5 years and countless miles

Tomorrow, it will be five years since I started this page.  

Five years ago I put myself out into the blogging world and let the chips fall where they may.  I've maintained other blogs, and have done some other writing before this blog of course...and I can honestly and truly say that I've been paid for my content as well (although I write strictly for fun now).

Hopefully my writing has improved when it comes to motorcycling and scootering topics.  As I reread my first piece and a few others of my early blog, I can't help but cringe.  Although the enthusiasm was there, the knowledge was not.  Over that time period I've grown in knowledge and experience at least.

I started riding a small Yamaha Zuma 125; which was wonderful for the city streets of Tampa, but not so good for the move to the rural country about a year before the blog started.  I had no one to train me, no one to ride with and I put on a lot of miles just scooting around parking lots and fields before I took the bike out into the street.  I remember often pulling over late at night to allow a car to pass me because I was paranoid about getting hit from behind.

Today I ride on highways and back roads equally with no fear, and although I still watch my mirrors, I've not as paranoid as I once was.

I have grown as a rider in many ways, but I'm still just a "scooter commuter" in that I've not ridden that far.  I've not driven across the state, I've not ridden over two hundred odd miles in one day.  In fact, I've only a couple 150 mile days under my belt.  There always seems to be some excuse, some other demand on my time and life.  Kimmie's got more than enough room for an overnight bag and that's something I want to work on during the next five years.  Going further, riding out and staying the night, even camping.

I don't see myself giving up motorcycling anytime soon.  Although when I feel I have nothing left to say, or the blog becomes more of a chore than fun, then this blog will simply disappear into the mists of internet lore.  I certainly hope it helped another rider in some small way.

Frankly though, adding mileage to my bike has been one of my goals this year.  I'm out on the bike more than I have been in some time. I'm not even watching the weather like a hawk that match anymore, since I feel that pretty confident that I can ride in almost anything.

Nor am I sure how long I'm going to have Kimmie.  I told Susan yesterday that I plan on running her into the ground...and I probably will.  She's a good bike and I've added a few farkles to her over time as well.   She's a lot like me.  Not that flashy, hard working and reliable but not to be underestimated.  She's stronger than she looks but has been scratched and dented by life.   Kymco is not a big name bike in America, but I would buy another in a heartbeat. 

Here's to another five years.  Here's to countless miles.  Here's to fun, friendship and the wonder that only cresting a hill and seeing the world spread out before you can bring.  Here's to riding.  

Solve for X

My first bad motor scooter

So we are still waiting on the part.  A nasty phone call to my mechanic results in a mumbled apology and "I'll look into it personally" from Mike the owner.  "Mike, where are you getting this part shipped from?  North Korea?"  I ask.  "Yea, I think we are." He says.

I've laid awake in bed the last two nights or so considering my options.  I have to take a lot into consideration if I go new.  Cost, mpg, storage, etc.  In a lot of ways I'm reminded of what I went through when I first decided to by a bike all those years ago.  Hard to believe that I've been on a bike for slightly over four years now.  Hard to believe that I'm am considering getting yet another motorcycle.

Me on the day I bought the Burgman.

My little Zuma 125 met my needs in the city.  It had high MPG (about 85+).  My late Burgman 400 was powerful enough to handle the highways and city traffic of my move to Zephyrhills, Florida.  My Kymco Xciting 500 has (slightly) more power and meets my needs as I zip all over creation.  I've farkled (is that a word?) it out some; adding a cramp buster, flashing front light and a top case.  As I moved up in power my mpg fell a significant amount each time.  The Burgman was in the low to mid 50's.  Kimmy is in the high 40's to low 50's.

I really don't want a new bike, I don't feel ready for a new bike (although financially I am)...I don't think I'm done with Kimmie yet but as she sits covered with her burial shawl in my driveway I know that I have to consider it.  I know I'm leading hard to the Honda CTX and I know I'll have to start all over again with luggage and such.  

Kimmie' in happier times

The Honda is expected to be just shy of 68 mpg.  Certainly a respectable number, although I know that my mileage may vary.

I hear bikes on the road whining in the distance "Join us" and I can't.  I want to be on the road.  I suppose it's something only bikers understand.

I wonder how much longer I will wait for Kimmie to be repaired.  I know that I will have to replace the CVT belt eventually, a front tire sooner than later as well as figure out the electrical problem (she's not turning over at all) and get the stupid gasket replaced.  What might have been $500 will probably end up costing me closer to $1000.  If she's going to be up in the air anyway why not put a new front tire on her?

So what else could possible go wrong?  What other issue is lurking under her plastics?  I don't care for uncertainty and I've been lucky enough to get to where I am by reducing that uncertainty.  By understanding the numbers and making smart moves based on the data.  To much "X" here and not enough "Y" for my liking.

