| Friday Five |
[Jan. 8th, 2010|11:01 am] |
1. Where do you like to walk?
Outside. :) Really, I just like walking in general, when I'm dressed properly for the weather and the distance.
2. What is your favorite shape?
I like the roundy shapes -- circles, ovals, etc.
3. Sweet, salty or savory?
Right now, I've gotta say sweet. Because I'm off sugar for a few weeks due to some health stuff. CRAVE.
4. Best ice cream topping?
Choklit -- sauce or jimmies or chips.
5. What makes you stare?
Really elegant or competent movement, I think. I haven't really thought about it! |
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| Friday Five |
[Jan. 8th, 2010|10:06 am] |
1. Where do you like to walk?
In the woods. On the beach.
2. What is your favorite shape?
Spiral. Does that count? I'm counting it.
3. Sweet, salty or savory?
Depends. I guess savory. I'm much more likely to crave bread than sugar.
4. Best ice cream topping?
Best ever: Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream with warm mincemeat on top. I'm allergic to apples, but it totally worth it.
5. What makes you stare?
Erm. A nice ass?
Also, I have a pretty lethal Queen Victoria Death Ray Stare that I use on my students when they're off task. Works every time. |
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| Sideways |
[Jan. 6th, 2010|05:29 pm] |
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Ice is fun |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|07:19 pm] |
Here's a dragon picture by my friend, Charm.
Thought with the discussion about dragons, someone might enjoy it.
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| Tron: .the future of 2 wheels |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|12:03 pm] |
Has anyone else seen this?
It's called the Peraves Monotracer.
It is a 2-wheeled car, for all intents and purposes. I think it is interesting. I see it as the future of personal transportation., on either 2 or 4 wheels.
To really work for the general public, such a vehicle needs to have a complete computer control system. If the computer flew it by wire the operator could merely "steer" it like a car and not have to worry about all that silly "countersteering" that us motorcyclists need to deal with. Give it a chassis system sort of like what BMW was developing where the computer can take over control of the vehicle if the operator did something stupid which would cause the bike to crash. Bikes don't crash themselves -it takes a bad input to initiate a crash of some sort. The BMW system could even compensate for one end stepping out or the front wheel tucking in. It did this by changing the steering head geometry at the triple clamps and pushing the front end down or up as necessary. It also could steer the rear wheel by turning the axle in any axis necessary. If the computer constantly monitored the vehicles direction, lean angle (the Monotracer has a hard 52-degree lean angle limit) and wheel rotation it could make this vehicle nearly uncrashible other than the operator purposely steering it at a hard obstacle like a wall, tree, curb or other vehicle. Even that event could be mitigated by more advanced programs and over-rides built into the system.
In my vision of such a futuristic 2-wheeled car it would "land" on outriggers to park, but once it was started it would have a gyro in it to further stabilize it like a Segway. Once in motion, the outriggers would rise and all the operator would have to do is steer it by moving the handlebar/tiller to tell the onboard computer "more left" or "more right" or "steady straight" -or whatever radius curve it was in. None of that pesky countersteering knowledge would be necessary, or even wanted. It would be a steering wheel just like a car, for all practical purposes.
Also, it would have an automatic transmission (forward and reverse naturally) with traction control and integrated ABS brakes. The only control needed would be a twistgrip that would rotate both ways. Rotate one way and it would go, rotate the other and it would slow. Rotate harder and it would accelerate faster (up to the limits of power and traction control to keep it from spinning). Rotate backwards and it would slow progressively faster depending on how hard you counter-rotated it (up to the limits of the ABS-controlled braking capabilities). Once it stopped completely, rotating further would also make it go backward -probably limited to safe back-up speeds. Beep-beep-beep!
The box drill wouldn't be anything at all in this vehicle. The computer would give you maximum turning/minimum radius at any speed by merely turning the "handlebar" steering tiller to the maximum and hitting the stop. The gyro and outriggers would automatically work in tandem to allow you to even stop it in mid-turn and reverse if necessary. You could park this beast anywhere -do a Y-turn or a X-point turn simply by turning the wheel back and forth while twisting the Accelo-brake™ grip forwards and backwards.
