MZ33: Taking Aim at Colorado

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MZ33
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#41 Unread post by MZ33 »

Oh, and new tires. I ordered new tires for the trip; they're sitting down in the basement. Damn, tires are expensive. :roll: Well, what isn't, really? But I got them at Bike Bandit with a discount for being in AMA, and a $10 coupon for signing up for the conference early, so it was even cheaper than Iron Pony.

Sigh. I also should get a new helmet. I've dropped this one 2-3 times in parking lots. It has dings on the shell and scratches on the visor. Plus, John is voicing increasing concern about my low-visibility. My helmet is sliver, my jackets are either silver & black or plain white, and he has trouble picking me out in traffic from his rear view mirror. I like my jackets, they are nicely broken-in. So, maybe a high-viz helmet, and a vest. What next . . . I think, a lottery ticket.
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#42 Unread post by jstark47 »

MZ- have you done an overnight trip on your Versys? Not to any particular place, just packed it up, gone a significant distance, overnighted, and back again? Like that Morgantown trip you mentioned above, did you fit that in yet?
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MZ33
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#43 Unread post by MZ33 »

No overnight yet, but it's coming. I plan to ride up to Mom & Dad's (376 miles), stay overnight, and then come right back home the next day. If my schedule allows, I will spend an extra day up there putting in 350-400 miles to have lunch with a friend, return to M&D's that night, then toodle on back home the next day. The rides will be a little bit short, less than 400 miles per day, but I'm hoping to test my stamina on a 3-day jaunt. Then I plan to visit some family in Peoria, IL, spend a night, and come right back. I want my butt pad for all those, though. :arse: :oops:

I have 5000 miles on the bike right now, and the next service is around 7500, so I want to get some miles on her before the end of the month, get the tires put on, and services done a couple of weeks before heading out.

I did take a trip out to Newell, WV, to the Homer Loughling Fiesta Ware outlet store. I came back with both saddlebags loaded with china. Amazing how much I stuffed in there: 3 platters, 4 pasta bowls, 2 smaller serving bowls, a couple of mugs, my rain gear, extra towels & gloves, a gym bag, and a full size sheep fleece. I think that was the gist of it. The fleece is my dad's: he let me borrow it to see how much difference it makes. It makes a huge difference, but it is big and bulky and requires much bungie-ing to avoid flapping during the ride. So, I took it with me, but rode without it--just to compare this ride to the Morgantown ride, which had the fleece. I like the fleece ride better,but my dad is kind of attached to this one (it was his brother's) and doesn't want me to cut it. So, I'm waiting for my Silver Deluxe Pillion I Pad from Alaska Leather. Using the word "deadsheep" as a promo code takes 10% off. 8)
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MZ33
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#44 Unread post by MZ33 »

Like that Morgantown trip you mentioned
I'm sorry--I just realized I didn't exactly answer you about the Morgantown trip. Yes, I did go, and it was a lovely ride. Bikers everywhere. Apparently, there was a H.O.G. rally in Zanesville, OH, so I got an eyeload of oncoming bikes.

Then I saw these guys at a gas station:
Image

They weren't going to the HOG rally :wink: , they were on their way to Gettysburg, PA. Here's a close-up of one, I guess it won Best-In-Show or something:


Image

They were a great bunch of guys. I fell in love with those Valkyries. One of the guys put a nickle on its side onto the engine, then started the bike, and the nickle stayed on its side! Now I want to try one out.

I did that whole trip in one day, but I got a late start, then I was gabbing with these fellas, so I didn't do much more than stop for gas. But I went 440 miles. That's the trip that sold me on the fleece.

Speaking of which, it arrived. I like the silver. But I noticed that the fleece has one feature I haven't heard mentioned before.

Image

Not seeing it yet? Try this:

Image

It . . . attracts . . . FLIES!!! In the driveway. In the garage. They can't keep up with me once I'm moving, and I pretty much cover it with my behind whenever I sit on it anyway, but leave it alone for a few minutes, and they make themselves right at home. :dunno: Has anyone else had this problem??
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#45 Unread post by MZ33 »

Friday, I needed to run errands. Fine. Way cool, in fact, I can take the Versys. Off I go. Stop in parking lot. Weird stuff is smeared on the edge of the tank, just above the fleece pad. Yellowish, and sticky. Upon closer inspection, I realize it is a large number of teeny-weeny specks. Almost feel waxy. Sheep have lanolin, maybe this was somehow left in my fleece? Maybe I didn't see it before, but that is pretty unlikely. Even closer inspection reveals . . . no. No way. I'm wrong. These cannot be eggs. They . . . no. They can't be. Some of the sticky stuff rubbed off onto the seat itself, as most of it is on the underside of the fleece, just in this one little corner.

