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.
Crazy weather
Saturday I went for a one-hour bike ride in the area and experienced dry pavement, wet pavement, snowy pavement, wet pavement covered with leaves, sunshine, rain, hail, and even snow flakes.
Slick roads and low-elevation colors
Fall is my favorite season. It’s not perfect, though. Leaves turn orange and yellow and red, then fall to the ground. It often rains at the same time, making leaf-covered roads slicker than snot. It’s beautiful but it requires control. Sunday, despite the heavy cloud cover and spitting rain, I went for a short local ride along roads Bluff, Lusted, and Ten Eyke. The route I chose took me down to Dodge Park where it crosses the Sandy River and back up the other side toward home. There had been a lot of wind and rain in previous days so
Slick roads and high-elevation colors
Friday afternoon I dashed out of the house to get a ride on Marmot Road before the rains came. The eastern half of the road had dust and gravel across both lanes because the road department had come along and scraped the side of the road (to kill weeds or something) and it pushed all the debris onto the road surface. They swept over the top of it but left a slick layer of dust and gravel. I reached Lolo Pass Road and turned around for the return ride and the rain started. Within minutes it was raining hard and
It was a dark and foggy morning
When I left work this morning it was still dark and I could see the constellation Orion the Hunter hovering above me, standing on his head. The air was chilly, in the mid 30s, but wasn’t cold, at least not to me. I was dressed appropriately as you might have guessed. By the time I passed by the Highway 212 exit I entered fog. It smelled odd, as if it was mixed with wood stove smoke and a faint hint of baked bread. The mist swirled around me and blended with the light from my headlights and those of oncoming
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,
In the zone, and wanting more
Saturday I went on a mid-day practice ride on Marmot Road, but it was far too short. I wanted more. Sunday, mid-afternoon, I tackled the NF46 run to Detroit to make up for it. My bike was running good, the conditions were excellent, and I was in the zone. And I wanted more. It was the fastest, smoothest run I’ve had on that route to date and it felt incredible. I found myself feeling as if I was beyond the capabilities of my bike. The Suzuki V-Strom 650 has been described as “perhaps the most shockingly competent bike” available by
Possible new blog design
I’m toying with a new blog design, so please pardon my dust.
Last time to Detroit for the year?
After being off of two wheels for nearly two weeks, mostly due to being sick, I finally got a chance to ride over this past weekend. Saturday was a gorgeous Fall day, with increasing sunshine to dry off the wet pavement from the previous week of rain. Late morning I headed out, gassed up in Estacada, and made my way up the Clackamas River to Ripplebrook Ranger Station before turning south on NF 46 to Detroit. I stopped at the mini-market in Detroit and grabbed a snack, and while suiting back up a guy on a silver 2009 V-Strom pulled
A new Shinko 705
I have put close to 7,000 miles on my set of Shinko 705 tires. The front looks damn near new but the rear has very little tread left down the center stripe and about 50% tread remaining on the sides. For an $83 tire, that’s a very low cost-per-mile. The Shinko’s have been outstanding tires, providing excellent grip in cornering and especially on wet roads. Normally I replace both tires at the same time. With previous brands, including Bridgestone Battle Wings and Metzeler Tourances, the front wore down enough to justify replacing it at the same time as the rear.
