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Zoom, zoom!
Lately I’ve only had time for short rides on weekends, and when weather and errands allowed, the occasional commute to work. As a result, when I ride, I want to make it count. I’m fortunate that I live next to some tasty roads that remain snow-free 99% of the year. They tend to be through rural or semi-rural areas and are a diverse blend of curve types and elevation changes. This makes them excellent rides to keep my skills sharp during the off-season. The downside to these short but challenging rides is the lack of a proper warm-up period. It’s
Upper 20′s into work this morning
The street outside my house looked like white velvet under the street light. I crossed my driveway and scuffed my boots across the fuzzy white surface to see if it was slippery. Although it looked intimidating, it felt like bare pavement. I decided to give it a try. The temperature was in the upper 20′s when I rolled my bike out of the garage and started it up. Although we had a little bit of freezing fog during the night, the mist had dissipated and I could see stars overhead. My pre-dawn commute would be the first of the week;
Additional blog
As if I don’t already have enough going on in my life already, I’ve started another blog — my third. This one chronicles my journey toward writing and publishing a fantasy novel. You can check it out here: www.ruckerworks.net/writer/
Ride actively
Engage your brain. It’s the most effective and important piece of safety equipment at your disposal. Focus on what’s happening right now and what can happen in the next several seconds. Events farther out than that are of only minor concern and what transpired yesterday is irrelevant. Motorcycles don’t stop any better than most cars but can accelerate quicker than just about anything on four wheels. Use this to your advantage when necessary and adjust your following distance accordingly. Never pass on the right, ever. Only pass on the left when you can see that it’s safe to do so.
Comparison: Suzuki V-Strom 650 vs. Yamaha FJR 1300
Purists would claim that these two bikes are dissimilar enough to eliminate the possibility of comparison. That misses the point, at least for me. I’m trying to find out which bike is best for me so this is a subjective comparison based on my own criteria. Some of my readers may find this comparo to be irrelevant while others may find it to be the right stuff at the right time. Read on if you dare… 2007 Suzuki V-Strom 650 (model: DL650) I currently own this bike. In fact, the bike pictured here isn’t something I grabbed off of Google,
Riding: A metaphor for life
Over the past five years I have racked up over 43,000 miles riding motorcycles and have learned many things about the whole process. It’s not just a matter of how to mount, start, and operate the bike. It’s about trip planning, maintenance, safety, skills, awareness, frame of mind, and a host of other things that blend into the overall motorcycling experience. Fortunately, none of the lessons I have learned involved loss of life (obviously), limb, skin, or even my dignity. Well, maybe there was some partial shame associated with getting my bike stuck in the snow with my wife riding
Snow in June?
We left the house Friday afternoon and rode back into town before crossing the swollen Columbia River via the I-205 bridge and catching SR14 eastbound. My wife, Corina, hadn’t been on my bike since last summer and our planned overnight trip to my sister’s house outside Goldendale, Washington was a great way to get back into it. The sun was shining and it was forecasted to be the warmest day of the year so far after what has been an unusually wet and cold Spring. We stopped at a gas station/market in North Bonneville for a snack break, then continued
It’s easier than it seems but is harder than it looks
Riding a motorcycle has a mystique that is both alluring and intimidating at the same time. They can be powerful and fast and potentially deadly. They can be exciting and scary and even relaxing. They can be beautiful and sleek or utilitarian and downright ugly. They are as diverse as the people that ride them. Many people fear motorcycles and assume that riding one is beyond their abilities or level of accepted risk. As with a great many things, however, the preemptive bark we anticipate in our minds turns out to be far worse than the actual bite. Riding a
I’m in the latest Aerostich catalog
The 2011 annual Aerostich catalog came in the mail today. It’s kind of like the Cabelas catalog but for motorcyclists. I was reading it cover to cover as I usually do, and was pleased to see Neil Peart sporting their new leather Transit suit on page 5. I always figured one of his quotes would appear in the catalog, not a full picture. Page after page, I kept turning. When I came to page 152 I saw something very familiar. On the bottom half of the page was a photo of yours truly standing over Kiger Gorge on Steens Mountain,
A shameless plug…
… Spark plugs, that is. Friday after work I rode over to Yamaha Sports Plaza for some scheduled maintenance work on my 2007 V-Strom. After 35,000 miles, it was time for a new air filter element and spark plugs. I went with the touted K&N air filter and the NGK spark plugs recommended by the service manager, Steve. While there I had them grease the speedometer sensor in the front axle. After a while it can dry out and make an odd chirping noise. I rode home before the rain started. To anyone that isn’t aware of what’s been going