Okay, I throw the fleece pad into the saddlebag, wipe off the seat and tank, and continue my merry way. Two hours later, I exit Walmart and it's sunny parking lot, throw more stuff in the saddlebags, & head home. In my driveway, I unload, and pull out the fleece. The yellow crud is now 2 shades, one lighter (the original) and one darker. And . . . no. It's not. Is it? I get out my reading glasses. Oh, it is, alright. It's moving. Tiny, tiny, almost microscopic, maggots.

I grew up on a farm. I am a nurse. I have seen many gross things, and had to participate in more than a few of them. I don't mind snakes, spiders, or most bugs. But there is something really, really wrong with maggots. I . . . hate . . . maggots. :sick: :puke:

Oh, I don't want to suffer alone, though. As many on this site are fond of saying: :needpics:

:shooting2: Image

Just use your imagination to make them all squirm. The pic can't capture that, or just how many of them there are. And really, really sticky. I attacked them with ant spray--permethrin works great on maggots, it's the only thing I've ever had success with--and then had to use a flea comb to get the little care out of there. Then I had to spray out my saddlebag and some of my luggage straps that were in it, since they were had squirmies, too. My sundries from Walmart were spared, since I have to knot the bags to keep every thing from falling out when I put them in the saddlebags. (Phew!)

Y'know, I went to the farmers market on Saturday morning, and a guy there was selling sheep fleece. Did he have flies bothering him? No, he did not. I didn't think to ask him at the time, it wasn't until later that it dawned on me his were fly-less. I must admit that the flies haven't bothered mine lately. Maybe the ant spray repels them.

I made stir-fry yesterday, but I left out the rice.
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#46 Unread post by MZ33 »

July 22, 2009

My bike gazed back at me reproachfully, having spun around as she slid down the long arch of the curve, and coming to rest only when she met grass. I scrambled to my feet, furious at my stupidity, and vaguely surprised at my lack of injury. Traffic was stopped. I stomped over, hoping oh-so-hard that she was a) rideable and b) not too badly scuffed, that last unlikely as sparks had followed her across the road.

A very kind man appeared at my side, solicitous about both me and my bike. He offered to help me right her—she was fully loaded--and we looked her over. Scuffed along her left cowling, part of the foot peg broken off, and the left bracket that holds the windshield had a horizontal crack ¾ of the way through it. An impressive smush to the bar end weight. The broken piece of the foot peg was near the bike, so it only came off as she struck the shoulder. Saddlebag had a broad scuff along the front. She started right up, though, and the kind man told me that there was a Kawasaki dealer just a couple miles up the side road, and they were open until five. It was now 4:30.

I thanked him profusely, even explaining my stupidity—had I not just seen oil puddling on the road not 500 yards back? Where did my brain go in that short span that I took a slightly wet, downhill banked curve as if it were a dry, sunny day? He was local, and apparently that particular curve, situated between two popular truck stops, “always has fuel oil on it” he said. That was no surprise, really. I had waited at the truck stop with my coffee, looking out onto damp pavement, wondering if the light rain had been enough to wash away the oil/water mix. Mud puddles in the parking lot had been a good sign, but on turning onto the street, I could see rainbows on the drip lane, with water in the tire track lanes. “Uh-oh,” I had thought, “I will have to be really careful.” There didn’t seem any point to staying longer at the truck stop, though, as the rain had nearly stopped.

This heightened brain activity only lasted for about a minute, because when I took the left turn back onto the expressway, I was thinking about the giant trucks on my right, and waiting for oncoming traffic to clear. Finally, a space with a light blue car (driven by the very kind man) was well back enough for me to make my happy turn. I have gotten so I really love turns on the Versys. I mean, turns are always fun on a motorcycle, but I have been enjoying how much I can lean her over. I get a huge grin every time—hence, turns make me happy. And I’m hardly daring or super-proficient. One of these days, I’m going to take Lee Park’s course, and the MSF sport bike course. That will be fun.

I had my space, and I leaned her over happily. One second later, my brain screamed at me: “STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!! This is NOT a dry, sunny day! YOU SHOULD NOT BE LEANED OVER LIKE THIS! The oil . . . “ And we were down. I don’t know if I was trying to correct my mistake and straighten or stand the bike up; I think I had decided to simply maintain the throttle and ride it out, but I don’t know for sure. We had gone down, Blossom had careened on her side and backwards down the curve, and I was appalled. Heavy, Heavy Sigh.

