Promised Helmet Pics

Here they are!

Pin Striping done by Pete "Hot Dog" Finlan.

Car Pool Lane

I love the carpool lane. I feel just the tiniest bit safer having those four solid yellow lines separating me from traffic. I really like it when there are two yellow lines, four feet of pavement, and another two yellow lines. That gives me almost a five foot barrier between me and other traffic.

One thing I don't like about the car pool lane are those *&#$ing idiots that jump over the four yellow lines into or out of the carpool lane. DON'T DO THAT!!! You want to piss off a motorcycle person, do that right in front of them. Here you are riding along and suddenly there is a CAR PULLING IN FRONT OF YOU! There isn't a lot of wiggle room in the carpool lane either. My big problem is that I try to leave a bit more stopping distance when in the carpool lane, and people desperate to get in take that extra room as an invitation to jump the lines and get in front of me.


Another problem I have is solo riders in the carpool lane. I'm not talking about Hybrids, I mean those that don't have permission to be in there at all and are to save time. In my head, if you are willing to risk a $341 fine to get somewhere faster, what other laws are you willing to break to get there faster? Multi-task by talking on the phone? Change lanes without signaling? CUTTING OVER THE FOUR YELLOW LINES TO AVOID MISSING YOUR EXIT?

I'm done. I have just seen and had too many close calls these past few months with people illegally entering, exiting, or riding in the carpool lanes.

Easy Rider Show

What a wonderful show! I decided to go on Sunday with S & T. T and I met up with S just off the 55 Freeway, then we jumped onto the 91 to the 57 to the 10. Traffic wasn't bad, the wind died down a bit and was going easy on us.

Oh, I did smell the Chino fire when I was on the 55, and my eyes were burning a little from the smoke. Didn't smell it on the 57/60 interchange, which I found strange.

Anyway, got to the parking area ($8 a bike this year!) and had to go through the metal detectors. I of course set it off and this young kid turned red when he saw he would have to wand me. The wand kept going off around my boob area, and I could see the kid turning more and more red. He asked if I had any metal, and I said just in my bra. This kids face was about to explode! "You know," I said, "my underwire?" He turned away and I grabbed my vest and wallet. The guys in line behind me were just laughing!

The show was really good this year. My friend Tay (www.tarrera.com) was there with the Custom Company he helped on Biker Buildoff, Super Co Customs. He showed me a piece Brad Pitt had commissioned, and it was looking really good. Tay said ever since he did those pieces for Biker Build-off back in August, he got 10,000 hits on his website that evening, and now has a 6 month waiting list. That guy is busy!

I did find a patch, finally. All the "girly" patches are either pink or a butterfly or Harley branded. The patch I found is black with white tribal swishes and a white rose in the middle. I got a big one to put in the center of my vest. I'll take a pic tonight and post it tomorrow.

Funny story on the patch. I had laid out my vest to try the different patches on it. When I found the one I want, I asked the lady how much. She turned to the board and said $25. I counted my money and told her I had $24. I didn't think she even heard me. She pulled out this big thing of glue and started coating the back of the patch to center it on my vest. She laid it down on the vest and started moving it around, then stopped and looked up at me. She asked, "You were kidding about the $24, right?" Wrong time to ask lady! "No", I said. "You can't, like, borrow a dollar?" I looked around me and both T and S had disappeared, probably for food. "From who?" I asked. She looked down at the temporarily glued down patch. I then overheard the other lady in the booth telling a customer something like sewing is an additional $5. I then said I would just take the patch and not bother with sewing. The lady still looked horrified, and said she had to ask her manager. I guess she got the okay to sew it on for $4 instead of $5 because she took my money and sewed on the patch. Just the look on her face when I didn't have the extra dollar was great!

I know guys are probably board at this point. Koodos to you if you have stuck with me this far, you will be rewarded. Here are pics from the show. Sorry guys, I missed taking a pic of the girl that was flashing her panties. I know, I know, maybe next time.

Very cool Woody. The forks had wood sleeves on them, and the rest of the wood is wood paneling. I loved the look of this bike.

