My other hobby

[N3WWL]

Haven't been playing much radio these days.  This is what's been keeping me busy.  I removed the touring hard bags for the sake of the picture.  1400 CC and 156 HP, and comfortable!
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http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/N3WWL/BIKING/?action=view&current=DSC00040.jpg

[Tom WA3KLR]

Jay,

It's good to hear from you. 

I don't see a dog log there (yet).

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

So much plastic, so little...protection! Looks a lot like the monolithic BMWs of a few years back.

I bet it makes a lot of background noise on Skype....   

[W2JTD]

Watch out for the sand on the road if you go thru Fortescue, NJ. That's where I dumped - at 40 mph. Otherwise, nice crotchrocket.

[KL7OF]

Nice....What size are the wheels/tires??

[flintstone mop]

Well Jay,
I hope you do not become one of those "dare Devil" riders that change lanes continuously, going 100mph!!!!!!!!!!!!
At least the only thing dangerous about Ham radio is standing too close to the antenna of a 50kw station.
Fred

[W2PFY]

Nice Bike Jay, Does it have a plug for your lap top? I know here in NY it's against the law to talk or text on a cell phone while driving a MV but I don't think the NYS government has covered working on a computer while riding a motor cycle. So as you go through a wifi hot spot, you could update us via Skype your location, etc.  

[K1JJ]

It has only two wheels. How do you keep from falling over?   


Real nice bike Jay.  156 hp!

It's a far cry from my '65 Triumph 650 at 67 hp. Four of us spent a month touring the USA  -  cruised from CT to Calif and back in 1971.  Easy Rider was hot then.  I was Captain AmeriVu.

Ride safely, OM.

T

[KL7OF]

Capt AmericaVu...So you were a 650 triumph guy!!!  Great bikes ...I loved the way the front tire shook at stoplight idle.....Mine was also a '65...Put 12k + on it in 2 years...all over the PacNW and Canada  68 and 69......Still like the 2 wheelers...ride whenever I can...

[N3WWL]

They've coined the bike as a Supersport Touring machine.  The bars are raised for long haul comfort.  The tires are: Front 120-70ZR17 and Rear 195-50ZR17.  There is a 12V accessory outlet on the side of the instrument cluster, although a laptop may be a bit too big .  This time of the year, especially here in the northeast, the winter salt and cinder residue is abundant, so I am constantly focused for that.

[W3SLK]

Nice Beemer Jay. One of the guys I work with just bought one and loves. Enjoy the ride.

[N3WWL]

Looks like a BMW, but it's a 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14.

[K1JJ]

Capt AmericaVu...So you were a 650 triumph guy!!!  Great bikes ...I loved the way the front tire shook at stoplight idle.....Mine was also a '65...Put 12k + on it in 2 years...all over the PacNW and Canada  68 and 69......Still like the 2 wheelers...ride whenever I can...

Yep, the stoplight idle.... 

What a difference in the seating posture on Jay's bike compared to the Triumph.  I had long handle bars and a nice back rest to lean back on for long highway rides. In contrast, that Kawasaki makes you look like you're in a race all the time.  But, of course, the handling is much better with the forward position on Jay's.

I can tell you some wild stories of that August, 1971 8,000 mile Calif trip. I was 19 years old at the time.  One "highlight"  was dropping some acid with my buddies at night as we crossed the Calif line.  Within an hour, my battery connection failed and the generator surge popped all the lights on my bike.  There I was, tripping in the middle of a dark desert with a dead bike and no services for 50+ miles..

Another time in Crested Butte, Colorado (before anyone knew about it for skiing) I was coming back from a beer drinking party in town. I couldn't find our campsite off the road in the dark.  I thought I had the right turnoff, but instead drove into a big gulley. I crashed and fell - got some nasty bruises.

Another time on Bolsa Chica Beach in Long Beach, Calif, the police wanted the huge crowds off the beach one Saturday night.(There were 1000's of people partying) They hovered their helicopters low over us and blew sand until everyone ran in panic. As we left, the narcs were grabbing people and busting them for drugs. What a Nazi hell-hole that was.

On the way back I caught strep throat. I lost about 25 pounds on the whole trip. But it was well worth it....   (That's quite a message!)

There's many more stories, but that 35 day cross-country trip on a bike was something I'll never forget.

T

[KA1ZGC]

I could have told you Tom was a Triumph guy. Why else would he put so much effort into making his rigs leak oil? 

[WB2EMS]

What a difference in the seating posture on Jay's bike compared to the Triumph.  I had long handle bars and a nice back rest to lean back on for long highway rides. In contrast, that Kawasaki makes you look like you're in a race all the time.  But, of course, the handling is much better with the forward position on Jay's.

I lament the loss of the UJM's, the Universal Japanese Motorcycles like the big Honda 4's, the Suzuki GS line, etc. They had a comfortable, upright, seating position, and could be modified at the user's desire into many other configurations - cruisers, cafe racers with clip on bars, tourers with fairings and bags, etc, and then changed to a new configuration when you changed your mind. These new modern machines are so shaped into their mission, that they really can't be rearranged for other needs. I had a Kawasaki Concours as well. Sweet machine. Faster than anything I've ridden that doesn't have wings. But the seating position, while contributing to the great handling, was quite literally a pain. My hands would go numb, my wrists sore. My neck hurt from trying to hold my head up enough to see the scenery. My back hurt. The small contact patch on my butt from the 'jockey' riding position went numb. I used to pile on my GS750 or 850 for a weekend of riding to the Adirondacks and back and be ready for more. In contrast, a 3 hour stint on the Concours had me cursing it's designers.  My current K100 and NX250 both have normal upright seating and are much more pleasant to spend time on - even if they won't go as fast. 

In 1979 I welded on a couple of mounting brackets for saddlebags on my GS750, put a sheepskin on the seat, loaded up with a bunch of clothing and a tent and bag, my guitar and an HW8 and set off for Alaska from Rochester NY. I rode over the great lakes to Sault Sainte Marie, through Wisconsin and Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. There I toured Glacier Park (and met a *very* nice lady park ranger who snuck me into the indian bars) and went north  up into Canada, and over to the coast and up the Marine Highway to Skagway, then the ALCAN highway - which they were just starting to pave with a mile done in Haines Junction - into Tok Junction - where a hitchiker was throwing rocks at cars - and down to Anchorage and Hope on the Kenai Peninsula. On the way back out a month later, I was racing the snow in the rain on 800 miles of what was now mud road. IPassing through Tok the town was all abuzz about the rock throwing hitchhiker having gotten eaten by a bear! Got food poisoned in Haines before getting on the Marine Highway Ferry to Tacoma, then rode for days in the rain through Washington and Oregon. Rode down the rest of the coastal highway to my cousin's in San Diego, then across El Centro to Tucson to visit high school friends, up to the Grand Canyon, then on to Cheyenne mountain and Colorado Springs to see a college roommate, then a 48 hour dash back home to Rochester. Saw fall twice, once in Alaska in September, and then again when I came north from Colorado back into NY. 18,000 miles in about 3 months. Hmmm, maybe I should do a 30 year anniversary trip!

Motorcycles are a nice summertime complement to ham radio as a winter hobby. Currently run 2 meters and APRS on the bike, maybe some HF sometime in the future. 

[K1JJ]

Saw fall twice, once in Alaska in September, and then again when I came north from Colorado back into NY. 18,000 miles in about 3 months. Hmmm, maybe I should do a 30 year anniversary trip!

Far out, man!...

Sure brings back memories to see your bike all loaded up with camping gear and ready to roll thru the mountains. You brought a guitar too? That must have been a chick magnet.

I was in Alaska back in 1992 for a few weeks camping and recognize the familiar terrain. That musta been quite the trip. 

Really enjoyed bike touring the US southwest, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mtns, the plains, the desert - so much to see out there.

I wonder how safe it is doing a bike trip like that today?  It was a different world in the 70's where one could even hitchhike cross coutry without a problem. (I did)   But hitchhiking today you'd probably end up at gun-point in some fag's trunk.


BTW, Jay, tell us of your bike trips - have you plans for any longer ones or taken any yet?

T

[KL7OF]

Great stories guys...I have two complete xs 650 yamahas (same bore and stroke as the 650 triumph) that I have stored in the barn and will rebuild one day...I bought one of them new and rode it for 26k miles before it got too weak .....Most of the time I ran it with the smallest primary sprocket (11 tooth) that it would accept.....I had the lightning fast takeoff and run thru the gears but top speed was limited to about 85.....Rode a lot of gravel and dirt roads in the cattle country and fire/logging roads over the mountains in those days and used trials tires as a compromise for paved/ dirt performance...Man, we could go a long ways and never have to get on the oiled road....I was pleased this winter to be invited to vacation at my daughters home in Florida and ride my son in laws new Yamaha  V-twin  ..It had 200 miles on it when I got there and over 1200 when I left...Excellent secondary roads in Florida...I stayed off the interstate....

[WB2EMS]

Sure brings back memories to see your bike all loaded up with camping gear and ready to roll thru the mountains.

I had a lot of fun figuring out how to store things. I needed clothes for a temperature range from below freezing to arizona deserts in early fall. I rode in everything from leathers with long johns and flannel and sweater on the Alcan coming back out to a sneakers and shorts crossing from San Diego to Tucson in 120F. I camped every night except for when I was visiting friends in the southwest and one rainy cold night in Tok junction. Spare parts. Heath HW-8 and accessories. And my guitar.

How did you carry your gear? Did you camp or visit friends or motel?

You brought a guitar too? That must have been a chick magnet.

It was pretty good.  I'm pretty shy by nature so it was a nice ice breaker. I could set on the picnic table or wherever and just noodle away on it and often I'd have some friendly company to chat with in pretty short order. Played in a couple of bars along the way for fun too. We were in a youth hostel in western Canada and folks were commenting on how nice it was to have a guitar along as they borrowed it. We asked why they didn't bring one.
"Didn't have room."
"What are you driving?"
"Ford Station Wagon. how about you?"
"Motorcycle"

I was in Alaska back in 1992 for a few weeks camping and recognize the familiar terrain. That musta been quite the trip.
Really enjoyed bike touring the US southwest, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mtns, the plains, the desert - so much to see out there.

It was a *great* trip. Really eye opening. I'd not traveled much outside of NY and PA until that point, so getting out to see the far corners of the country was a wonderful experience. Nothing was too different till we got to the Dakotas - then things started stretching out and taking on new dimensions and shapes. With different critters - like Buffalo instead of just deer.

When we got to Big Sky country it was even better. Our original plan was to just overnight at St Mary's lake in Glacier and go north to meet the transcanadian highway the next day. We spent a week just riding around Glacier park with our mouths hanging open - I *love* that place. We met some vacationing teachers and a nice ranger lady which helped too. 

We stopped at a KOA the night before Glacier - full of RV's, they weren't sure what to do with a tent and sent us waaaay out back. Where they had us was a bunch of busted up concrete - I think they were messing with us. We woke up in the morning to a roar. Walked around a pile of busted up concrete to find an F-104 doing touch and go's! I think we were camped on the edge of an old gunnery range!

Alaska's inside passage was another whole increment of interesting, and taking 'deck passage' on the Alaska Marine highway ferries was even more educational. We all played music on the rear deck each evening and swapped stories all day. 