The totally fly-by-wire automatic controls would simplify the operation of this machine so anyone could operate it -without any more training than a car would. It would be uncrashible and simple to drive. The fully enclosed cockpit would allow this vehicle to be all weather. One could climate-control the enclosed interior and it could be operated year-round in comfort. The thing would be nearly uncrashible so you could even operate it in the snow and ice.
A vehicle like this would be smaller, lighter, have much less wind resistance, and more fuel-efficient than a car. It would still be big enough to carry 2 adults and a bit of cargo. But it would reduce traffic, as we all know that 2 wheels can. To make it even more GREEN, it could as easily be powered by electric motors as any ICE powerplant. Actually, It'd be the perfect chassis for an all-electric vehicle. It could be much heavier than any modern-day motorcycle, the computer wouldn't mind as it is doing the real driving. Even laden with a couple hundred pounds of batteries and 2 passengers, it would be much more maneuverable than a car and could perform nearly as well as any motorcycle in the world. Better even, as most motorcyclists wouldn't be able to keep up with it because the computer would be much more skilled of a driver than 99% of motorcyclists on the road are today -and it would be nearly fail-safe and uncrashible too. I bet my mother could probably drive such a vehicle around a test track faster than I could a regular motorcycle -even a high tech FAST sportbike. All she would need to do is twist the throttle and steer it through the turns. The computer could do the rest -the worst that could happen is she might run it off the safe track. The worst I could do is high-side my old-fashioned bike and catapult my ass 50 feet downrange...
It would take a Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden, or other top 99.999-percentile racers on an old-fashioned conventional motorcycle to even keep up with granny in a machine like this. Future-bike would be so advanced that a monkey could turn faster lap times than even the most skilled super-racers on today’s machinery.
This is the future of 2-wheeled vehicles.
Would I call it a motorcycle? -NO.
But I vote they call it a VFR. |
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| Snowy Saturday Afternoon Activity... |
[Jan. 4th, 2010|10:49 am] |
What better than a starter rebuild?
Took the Yellow!S starter apart according to instructions off an online R11S forum on Saturday, since it was snowing out.
Net Info Gleaned:
* Read the ENTIRE thread first, for gotchas and problems other people have had.
* When you're bleeding all over the part you're working on, don't try to tough it out, because blood makes a pretty good lubricant (and then a very bad one) and your problems will compound. Stop, clean your hands, bandage yourself. Blood on your shop rag is gross. (Alternately, don't shove a tiny flathead up under your thumbnail or take the skin off your knuckle while you're working on moto parts.)
That makes two parts going to my local beemer guy this week. Feh.
The good news is, I learned a ton and can now rebuild the OTHER S's starter without making the same mistake(s). And I didn't render the part inoperable (heck, it's cleaner, more well-greased and functions better now than it did before), I just can't get one niggly little thing back together. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 3rd, 2010|12:58 pm] |
The Guzzi has been a rolling chassis for a while now. It is all wrapped up in a tarp now that the garage is a paint booth. Front and rear fenders are done. I'll worry about the traditional pinstriping later. The gas tank will be done tomorrow before I head up to a friend's place to ranch-sit. I'm bringing a big box of chipped parts, sandpaper and steel wool to paint prep while I'm up there. My other half also gave me a book to read up there, Kevin Cameron's Sportbike Performance Handbook.
I was taken a bit off guard by the response for Tshirt silkscreening in a previous post. If people are still interested in buying shirts or mailing me shirts to print on, they can click here: http://www.myspace.com/h0gwash. |
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| Noob |
[Jan. 2nd, 2010|03:18 pm] |
Well having just passed all the hoops they now make us jump through to ride a bike in the UK, I know feel I can say hello and not lurk anymore :-)
So Hello all, no doubt there will be more post after I pick up my bike next saturday:-D
K |
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| last day of 2009 |
[Jan. 2nd, 2010|04:14 pm] |
( -9 celsius outside )
In Russia we call it "mototoxicosis". It means you want to ride so much and you have such a long winter break that you don't care about the weather! |
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| How did you spend the first day of 2010? |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|09:01 pm] |
As befits tradition here, a handful of us foolhardy locals braved the frigid temperatures and ice-covered roads for an early-morning ride on New Year's Day.
By 10:00AM there were probably 200 of us out there.
