What did you do on or to your other bike part 2

[Gone in 60]

Reminds me of my event merchandise days many years ago. I was in charge of setting up, running and tearing down a huge rolling merch store at 17 drag races across the country each year. It got quite tiring, and I invented something called the "Sit and Sell." I had several pieces of PVC pipe arranged so that a long horizontal section held several different t-shirts on hangars for display. This was attached by way of several duct tape linkages to other pipe sections that ended where my beach chair was. I could swing a length of pipe back and forth from my chair and it would swing the display shirts back and forth just outside the merch tent, attracting attention, if not to the shirts themselves, to how the pipe mechanism worked. If they came into the tent to investigate, I could sell 'em.

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Well, Superbird to the rescue today. Early this morning I rigged up a horn and switch to the new Blood Bike I'm working on. Got it all buttoned up by the time I needed to pack up and leave for a delivery, with not a moment to spare. Loaded the coolers, my lunch, got suited up, started the run on my app, and headed out. By the time I got to the end of my street, the dash was flashing a very menacing engine warning light, and the bike wouldn't rev past 1200 RPM. My horn setup was wired completely outside of the BMW's complex CAN-Bus electronics, with power coming from the lighter socket.

No time to diagnose, I was on the clock and had to be 40 miles away in 40 minutes. I limped back to the garage, transferred my gear to Superbird, and high-tailed it to the hospital. On the way, I tried to call the boss in my helmet. But, missing the BMW's barn-door windshield, there was too much noise in the helmet for Siri to hear me yelp to call the boss.

Got a hold of him after I finished the delivery, and was parked around the corner from the drop-off laboratory. This is at Van Nuys airport, my spot for muching on my sandwich while watching planes and helicopters take off and land, before starting the next delivery or returning home depending on the day. The boss said he'd Google it while I rode home, and he'd see what the Internet Consensus was. He also commended me on my initiative to ditch the BMW, grab one of my bikes and complete the run.

The consensus was that the wire connection to the ride-by-wire throttle tube assembly can wiggle loose over time. So, I gave the wire connection a shove, and sure enough, it moved about 1mm and went "click" in the socket. Fired it up, went for a ride, and it was fine. Man, sometimes I do love the simple things, like a traditional cable throttle.

 

[Gone in 60]

Well, not mine… yet.
But, I can add one more to the “If I had more room and weren’t already storing bikes in two other people’s garages” list.

Demo Day and open house at the big multi-brand dealership near us. Mrs. G has been giving more “this might be the year” hints about wanting to learn to ride, now that I have my riding job, and she’s finished with a massive school program and work project.

We went and she sat on some small bikes, particularly the Triumph 400s and Enfield 350s. I got on the demo list late and had a narrow list of choices. I selected the Trident 660. I demo’d one when it was first released and was disappointed with the buzziness of it. I wanted to see if a different one, or perhaps a newer one would be different. I love the looks of it.

Night and day difference, and yeah, I want one. No matter, I can’t have one. Besides, the salesman, who knows me well enough, drug me over to the new Trident 800. No demo opportunity unfortunately, but it looks and sounds like a hoot!

 

[peterbaron]

A 106 mile loop on my Kawi, +17*C
Tomorrow' I'll clock more miles to "catch up" with the three leaders.... they clocked toooo maaaany miles intead of waiting for others...

 

[Gone in 60]

224 miles today on #3, the fourth bike in the fleet that I've taken home now to spruce up, change all the fluids, and experimented with this one on a mount and brace for the Insta 360 camera pole we'll be adding to all of the bikes. I think I have a winner, and the mounts are easy enough for me to replicate in the garage for the other bikes.  

A darn fine day to be out riding! Cool and clear. Ate my sammich in my usual spot, in the shade next to the Van Nuys airport, watching planes and copters do their thing.

 

[Gone in 60]

Long day in the saddle! Picked up a GS-911 BMW diagnostic tool yesterday from a FB Marketplace seller on the way home yesterday, and got it dialed in and ran the codes on Bike #3, and cleared her BMW-mandatory service reminder. Nice to not have to look at a service reminder icon on the dash for once, especially since the new "service center" is my garage. I was curious about the bike's problem last Friday, where it wouldn't rev above idle just after I started out, and I turned back and made my deliveries on my Superbird NC750X. Running the history of fault codes, looks like the throttle circuit has glitched more than once. Hopefully, if it happens again, jiggling the cable connection will do the job again.