I just love the look of this bike. The mat black with red and white accents, and the whitewall tires. Even the pinup girl on the side and the pinstriping.

A custom design by Chica of Chica Customs. T couldn't believe this was a Honda VTX 1300, his motorcycle.

He made me take a picture of the side where it said Honda.

Here is a copper motorcycle Tay did some engraving on. I love the color and simplicity of the tank. Not the comfiest looking ride.

And last, and by no means least, pics of Harleys leaking oil in the parking lot. There were several others, but I ran out of room on my memory stick.

Enjoy! Keep the tires warm and the engine hot.

More Warrior stuff

I was at Mission Motorsport last night. My tires are bald beyond bald and then needed replacing like a year ago. My uncles both chipped in and got me new tires for x-mas. I road over last night to get them installed.

That is a quick story. All day it had been threatening to rain. Predictions we fluctuating from a 10% chance to a 40% chance. All day, no rain.

So I get home and rush inside to change into motorcycle gear to take my bike over to Mission. As I am walking back out outside I noticed a slight drizzle, not even a drizzle, more like little tiny mist-lettes that had escaped. I pulled out my bike and went across the street for some gas. When I pulled out from under the canopy at the gas station, the drizzle was still light, but there was just enough to coat everything in wet.

I road down Alicia to jump on the freeway. The entrance is a long sweeping curve, and it was slick with rain and oil. I was leaning into the curve doing about 40, and started to feel my back tire slip out from under me. I gently, oh so gently grasped the brake as I slightly straightened up. I felt the tire grasp so I leaned over again. Started slipping. I had to drift over into the other lane as I widened my turn. I actually went a foot into the shoulder before I could straighten up out of the curve. SCARY SCARY SCARY! My heart was in my throat and my knees were shaking against my gas tank. I probably did only 50 on the freeway until my exit, and took all my turns on the surface streets in 1st gear. Thankfully I made it to Mission without going down.

So while at Mission I took a gander around at all the pretty machines. And there it was. A 2006 Warrior, blue with the silver flames that hadn't sold yet. It was just sitting there, gleaming. There was a sign stuck to the headlight. SALE $9,999!

Nu, uhu! No way!!!

It was so hard to leave that sight. Poor Alexia was sitting out in the parking lot awaiting tires and getting wet and I am dreaming and drooling over another bike. It's not her fault she was designed with a chain drive and that is the biggest reason that I can not love her as completely as I would like.

Sigh. I will have to work extra hard at cutting out all the extra spending fat this year and save all my nickels and dimes (as penny's appear to be losing favor) and hope to get this bike next year.

Hmmmmm. Maybe LA Cyclesports can beat that price. I'll have to go check!

Bye!

More Easy Rider

Just found out my friend Tay (Terrera) will be at the Pomona show.

You can check out his work here:

www.Terrera .com

I met him in a Jewelry class I took at Saddleback College. I knew he was good, I just didn't realize how good, or how well known until I went to his Open House for his new studio in August '06. Excellent open house, bad day to have it. I think it was the hottest day of the year in Orange County, something like 106*F. Even at the ocean it was still HOT! Tay had to push back the open house by several hours until evening so people wouldn't spontaneously combust from the heat.

Someone else who will be there is Pete "HOT DOG" Finlan. The guy that painted my helmet last year. Which reminds me, I never posted pictures of my helmet. BAD ANGI! Well I will have to do that right quick, as soon as I figure out why my home computer monitor is not displaying a picture anymore. Anyone know anything about video cards?

Easy Rider, Easy Rider

http://www.easyridersevents.com/

I am very excited to go. I have no money this year to buy any goodies, but I like this show because of all the beautiful custom bikes, all the custom parts you can get for your ride, and all the lovely leathers, patches, and other gear you can get.

I might get a few bucks from my stash and get a patch or two. I would love to have a jacket or vest completly covered in patches. My only complaint is that any girly patches are usually pink or harley branded. Ugh!

Long Beach Motorcycle Show

I love the annual International Motorcycle Show that comes in December or January each year. You get to see all the new models coming out fr the next year. You get to sit on them and touch them and...


Anyway. You also get to see a lot of cool gear that is out there, and of course see the death ball riders!

