag on it.

 

[sardonicus87]

Oh, here's the video anyway. That left turn at the beginning is kinda fun if you hold a tight, aggressive line through it and crack the throttle and dig it in on the brief right. Then, if you catch the green light at the end, that's the quick S I was talking about that's fun if you hit it at speed. I will try again later when the city dies around midnight. I'll also set up an external mic behind the bag so there won't be wind noise.

The things I go through to make riding this boring city a little more interesting. :laugh

Full disclosure, I'm not even speeding in any of this, or any video I ever post of me riding; 90% of everyone basically drives 10-15 mph under the limit, even when there's no traffic and even in the left lane they love to hog so much, and accelerates slower than your average semi taking off uphill.

 

[sardonicus87]

OK, take 2. This time, I set my camera to record at 60fps so it wouldn't be so jittery. External mic so no wind noise this time too.

Right around 38-40 seconds, right after I start to hit it I slow down. I don't know if you can see, but the reason why is some idiot was crossing the highway from the truck stop wearing all dark clothes in the middle of the night. People around here man. You might see him in the middle of the right lane. Good thing I've got great eyesight.

Not the best camera angle to really show how these turns are and dark night time doesn't help either. But, it is what it is. Video also makes it seem slower than it is, but I hit that S at the end at 35 mph for reference, and I travelled at 40-45 mph down the road prior to that.

 

[sardonicus87]

Well, there's a storm coming through tomorrow that's supposed to be nasty. It rained a little earlier, and now there's random drizzling throughout town, but all the roads are wet.

So, I decided to throw on my rain suit and 3/4 face shield helmet and hit the back roads. Purposely drifted around some corners and then went to a parking lot to lock the back tire on harder stops, as well as to practice more drifting, just to get some practice on regaining and maintaining control in wet conditions.

I mean, obviously the safe thing to do when it is wet, is to slow down, but you can lose traction even when going slow, especially if you have to do some accident avoidance maneuvers.

I didn't drop her, but a few times in the parking lot, I thought I was going to lose it. Once my adrenaline pumped up too much, I called it quits before I hurt myself.

 

[sardonicus87]

I ran some errands, then I "washed" her.

 

[sardonicus87]

Man, I tell you what, I am glad I practiced in the wet yesterday. 20 minutes after I took that pic, I was heading home and at 55 mph on the highway, this dude in front of me, his brake lights didn't work and he decided to get on them pretty heavy because he wasn't paying attention to the guy in front of him (that I couldn't see) braking for a left turn.

Engine braking doesn't help at all with your brakes if the back tire is locked up. Definitely a close one, and would have been closer had I not left extra follow distance. Gotta watch those Florida tags, I'm starting to think brake lights are optional in the panhandle... it's the one consistent thing I see with Florida tags, as well as local dealer tags.

Crazy thing, car was definitely an automatic, but sometimes he slowed and the brake lights worked, other times not at all. The tail lights lit twice out of 7 times he was on the brakes.

 

[sardonicus87]

Man, I am having a lot less traffic headaches now that football has started. I'm so glad most everyone here is a carbon copy stereotype. Traffic is down, by a completely unexaggerated honest guess, 75% because they're all at home watching football.

It's great.

Putting around today. A guy I went to high school with that now works in the parts dept. at my local Harley wants to go for a ride tomorrow down to PCB (Panama City Beach). I've never ridden with him before, we'll see how it goes. There's actually some great back-road routes to get there from here that are pretty fun. It's a good 200 mile or more round trip (depending on which route you take).

 

[sardonicus87]

Well, road down to PCB with that guy, checked out The Outpost in Freeport. Much larger beer selection than I would have assumed given that it's a biker bar (most of the ones here I have been to, your choice is Coors, Michelob Ultra or Budweiser, and that's it). Pretty cool place.

He's got a TC Heritage classic that has bolt-on stage 3 work (88" to 95" big bore kit). And it makes me want my work done even more now. Asked him about the one shop I talked to and apparently, they're not big into doing anything other than bolt-on performance mods. They just mostly want to only do paint and audio. Kind of figured there was a reason they were jacking me around. Don't tell someone you can do the work and promise to get them a quote, just say you don't or can't do it. Wasting my time.

However, he did tell me of another place that's supposed to be good where I could get the work done. I'm going to look into them today and maybe ride out to see them the next day they're open.

 

[sardonicus87]

She's a beautiful machine and I sure am gonna hate to see her go. If I had room I keep her and get the new King too.

If space is the issue and you don't need to sell/trade for the King, I can store it for you, for free, even ride it on occasion to keep it in running order. :devil

 

[sardonicus87]

Well, getting spare batteries ahead of time is a good idea, but batteries lose charge in storage too.

Also, batteries discharge faster the hotter it is where they are stored. If you grab extra batteries as backups, keep them in the refrigerator. Or even a drawer in the house, just not out in the hot garage.

Though, you shouldn't lose too much charge in those kind of batteries. I mean, after two years in storage, watch-type "button" battery might have 90% charge instead of 100%, not losing much. They're lithium metal batteries, should be about a 10 year shelf life, and should last 3-5 years in the fob I would think. I know they'll go about 5 years in a quartz watch.

 

[sardonicus87]

Good to have no rain for the start of the day. 2 days in the truck was making me grumpy.

Man I know. Here, it's been unpredictable and every day, even if it projects no rain, it boils up scattered storms.

It never fails. I have been rained on every day for the past week and a half.

I just started packing my rainsuit jacket and taking the 3/4 helmet with face shield.

Although I don't so much mind the rain, I'd much rather it be dry. This has been the absolute worst summer as far as weather is concerned. Rains and it's still hot. Absolutely miserable.

