Lee 2002

[stepping into shithole] Man.... I know I'm going to regret sticking my toe in this shit hole...... RC51 - have a very similar flapper in their air box. It is interesting to note that I never saw a race-prepped RC51 with an active flapper (including Honda supported teams). However street-going RC51's sold by Mother Honda that were subject to EPA regulations did come with an active flapper. I don't think anyone has ever found the "smoking memo" signed by Soichiro, but the common consensus is that the flapper exists solely to satisfy an EPA noise regulation that are done at a certain RPM that is determined by an equivalent speed determined by gearing, or something like that. Many posters here and on the RC51 sites have modded the flapper and I don't recall anyone posting any evidence that the mod resulted in any repeatable changes in performance. It has been years since I've read any of these discussions, so I'm going off memory. Google "Motorcycle Flapper Mod" and you'll have a week's worth of reading on the subject across about 5 product lines and thirty motorcycle forums. I personally buy into the noise control thought (and my calibrated Mk 20 eardrum confirmed intake howl). Consider this.... The marketing teams would have "variable intake" on every piece of literature if it even resulted in 1 hp or 1 lb/ft benefit.... never saw a pamphlet that mentioned it. I've also never saw a dyno curve that showed any difference between before/after either. I thought this discussion ended at least fifteen years ago. Go figure? [stepping out of shithole/]

Having read all Neil's books, I'm a little upset I was sitting next to you with a beer and didn't get to hear this story. Damn.

Once again, Tony arranged an amazing meet. Huskysooner and I left NE Kansas at 0500 to meet Panamawing in Nebraska. We then headed west to our first destination. There is a street in western Nebraska that I share a name with and I've always wanted to visit it, but never had the opportunity. Heading north we crossed the Sand Hills of Nebraska.... a beautiful but desolate place with little sign of human presence. It was here that I first noticed I was having problems. I thought I had lost my speedometer drive nut as my display showed erratic speeds and mileage stopped rolling up. Unfortunately this was not the case, apparently the pulse generator or electronics that read it have low tolerance of low voltage. My stator was failing. At Alliance, NE my bike died when we pulled in to fill the tanks and would not start. A quick check of the battery showed it sitting at 9 volts. Huskysooner jumped on his dry clutch Ducati and rattled off to buy me a new battery. I disabled all non-critical electric circuits. A check with the a meter showed that the bike could (just barely) maintain 12 volts at 5,500 rpm. So off we went to Custer. Me with no lamps. At Custer, Huntingguns had returned from saving Cageless in Seattle from his burned stator. He had already started the process of getting a pair of stators on order. I was the lucky recipient of his foresight. Even with the head start, much of my meet was spent waiting for the FedEx truck to arrive. While I waited, I took a couple of small hikes around the area, taking in the history and scenery. Custer viewed from high above. I was also in the right place at the right time to help in the recovery of Shade's bike when he suffered a broken chain. A big thanks to Dragonfly and Q Dawg for providing the truck needed in this effort. It was like a quick response team jumped into action when the call came in. As soon as FedEx arrived I got to work repairing my bike while Mini Carver went to work on Cageless' motorbike. For those who showed interest in my mini ratchet set google <Wadsworth Super Deluxe Mini-ratchet set> As can be expected with any parking lot repair at a meet, there was a good size "cheering" section with all hands at the ready. Other than stubborn gaskets, all went well on both bikes. Not to be outdone, I burned my stator (right) to a slighly toastier state than Cageless. My bike had 55,xxx miles on it at this point. (New - 24 vac @ idle, 62 vac @ 5500 rpm) The evening festivities were entertaining and fun with Didit keeping everyone in stitches with Corner Carver's help on occasion. (They are not quite the team that Timmy and Carver are, but there was no shortage of things to laugh at.) My multi-meet roomate, GSwanson has moved from his sixth gen VFR to a BMW S1000 XR. He choked me up when he made a presentation of his Sargent saddle to me. I can tell you that it is a huge improvement over the stock seat as witnessed by the comfort I had on my 750+ mile ride home. I was greatly honored when CVVFR arranged to gift me a flag signed by the Canadians. It is a huge honor and a life treasure that I will display proudly. I can't even begin to explain how much this gesture meant to me. Thank you Canadian crew!!!!! At the advice of Axel_7 and Tammy, I was up before the sun the next day to take in the local sights on a foggy morning before the crowds could settle in. It was great advice as I had everything to myself. Following the ride Huskysooner, Panamawing and I joined forces again for the ride to our homes. Led by Panamawing, we took in a few more sights on our way out of Custer. We were able to witness the overnight/day shift change at the bison roadblock when the bison going off duty was relieved by his mate. As one wandered off the road another quickly stepped forward to maintain the post. SumSum 4 !!!!!!!

Lee is home.

I hope I packed this good enough . If not, oh well, I get all I want.

You should all feel honored. In anticipation of this event, I washed my motorcycle. Cost me $5.40 at the car wash. Were any of you aware that the tire side of the swing arm is silver in color?

I'll see what I can do.

Panamawing & Lee 2002 will be linking up in SE Nebraska on Tuesday morning to arrive at Custer Tuesday evening.

I suppose this means I should really get serious about doing some maintenance.

If Topeka, Kansas works as a waypoint for your trip coming or going to Custer, let me know. I have a bed or two available and am pretty handy with grilling food.

I've got a lot more where that came from.

Well you're going to miss out on all the good riding.

My given name as printed on my birth certificate, first and last. Serious, not a joke. I've only ever seen it on the google machine -

I hear ya' man! All that crap between you and the good stuff. If you want to ship your bike to my place in Topeka, you can start from here and take in the glorious 700 miles that Kansas and Nebraska have to offer on the way to Custer. I'll have your tires aired up for you on arrival. I would like to start a high-level conversation as to what the OK, NE crews are planning. (Fred, Lisa, Gary, Mike) For very personal reasons, my route up will take me through North Platte, NE as I want to get my photo on a street that is named after me that I have never had the opportunity to visit.