As I have mentioned before, I am in love with the V-Star Warrior. 2006 model has a blue bike with silver flames.And 2007 had a steel blue bike with silver flames.

Do you see the difference in the blue?

Other than color, the two bikes are identical. No, wait, they did knock off 8 pounds from '06 to '07.

So I have been sitting on all the Warriors I come across, waiting and dreaming.

Let the Lovin begin!

So toward the end of our ride to Oak Glen a few weeks ago, Scott brought up that the Love Ride was in a few weeks. He asked if T and I wanted to go. I declined at the time because I was to leave the week after to go to NY for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, long story short, I ended up going on the Love Ride!

I road up to Scott's at the freezing early hour of 6:00. We met up with a friend of his and then road over to another friends house. We met up with 3 other bikes (bikers and riders) there for a total of 6 bikes and 9 people. We then gassed up and headed over to Glendale.

And was it busy there! I couldn't believe all the organized chaos and how many bikers there were there! My jaw just dropped. After the initial shock, I also realized how outnumbered Me and my Honda were. Not to may solo chicks, and not to many "Rice Burners." We got to the end of the line and walked up towards the stage to register (thanks again, Scott) and to scope out the place. I wanted to look in some of the stores, but didn't like the looks of the very long lines and the picture in my head of what it must look like inside with all those people in there didn't make it seem worth it.

After we got the word to head back to our bikes, we all suited back up and then got to hang around for an hour until the moving line finally reached us.

And we were off! It was a very cool feeling... for 12 seconds. Then the line stopped. About a half block up I could see smoke rising from the middle of the group. Everyone then saw the smoke plumb rising and began chatting amongst themselves as to the cause. Once we got started again, many were standing up on their pegs trying to catch a glimpse of what caused the smoke.

Once we were past that it was fun again! Too see all the people on the sides of the roads waiving and running along side. And then the freeway!! How cool it was to see a FLOOD of motorcycles just pour onto the freeway! I felt sorry for any cars on the road. Lane splitting is a gray area here in California, it's not exactly legal so much as it isn't illegal. So all the adrenalin riders getting on the freeway had no patience for slow moving cars and would just split up between them. It was quite a site to see. I grouped together with the other riders from our group, and we actually ended up the lead of 100+ bikes! Riders just fell in behind us and when I looked in my mirror, it was bikes as far back as I could see in a double line behind me.

We finally arrived at the Lake and found parking on a gravel/grassy area. All the guys were worried about a domino effect so they made sure to park far enough away from each other that if 1 bike fell over, it wouldn't take others down with it. I had to go to the bathroom (3 cups of coffee is hard to hold for an hour!) and it was the first time I have ever seen open stalls in a women's bathroom. I freaked out when I first walked and had to run back out to check the sign and make sure the stick figure was wearing a skirt.

We headed over for some very tasty BBQ and water and then wandered around looking at all the pretty display paint jobs and parts and accessories and bikes and loaded up on all the freebe stuff. I'll have to take pictures of the mini belt loop tool kit, the nifty wallet, the kick-stand mat, and the creditcard tool kit I scored.

At about 2:00 half the group (aka, the half of the group that was sober) decided to head back towards home. I just don't understand the logic of selling lots of beer at a biker event.

The ride home was a lot nicer then the ride up. For one thing it was warmer! I loved the experience of getting to participate in such a large biker event and loved riding with all those bikers. I had quite a few guys impressed with the size of bike I road, even though there were chicks ridding bigger. To be fair, most of those chicks were bigger too. ;)

Up and running

I posted my dilemma on Honda Shadow Forum last Thursday. After a few clarifying posts, Chalie Mac really nail right on the head what my issue was. I printed the instructions from the link he posted (http://www.rattlebars.com/mtz/starter.html) and aided my courage of taking apart my Alexia with my lucky Buddha charm.