 

[sardonicus87]

Well, rather than washing and waxing the bike like I should, I plan to ride around town. That's all I have been doing lately. I'm just trying to get to 45K service interval before I do the other crap I planned, like changing my swingarm bearings that I mentioned a few times before.

My ride yesterday was just absolutely awful. It's no secret that people where I live are some of the worst drivers in the state, and the country in general. But just so much crap that's been getting worse. Like, people blatantly running red lights is one of the worst, as well as slow left lane cruising. But the cops are too busy busting people for weed when they're not called to another property crime issue to even be on the road, and seem to not care at all about even egregious traffic offenses I've seen people pull right in front of them on the rare occasion they're actually out on traffic patrols.

Anyway yesterday, I was at a red light and there was a fire truck coming along the cross street, lights and sirens blazing. The light turned green and people just started moving right on through even though the truck was right there, blasting that horn. One woman stopped right in the middle of the intersection and just sat there like a deer in the headlights with the fire truck blaring its horn at her.

It was like all the worst drivers all got on the road at the same time, it was ludicrously bad. I'm hoping today will go better.

 

[sardonicus87]

Kyle, it's not just where you ride, drivers are stupid everywhere I've been all my life.

Oh for sure, but I have never been anywhere with a higher per capita of really bad drivers than where I live... except maybe Massachusetts. Driving through PA (at least, on the slab) was night and day difference in drivers having good driving etiquette and generally not crashing or causing accidents/near accidents compared to other places.

Hell, even the bennies in NJ drove better than the people here.

It was also funny, as soon as I crossed from PA to MD, all those previously decent drivers magically became suck drivers, and it just kept getting worse the further south I went. Though it mostly wasn't bad until I hit Atlanta.

Another thing lately that's irritating me that's on the rise, is the number of people not moving when the light turns green because they didn't see it because they had their face buried in their phone at the red light.

 

[sardonicus87]

Well, piddling around town today, I ran into a local guy I know just as I was about to leave the coffee place I stop at for my afternoon coffee and water. Rode around with him for about 20 minutes, just some back roads as I was on my way home. He lives right around the corner from me actually, but he was stopping by to see his old lady at her work.

First time I ever rode peg-to-peg with someone. Well, for a good chunk of it anyway. Definitely not fond of doing that, I don't like the decreased exit chances in the event of an emergency. And I wasn't terribly fond of being on the left side and having to cut back on the "hairy parts" to get staggered, but I got the lighter bike so, just easier for me to quickly cut back and run behind.

Honestly, wasn't expecting him to run side by side like that. It's not that I don't trust him to hold a good line or anything, and I can whip tight turns... just don't trust the cars in the opposite direction to not cross the line. Also, I think it's technically illegal here to ride like that, though I never heard of anyone getting a ticket for it.

If I ride with him again, I'll just let him know up front I don't want to ride like that, just keep it staggered.

 

[sardonicus87]

Kyle, I got a good friend that I really don't want to ride with, I never know where he's at. My wife even made mention of him, she's not a rider only passenger, and she's on back of my bike quite a bit (40+yrs), and have rode with different groups through the years, only this one guy feels distracting. Really sucks, because it's not only bikes we have in common, he's an all around friend. Just not disciplined on Wheel.

I don't often ride with other people, even if I trust them or know they can ride. I always feel like I am either going to be holding them back (because they're all on 108"+ TCs) or that my riding style won't match up, or that I will miss the right ramp/turn. :laugh:

Plus, they seem to ride aggressively in ways I ride conservatively or they ride conservatively in ways I ride aggressively. That and well, I don't have much experience riding with other people.

I'm definitely more OK riding with someone on a trip down the slab, not so much in town.

Not what I today as much as what I'm going to try tomorrow, but I'm printing off the log form today for a saddle sore attempt tomorrow

We'll see, daylight is shorter now but still manageable, temps and weather are favorable, I think I'm going to try for Denver to Lebanon, MO via Amarillo. Hopefully the rain will stay in the eastern part of Missouri

Good luck, that is rough. My summer trip, on my way home it was 1200 miles and I tried to see if I could do 1,000 on the first day and only made it something like 770 or 800 miles, averaging about 80 mph on the slab, stopping for gas every ≈150 miles. Even then, I was ready to stop after about 750 miles, and the only reason I went further is because I couldn't find a hotel that had an available room.

Definitely plan your breaks out well. But I had also gotten a late start after having had very little sleep on an uncomfortable couch the night before.

 

[sardonicus87]

Although I ride every day, I haven't really been going out very much (as in, to socialize). It had been 4 months that I hadn't been to this bar I used to go to about 20 miles away (not very far), so I decided to head out there the other day.

Well, yesterday, I went back out there again and on my way over there, there was this hatchback type car and their whole back window was covered with a giant "Slower traffic keep right" sticker stylized like the road signs (just wider instead of taller). Person was actually a great driver with great driving etiquette. I debated with myself for about 5 miles whether or not to follow them until they stopped somewhere so I could get a picture. But I decided against that. Had they stopped before where I was going though, I definitely would have.

It's just funny to me. In part, because I have a custom patch on the left side of my vest of the same road sign, but mirrored so that it's readable if someone looks in their rear view mirror (not that they could see it/read it at a proper follow distance, I got it more as a joke about how anal I am about proper driving).

Other than that, I have just 500 more miles to go for my next service interval, at which point I will finally replace my swingarm bearings and properly patch that stator plug leak from the inside. I just have to get new gaskets for the primary and cover. I might as well also replace all the seals in the inner primary while I got it off.