The man left, after double-checking that I would be okay. Fortunately, I had gotten MoTow and Kawasaki's Road America, so if trouble developed, I had some backup. There was enough room for my foot on the foot peg, but I was hopeful the Kawi guy would have a peg in stock. Not a reasonable hope, but all I had. We trundled slowly up the shoulder, facing traffic, turned left onto the side road, still on the shoulder and facing traffic. A few yards down the street was the other truck stop where I pulled in, turned myself right with traffic, then continued on to the Kawi dealer.

No, he didn’t have a foot peg for the bike. I noted he had a new Versys there, and if the peg and been more badly broken off I would have tried to negotiate for the peg off of that, but instead I was happy to have him eyeball my bike. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing anything that would make it dangerous to ride home to Columbus, about 180 miles away. He started it, listened to it, and thought that, apart from my pride, there was only cosmetic damage. He was very kind as well. Taking it easy, I should get home all right.

I got on, and headed out. 180 miles of damp expressway seemed mighty unappealing, all of a sudden. This was the final leg of my three-day ride out to Western and Central New York from Columbus, OH. I had driven, bug-eyed and on High Deer Alert, through the rain late the night before. The image of wet, black lanes highlighted by white lines and wet, black road shoulders was (still is) etched into the back of my retina. Max speed had been 50 mph for me that night, my flashers on, because I had twice spotted single deer grazing in ditches by the side of the road. I have a smoke-tinted visor, which is fine except for rainy nights with sporadic deer sightings. I had been most fortunate to find a gift shop open that sold me a pair of fashion glasses that had no tint to them. I had ridden back to my parents that night, cautious but determined, and gratefully triumphant as I steered her into the barn.

Now, though, I was scared. I dreaded getting back on to the expressway. True, I could call my husband and he would have dropped everything to come with the truck. I could stay at the nearest motel, an option I had also had the night before. I could sit down with another cup of coffee and mull things over. But in truth, I knew I could just go. I wasn’t incapacitated by fear, I was just extra, extra cautious. And I had learned the night before that people don’t automatically run me down just because I’m going slow. They just pass me. Heck, a motorcycle in the rain, they might not even swear under their breath.

I made it home just fine, despite the driving rain that showed up for the last 100 miles. I poured water out of my boots! My husband struggled that evening with the truth that anyone who loves a motorcyclist struggles with: sometimes it’s hard to know the risk is real. As he put it: “you have to risk riding in those conditions to gain experience riding in those conditions.” Of course, that doesn’t mean he didn’t take several deep breaths that evening. So did I, come to think of it.
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MZ33
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#47 Unread post by MZ33 »

Photos from the above-mentioned expedition:

Me squinting and frowning in front of Caz Lake, Cazenovia NY. This is the bike as I plan to take it to Colorado.
Image

The damage :( :
Broken foot peg
Image

Green arrow shows the cracked windshield bracket
Image

The cause of the sparks. More than scratched up, the metal actually got re-arranged.
Image

Lingering, obvious, pride-eating scratches
Image[/b]

It wasn't my gear that saved me this time. It was this saddlebag. My papery Frogg Togg rainsuit has one tiny tear on the leg, and mud on the shoulder/arm. My helmet never hit the ground.
Image

I need to go back out and ride in the rain, make turns, etc. Been back on once, the next day, to the dealership to order parts. I have out-of-town company coming, though, and can't afford the luxury of time to ride. Should be cleaning even as I type. :roll: Off I go.
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#48 Unread post by Wrider »

Sorry to hear you went down... :(
Glad you're ok though, and hey, if you really start looking most bikes have scratches of some kind of another on them! War wounds! :mrgreen:
Can't wait to see you here in CO!
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#49 Unread post by Lion_Lady »

Glad you're okay!! What an adventure!! Side cases are a wonder aren't they?

>>You can wash your Alaska Butt Pad to get the ant spray and "remains" out. I've used shampoo on mine, in a dishpan. Just be sure to rinse it well. Sounds like the skin wasn't quite completely cleaned.

P
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MZ33
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#50 Unread post by MZ33 »

Thanks, Wrider, Lion Lady!! :D :D

Yeah, I guess my bike is officially "broken in", huh? :laughing:

I've been up to my elbows preparing for out-of-town guests, who just left, so now I can get back to conditioning for my trip. I admit I was rather disappointed with how "wrung out" I felt for a couple of days, once I got back home. Time to ramp up the fitness routine . . .

Excellent idea about washing the butt pad, LL, thanks! Yeah, I'm more impressed with those Givi sidecases since the crash. They must be more sturdy than they seemed at first. No cracks, just scuffs. That is one of the best aspects of purchasing specialized motorcycle gear: it is usually precisely engineered and tested, and functions just as it was designed to do.
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