I took apart the Starter assembly on Saturday. After taking off my brake lever and then pulling off my entire handle, I was able to open up the Starter assembly and position it exactly like the picture in the link. I got down to the starter contacts and cleaned the starter and headlight contacts as suggested. I then picked up the starter button to remove the shunt and clean that, and noticed it wasn't coming out as easily as I had thought it would, or as easily as the instructions had lead me to believe. Upon closer inspection, I found that the surrounding plastic had melted over the shunt. I think that the contacts may have overheated and melted the plastic, causing it to pool over the shunt and harden.

I drove down to Mission Motorsport and asked the parts counter if they had a starter button in stock for my bike. They said you can't just buy the button, you have to get the whole assembly which is $75.00, and that they didn't have any in stock. I was headed out the door to go home and start making some calls to all the local dealers, and on a inkling stopped at the service counter. I showed one of the mechanics my melted starter button and asked if they recommended a way to get the plastic off, or if they knew of a place that would just sell the shunt. The guy took it into the back area and appeared a few minutes later with a really dirty handful of wires. He said he had an extra button and wires if I wanted them.

Hell yes I did!!!! So he gave them to me for free saying it was an old extra they had lying around. The button looks 10 years older, but I rushed home and swapped it out and Voila!! the bike started up!

So thanks to all they guys on the Honda Shadow forum! ShadowDave also posted the reason behind my starter melting. He found an article in Cycle World, October '06 and quoted it for me:

"Honda's technique was to put a second set of contacts on the starter pushbutton switch to reduce the load on the battery while the rider tries to start the bike. But that switch is not ruggedly constructed. Repeated making and breaking a 5-amp connection causes corrosion and pitting of the switch's headlight contacts. The heat caused by the corrosion of the contacts melts and deforms the plastic inside the switch, so after a period of time, the switch fails-sometimes just the headlight contacts, but often the starter contacts as well. Changing to a higher-wattage headlight bulb causes those contacts to fail sooner. The lightbar the Honda dealer would likely sell ... is a Hondaline product wired to get its power from the taillight circuit, not the headlight, so it would not add to the current through the starter switch's headlight contacts."

"To safely run a more powerful headlight in a Honda, ... I recommend adding a relay to the headlight circuit. Power for the headlight would come directly from the battery, the voltage for the coil of the relay could come from the headlight contacts in the starter pushbutton switch. This would reduce the current through the headlight contacts of that switch from five amps to one-half amp or less."

And my lesson of the week: Always ask a mechanic instead of the guy trying to sell you parts.

A picture of the melted switch is to follow. And here it is!

When the spark is gone...

Very sad story. Alexia is currently out of commission.

Here is the sad, sad tale:

So I went with T to look at RV's Sunday night, just a short jaunt up the 5 freeway. We looked around for 45 min or so and then decided to ride over to dinner. I get on the bike, turn it on, flip the engine kill to on and then push the Start, nothin. I kept flipping the engine kill switch on and off and then tried to start again, and nothin! My headlight dimmed when I hit the Start, so I finally decided it wasn't the starter going out on me. I also tried to start in N and in 1st, nothing. Also tried to run start it, first by myself and then with T pushing along. Big ol' nothin! I figured its probably the engine kill switch causing all the problems as the bike is acting like it is flipped to off.

Anyway, long wait story made short, I had to call AAA to get it towed home. The RV place was closing up, so at about 5:30 I decided to push my bike to the front so they could lock the gates if they needed to. Around 6:00 the Tow Truck showed up. They were nice and cleaned off their flat bed so my motorcycle wouldn't slide around on the oil spill on it. They mentioned that they aren't even supposed to tow motorcycles, but that AAA's contract with the company makes them.

So AAA offers motorcycle/RV coverage for an extra $25 a year. But I am finding out that motorcycle seems to have been tacked on as an after thought. When I had my Vulcan and needed a jump start on that, I was told that while that was covered under my AAA card, they wouldn't jump certain types of bikes. I also needed to have my Vulcan towed once, and was informed that they would send out a request for a tow truck, but that there was no guarantee the one that showed up could haul a motorcycle. AAA needs to get their act together and refigure out their Motorcycle add-on.

So I have been trying to figure out how to get Alexia to Mach 1's, but may have to have it towed to Mission Motorsport. I also think there might be a custom chopper shop around the corner from me. It might as well be as far away as Mission or Mach's as I have no way of towing or hauling my bike to either spot.