We had some time to kill today between deliveries, and the Bike Shed was sort of on the way, so it made a nice place to stop, have lunch, and get off the saddle for a while. The bike was in very good company, particularly this very lovely '75 R90. I spoke with the owner for a while, and said that I really enjoy riding BMWs, but the inevitable electronic glitches that creep up have eventually soured the experience for me. He said the solution was simple... get a classic like his, and avoid the electronics altogether! I had to agree with him, and I suggested that he consider joining the Disinguished Gentleman's Ride with his R90. It would be a hit.

Another guy on a Triumph Scrambler was admiring #3, and was taking pics of the bike as I was sitting at a bench nearby finishing lunch - since I brown-bag it, I sit outside if I'm eating there, doesn't seem right to sit in the indoor restaurant if I'm not ordering... he introduced himself as an EMT, and was extremely interested in our service. As we talked, he said he was the official EMT for the L.A. Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, and straps his medical back to the Scrambler's luggage rack, and hangs at the back of the pack. I'm used to the Orange County ride, which I'm sure isn't big enough to rate an official medical rider. I told him I was excited to run the L.A. ride this year, so it will be nice to hang with him for a while at the ride kick-off. He also hipped me to a few pre-ride parties that will be taking place in the upcoming weeks.

Another nice, clear sunny day to be out on the road for almost 300 miles.

 

[Gone in 60]

Mrs. G was out with a friend last night, so I made plans for dinner and a range session with one of my friends. Haven't discussed with the boss, but don't feel that it would be completely appropriate to park a company bike in front of a firing range. So, got home, parked #3 - a somewhat lengthy process of unpacking all of the cold bags, repacking paperwork for the next day, and then taking several minutes to roll into a very specific spot so that the garage door and the back bumper of my car have about an inch clearance from the crash bars.

Loaded up Superbird as the neighbor across the street was getting out of his car from work. He yelled over "Must be nice to get to ride one of your own bikes for a change!" 
Yup, certainly is. As powerful as the BMWs are, they're heavy, and it takes a few minutes to readjust my riding... Superbird shot away like a gazelle when I released the clutch pulling away from the house.

 

[Gone in 60]

Ugh... I was reminded of the wages of forgetfullness this morning... and I'm NOT going to tell the boss.

The boss is a pilot, and is very checklist-oriented. Part of the job is remembering a few more things than just getting on a bike and riding, which I've done for years. If we're on a job, we need to clear the trip odometer at each start, and record the mileage at pick-up and drop-off for customer billing. We're wearing airbag vests, so there's the tether cord that needs to be clipped on and off the vest when we mount and dismount the bike. And a few other things, of course.

As I've been taking each bike home for work and modifications, I do a lot of test riding in my own gear, and don't necessarily wear the vest. So, I'll typically fold the tether cord over a few times and tuck it between the seat and gas tank so it's out of the way and won't dangle, potentially getting wrapped around the back wheel.

Except this morning I forgot that last part, and wanted to test some work I just did on the bike I've got. Getting up to speed on the freeway, felt a faint tugging feeling. I instantly realized what I had done. Looked down and saw the frayed end of the vest tether cord flapping around. Got home, put the bike on the center stand, and just spent 20 minutes disembowling the rest of the cord from the rear axle, and ordering a new one.

A $30 lesson to remember next time...

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... and as I was walking to the community dumpsters to toss the shards of broken tether cord, I was musing about how nice my neighbors have been, putting up with me basically running a motorcycle maintenance shop in my garage. Could be considered business use, but I'm quiet, don't run the engines, and don't work late at night. 

Any faint feelings of guilt about the subject were quickly dashed, however, when I see that someone thought it was appropriate to put a car bumper and an old mattress next to the dumpsters.

 

[the Ferret]

Day 28 of riding for April and 90 for the year found me riding Angry Bird (my 21 NC). When I took off there was 185 miles showing on the tank with only 2 of 6 bars showing on the gas gauge. Within a mile or so, it quickly dropped to 1 bar showing. At 200 miles I pulled into a gas station still not on the flashing reserve. Took 2.6 gals (on a 3.7 gallon tank) to refill for 77 mpg. Good thing it's frugal, since gas shot up to $ 4.29 a gal overnight.

 

[peterbaron]

Where is the Blue Bird..?

 

[the Ferret]

Where is the Blue Bird..?

Well Blue Bird (for now) is my fair-weather bike and since it rained night before last and the roads were damp, I chose to ride Angry Bird. For the record I have ridden BB 18 days and AB 10 days so far this month.

 

[rdprdp01]

Good thing it's frugal, since gas shot up to $ 4.29 a gal overnight.

I feel your pain. See the current gas prices in Northern California. If necessary, I will give up a few espressos to make sure the CB1100EX can keep rolling. David

 

[the Ferret]

Gads! That's hard to take.