A new bike doesn't solve all those issues and in fact creates some new ones.  On Saturday I am heading off to my dealer again to consider my options.  Get a trade in value and maybe, just maybe look at a few other options.  But honestly if a new bike payment is under $150 a month....I may have to change to blog's title.

I turn the key and...

Nothing.

No click, no roaring to life.  I pop the seat and the inner light glows weakly and that indicates only one thing to me.  The battery is dead or dying.

I can't help but wonder if maybe I didn't close the seat enough and accidentally drained the battery.  Do to a lot of different reasons I'm not going to go into I've not ridden my bike since last Saturday. It was a error that I wanted to rectify this weekend.  Luckily for me it appears pretty easy to replace.

To be honest, I was not unhappy about the battery.  After all to the best of my knowledge it was the original battery and it lasted for four or five years if not longer.  If I got that long out of any battery that I bought new;  I would be happy even though I knew that the general life of a motorcycle battery was only two or three years tops.  Besides, another opportunity to grow as a mechanic!  Although my owners manual warned me that only a qualified mechanic should replace the battery.  I'm definitely not that.

First then, to the geeks favorite friend, the internet.  I was wondering about the price, would my mechanic have the battery in stock or would he over charge me for it?  How long would it take for me to receive the battery if I ordered it online?  Was there some video somewhere which would explain the correct procedure?  I have replaced various car batteries over time, this should not be to difficult...right?  There was a little corrosion on the negative terminal.

The tender in use

The Kymco forums didn't really have much for me.  I also considered getting a battery tender.  After all, if I got a rechargeable battery would this not extend the life?  Although it seemed it be a waste of money for me.  My bike generally does not sit.

In the end someone in my park had a tender that they let me borrow.  It slowly but surely charged.  Then VROOM!  Okay it's a scooter so maybe not VROOM! but she did start - so I'm happy.  I rode it briefly around the town to ensure it was working.  I decided to ride it to work later tonight.

But the question still remains.  Do I get a tender or assume that the battery is shot?  In either case for a small investment (about $35 US) I would have a tender.  I might even try to find something that I can place under the seat since I often work at night, and being stuck out in the middle of nowhere at 2 AM does not really appeal to me.  Ah...another farkle.

As always I'll update ya!

Review of the Viking Tank Bag

When the good people at Viking Bags sent me one of their tank bags to review, I jumped at the chance.  Although not for the reasons you might think.  I love my scooter and scooters, in general, offer more storage than the traditional motorcycle.  Under the seat is enough storage space to hold a full face helmet at least, and depending on the model, maybe more.  I've written before how I feel Kymco sort of missed the boat on storage.

I added the Travel Trunk to carry my rain suit (always a requirement in Florida) and a few other things for that reason.  Still I wanted additional storage, a way to hold my GPS enabled phone, wallet and documents for example.  While there is some gear out that that is designed for scooters, there is not that much really designed for a maxi-scooter in mind.  Sure, we can can buy saddlebags and such for our bikes...but a lot of it is hit and miss and often we end up having to modify and adjust just due to the nature of our bikes.  Sometimes a scooter just looks stupid with the saddlebags as well.

Placed on my refrigerator fully packed 

So first things first.  The bag has ten magnets that should hold it firmly to a metal tank but on the plastic hump of the scooter those magnets were useless.  A couple of well placed Velcro strips would come in handy, I had used them before successfully on other projects.

The magnets are strong enough to hold a full bag in place without slipping and come off the metal easily enough, allowing you to take the bag off the tank keeping your valuables with you.  Or, with a simple twist you can remove the pouch and just take that with you.

The pouch measures 6 inches high by 8.5 inches wide and is roughly 2 inches deep.  The map pocket is 8.4 inches high by 8.25 inches wide.  It normally retails for about $69 US dollars but the good people at Viking Bags have them for $19 US. In the interest of fairness they sent me the bag in return for the review (see here for more detail on that).

This tank bag is actually two bags in one.  The first is for the map or gps/phone/etc, it is covered by a piece of plastic with Velcro on the bottom edge to keep everything in place.  The tank bag has a large zippered compartment that easily held a lot of odds and ends.  The picture is a little blurry but I managed to place a small first aid kit, comb, phone charger, flashlight, work ID, phone and a $20 bill into the bag without issue.  I didn't place anything in the clear map department yet.

 It even has two small rubber reinforced holes for ear buds and fits over the plastic bag.   It's held in place by two reinforced plastic screws, which has two eye holes.  I liked that because options are always a good thing (more on that later).  The top bag fits nicely over the map pocket and helps to protect it from the rain and weather.  All the hinge points are reinforced with plastic or leather - a nice little detail which means that the bag will not wear easily over time.  You do have to pick that bag up to see the other map however which might be a little dangerous on the fly.  I tried to arrange the bag every way I could but it only fits together one way.
 

My phone was easily manipulated in this map pocket as well.  The picture gives you an idea of how a map or directions might appear.  The fuzzy picture ( sorry - cheap ass camera) doesn't due it justice.
The zipper is your standard type zipper.

