lukebin

Well I just had the best ride of my motorcycling career this past weekend. I drove to New Hampshire International Speedway to watch a friend race in the super sport amateur class. I left on Saturday morning and the temperature was perfect, sunny skies and no problems with the bike. I went solo and keep it under 100. While on the ride I began to recall all the bikes I have had and some of their stories so I thought I would write them down. 1st bike was a 1972 Honda SL125, I guess you would call it an enduro of sorts, I look back and would say it was more of a street bike that you could ride in the dirt. I got it used and proceeded to beat it up. A bunch of my friends had late 70's and early 80's motorcross bikes and I tried to keep up. I think I once read in a bike mag that it was described as a handling like a shopping cart at 50 mph. It had little to no travel on the suspension but I road it on the dirt most of the time. the one thing I remember was at two different time I went over jump and broke off both foot pegs. A fun bike that started me off, from that moment on I had a bike and have loved every minute of it. 2nd bike was a 1977 Yamaha RD350. My first real road bike and a two stroke machine. It was fast and fun to ride. I really got into the mechanics of the bike and working on it. It was a two stroke and hence needed to have oil added as well as gas. I loved this bike and did get to ride a friends Daytona 400 Special with a full fairing and feel in love with the two stroke riding experience. I went on to try to find and RZ350 after I had sold it, but have yet to get one. The only crazy memory of this bike was pulling a wheelie in a parking lot and going over backwards. Two stoke powerbands are not to be takin' lightly. 3rd bike was a 1979 Honda CB750F Super sport. This bike again I bought and rode for a few years. It was the first big bike I had and found it to be sporty and fun to ride. I did get the joy of putting on a Kerker header and the sound was sweet. However it quickly cam to an end when one wiunter I decided to pull it apart completely! I got to the frame painting and then my new wife said to get the bike out of our spare bedroom because the smell of oil was making her sick. Being newly married and sensitive I boxed it up and moved it out. I then took it to my local Honda shop and traded it in (parts) for my next bike. 4th bike was a 1982 Honda CB900F Super sport. This was my first new bike (1985), I got it as a hold over. I had this bike until last year. That is along stretch! I ended up only putting on 30K in 22 years but there were a lot of kids in between. I loved this bike and only parted with it when I realized that it was in need of a major overhaul and I was looking to update. So I sold it to a 19 year old kid who was going to restore it with his Dad who had a 1982 CB750F. 5th and current bike is a 2001 Honda VFR800 Interceptor. I have to date been a single bike owner. This is pretty much a financial statement but would love to have a track bike. The move to the VFR was a defining moment for me in motorcycling. In one year I have put on close to 10K and have loved every minute. The difference between riding the VFR and the CB900F is staggering. the major improvement has been handling. The VFR is fantastic and I love it's feel in twisties and long rides. I will say however that after riding a friends 929RR that was again a massive improvement in handling. Granted a much stiffer ride but the suspension is fantastic. It has prompted me to go after some mods on the VFR's suspension. So I can only say that I have thouroughly enjoyed each and every bike I have had and look forward to more enjoyment on the roads of this great land.

Well it was 39 DegF this morning when I drove to work. Nice and cool. I went on my first purposeful Fall Ride. It was gorgeous.

I forgot to mention that I had 23500 miles on the bike when I changed the rear tire.

Tonight I removed my rear wheel. Tomorrow I have my new Dunlop D220 SportMAx mounted at a local dealership (LandAir). Some observations about the removal. The only difficulty was in the bolt that held the Arrow exhaust can to the rear pegs. The bolt has a captive nut in the Arrow canister and the nut is not supposed to turn but the square housing for the nut is a bit big and the nut rotated. So I stuck a pair of pliers into the housing to keep the nut from turn and then I was able to remove the bolt. With that I loosened the bolt for the exhaust can mount to the manifold and then wiggled the cannister off. I then removed the lug nuts for the rear tire and off she came. Man was that easy. I love the single sided swing arm for easy, Honda designed that well. Tomorrow the tire, can't wait.