 

[Gone in 60]

On Friday night, I brought my CB1100 home from Mom's, and came back yesterday evening on Superbird to stay overnight, watch her for today and make sure her cadre of friends are at the ready to take over monitoring her recovery for the week. If you think Northern California gas prices are high, try San Diego. I'm just glad Superbird is averaging 61 mpg.

By the way, Mom kicked me out at 11:00 this morning and demanded that I go enjoy the rest of the weekend. On the way home, her friend up the street called me... she's the ring leader, giving me the full rundown of who will be visiting Mom during the week. And, I'm sure each of them will be kicked out as well, as Mom insists she's fine.

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... And, on the way home from Mom's my good friend, who has been keeping my Enfield Interceptor in his garage since I started the Blood Bike job, demanded that I come over for dinner tonight, and to pay him the rental fee for bike storage.

I picked up the rental fee and put it in the fridge for dinner later.

 

[Cormanus]

Open with care, Gone! In my experience, putting things in top boxes gives them an almighty shake up! :beerchug:

 

[Ollie]

[quote="rdprdp01" pid='274025' dateline='1777505080']

I feel your pain. See the current gas prices in Northern California. If necessary, I will give up a few espressos to make sure the CB1100EX can keep rolling. David

[/QUOTE]

It's interesting that your mid grade is only 16 cents more than regular and premium 50 cents more than regular. Where I'm at in northern WV regular 87 is around $4.19, mid grade 89 is 45 cents more, and premium 91/93 is 90 cents more.

 

[Gone in 60]

Open with care, Gone! In my experience, putting things in top boxes gives them an almighty shake up! :beerchug:

Going to transport them in the refrigerated containers… just did some work on one of the work bikes, and it needs a road test. It’s a very stable platform for precious liquids.

 

[peterbaron]

Why transport them.?
Consume right there.... :beerchug:

 

[Gone in 60]

Why transport them.?
Consume right there.... :beerchug:

Yeah... but then I would be very drunk after six beers and would not be able to pay the rent to my friend. 

And, if a few beers is all the rent I need to pay to store a motorcycle in his garage, I'm not going to screw up that deal! 
If it were anything but an Enfield, he might not be so generous. He has quite a fondness for them. Back in the mid-90s, he and his brother went directly to the factory in India, bought two Bullet 500s and rode them home to England. It's a story that even rivals Itchy Boots' adventures.

 

[the Ferret]

Some stations went $5.19 a gal for regular here yesterday. I felt fortunate to fill up at a station that had it for $4.99

 

[Gone in 60]

Ol' Harlan was busy today. Made plenty of additions to Bike #2, that I'm making to each of the bikes in the fleet (five so far). 
Horn, along with wiring and a button - the police service PA speakers incorporate a horn along with everything else, so when they're removed, the bike does not have a horn, or a horn button.
Auxiliary brake LEDs with strobe-to-solid feature
Combination lights up front - solid and flashing - I love these, they can really part traffic
Battery charging pigtail
Quad Lock phone mount/charger
Insta 360 camera pole with power cable running to power

The plan was to finish her up and deliver to HQ (the boss' house for now), and swap her for Bike #5, which is fresh from the police auction and needs a lot of work. He said he had a potential new rider coming by who he'd interviewed by video call earlier and got a good feeling from, and asked if I'd stick around to see what I thought of him. I had a suspicion about what that meeting might lead to...

When I was invited over to his house after my initial interview, he offered to "go for a nice casual little ride". Sounded good to me, until I realized that the "casual ride" was an exam, with me getting on one of the police BMWs having never ridden one before, and thrust into Hollywood Freeway traffic while he and his son followed me, watching my every move as I split lanes through dense traffic. Just getting up and down his driveway, which I'm sure is steeper than 45 degrees, is challenging enough, and his street is up in the hills, twisting around blind corners and not wide enough for two cars to pass each other. We ended my demo ride at a restaurant for lunch, where it was determined that my riding skill was sufficient to join the team. 

When the new rider arrived, we chatted a bit, the boss explained the job, and then asked if he had time for "a nice casual ride". Hah... what comes around, they say. So now I was the evaluator, watching this guy's every move as we threaded our way through rush-hour traffic. He got the shorter end of the stick... at least my demo ride was on a weekend, not a Tuesday at peak commute time. He did quite well.

It's funny what happens when you're put on the spot at a moment's notice. This guy said he rides an FJR, is comfortable going long distances, and shrugged off the boss' comment "You'd be looking at 250-300 miles a day". When we all got on the bikes to start the test ride, he was in front of me in the driveway. He was struggling and motioned to me that the bike wouldn't start. I motioned back that the side stand was down and he was in gear. He made a gesture of embarrassment, kicked up the stand and started the bike. I thought to myself "Huh... I think I did the same thing on my test ride."