The worst road was the ALCAN, or ALaskan CANadian highway. It was 800 miles of dirt. I'd never ridden a dirt bike. The surface was loose, and I had a heck of a time with it, feeling unstable as all get out. After the first hour I'd only covered about 20 miles and that was going to leave me in the middle of nowhere by nightfall so I just started getting on it and trusting the tires. It worked! Then about 2 hours later, I ran across a folding sign on the side of the dirt saying "Road Work". What the heck kind of road work can you do to a dirt road?? Turns out you take a tanker truck loaded with Calcite, go to the nearest creek and pump it full of water and then dump the resulting slurry over the next mile of dirt road turning it into 4 inches of mud. When the water evaporates, the calcite stays and stabilizes the dirt. I ran into the mud at 50 mph with a greyhound bus bearing down on my tail. I managed to slither over to the edge of the road and get stopped and just sat there till my heart rate came down out of the stratosphere, and there was no traffic in sight.

30-40 miles between outposts of humanity. You'd go past a roadhouse and there would be a couple cars, a horse, maybe a snowmobile parked, and a piper cub or some other taildragger! Horses running loose on the road. I was muddling along in one section of the road, hadn't seen a car for an hour, looking at the scenery and nearly ran down a wolf or coyote that was trotting down the middle of the road! He looked as surprised as me, like "Where did *you* come from?"


The southwest was great too in a whole different way. The Grand Canyon.Standing on the four corners marker. Painted Desert. Indian Reservations. Suicidal jackrabbits!! I finally hit one one night in the middle of a sweeping left hand turn at 70mph - fortunately they are built pretty light and the bike blew right through him. And then the mountains of Colorado. By then I was a bit jaded with mountain ranges, but I remember going over wolf creek pass at 14K feet - the Suzuki didn't like that too well, was kind of blubbering along way too rich.

What parts of the southwest did you spend time in?

I wonder how safe it is today doing a bike trip like that today?  It was a different world in the 70's where one could even hitchhike cross country without a problem. (I did)   But hitchhiking today you'd probably end up at gun-point in some fag's trunk.

I know what you mean - it was better then. We didn't have any trouble from anyone except one night when we parked outside a bar and when we went to leave the bikes wouldn't run. We finally figured out someone had switched the spark plug leads around on both bikes. I used to hitch hike too - hitched from Potsdam to Rochester every weekend of my freshman year to see my girlfriend. Got all kinds of weird rides, only a couple were worrisome. Don't think I'd try that today either.


Whaddaya say Mr Vu, should we get our old gear together and do an anniversary lap around the country?  Maybe we can get a nice class E rig to take along in a saddlebag, make more contacts than I managed with that HW-8! 

Looks like we're both into sailing now too. I keep looking at the crab claw rig of yours and going "Hmmmmm"

[k7yoo]

I knew you were OK Steve (KL7OF). I have two XS 650 Yamahas assembled many more in pieces. My main ride is the RAT bike. I'll send some pics when I get back to Winona.
Skip

[The Slab Bacon]

its called having a "mid life chrisis" I had one 12 years ago and bought an XLH. I still have it. That makes for 43 years of playing with 2-wheelers. (I have the aches and pains to prove it)

30 years ago I put close to 120k (with no mercy) on a 1965 T120 (for youse triumph fans) 4 rebuilds later I sold it for something that didnt vibrate as bad. Sold it to make a house payment 20 years ago, then bought something that did again. I'll prolly keep this one until my legs get bad enough that I cant ride it anymore. 

650 turnips and 650 yamabombs do not have the same bore and stroke, just the same displacement. The turnip is an undersquare engine (the bore is smaller than the length of the stroke) the yamabomb is oversquare (bore is larger than the stroke) For some odd reason the japs did not like to produce undersquare engines.

Next thing you know Jay will be taking riding lessons from Jason Britton

And, a, er, furthermore, Jay will still carry the "Wuss" monicre for not coming to my party!! Especially after announcing on the air that he was!

                                                               the Slab Bacon

[N3WWL]

Well, Frank...I deserve that.  I changed jobs the Monday prior to the party and am required to be on call for Saturdays.  I will get there one of these years.

Wuss