So, any suggestions? Comments? Ways to rewire my bike to bypass the engine kill?

Apple Pickin' and Motorcyclin'

This was a wonderful Saturday. I had planned on going to Oak Glen last weekend for apple picking with some co-workers, but eveyone bailed on me at the last minute. So last weekend was spent at Magic Mountain!

I still wanted to go to Oak Glen, so I called up Uncle S on Thursday and asked if he felt like a bike ride. Three missed calles and 2 neglected emails later he said yes. I told T about it and he was also up for a ride. We had planned on meeting up at S's at 9:00 AM, but (not surprisingly) that somehow turned into almost 10:00. We jumped on the 91E to the 215N to the 10E. There was a little confusion over directions, but we finally made it into Beaumont for a quick soda break. A fire truck pulled in next to us in the parking lot, so we had a quick discussion about the local Esparanza fire. I was expecting to smell the smoke and see some ash in Oak Glen, but we were told that the fire was pretty much contained, and two ridges over.

We finished off our drinks and headed up the canyon to Oak Glen. We stopped at Rio Los Rancheros for some really good BBQ Pulled Port and Tri Tip. I have to say the Tri Tip was better than the Pulled Pork this trip. T and S also got a apple turnover. We headed out to the trails to walk off lunch. S was a little put off that there might be rattle snakes inthe area, so the rest of the walk was discussions on rattle snakes, other snakes, and encounters there-of concerning them or others they knew.

After the walk we headed back to the ranch and took a gander through their Store. I wanted to get some pick-your-own apples so we headed down the road to Winebrook farm. On the way in I spotted an apple press and talked S into helping me press some Apple Cider. T and S were then distracted with the horse pinned up near by, so I didn't actually get to pick any apples. We went back to the Ranch to buy some, along with some Apple Butter, Pumpkin Butter, Jalapeno Preserves and dried apples. I got some really yummy Winesap apples to eat. They also had Apple Syrup, Apple Preserves, and Tomato Preserves! I wanted to try that on a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, but forgot to go back and get some.

Once we had reached S's again he invited me and T to the Orange County Police Canine Association 2006 Benefit Show that was taking place that night at the Fullerton University football field. T and I went home to shower (it was 89* in Oak Glen!!) and then went over to the stadium. Uncle KR and his kids were also there.

It was a really cool show! They had guys in trucks drive onto the field chased by 4 or 5 cruisers. The guys would jump out of the truck in full padded suits and be chased down by the K-9's and tackled! The did different stunts like this for about 2 hours, even threw some flash bombs at the vehicles. One didn't go off, so they had to call in the bomb squad to detionate the flashbomb so the helicoptors could land. That's right, helicoptors! They flew in all 6 OC helicoptors into the stadium one at a time. and they would fly to the center of the field, hover 1 - 2 meters off the ground, and do a full 360 revolution in the center, then take off. They even did a stunt where one of the "badguys" was running from a truck and a helicoptor landed in the field and a dog jumped from the coptor and ran after the guy! It was very exciting. The finished off the show with fireworks while playing the Cops song.

Afterward T and I met up with S and S at Chilies for a (very) late dinner. It was a very cold ride home. I saw a bank thermometer on the way and it said the temp was 55*! Add in windchill and things get VERY chilly.

As Tight As A...

(insert proper analogy here)

No more loose chain! I took Alexia over to Mach 1 and told him my chain was loose again. Long had a look at it and suggested just getting a new chain since it had streched so much, so often. I asked about the sprockets, and he recommended changing those out as well. I had intended to have this done in addition to my 12k mile service, but had a $300 price limit. The chain, sprockets, and hourly came to $250. However, I also mentioned to Long that my bike was slipping out of gear. He said it could be a transmission problem. I told him that I had read on the Honda Shadow forum (hey guys!) that a simple solution to the slippage was to just move the shift lever back to increase the leverage when shifting with your toe. Long said no problem, and when I got me bill I discovered he had not charged me the labor to move back my shift lever! What a guy!