So I made my first tire purchase from Ron Ayers on Saturday morning (9/9). The order was entered on Monday (9/11) and it shipped on Wednesday (9/13) and FedEx should deliver it tomorrow (9/15). That is not bad. When I reviewed the shipping/fullfilment schedule that Ron Ayers put out it looked like it might take two weeks. I guess they just sand bag So I called Land Air this morning and they said I can get the tire installed on Saturday for $30. I bring in the rear tire. So I plan to take it off the bike at the lug nuts. Forgot to mention that I bought a Dunlop D220 Sportmax to match the front tire. It was a 180/55ZR17 tire. I suspect that when this rear wears out I will get a new set of front and rears. The brand is TBD.

Pat, I do have a 2001 Red VFR. I came down just for the day. I had the bike with the GIVI screen. I don't remember your bike, it is silver right? Christian

Well I had a great weekend ride this past weekend. My friend Jeff and I rode down to NH on Saturday morning. We took the long way which ended up at about 4.25 hrs. We got off the beaten path for about 45 mins. The weather was fantastic. The morning started at 8am with the temp at 55degF. I got a chance to really ride with my new Speedmaster pants. They are so comfortable. I did also realize that I should have put on my taller Givi fairing. I did put on my cowl but no idea if that made a difference. The races where great. Our friend Kyle was in three races on Saturday. He didn't place very high but he had fun and so did'nt we. I got to see my first Super Motard bike races. They are pretty neat. At the end of the day we all went out to dinner and headed home. We left about 8pm and got home about 11pm. This was a long day of riding. I figure we logged 400 miles and 7 hours of riding. The muscles between my shoulder blades and the right hand numbness where there. Love to do it again. Christian

Changed the oil today - 22886 miles.

Well I made the Friday barbeque of the "We Don't Give a Hoot" WDGAH rally in Lyme,NH. It was my first real rally and I had a blast. I started by taking a half day and driving down to Lyme. I left work about 12:30pm and took a beautiful route down. I left work and went down Rt. 2A to Rt. 116 and picked up the Appalachin Gap (Rt. 17) adn took it to Rt. 100 south to I89. I rode hard and had some fun on the App Gap rode. I found the Gap Road to be very bumpy. I had some fun leaning in the corners. My knees were pretty tired. I then got on Rt. 100 which is beautiful and had some good twisties. When I stopped for some gas and gum I saw that my rear tire was really warn down to the metal threads of the tires in the middle. So I took it easy to the rally. When I got to the rally it was about 3:30pm and there were maybe 15 bikes there. I got to meet alot of folks and take about bikes. I never ended getting out of my pants and boots. They are so comfortable. By the end of the evening it there were 50 bikes and 75 people. A great group with some interesting folks. I definitely want to go for the full weekend next year. The ride home was slow and unexciting. The GIVI screen made a huge difference as well as the ear plugs. I got home about 9pm. The tire is pretty warn. So I ordered a new Dunlop D220 Sportmax rear tire from Ron Ayers for $118, 131 shipped. I will get it mounted at LandAir for $30 hopefully in a week or so. I riding easy on the current rear.

Well I finally was able to find a pair of leather riding pants. I picked up a pair of JR Speedmaster pants. They look good and hopefully I will have them by the end of the week in time for the races. On Saturday I am going hopefully with a couple of guys down to Laconia, NH to the Louden Race track to watch my friend Kyle race is some amateur races. Let's pray for good weather. Christian

Heading down on Saturday to NHIS to watch my friend Kyle race. The weather looks good and it should be fun. Going hopefully with Jeff from work. Christian

Here is what I bought for my first oil change : 15410-MM9-013, Oil Filter, $11.98+tax 08C35-A141L01, 1 Gallon of Honda GN4 Oil 10W40, $15.29+tax

Last night I went for a great ride with Tom Bartlett. He came over to show me his new 2003 Valkeyrie. We went up for a short 45 min to the Lake Champlain Islands. It did give me a chance to try my new Alpinestar SMX-4 boots. They need to be broken in !!!! Anyway I rode on them today as well to work. Now I just need the pants. Christian

Ok so I wanted to log the details of my purchase. I bought the bike from John King on Long Beach, NY on Long Island on June 11, 2006. I paid $3600. the bike had 20067 miles on it. John drove it from LI to New London,CT and I picked it up from him at the ferry peer in New London on June 19, 2006. This was the day of Carly's graduation from ICA. He changed the oil the night before, so let's say at 20000 miles. I have seen then bought a ICON tank bag $80, a pair of JR Speedmaster gloves $70, a JR Speedmaster jacket $270, a pair of leather chaps $50 and a pair of brand new Alpinestar S-MX-4 boots for $180.