New BDR Film Should Be Worth Your Time

May 17th, 2021

The folks who put together the Backcountry Discovery Routes have had a lot of fun, I’m sure, putting together backcountry routes through 10 states in the last 10 years. Butler Maps offers maps of these routes and they have sent me several of them. I’ve never ridden any of these routes but that’s not from lack of desire to do so.

Backcountry Discovery Routes

Every year they put together a film of the development of that year’s route and now, at 10 years, they have put together a 10-year retrospective film. While that film will not be available for viewing until June 1, there is a trailer available now. Yeah, it looks like fun.

So, I don’t have a link right now but they say the full film will be available for free viewing as of June 1 on YouTube, Vimeo, and Amazon Prime. I’m sure a simple search will get you to it. Particularly if you search for “Ride BDR: A 10-Year Retrospective Film.”

I had hopes when they were mapping out the Colorado BDR that I might get to be part of the group but that didn’t happen. I have a somewhat distant connection to these folks and that connection seems to get weaker each year, but back then I had hopes. Didn’t happen. I’m sure they had plenty of people who wanted to go but they had to be selective.

So come June 1 we can all go see what we’ve been missing.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: You can ride a motorcycle any time of the month.

Tags:
Posted in motorcycle touring, motorcycle video | No Comments »

Look Away, Look Away!

May 13th, 2021

OK, you’re spotted it and warned the guy behind you–now look away.

I heard yesterday about two airplanes making contact in mid-air, just a very short distance from here, over Cherry Creek Reservoir. Not a full-on collision, but one plane clipped the other. Both planes got down safely and nobody got killed.

But doesn’t that make you think: How in the heck, in all that space up in the sky, do two planes manage to hit one another? I bet I know one factor that played into it: target fixation.

The way target fixation works, if you see something you wish to avoid, but you keep looking at it, you will almost certainly steer directly to it. It happens on a motorcycle, in a car, on foot, and I’m sure it happens in airplanes, too.

I have numerous personal experiences with target fixation. When I used to fly a hang-glider I was flying once up in South Park and I was headed toward a pole with a wind sock on it. The trouble was, I was losing altitude and I was not going to be high enough to go over it. I tried to steer away but I kept looking right at it and inexorably I continued straight for it. Finally, in order not to hit it, I flared upward to go over, but that put me into a stall and I came nose down just on the other side of the pole. That hurt.

On my CB750 once we were coming down Poncha Pass toward Poncha Springs and there was a rock I’d say that was about four inches in diameter in the road ahead. I definitely didn’t want to run over that but as I tried to maneuver away I kept staring at it and ended up going right over it. This threw my front end up in the air, the only wheelie I’ve ever done on that 600 pound motorcycle. I did manage to ride it out safely.

But the point was, I kept looking right at it. That seems like the normal thing to do–you want to be sure to avoid it so you keep your eye on it. But your brain works a little differently. What you really need to do is look away from it. You will go where you’re looking. So look away and you will steer away. Look right at it and you will go straight toward it.

I can just imagine one of those pilots yesterday. He sees this other plane and wants very much to steer clear of it. But he keeps looking at it, and hard as he tries to steer away he continues to find himself on a course directly toward it. Even when the other pilot tries to evade him, the pilot who is fixated adjusts his course unconsciously to continue toward the other plane. And crash.

Look away! Look away! That’s what you’ve got to do. Practice it while you’re out riding. Identify a spot in the road ahead and deliberately look elsewhere and avoid it. Or look right at it and try to steer around it. Good luck with that. Practicing now to look away will make it easier to do it when it matters; it will be more reflexive.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 21. From March until October is roadracing season. We’ll watch it all: races, qualifying, free practice, even testing.

Tags:
Posted in Motorcycle Safety | No Comments »

What I Dislike The Most About My CB750

May 10th, 2021

Just getting to the bolt that holds the seat on is difficult.

My 1980 Honda CB750 Custom was my first motorcycle and I still have it and I have always loved it. That said, nobody–and nothing–is perfect.

I can say for one thing that I’m not crazy about the chain drive. Having to lube that chain, adjust it occasionally, and replace both it and the sprockets at times is a bit of an annoyance and also a bit of expense. But I live with it. And from what I’ve read, chain drive has some advantages over shaft drive, though I’m not particularly attuned to those sorts of things. I just ride the bike.

Upside down here, this is the flange under the seat.

There is one thing, though, that is just an out and out pain: unmounting and mounting the seat.

