Hey everyone, been a while since I did a ride report. Took a personal day from work Friday, 6/29. Kinda nice to get paid for riding my motorcycle. I did a 400 mi. ride, farthest I ever rode in one day. Had a very tired butt when I got home. Anyway, rode over Independence Pass which runs between Leadville and Aspen. First stop was for gas and a little stretch in Silverthorne along I-70 They were really proud of that gas there, looked more like California prices. Then off to the west through the haze and smoke and south on hwy 91 to Leadville. That town never seems to get any bigger, been the same as long as I can remember. There are some good fishing spots around there. Then from Leadville went down hwy, 24 to Co hwy 82 which is Independence Pass road. This road is only open in the summer. This was about .75 mi. from the top of the pass. There are great views from there, air is very thin and cold. I followed a couple on a Harley going up there and pulled off in that same spot behind them. That guy wanted to trade me for my"light" bike. That Harley going up that windy road 2 up had to be a handful. So I made my way up to the top Wanted to get a better pic in front of that sign, but there was a line forming behind me so didn't want to be rude. Made my way down the other side, stopped for a bit before getting into Aspen. Apparently this is all the pics I can put up here. Did not take that many pics anyway, too busy enjoying the ride. Anyway I did not want to go back over the pass, traffic from Aspen side was pretty heavy. So I made my way west to Glenwood Springs and blew home on I-70. Warning to anyone wanting to ride through Colorado on I 70- be careful, that road is in horrid condition. Bad ruts and potholes,. caught me by surprise a few times, wouldn't be surprised if it has caused a few wrecks.. Was a great day all around, got to see a few places I had never been before. CB never skipped a beat, turned over 16,000 mi. and averaged 55 mpg. Even rolling 80 plus, it seems to get better mileage in the mountains for some reason. Would think it would do worse. Stock seat on the CB wasn't too bad til the last 100 mi. or so then I was hurting a bit. At mile 400 which came when I pulled in my driveway I was glad to hop off the bike only to find my beer fridge was empty but I cured that in short order...Hope this all comes through OK, haven't posted on of these in a while. Later, Doug.

The 3 CB1100(s) were the prettiest bikes I've owned of the 26 I've had the pleasure of experiencing so far but not even that retro 70s/80s feel could beat out Suzuki's VStroms. They just ride so well and I thought the 2nd gen V650 was the bike but I warmed up to the 3rd gen V1000 looks and bought this 2018 and have to say I'm hooked on the characteristics. For the time being the 650 will stay but may not get a lot of miles. If anyone gets an opportunity to demo by all means don't pass it up.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

First two are VFR500 Mirrors, they give a much better rear view than the stockers and I think the look better too. Second, I bought a stock 2013 seat from a forum member and took it to my local upolstry shop (they have only been open for 47 years, but they are learning ), and the foam built up so the entire seat is the level of the back half on a stock seat. My natural seat spot is right where the rear starts to rise so this is much more comfortable for me.

Interesting article from motorcycle.com.

http://www.motorcycle.com/mini-features/...-design-04

I was looking for a set of handlebars and Glenn took time out of his day to drive 60+ miles,meet me and sell me a set of handlebars,thanks Glenn!

Would anybody know where I could get that black,upper front fork part(normally it's chrome)or how it is made?
thanks

I got 2017 EX I absolutely love that 4-4 exhaust. Does anybody put some mileage on it?Would chrome discolor with age and use?Would I need a power commander?

Thanks

I'm a fan of Klim gear. But they don't have any motorcycle boots that I like. So I started searching. Here are my criteria:

- Ankle armor. 3DO if possible.
- Toe protection.
- Shin protection. If you've ever been hit by gravel at speed...
- Waterproof.
- Leather construction.
- Vibram sole, if possible.
- Shift patch.

I found several boots over $300 which checked most of the boxes. Then I found Falco Tourance boots. I ordered them from Motostorm in Italy. They were significantly less expensive than most similar boots. They took about two weeks to ship to the U.S. [url=https://www.motostorm.it/en/clothing/boots/falco-tourance-black.html]Motostorm.

I've ridden with them for about 400 miles, so far. I like everything about them. They're still a bit stiff, but they're breaking in. They're also a bit warm, but not uncomfortably so. They have a thicker sole than my previous boots, so I had to raise the shift lever. They have the same armor as my Klim gear. Hopefully, I'll never have to test that. Overall, I'm really pleased. I still have to see how they do in cold weather. I'm sure they'll be fine. I got a size big enough to accommodate thick socks.

I needed a new jacket and was looking for a retro style with some armor. I ran across Merlin who are out of the UK and makes a variety of riding gear. The jacket is a waxed cotton and looked great. I was able to buy it on Revzilla and man, I'm really happy. The quality and craftsmanship in the jacket is second to none. It fits great - true to size and looks great too. It is really heavy but breathes so I've been able to wear it on our canyon runs in SoCal. It also had a removable liner. I'm going to try a few more Merlin products and hope they have some type of a Winter sale.

Folks,

Hopefully an easy one for you. I'm checking my drive chain slack, using a vertical ruler roughly midpoint between front sprocket and rear sprocket. I'm measuring the deflection of the lower run. Bike is on the center stand, in neutral.

In measuring the deflection, do I:

A. Pull the lower chain run down as far as I can, then push it up as far as I can. The difference in measures on the ruler is deflection.
B. Push it up from its resting position, measure deflection.

The 2 procedures produce quite a different result, about 2" for method A, 1.25" for method B.

Thanks.