While my bike does still fall out of gear, it only does it about 10 - 20% of the time now, verses almost 50% before.

So I now have 12446 miles on Alexia, 448 since the new chain, and have not felt any slack in the chain yet. Good news, but my other chain started to slack after 800 - 1000 miles. Alexia also needs new tires soon, like real soon. I noticed a small bald spot on my rear tire. So I now need to save up for new tires and 12k mile service. After this, I should be able to enjoy my bike for a few months without blowing $200 or more every other month on maintenance.

Alexia also needs a bath. A plastic bag on the freeway managed to land on my hot pipe, and now my motorcycle smells of burnt plastic. I tried to wash the plastic off, but it had become a solid piece of plastic that wasn't budging. I finally wised up and after riding into work the other morning, I got out my old pair of leather gloves and just wiped off the now hot, melty plastic off of my hot pipes. While this removed a lot of it, there is still some nasty stuff left.

Any suggestions for removing melted-on plastic?

As loose as a (insert funny analogy here)

Damn chain is loose again. WTF?!? I don't know what is up with it now, but since I have reached 12000 miles on Alexia (yea me!) and she needs to go in for service now anyway, I am just going to have Long Mach put on a new chain. Oh I'll ask as to why it is getting so slack so quickly, but I am insisting on a new chain. (please leave your analogies in a comment!)

The chain is so loose that the top position is resting on the frame when not moving. I can also hear it rub against the frame as I slow down. Yeah, not good.

Have I mentioned before how much I HATE chain drive?!!

In retaliation for Alexia misbehaving, I have started drooling over this beauty.
This is the 2006 Yamaha Road Star Warrior. This sucker is 1607 CCs and is about 600 lbs! It also has a 28 inch seat height, which my long legs love. Oh, and the best thing, its a belt drive! So far my favorite of all drives. And I love the exhaust on this thing. I test fit one a few weeks ago at Mission Motorsport and loved it. Alas, I may have to drool on this one for a while more. I think the jump from a 750 to a 1600! is a bit extream. Also, I need to build up my strength a bit to handel the additional 100 lbs. What do you all think?

--

On a slightly different note, I figured out this weekend that I have about 26,000 miles of motorcycle experience. 15k or so on my Vulcan, and now 9k on the Shadow. I have had a few minor, hairy moments, and hope that those experience are the extent and extream of what I have to face in the future. I was reflecting on what I have learned, and what I need to work on. I also committed to re-reading Proficient Motorcycling. I think I still have a lot to learn, especially about handeling turns. I want to work on slow speed manuvers as well.

The Price of Parking

T and I decided to head over to the LA County Fair on Saturday to see it before it closed. We head out on the 5 to the 55 to the 91 to the 57 to the 60 to the 71 to the 10 (= 339, he he). We get off at Fairplex and merge in with the rest of the fair traffic. It is getting hot, and I am in my full leather coat. We get up to the ticket person, and she informs us that parking is $8. No biggie. But wait...$8 a bike! That's $16 just to park, that's not counting admission! Needless to say I didn't see the fair. The OC County fair lets bikes park for free, and even has reserved parking for them. Just one more way that OC is better than LA.

The same thing happened two years ago at the Calendar Show at the Queen Mary. They didn't plan this event out very well, and the Queen Mary parking lot was full. The event planners didn't set aside any room for motorcycle parking near the motorcycle event. So they instructed everyone to go park at the structure near the Aquarium. We get there and notice there are warnings all over that motorcycles shouldn't park in the structure. T gets through the gate arm okay, but my Vulcan was so light it didn't trip the arm. I had to ride around, and didn't get a validation ticket. So we walk the mile to the show, hang around a few HOT hours, and then walk the mile back to the bikes. We ride down the spiral ramp to exit and have to stop on a decline to wait for the cars in front of us. I ask T the cost of parking so I can get my money out, and it says right there on the sign $9 per motorcycle. Absurd! We had parked with three other bikes in one spot, and they want $18 for the two of us, in a structure we were warned not to park in in the first place? Well the car in front of us needed to back up for something, and the dumbass parking attendant asked us if we could back up our bikes to let the car back up. Um, no. He wanted us to back up 400 and 600 lbs. of motorcycle up an incline? Yeah, no. So we just road around the car, past the gate arm, and out onto the road. No $9 per bike, and no struggling to straddle-walk a 400 lb. bike backwards up a hill.