So for so good.  I was tempted to stick the back under a running faucet to see if it was waterproof, but thought that be a little much.

Overall I thought it was a good option and well worth the price that Viking Bags is charging.  Only one minor issue.  I could not use the bag.  No matter how I tried to manipulate it (including tying a string between the eye holes and hanging it tightly to the handlebars) I just could not make the bag fit on my scooter.  My initial idea of attaching it to the "hump" might work...but I am still thinking about that part of it.    So the search continues but I will say this.  I would buy this product - and considering I'm a cheap SOB - that is high praise indeed.

The winter months brings it's own challenges.

Autumn has arrived in officially in Florida.

The humidity broke, the temperature has settled into the what I used to think of as "summer" weather when I lived up north.  My mesh jacket has been confined to the closet and I slip into my heavier "winter" jacket welcoming the extra weight and warmth of it for the cold ride home at 1 AM.  I start to get my head around the fact that soon it will be very cold on the way home.

The temp gauge on my beloved Burgman (RIP)

I know that the words "cold" and "Florida" don't exactly make logical sense.  I do admit to feeling some pangs of regret that my Northern friends don't have a year round riding season like I do and always feel a little bad bringing up the topic of "cold weather riding."

Well snow is as rare as a truthful politician it can get cold here.  I have photographic proof of it.  For me it's a challenge, I have to dress warmly yet still manage to look professional and competent.  Dressing in layers is not always possible...I have to work in an area we refer to as the "fish bowl" - a glass enclosed small space full of computers.  Sweaters and hoodies can only go so far and I don't want to do a strip tease just yet.  My boots are good at keeping my feet warm but my legs?  Oh that is a different story!  In the past I've gone so far as to wear thermal underwear under my dress pants or place a pair of old sweatpants under the seat and pull those over my dress pants.

Winters are dry here, but we do get a nasty wind off the land and sea at various times of day and wind chill becomes a issue.   Layering is all well and good, but again how much gear can I wear in to work to stay warm on my 37 mile (60 KM) ride home without sweating off my skinny little butt?

The simplest solutions are always the best.

Kimmie at work.

The migration of the snowbirds also brings heavier traffic and a greater number of bikes on the road.  With that comes new dangers and challenges. I'm not knocking older drivers, who on the whole tend to be safer drivers, but they do need to remember the old adage "look twice, save a life."   Yesterday for example I had cars pull out in front of me twice, neither time was I ever in danger but that's not the point.  I have to be more vigilant in the winter months.  For example, in my little town of Zephyrhills the ave population is a little over 13,000 people.  During the winter months that number climbs to something like three or four times that.  More people equals more problems equals more danger.  That is just a sad fact.

UPDATE - In a bizarre twist, I was meeting my girlfriend at a friends about 4 PM.  They live off a rather busy road that is hard to cross during rush hours.  I decided to head down a rough washboard road and meet them at a Italian restaurant.  I too,k my helmet out of my top case and road the 3 miles or so to the bar.  By the time I got there my top case was gone.  We went back to look for it and traveled that road back and forth at least 3 times.  There was no sign of it anywhere.  Not even plastic on the road.  So I need a new top case and a new pair of gauntlet gloves (which were in the case).  Also new reflective stickers.

Robert is not happy.

“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.” Or....to much of a good thing(s)

This coming weekend was going to be busy.  There was a lot going on that demand my attention.  First was the AIM Expo in Orlando.  Like I mentioned in my last post; I really had no desire to go in the beginning but as the event approached the seeds of excitement grew.  The idea of looking at new farkles and trying out

Copyright TB Rowdies

new bikes appealed to me.  The event certainly peaked my interest and I had was certainly tempted to go.  I will also admit the interest in the expo would drive up my blog numbers and I want some neat swag.

My Tampa Bay Rowdies were also playing on Saturday night.  They are currently in second place in the standings and are pushing hard to defend their championship from last year.  There is frankly no room for error in the last three games and the reborn New York Cosmo's would have to collapse.  The odds are stacked against the Rowdies but soccer is a funny old sport.  I've not been able to attend as many games this year as I would have liked but with only two home games left I am running out of time!

Saturday is also the Rattlesnake Festival in nearby San Antonio, FL.  Just another of those goofy little festivals celebrated all over the United States to boost the local economy for a day or two.  I enjoy going to these little things simply because where else can I see Gopher Tortoise race?

This Saturday is also Sweethearts day and Sue and I had not been on any romantic adventures in some time.   The Bahama's cruise was more about my wanting to ride in a another country.  What romantic thing could I do that involved us riding on the bike?  Could we create our own Roman Holiday?  Two weeks ago we traveled to Tarpon Springs by bike and it had been a wonderful trip.  The last weekend we visited Strong Tower Vineyards and overall had a disappointing trip.  We drove up in the car and was disappointed in the wine and their fall festival overall.  The event was to small, there was nothing to do other than sample a rather poorly made wine.

As I write this I have a few things in my mind.  A few ideas forming.  The first was taking her down to a glass blowing workshop where she would learn to make her own pumpkin, to complete her love of Halloween.  I even went as far as ordering tickets...only to realize that the workshop I ordered the tickets for was in Corning, New York.  A red faced call to them got the issue resolved, much to their amusement.  So much for the world wide web!

Glass blowing example via the web.

At this moment I am not sure what I will do.  I know I seek adventure, but a little bit of romance is never a bad thing.  Getting out of the house to do something...anything is never a bad thing.  Even just having her wrap her arms about me and saying "Lets go." is a good thing.  A picnic on the beach, watching the sun set into the Gulf while reading poetry.  Trying new food at Veg Fest.  I want whatever life has to offer me.

Working six days a week like I do, staying at home is good too.  In the words of the immortal Jack Kerouac, who died some 44 years ago this week:  “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.”  Speaking of Jack, another venture starts to form in my head.

Ah endless possibilities.

This Blogging Life

I try to come up with a topic every week, it's sometimes a challenge.  After all, most of my riding is commuting over the same 35 miles every day with a little variation.  Sometimes it's fun to go off and do something different or take a group ride, these however are few and far between mostly due to my weird work schedule and secondary self-employed income.  So I don't feel weird telling you that this blog post is a little different, a little off topic but I think important enough to read and talk about.  This post was inspired by my second job in a way.

My little company supplies and stocks various magazines into the local grocery stores.  I don't deliver Ride Now, Full Throttle or Go Far magazines.  These are delivered by the publisher and each of these magazines in geared to the "Motorcycle Lifestyle" and are free publications.  I'll pick them up and often just browse through the pages.  With the exception of Go Far (the magazine withe the Map) most of these fine publications end up in my trash can.

They just don't apply to me.

Maybe if I had a Harley, maybe if I wore a lot of leather, maybe if I had a beard...OK, I do have a beard.

The blogger in his natural state.

Frankly there is no content in these magazines.  Nearly 50 to 75% of them are advertisements and what often passes for content is light or non-sensible.   One of them offers the ramblings of old man where he uses nicknames, slang and lingo.  Great if you're part of the inter circle but  horrible writing if you're actually looking for content.  Another offers safety tips but their lifted directly from the MSF website.

Go Far at least provides you with a map of a route (which is how I learned about the Green Swamp) which is great for riding, but even that magazine is mostly advertisements.  Still though, they offer content.  Perhaps not content directly related to me, but some content.

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not knocking one magazine or another.  The point I'm trying to make is that if you want a review of a particular bike, a particular jacket or helmet...your not going to find it in the pages of a magazine anymore.  Your going to find it in the hands of a blogger.

Magazines and websites count on there advertising dollars to keep publishing.  In order not to upset this "gravy train" you often get reviews that rave about a product or gloss over the rough points. Don't believe me?  When was the last time Rolling Stone gave any piece of music a rating under 3 stars?  Go and look, you'll be shocked.

This lack of content is self feeding.  A publication needs to advertise to pay it's costs.  Advertisements then become the majority of the magazine, pushing original content into a smaller and smaller space.  No one buys the publication since it lacks content.  To pay for the magazine you have to have more advertisements.  What little content may be in the magazine is supplied by giant companies that often provide bland or superficial material that provides no in depth analysis.  I am looking at you Associated Press!

Self feeding circles

Is it any wonder that publishing is dying?

So here I am, a (relatively young) scooterist.  I want to learn about the newest bikes, the newest farkles and get a honest opinion on them.  The only place I can turn is the internet.  The only place I can read something honest is the internet.  One of the original goals, which I believe I've  failed in. is to answer questions I had about riding, about the products, about the farkles.  I've learned a lot, but have I passed that knowledge on to other new riders?

I've been considering adding advertising to this blog.  Not that I expect to make much, but as a business man it only makes sense.  I've used Amazon with little success and I've considered adding a link to Bike Bandit or similar site.  What I worry about is writing a good review of a product because I want to deliver you to one of the websites that advertise with me.  So they will pay me.

I enjoy writing, I like having you, the gentle reader, provide feedback and support and even a slap upside the head when it's deserved.  It's been said that a writers job is to write.  I disagree, a writers job is to get you to think. If I do that then this is successful.   I have written for soccer publications and websites.  I've written about relationships and politics.  One year, I actually made $3000 from my writing for a now defunct soccer site (and have not got paid for my writing since).  That writing stopped being fun because I was getting pressure from the editors to stop being critical of the (then) new MLS as well as a well established minor league.  Who ever tells you advertising dollars don't matter is lying to you.

So yea, this blog is going to take a slightly different tack and offer product reviews in the future.  I'm still not sure if I'll accept advertising.   Time will tell.

Not a bad Saturday at all.

I was unsure of my plans for this last Saturday.  I wanted to stay home and do yard work, weeding and planting the garden outside to make Martha Tenney proud of me.  Friends of ours were planning a cook-out later that night and I was keeping a close eye on the weather.  All this week the weatherman was calling for a 30 - 40% chance of rain, which unfortunately for me, had been closer to 100% every time I rode out.

pretty much my week

Over the last week I had been caught out in the rain twice, raced a thunderstorm home and decided that commuting in the rain was just not a good idea twice.  So for two days in the last week I took the car, and both times stayed dry in less than idea conditions.  

I had also promised Kimmy that I would take her on a nice 100+ mile ride to stretch her legs a couple of weeks ago, and so far I had not kept that promise.  Barney's of St Petersburg was having a Vespa Open House from 9 to 5 and I liked the idea of running down there to take a look at the stock, perhaps dream a little and consider some farkles.  Yes, I know...cheap ass me considering farkles.  I had been considering a LED licence plate for some time and Sue was still going to need proper riding gear.  One thing I did want to get however was a reflective flag stickers of the countries I was riding in.  The US of course, after September I could add the Bahamas' to that as well.  Canada and Mexico were still dreams for now, but they would happen one day.  It might help with safety at night too.  I expected to order those online.

Actually the main reason I wanted to go was for companionship and the idea of browsing and talking to others about scooters gave me the warm fuzzies.  I don't get the chance very often to mingle with other scooterists and the free pizza sounded good too (it wasn't).   A secondary reason was that I have been wanting to get shots of the bike by the water for some time (still don't).  After all, living in Florida means that I am surround by the sea so the idea of getting a few picks of Kimmie by the water just seemed appropriate.   Due to circumstances I had not participated much in the Equinox to Equinox rally as of late, I was not planning to go out of my way, but if something was in my path...why not take a photo of it?  That was the third reason I wanted to go out and ride.  I might even find another interesting milk shake stand to try.

Loving the paint job

Susan decided to ride down with me, so we packed what we needed and took off about 10:30 AM, the heat of the day already starting to climb.  It was a about 50 miles one way and I had planned to avoid the highways.  I also planned on avoiding the dreaded Howard Franklin Bridge.  I don't fear highways or bridges but with Susan on back I didn't want to risk a problem.  Guess what we ended up doing anyway.  The back way was jammed with traffic and the sun just kept getting hotter so we decided just to keep moving.

We finally got there, to Barney's, and was disappointed.  There were not that many people there as I had hoped.  Although they did have a nice collection of Honda's, Aprilia's, Can-Am's, Vespa's and Yamaha's.

We gone done to the event to try gear on for Susan and to hopefully test drive a few bikes.  I am not interested in buying anything at this time, but the dealership did offer a Aprilia Mana 850, which I read about but had not seen first hand.  Sue's daughter also wants to start riding, and I wanted to learn about the dual sports.  Sue's daughter is definitely a "Tom Boy" and a dual sport maybe the perfect bike for her.   I was surprised that no sales people tackled us as we looked at the Can-Am's.  I hate to admit that these things are growing on me.  I would have not minded taking one out for a test drive either.  In the hour or so we hung around, not a single person approached us.

Sue looking good on a Can-Am

It was not a total waste of time though.   There were three classic scooters there.  A solid pink one that I know belongs to one of the organizers of the Tampa Two Stroke Scooter Club, a woman I was hoping to meet actually. A lovely older blue Vespa whose year and model I could not identify but the Odometer read over 97,000 miles.  And a Stella that was....beyond words.   

It was covered with Barbies and even had a little pull along trunk that carried...well, I guess if I was strapped to an old Stella going down the road I would need a change of panties too.

We then headed back, eating lunch at a chain restaurant that served good milk shakes.  Enjoyed our cook-out with friends and swam in the community pool to cool off.   Not a bad way to spend a Saturday at all.  Oh yea, and the was just shy of 150 miles total.  Yea, not a bad way to spend a Saturday at all.

Some additional photo's can be found on my Facebook page.

Someone stole my cherry.

Does the "Gearing Up Saga" ever end?

A few days ago at work a buddy of mine asked me how hot I was wearing my jacket every day.  I explained to him that I just bought myself a new mesh jacket that allowed for better airflow, and that lead to a little discussion about safety in general.  How wearing a jacket or a helmet just becomes habit, much like putting on a seatbelt.

At this time if you are still reading then good for you!  Hopefully this is NOT going to be a "boring safety post."

Well  maybe a little bit of safety.  I am going to review my new mesh jacket and talk a little bit about my future plans for Kimmie.  All of which, strangely, seem to revolve around safety issues.  I've already done more "farkles" on Kimmie than I ever did on the Burgie.  I'm counting the new seat as a farkle even though it was not planned that way.

  Ten years ago if you would have told me I would have fallen in love with Motorcycling (actually I'm a Scooterist) I would have thought you were nuts.  Five years ago I was giving it some thought, for the same reasons I started riding.  To reduce my costs and make my life simpler.  To a great extent it has.  Sometimes I pull next to a bus or some other reflective surface and I find myself wondering who is that guy in the dark helmet, the new grey and black jacket wearing the heavy boots is.   I've come a long way from the guy in the half-helmet wearing a bright yellow spring jacket with no armor at all.  No gloves, no boots.  Riding my little Zuma 125 down twisty roads in the middle of the night.  So paranoid of being hit from behind I would pull off the road at night to let cars pass me.

Today, on a bigger machine, I wear proper gear most of the time.  I will admit that I've gone to work on hotter days sans jacket (one of the reasons I bought the mesh jacket).  Or I've had a meeting sometime in the day where I've slipped on my dress shoes instead of my boots.

Now that Sue is starting to ride with me, we have been looking at jackets and a new and better helmet for her than the old half helmet she wears now. I only bought my new jacket at her insistence (Yes I'm that cheap!).  It's funny how suddenly having a passenger changes things.  Suddenly the lighted license plate I toyed with buying takes on more urgency.  Installing a air horn becomes less of an issue and moves up the "to do" list.

Well I certainly find the light modulation kits annoying when I ride, I can understand why others have them.  I'm not sure if I'm willing to annoy other drivers yet by buying one.  I am not so worried about the personalization of Kimmie as I am about making myself and my riding partner safer.

It's funny how that works.  How something originally intended to get me from point A to point B cheaply became something more.  How it inspired this silly little blog.  How it's taken me further and now I want to share that...that feeling of joy I have when I just go anywhere.

See I told you there wouldn't be to much safety talk in this post.

An unexpected farkel (and a 2-up update)

See the tear in green?

When I bought Kimmie I didn't realize that there was a small tear in the seat cover.  It slowly got worse over time since it was on the seam, and although I considered it a minor annoyance I knew that I would  have to fix it eventually.   In talking to a few people that supposedly know about these things they felt it would be easy enough to take a fabric needle and nylon thread to stitch it together.

When the dealership decided to call me regarding a few things I posted on Facebook,  and in various groups I belong to (including one they sponsor) to resolve a previous issue, one of the things we agreed on was to fix the seat.   I was simply expecting them to replace the cover and not the whole seat.  So imagine my surprise when I get a new and  upgraded seat?

I'm still not happy with the way the company in question handled the whole situation, but frankly the seat goes some distance to resolve those issues.  I am not however rescinding my original comments.  I've worked in customer service and sales all my life in everything from engineering to banking.  I've trained salespeople for God's sake.  So if I feel I'm wronged...you will know it.

So far I've only ridden about 50 miles on it (or 80.5 km) and am still trying to determine if I'm happy with it.  It seems a little less comfortable than the other seat did, and reminds me a lot of the previous Burgman seat - which had some issues.   I do like the backrest and that is a great improvement.  Only more miles will determine if it works for me.  Since there are no seams it's not going to tear, which is good.  The backrest seems to be adjustable, but I will have to take a closer look at that.

I also had a chance to drive over the Howard Franklin bridge twice on Kimmie.   I was very curious to see how she would handle the winds of the bay, since I was severely punished for it on the Burgman before.  It was fine.  Not a single issue to be had, but I still don't like driving highways.

Although we got pounded by the first tropical storm of the season this week and last Susan and I did manage to get some 2-up time.  So far just lazy rides around Zephyrhills and our community.  I took my time, being sure to take turns slow (but not to slow) and stay on the back roads.  Susan thoroughly enjoyed it and raved to all the Facebook friends about it.  I started to enjoy it once I realized how the bike was going to react and that I was not going to dump it.  Although in about an hour from now we are planning on going to dinner at one of our favorite places to eat and relax, and that will require me to drive in some heavier traffic, so we will see how that goes..  No, sadly it's not the Taco Bus but I did finally get a chance to eat there last week and enjoyed every second of it!

Until the next update, keep the shiny side up!

 

That every changing way....

I live an hour north of Tampa, Florida.  I never expected to be here, I never really gave much thought to living in Florida.  I like the area, the state...southern living suites me.  Except for the killer humidity.  This past Saturday I rode down to city as part of the Equinox rally.  I had planned on scoring at least 200 points and adding to my total.

Raymond James - Home of the Bucs

So I prepped for the trip wisely.  I would need water and lots of it, as the temperature would be in the mid 80's but the humidity would make it feel like it was in the high 80's, low 90's.  (high 20C to low 30's C).  I had filled my gas tank earlier and had the good people at Affordable Motorsports gave her a once over and an oil change.   I had also, on a whim, bought a new farkle - a crampbuster cruise assist - and wanted to give it a good try out.  This run would would do exactly that.  