Motorcycle design has changed in a huge way since 1980 and getting the seat off and on is one in which the improvement is especially huge. On both my 1999 Kawasaki Concours and my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom all you have to do is insert the key and turn it, then pop the seat off. To put it back on you just position it properly and press down till it clicks. Couldn’t be simpler.

Not so on the CB.

On this bike there are two bolts that go through holes in two flanges that extend downward from the seat frame. You can see the flange in the photo at right. These bolts screw into the frame of the bike. Under the best conditions this is a simple process with a wrench. I do not enjoy the best conditions.

First off, the seat, after 41 years, seems not to be completely symmetrical and so I find it necessary to lay across the seat from the left, putting my weight on the seat to push it down just enough to free up the bolt. Then on the right I have to lift the seat just enough to free up the bolt.

On top of that, when I first bought the bike it came with a sissy bar already on it, which is great, I like that. But the rail attaches the sissy bar to the frame of the bike in a way that blocks access to the seat bolts. I don’t have to take the sissy bar off, but it is definitely awkward reaching around it to get at the bolts.

What this amounts to is that an operation that takes about three seconds on my other two bikes takes at least five minutes on the Honda and I need to have the proper tools to do it. OK, so if this is the toughest thing I’ve got going in my life I know I’m not getting any sympathy from anyone. And I’m not asking for sympathy–just making note of one of life’s little irritations. I’ll live with it. Heck, I’ve lived with it for more than 30 years already.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your ponytail comes off with your cap.

Tags: ,
Posted in Motorcycle Gear | No Comments »

Specs On Tank Bag; Set-Up Completed

May 6th, 2021
Viking Bags tank bag

The new Viking Bags tank bag mounted on my CB750.

I took the Honda for a ride to see how the set-up I had used on this new Viking Bags tank bag was going to be secure. It was, but I figured I could configure it better. So I did.

tank bag on motorcycle

I now have the straps running around the steering column. Note that I can put gas in the tank without removing the bag.

As you can see from the picture above I no longer have the straps looping back over the sides of the tank. As the other picture shows, they now go into the cleft where the tank fits over the spine of the frame and around the steering column. Dipping below the tank it then loops around a couple frame members to hold it securely. In doing this I was very conscious of positioning the strap to not crimp any cables or wires or anything, and to not be located such that movement of the bars left and right would cause rubbing and wear.

In short, I think it’s well set up and should be fine for the long term, though I will check it periodically at least for a while so as to be sure.

So, so much for set-up. What about the bag itself? The first thing you have to understand about any Viking Bags product is that they are targeting the lower-priced end of the market. If you want premium quality and are willing to pay for it, buy Harley gear. If you want something that is perfectly satisfactory but maybe a little rough around the edges for a very affordable price, then Viking does a very good job.

That said, the bag has a fairly large storage space that can unzip to create a really large space. If you wanted to stand a water bottle upright at the back end, closest to you, there would be no problem at all. The detachable map case (Velcro) is a good size: 8-1/2 x 10. That’s big enough to fit a full two-panel section of most maps.

There is also a small zippered pocket on the bottom portion of the rear, rider-end of the bag that you could use small items you want quick access to. Some tank bags have a softer, grippy base layer that is actually in contact with the tank, that keeps the inevitable rubbing from wearing away at your paint. That’s one of those premium items that you pay more for; don’t look for that with this bag. I may try to come up with something to put under there to protect the paint–it seems like maybe a chamois cloth would work well–or I may just ignore it. Probably the latter. I mean, I’m assuming the material is nylon, and nylon won’t scratch the paint; it’s the grit that gets in between the bag and the tank that does the damage.

I really think I’m going to like having this bag. It’s a good size and can carry my rain suit so I won’t need to put the saddle bags on for that. I’ve been sold on tank bags for a long time. Now I finally have one on the Honda.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you lie to your wife in order to spend more quality time with your bike.

Tags: ,
Posted in Motorcycle Gear | No Comments »

Checking Out A New Tank Bag

May 3rd, 2021

My first–but possibly not my last–stab at setting up this Viking bag on my 1980 CB750.

I’ve had a tank bag for my Kawasaki Concours for years and it’s been great. More recently I got a tank bag for my Suzuki V-Strom and it’s a very welcome addition as well. But I’ve never had a tank bag for my Honda CB750 Custom. I’ve felt that lack. Well, now I have one.

I took the bag from the Kawi with me on the Honda one trip and utterly regretted that. Whereas on the Connie it sits–with magnetic attachment–on a broad gas tank with wind protection from the fairing. On the Honda the tank was probably OK, not great, but with no fairing the wind wanted to lift it up and throw it around and I spent that whole trip fighting to keep it in place. A real horror! Nope, I needed a tank bag that straps down securely for the Honda.