Huntington Beach recently changed their parking rules for bikes. Not sure when the law actually changed, but when T and I road there during Labor Day weekend, I almost got ticketed. T usually backs in his bike into a spot, and then to make sure no one parks in front of us and blocks us in, I then pull in front of him. So we parked this way in HB, and then sat down for lunch, almost in front of the bikes. We were eating our appetizers when T pointed to my bike and asked me why a cop would be writing me a ticket. I jump up and run over there and asked the 'traffic enforcer' what the problem was. Apparently motorcycles have to be backed into a spot, and the rear tire needs to be touching or near the curb. Bikes are not allowed to park in front of other bikes. You can fit 3 sports bikes across in a space, but they have to be next to each other. I promised to move my bike right then, and he voided my ticket. The law makes sense, but it is a hassle now to find parking.

I'm just venting. In my reasoning motorcycles take up half the room, and should only be charged half the price of parking and toll roads, etc. Maybe one day.

A little something to know

I was reading a Full Throttle magazine I had picked up at OC Road House, and read an interesting article in there about DOT helmets vs. Snell helmets vs. skid lids/brain buckets/novelty helmets. They dropped a 30 lb brick on a full face helmet (DOT and Snell approved), a half or shortie helmet (DOT approved) and a novelty helmet (Satan approved). The first two helmets had a slight indent where the brick had hit, but held up otherwise. The novelty was crushed.

The article went on to point out that Snell only approved solid, full face helmets (they have yet to approve modular helmets), while the minimum thickness to receive a DOT approval was 1 1/2 inches of solid foam. The soft padding doesn't count, only the hard stuff. It also said that it is illegal to sell or purchase a novelty helmet with the intent of it being worn on a motorcycle. Even in states that don't have helmet laws, it is still illegal to wear a skid lid while riding.

I just thought that was interesting.


Edited to add:

Rider was nice enough to add the following link in my comments. It is from Motorcyclist Magazine, June '05 Issue:
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/
Very informative and in depth. If you don't know how your helmet was tested, I recommend reading it. More $ doesn't equal more safety.

A new learned trick

I seem to have a thing for getting motorcycles with sloppy shifting problems. My Vulcan would slip into neutral when I was trying to shift up to 2nd or down to 1st. I got really good at shifting up two gears so it would either slip into neutral and then into 2nd, or it would hit 2nd then 3rd and I would just chug along in 3rd.

Some of you may be cringing at this, but I asked my mechanic about it and he said Vulcan 500's had sloppy shifting and there wasn't anything I could really do except learn how to deal with it.

So now I have a Honda Shadow ACE, and while it too will slip into neutral, it has a few other annoying quirks of its own. It will slip out of gear if I don't flip it hard enough into gear. It will also not switch gears if I don't get it solid in gear. I will be in 2nd and try to shift up to 3rd, and nothin'. The gear shift will toe up okay, but it won't engage the gear change. I have to roll off the throttle real fast and then roll on, and then change gears. Not very cool sounding... nor is it very cool looking to be crusin at 40 and suddenly have your bike drop out of 4th into 3rd and you get all jerked around. Not cool at all.

So I once again ask my mechanic and log onto the Honda Shadow forums and come to find that Shadows are also known for having a bad shift mechanism. I was told to try and move my shift lever back and the added leverage of having it nearer the peg and closer to my toe usually (I don't like how they used the word usually) gives it the extra kick it needs to get into gear properly.

Or...

I figured out this one on my own... I can NOT use the clutch. For some reason the little tiny extra bit of resistance from not using the clutch seems to get the bike into gear. Who-da thunk it?

I know I can harm my bike from doing this, but I can feel and hear when it is time to switch gears, and my new mechanic (Mach One!) said he didn't notice any unusual wear on the clutch or the transmission.

I did want some input on it though. What do you all think? Do you even use your clutch to shift gears? I still use it to shift down, just not up.