Riding in cold weather is a challenge of course, but is solved by layering.  Hot weather is all about hydration.    So I packed a cooler with semi frozen water and off I went.  I was gone most of the day, only managed to do a little over 100 miles and fell 3 points short of my ultimate goal of 200.   I also managed to get caught out in the rain.  I missed a few things that I wanted to get due to circumstances beyond my control.  I also wanted to go eat lunch at the famed local eatery, the Taco Bus but as the day went on the heat and humidity continued to climb.  By noon I had it.

Kimmie met up with a friend.

I noticed that I had stopped sweating, never a good sign and had a slight headache.  These were sure signs the heat was getting to me.  Time to pullover, eat and drink some good food at a local restaurant   I would have preferred the Taco Bus, but Mr Empanada was right here.  I should have went with my first choice, the food was filling but less than satisfying   I sat for about three-quarters of an hour in the air conditioning, drinking water and cooling down.  I had some choices to make.

I had managed to score lots of points so far as part of the Equinox to Equinox rally; hitting most of the places I wanted to go and finding some odds and ends on the way.  I figured I was close to my goal of 200 and a quick look at the sky showed darkening skies.  Suddenly I was torn about what to do.  Did I continue down into town?  I was tempted to head over to historic Ybor City (pronounced ee'bor) and pick up at least 50 more points.  Down the main drag into Tampa proper all the way to the Air Force base picking up some odd points here and there?

Points like the giant peanut I passed earlier?  Which was a serendipitous find  Should I head home, after all the heat had me in it's grasp before?  Did I want to battle heavier then expected traffic for a online rally I really had no chance of winning?

No, I didn't.

So I turned it around, heading for home.  The sky didn't look that bad.  Then it started.  Light at first then it started to plink, plonk  plink off my helmet in a every increasing rhythm.  I pulled over, grabbing yet another picture, and slipped on my rain gear.  Just in time as the skies opened up in earnest shortly after that.  The good news was the humidity and temperature dropped drastically.  The bad news is that the rain kept up, varying in intensity but confirming that I made the right choice to turn back.  I would rather ride roads I know in the rain than roads I don't.

In the end however I was rather disappointed in the day and the ride.  Kimmie was great.  My new cruise assist required a little bit of adjustment but once I got it right I promptly forgot about it.  That is the best recommendation I can give.  I was disappointed that I would have to go back.  Deal with the heat and humidity and traffic some other day...all because I wanted to finish in the top 25.  All because I had a city to explore on a bike.

A review of the EMGO travel trunk

Sitting on my stoop this morning was my brand new EMGO travel trunk.  I picked it off of Amazon for under seventy dollars and have been wanting some sort of top case for a while.  One of the major issues, and I really do think the Kymco corporation missed the boat on this, with my bike is a lack of storage.  The Kymco, or "Kimmie", is a nice bike and frankly she's surprised me on how quickly she's stolen my heart.  She is still not at the level of my beloved and much missed Burgman...but she's growing on me more and more.

  I commute nearly every day on her, taking my lunch bag at least and maybe a pull over for that cool ride home at 12:30 AM.  With my former bike, I had storage for my riding jacket, full face helmet and pull over...all waiting for me to slip on and head home after a hard day of work.  With the Xciting, I can place my helmet and pull over away...but nothing else.  So I'm lugging in a few things every day.

 My hope is that the EMGO travel trunk would solve some of that.   Lucky for me, it was simple to install.

Kimmie's previous owner had a top case installed before, and the grab bars were solid enough to hold the travel trunk as well.  The entire set up consisted of a hard thick plastic bottom plate which already had several holes pre-drilled into it.  I would just have to affix the bottom plate to the existing luggage rack area with four mounting screws.

Sadly this took some drilling as the previous owner's top case holes did not match up with mine.  

The bottom plate installed.

It only took me about an hour to do.  That simplicity I liked and EMGO gets kudo's from me because of this simplicity.  After all, I'm a monkey with a gun when it comes to anything mechanical.

The travel trunk itself is 12" by 16.5" by 11" (or 30.48 by 41.91 by 27.94 cm) so it's roomy enough to hold a full face helmet at least and various little odds and ends.  I'll probably make it a habit to carry my rain gear, gauntlet gloves and pull over under the seat.  My daily "needs" of lunch and place to store my helmet will go into the trunk.  It looks like my jacket will have to go inside with me for now.

The case is actually a half inch (0.5" or 1.27 cm) in thickness.  It has a dual ridge "locking" system so when it's shut it should be waterproof.  Always a nice thing when your on your bike and since I've used my bike to make the occasional delivery  the size and convenience of the box will work nicely for me. The locking mechanism is hinged, so it locks the top to the bottom.  The entire case can be locked into the bottom holder as well, and with a push of a button, released to take inside.

I was a bit worried about the case either blocking the rear lights completely or hanging over them so much as to create a shadow.  I didn't need to worry at all as the case does not interfere with the lights at all.  I've been considering adding LED brake lights to the license plate or to the top box itself as a safety measure and may have found the perfect solution, that is for another post however.  In the meantime some reflective tape should help make me a little more visible.