So, as I often do, I received an email from the folks at Viking Bags offering to give me some gear in exchange for my testing and reviewing it. Usually I ignore these emails because one person really only needs just so much gear. But this time I figured what the heck, it would be nice to have a tank bag for the Honda.

Of course, nobody makes bags today designed specifically for a motorcycle made in 1980. But Viking does offer bags designed to fit many specific makes and models so I looked at what they had for Honda and picked one that struck me as possibly working on my Honda. I chose to go with the Viking Dirtman Medium Black Dirt Bike/Enduro Tank Bag.

I received the bag Saturday and immediately took it out to put it on the bike. I knew this might be less than straightforward.

Securing the bag under the seat

The back strap was easily secured under the seat.

The first thing I knew I needed to do was to remove the seat and loop the back strap under the slot where the tongue on the seat slips in to be held in place. That was easy, although removing the seat on this bike is never easy. That particular design element is so much better these days than it was in 1980.

Attaching it in front was not so simple. On this old bike, the gas tank straddles the backbone of the bike’s frame and wraps around the steering post. I slipped the straps into that V and then brought them back up to the bag. I wasn’t sure this was going to work but when I tightened everything down it did seem to do the job. The real test will be when I take it for a ride and see how it does.

I also had to figure out just what to do with the rest of the straps and I kind of jerry-rigged that.

It appears secure. What I like about it is that, as the name implies, this bag is designed for a dirt bike so it sits back on the tank, pretty much in the space where the actual tank on my Concours is. This leaves me free access to my gas cap so unlike with the other two, I won’t need to remove the bag to put gas in the tank.

Right now the strap comes up the side of the tank and that is a bit unsightly so I will probably try setting it up differently but for now it looks like it will work. I’ll be following up this post with an actual description of the bag and discussion of its features. I’ll also explain there how I finally decide to handle all this set-up.

In the meantime, I think it’s going to be really nice to finally have a tank bag on this bike. Heck, I’ve had this motorcycle for 33 years.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 5. Bonus at work? We’ll buy shiny bits for our bike instead of taking you on a romantic vacation.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, Motorcycle Gear, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

What Stupid Question Have You Been Asked?

April 29th, 2021

Just out for some fun.

It turns out that I have drawn from this Adventure Rider thread more recently than I remembered. Oh well, there’s a lot more where this came from. The idea is, what stupid questions have people asked you when you’re on your bike and stop somewhere? Here are some of them.

  • Who makes Triumph? (I get this one a lot at gas stations).
  • Stupid woman: “Motorcycles are dangerous!”
    Me: “Don’t you mean ‘riding motorcycles is dangerous’?”
    SW: “Yes.”
    Me: “Most people die in bed. So, where do you sleep?”
  • In ’64 my buddy and I rolled up to the ranger’s hut at the Wildrose Station entrance to Death Valley on a pair of Vespa 125s on our way from San Jose to the Grand Canyon. Hard to mistake those Vespas – floor board / fairing front end with “VESPA” in big letters. The ranger leans out and comments,
    “Hondas, huh? How do they take the hills?”
  • Got the Classic again last week.
    Nitwit “What is that?”
    Me “KTM 950 Adventure”
    Nitwit “Who makes it?”
    Me “KTM”
    Nitwit “Oh Its a Kawasaki”
    Me “Uhm,,,,,, Yeah”
    Pulled my helmet on and rode away laughing
  • Stopped at a stop light in ATGATT. Crotch Rocket Guy pulls up next to me in T-shirt, shorts, and sneaks.
    CRG: “Planning on falling down?”
    Me: “Nope. Planning on getting up if I do.”
  • Had a girl ask me not long ago how I was able to get my pipes such a pretty blue color!
  • Riding to work each day in winter, other employees getting out of their cars in the parking lot without coats or jackets would ask me, “Aren’t you cold?”
    Nope, I’m the one with the warm coat.
  • The receptionist has asked me if it’s hard to keep the motorcycle upright and if I can go as fast as a car.
  • I stopped at a deli the other day and this woman looked at my jacket & boots and asked me if I was going skiing.
  • A guy walks up from the rear of the bike and asks “How far of a trip are you on this time” I am less than 5 miles from the house, no luggage, tank bag, or anything strapped down on the tail rack, and I have Indiana plates on the bike in Indiana.
  • Does that jacket make you hot?
    Nawww… but my wife thinks it does.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if you own more black T-shirts then underwear.

Tags:
Posted in Miscellaneous, motorcycle humor | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »