Which first? The good news or the bad news. . .

Today I had the pleasure of spending most of my day at the Harley dealership. I needed a new rear tire, so I called the dealership to see if they could change it while I waited. They said no problem; it should only take about an hour and a half. I got there about 9:30 a.m. expecting to be home by noon, at the latest. Well, I'm glad I brought a book along, because around 1:30, in comes my service rep, holding a severed drive belt in his hand, and a "good news/bad news" sort of look on his face. The good news was that Harley would replace my drive belt free of charge; the bad news was that I had a brand new tire with a marred sidewall which they wouldn't replace. The service rep explained that the belt "broke" when they were giving it a test drive. The tester had been stranded and they had to trailer my bike back to the shop (I guess this explained the four hour tire change). While looking at the belt, I was wondering how and why it broke, because these belts supposedly last the "lifetime" of the bike and my bike only has 12,000 miles on it. The point at which the belt failed looked like it had been cut with a razor, it had absolutely no frays. I first thought they had over tensioned it, but if that was the case I think it would have been frayed. I suppose the reason it failed will remain a mystery, at least to me. Of course I had to wait another hour and a half for them to replace the belt. On a positive note -- I almost finished my book (It's a good book and I plan on doing a review of it in a future post).

But it's a dry heat

Yesterday was the first day over a 100 degrees this year and it's 110 right now, so I gave my Motoboss Cooling Vest a proper test today. Before today the warmest temperature that I'd used it in was 97 degrees. At that temperature it worked quite well and kept me cool for about an hour at freeway speeds (under 95 degrees I would actually get a little chilled). Before leaving work today, I completely soaked the vest (to the point that it was dripping) and it was 80% dry by the time I finished my 15 mile commute. It did, however, manage to keep my torso cool for the entire trip (I can't say the same for the rest of me). I forgot to mention that I wear my cooling vest under a Frank Thomas mesh armored jacket. The problem is that the jacket is black (I've got a Harley image to maintain ha, ha, ha), and at every stoplight it felt like my arms were going to burst into flames. Needless to say, I think I might see if I can find a jacket in light gray. The bottom line on the cooling vest is that it's great for my short commute but it won't hold up to long rides without stopping at regular intervals to wet it down.

On a side note: I'd like to thank the DPS motorcycle officer who cut in front of me today (missing my front tire by about a foot or so) and changed the course of a plastic bag that I would have otherwise avoided. The said bag wrapped itself around my rear brake pedal and my right boot and before I could free my foot the bag melted to my pipes (at least I didn't lock my rear brake in the process)!

The same old routine

There’s absolutely nothing exciting going on in my motorcycling adventures -- only the commute to work each day. My daily ride to work only gets exciting when I have to dodge still sleeping cagers at 4 a.m., other than that it’s a straight shot. And I mean straight. For those not familiar with the Phoenix area most all of the roads are laid out in a grid, no curves at all. My trip to work is a couple of turns to get out of my neighborhood and than 12.5 miles straight east. I've noticed myself daydreaming quite a bit on my way to work (to much traffic in the afternoon commute home to "zone-out"), and seeing that daydreaming on a motorcycle, and city streets don't really mix that well, I've started playing road games to keep my focus on the ride. My current favorite takes place in front of a concrete plant on my route. Long ago one of their trucks spilled concrete across the road and there is about a 6 inch gap in the dried concrete. If you aim just right you don't hit it at all (and I can't see the concrete in my headlight until I'm to close to adjust). I've got it down so I hit the gap about four out of five tries. There’s another half a dozen pot holes, loose manhole covers etc. that I do the same thing with on my way to work. Got any other ideas for staying focused on a routine ride?

A clean bike is a good bike

She's kind of pretty when she's clean.

Sunday was the first chance I’ve had to wash my bike since returning from my annual motocamping trip. She must have had ten pounds of bug guts splattered all over her and had to go to work for an entire week looking like that. Oh the shame!

Between having the flu and working a few 16 hour days in the last week, I haven't had time for much of anything. But now I'm on the mend and work has settled a bit so I can get back into the swing again.

The weekend before last, I went on my second annual solo motocamping trip. I decided that I didn’t need an epic journey, so I went to Burro Creek campground which is about 130 miles from my house. It's a desert campground so the temperatures are nice this time of year and the creek actually has water in it (year round according to the sign). The downside to Burro Creek is that it is off of Highway 93, which is known as one of the most dangerous roads in Arizona (many daytime headlight use signs). In the last few years they have added passing lanes and divided it for a good portion, so it’s much safer now. The only other problem I had was dealing with the sheer volume of bugs. I had to stop every 20 miles or so to clean my face shield so I could see where I was going. Unbelievably, I had another bee encounter. One made its way into my helmet and landed on the inside of my visor. Thankfully it didn't sting me and was quickly dispatched of with a spastic flip of my face shield.