 
Overall I'm happy with the box and can't wait to take it out on the road.  I'm assuming that it will affect the way I ride, after all it will catch the wind and effect the over all balance of the bike...but that should be easy enough to overcome.  

Farkle season begins now.

It's been an odd few weeks for me as my business has undergone some changes, not all for the good.  My regular job has undergone some changes, again not all for the good and my riding life has been reduced to riding back and forth to work again.

In this daily grinding commute I have become more and more convinced that I needed a top box.  I have something in mind that I feel would work, but I'm unsure about it.  I tend to over think things, worrying and worrying about something till I actually do it.  Then I wonder why I didn't do this before.  

Pic from a previous post showing Burgman storage.

Kimmie simply has no storage.  In my previous ride - the 07 Suzuki Burgman - I had enough storage for my riding jacket, my helmet and my rain gear (or a sweatshirt) when needed.  Kimmie can hold my helmet, or if I use the hook on the outside of the bike, my jacket fits snugly away.  

I need to take my lunch to work and a place to store my jacket, helmet, rain gear and maybe a pull-over (during those chilly 1 AM rides home from work).  Well I can certainly continue to walk into work with my full gear on, it's just easier to store it on the bike.

Recently I've been looking at a Emgo Travel Trunk.  The one that I'm considering measures 12 in. lengthwise by 16.5 inches wide by 11 inches deep.  That should be enough to hold my gear.  What concerns me is if it fit on my bike, how will it affect my riding and how stable will it be on Kimmie?  I need to take out a tape measure and figure it out.

Assuming it works on my bike, I'll order it later today, install it sometime next week and see what happens.

 It will actually stick out over the brake lights and I'm thinking I will need some sort of reflective stickers or tape on the back of the box.  The biggest disadvantage to this is the lack of a brake light and I'm wondering if it's possible to get some sort of stick on LED brake lights?  I'm paranoid about getting hit from behind. 

I guess we will find out.  I just ordered the damn thing and should have it early next week.  

Improvements.....Some I wanted to make, and others forced upon me.

One of the wonderful things about nature is it's ability to evolve.  Life is anything but static, it's a jumbled mess of parts each somehow fitting together to make a whole.   It's a 1001 piece jigsaw puzzle where your trying to match the picture on the box but your not quite sure if all the pieces are there or even if it's the right box.

So we try...and we try....but we can't get no satisfaction.   OK, let's put the Devo away for a moment.  Truth be told I am rather happy in my life.  However that happiness may be short lived.   It's time to do maintenance on and make some general improvements to the bike.  Some of this needed done and I simply could not put it off any longer, other things I have been wanting to do but it was always low priority.  Now that the bike is my main means of transport...I did some things.

First I ordered a beaded seat from Cycle Crafts.  I have a 35 mile one way commute most days and that generally does not bother me...then some days I can't seem to find a comfortable location to park my skinny a** and that bother's me.   I'm hoping that getting some air flow in those affected areas will help with my comfort.  If not then I am only out $30 which is not really that bad.  I expect to have that in within the next day or two.  Frankly I'm not to sure about the hooks and can't help but wonder if the seat will slide on me.  I guess we will see.

Somehow something happened to one of my grips, I noticed that it was starting to slip off the bike a few days ago and that the handlebar weight holding it on was coming loose.   I tried to tighten it with a screwdriver and found that didn't work  So I put off fixing it, put off fixing it, put off fixing and then.....
I drove home last night and noticed this in the morning.  Yep, completely gone. I'm not sure where, or even if, I could get a replacement but can't imagine it being that difficult (famous last words I'm sure).  This however does give me an excuse to replace the grips.  **update - I found the handlebar weights at a local cycle shop for under $12.  They went on easy and are nice and tight now.  

I've been wanting to get some Grip Puppies for a while but haven't really bothered.  Now it seems I might be in the market for some new grips as well.  I might just get some grip glue from the good people over at Scooter West.  Speaking of Scoot West I finally got me a CVT belt.  I paid about $40 less through them than the best cost elsewhere although I still have no way to put it on my bike.   At 20K + the belt has got to be wearing thin.  I'm hoping to find a mentor to help with this project.

I may also have to redo the brakes soon as well.

Here's hoping that someone in the area is willing to help me out.  I would be glad to buy them a beer, lunch, or even a lobster dinner to assist me.  It's not that I lack the knowledge, I've watched the video's and read the instructions and feel pretty grounded in the basics of bike repair.  I just lack the tools and experience; nor am I mechanically inclined despite the fact I've a background in engineering.  Moving forward however if the bike is going to be my main ride then I need to know at least the basics.  I need to understand what is happening if I hear BANG!   CLANK!

Considering how I ride some very empty roads in the middle of the night...this is a survival strategy.