( Some really fantastic machinery showed up! )
Oh, how painful it was to suffer in sunshine, twisty roads and 65-degree temperatures. But anything for motorcycling, eh? |
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| Tuesday Recipe |
[Dec. 29th, 2009|04:39 pm] |
While I don't have a current recipe to share, and since my photos of crafty things are on my sick PC, I thought I'd share my favorite words. Call it a recipe of sorts....a recipe of embracing. Feel free to share your favorite words (ingredients), too.
These are a few of my favorite words:
wisdom
grace
simplicity
nostolgia
humility
integrity
faith
passion
vintage
repurpose
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| Hell For Leather scoops again |
[Dec. 29th, 2009|02:03 pm] |
Thanks to hellforleathermagazine.com for finding this really neat product.
The Wheel Jockey is a neat little tool for the garages of people with chain drives and no centerstands.
While it will support up to 750lbs of weight I wouldn't suggest keeping the bike running like I do when I lube my bike while on the centerstand (yeah, dangerous -I know but I know enough to NO TOUCHY while spraying or dribbling lube on the moving grabby bits) This is a neat little gadget but you'll probably have to spin the wheel by hand to be safe on this tiny bastid (even I am not THAT crazy).
Those of you with centerstands and/or shaft-drives need not bother with this handy gadget. Also, it doesn't work very well for knobby tires. Any bike that sports knobbies shouldn't be much of a deal hoist up and balance on the sidestand while lubing the chain anyhow.
Yours for only $54 - but I'm sure Harbor Freight will be coming out with a $9.95 version sooner or later.
edit: -you could probably modify this to do the same thing for $39.99 if you were handy ;)
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2nd edit: -NewEnough.com to the rescue for only $40.99! -not as small, probably too big to take WITH you, but won't take up much more room hanging from a hook in your garage and I think would be more handy IMHO. |
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| Waaaaaaaaah (aka Bikes for sale in Atlanta) |
[Dec. 29th, 2009|03:01 pm] |
A very sad time has come - the husband and I are relocating to Boston in a few months, and we've come to the conclusion that there is no way we can justify the amount of money storing motorcycles will cost against the small amount of time we would actually get to ride them. So we're shopping them to all the bike communities we know in hopes of finding loving and appreciative homes before we turn to the barbarian hordes of Craigslist. So just in case I have any bikers or friends-of-bikers on my FL, please pass on the info to whoever might be interested. FYI, neither of these is an appropriate learner's bike.
What we have:
2005 Ducati Monster S4R - $7500
Approx 20k miles. Includes: Sargent seat (quite comfy), CRG adjustable levers, and Arrow 2 into 2 titanium exhaust. (it sounds like a low-flying aircraft) Geared down one tooth in front sprocket to make it more friendly to city riding, but that can easily be returned to stock. Also, an upgraded horn rated at 138db (see below) Pitbull stand (particular to single-sided swingarms) is included.
2007 Triumph Daytona 675 - $6000
Approx 15k miles. Includes: Triumph gel seat, tail/passenger seat replacement cowl, full Arrow titanium exhaust system (ti from the headers all the way back - $2200 retail value- this dropped 20 pounds from the bike, and added a goodly bit of linear power), pazzo levers, watsen LED blinkers up front, competitionwerkes LED tail-light w/ integrated indicators, and a happily louder (138 db) horn for audible greetings to cagers. I also have a pitbull stand and accompanied frame spools for the rear. All original parts: passenger and pilot seat, rear pegs and struts, levers, and OEM exhaust system are included.
Bikes reside in Atlanta GA:
Nicola Hanson - nicola.hanson@gmail.com
Justin Ducote - goaticusmaximus@gmail.com
Pics here:( Read more... ) |
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| building a new seat |
[Dec. 29th, 2009|10:33 am] |
This summer, I bought a used seat for my bike so that over the winter I could try and build a new seat that is more passenger friendly.
Does anybody have any experience or hints on doing this?
Does anybody know of any good places (in Ottawa, Toronto, or elsewhere in Canada) to source the materials? |
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| Winter. |
[Dec. 28th, 2009|09:49 am] |
Riding through slush is quite a lot like riding through snotty mud.
Except, somehow, more satisfying.
Also, note, road salt tastes nasty so keep your mouth shut on winter rides. Not salty at all. Ptooey!! |
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