The campground was surprisingly quiet seeing that it was at least 3/4 full. There was a great view of the bridge that spanned the gorge where Burro Creek crosses Highway 93.

I didn't do a whole lot once I got there. I read a bit, explored the creek and then returned to camp and read some more. I think I only talked to two people the whole trip. There was a couple that seemed intrigued with the idea of motorcycle camping. I showed them my camp and they were very surprised at how much gear I comfortably fit on my little sporty (I even had a 7" tv screen that hooks up to my iPod so I could watch missed episodes of South Park while on my trip). Overall it was a great trip. Not much excitement, but very relaxing, exactly what the doctor ordered.

Be carefull with what you say

I guess I shouldn't have mentioned riding through a swarm of bees. On my ride home today I encountered one of those aforementioned bee swarms. I'll be damned if one of those little buggers didn't make it straight down the back of my jacket and sting me square in the middle of my back. At the next stoplight I looked like I was having a seizure trying to get the bee out of my jacket. I must be some sort of bee magnet, because this is my third run in with bees while operating a motor vehicle -- twice on a motorcycle and once driving my semi at work. Ain't karma a bitch?

Pros and Cons

I mentioned wearing a full faced helmet in my last post and thought I'd make some comments on it (using the good old pro vs. con format).

Pro: Safety. Safety. Safety! If I have an accident it should keep my beautiful face intact. (ha! ha!)

Con: Reduced peripheral vision as well as reduced hearing (at lower speeds). I've had a few cages sneak up on me, especially when I first stared wearing a full faced helmet. I don't recall ever being snuck up on wearing a half helmet.

Pro: With the tinted visor I can make faces at people without inciting a road rage incident.

Con: I look like a lollipop.

Pro: Protection from road debris. In my area there's lots of construction, and there's nothing like being behind a gravel truck only wearing a half helmet (ouch!).

Con: No wind in my face -- I feel a little isolated from the world around me.

Pro: Comfort, when it's below 50 degrees a half helmet sucks (ear flaps or not).

Con: Comfort, when it's above 100 degrees a full face is down right miserable (the vents don't seem to have much effect at all).

Pro: I can listen to my iPod through my helmet speakers.

Con: I can listen to my iPod (then I really can't hear what's going on around me).

Pro: On long rides the full faced helmet reduces fatigue.

For me the pros outweigh the cons and I will probably continue to wear a full faced helmet. Next time I ride through a bee swarm I'm sure I'll be happy about my decision.

Sorry, no photos.

It was a really long week, not much time for blogging, but I did manage to ride to work every day. I don’t know if it was spring fever or what, but everyone seemed to be in a big hurry this week. I saw lots of accidents and crazy speeding everywhere. Coming home Thursday I took surface streets because I needed fuel. I was driving down Indian School Road, which has speed limits ranging from 35 to 45 miles per hour. Once you pass 107^th Avenue it opens up and the speed limit is 45. I was going with the flow of traffic but noticed my motor was a kind of loud (mind you, I was being tailgated badly) so I glanced down at my speedo and I was doing 80. I know I don't want that ticket, so I'm going to stick to the freeway for my afternoon commutes.

Speaking of speeding, I’ve noticed one downside to wearing a full face helmet. I always wear a helmet when I ride. I used to wear a half helmet but recently switched to a full faced. With the half helmet if I went above 65 the parachute effect would come into play and it felt like my head would be ripped from my shoulders. With the full face I don't feel buffeting until about 85 and at even at that speed the wind noise is reduced dramatically. So I’ve noticed with a full face helmet I ride quite a bit faster.

Last year I took my 1^st Annual Solo Motorcycle Camping Trip. I rode down to Kartchner Caverns in southeastern Arizona and stayed in the campgrounds there. It was a great trip and the caverns were spectacular, only I felt a little awkward with my tent and motorcycle camped next to the bus sized R.V.’s, as well as being alone in the family type environment. I got more than a few sideways looks. During the cavern tour, one family did warm up to me and even offered to let me use the shower in their R.V (the road must have turned me a bit primitive). I am in the middle of planning my 2^nd annual trip. I’m thinking I want to stay in the desert because the high country is still a bit to cold at night for comfort. I’m hoping to find a nice primitive campground where I will fit in a little better. Sorry no pictures to post today, I took a couple with my cell phone but my phone refuses to send them to my E-mail.