Anyway, thanks all!

The easy way out

I gave in to laziness and took my motorcycle to Mach 1 for a chain clean and tighten. Best 15 bucks and 20 minutes of my week! They were a little concerned that my chain had gotten so loose so quickly, but couldn't offer an explanation. The chain looks good, the sprockets are okay, and my rear axel isn't loose. Mystery!

I will ask for a new chain when I hit 12,000, which is only a few months away. 11,361 miles on my baby!

And I need new tires soon. Does the money ever stay in my grasp?

Lefty loosey

As I mentioned before, I had to have my very loose chain tightened at about 9,000 miles. Well, it needs it again.

I was again riding into work, when I hit a bump and heard my chain hit the chain guard. When I deccelerated, I purposly rolled off the throttle real quick to see it the chain felt loose. Yup, it was. I then accelerated quick and felt the chain snap into place. Damn, again?

I can't believe it! Only 2,000 miles later and my chain is slack again. How did it manage to go from 3,200 to 9,000 miles just fine?

So I am debating whether I should try and tackle the job of tighening the chain myself, or taking it into Mach 1 for a clean and adjustment. It does need a good cleaning, and I just don't want to do it. Well, that and I ran out of red auto rags to clean the chain with, and don't feel like going all the way to 1 of 3 Costcos in a 10 mile radius to get another pack.

I know, I know, poor baby!

Oh, and I still haven't found my spare set of motorcycle keys. I had them when my aunt and uncle visited from UT, but haven't seen them since.

As promised...

Pictures!!!! From my 800 mile trip.

Here they are...

In 1990, Sea Elephants started inhabiting the beaches near San Simeon. The come here to molt, feed, have thier pups, and sleep. Mostly to sleep. Fences warn to stay at least 50 feet away. The whole beach looks like this, big mounds of seals, and seals half buried by the sand.

We have been spotted!

I think we are being watched!

This is the view from the pier that was used to ship in all the materials for Hearst Castle. The castle is amazing, and even more so considering they only had horse and carriage to haul all the materials from the ship to the building site on top of the hill.

This is the Morro Bay rock. Wait, let me put the size of this "rock" in perspective for you...

See Mr. Trailer at the bottom?

Last stop was to see the Ostrich Farm.

The brown ones are female, and the black are male.

There were also Emu's on this farm. They are evil, prehistoric looking birds with sharp, pointed beaks and dark red eyes.

And for the parting picture, the view from the look-out point just past Solvang going East on the 246.

The dangers of...The Chain

I get on my bike to go to work on Friday, and notice a little something different. When I accelerate, there is a snap on my chain, and when I decelerate, there is a chugging and I can hear slack in the chain flinging forward. Hmmm, that does not sound right. I get to work, and get off my bike to inspect my chain. It is loose, very loose, like 2" give on the chain. Yikes!!

So I call Mach One too see if they could accommodate my bike for the weekend. I was just going to have them quickly look at my chain, but since I have been putting of my 8,000 service for 1,000 miles now, I decided to have them just do it all.

So a new air filter (quick story: they didn't have an air filter in stock for my bike, nor did the honda dealer across the street. so they were going to do everything but that, and have me come in on wednesday and replace it when the one they ordered came in. when I arrived to pick up my bike the guy said he had checked online and called a few places and found one about a 1/2 hour drive away, so he ran out to get it. he said he had promised me he would have my bike ready on saturday), a new oil change, a new bulb for my highway lights, and $430 later ('nother quick story: they had quoted me $300 for labor, but had actually gone over to about $350. they guy had crossed out the $350 and written in $300, because that is what he had quoted me. parts came to $130), Alexia is back and in working order.

I can not say enough for the guys at Mach One. They are always honest, go way above and beyond, and keep their word. Extremely knowledgeable, and they let you into the garage to point out stuff and to show you stuff on your bike. As a biker that loves to know as much as I can about my bike, this is fantastic. Each time I have gone has been wonderful!

Now I just need to save up for my car's service...


Side Note: They never did figure out why my chian got so slack so quickly. They did tightened it down, but had found nothing wrong with the chain. Any ideas?