Checking out the Local Motorcycle Shops

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Had a good time checking out a few motorcycle shops with the youngest grandkid.

Wow...How About a May Recap / May was a Blur so Here Goes

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BMW R1200 GS / 2013, new water GS. Over 700 miles in May to break it in. Rode in some challenging weather. It was snowing this morning on the ride in. That's why they call these motorcycles "Adventure Bikes".  

 Ride em in the May snow...

 Got some good mountain biking in, down by the river.

 Had a good road trip, 700 miles overnight to pick up 8 motorcycles in Wisconsin. The Ecoboost F150 pulled the 27 foot trailer with ease.

 Whitefish Lake still had ice well into the month of May. The winds were blowing at about 40 MPH this week-end so the lake ice was moving and shifting into the shoreline.

 Another motorcycle that I spent some time riding was a new Honda Goldwing, loaded. It is good to be able to ride these very nice motorcycles. They are all different and I like adjusting to the different riding styles.

 Then there were the turkeys that a saw on one of my motorcycle rides. Came around a corner and he was strutting in the middle of the road. There were a couple hen turkeys that he was showing off for.

 With all the funky weather, there was also some sunny days and brother Bill rode his vintage 750 Honda into town on a Saturday. This is his project bike that he rebuilt. It looks and sounds great.

 

 With having Mondays off, I was able to take a good road trip on the BMW R1200 GS. It was a good 280 mile day with a mix of paved and gravel roads all the way to the Iowa border and made a loop back to the east and stopped into my sons and daughter-in laws house for a good supper and then hammered the final 80 miles home. This is my favorite motorcycle to date. If you get a chance ya got to ride one... 

 Taking a break along the Country Roads...May was a good adventure month, I like the unpredictable weather, just wear the right clothing and I'm good to go.

Ride On!!

Traditional BMW R 1200 GS & The New Water Boxer BMW R 1200 GSX

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A comparison of the BMW R 1200 GS in pictures.

Air / oil cooled and the new 2013 air / oil / liquid cooled Beemer. The 2013 liquid cooled makes 125 horse power compared to the traditional 1200 GS makes 110 hp. There is a slight weight difference, with the liquid cooled about 5 pounds heavier.

 The new Water Boxer R 1200 GS. http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/index.html

 The traditional R 1200 GS.

Kawasaki Green...Ya Gotta Love It

1100 miles of riding the KLX 250 this summer and a few memories of the motorcycles through the years.

The first motorcycle I owned was a Kawasaki 350 Bighorn back in 1973, same green. Some great riding on that 350, it was a powerful 2 stroke with about 5 or 6 inches of suspension travel...The time I was hammering up 494 at about 70 MPH and seized the motor, or trail riding at Bald Mountain and tearing down the path along the railroad tracks. I learned how to rebuild the motor top end and was hooked on motorcycles from those early experiences. I went on to trade it for a 1974 Kawasaki 500 triple that just ripped. I saw 114 MPH on that rocket between Chaska and Waconia one summer evening. The next year I traded the 500 in on another enduro, a 1976 400 Yamaha, bright yellow and black. That bike was the street legal enduro rage, power and handling. I hit every river valley trail between Shakopee and Carver and used to find deer trails and blaze my own trails. There is a trail along the river that I would take home each evening from work along corn fields and right on the river bank, always wide open throttle. As I roared between corn fields the flocks of blackbirds would fly out of the fields and I would duck my head and feel the birds bouncing off my helmet and motorcycle, That was a learning experience to not flinch with unexpected obstacles. Those early experiences stuck with me and have save my life several times...don't flinch.

It was becoming a pattern, large enduro motorcycle one year and the next year fast road bike. In 1977 I found a new 1976 500 Kawasaki triple again, I would like to ride one of those rockets again. Early crotch rockets. My theory behind this was that I craved the speed of the fast road bike and became too comfortable with warp speeds, 100+ MPH, so the next year ride a dirt bike. Gain handling skills on the trails then ride fast on the road. AK Kenny Roberts, the primo racer of the 70s and 80s. The next bike was a TT 500 Yamaha, tiny head light and tail light, full knobbies, street legal, barely. Worked nights, so rode that dirt bike back and forth every night, 40 miles round trip from Shakopee to Hopkins. That bike, I learned to lean it over on the edge of the knobs on the roads and feel the slide. Then I took the big ride, a 1976 900 Kawasaki. That bike, set it up with narrow, low road race handlebars and a 4 into 1 exhaust. That bike ROCKED!! Got to the point where I could throw it into a 95 MPH power slide in the corners. This is the motorcycle that I started the back road trips through southern Minnesota, find the curviest roads and ride, also started plugging in a radio ear phone, still do this to this day. I came up with a system of cornering speeds, if it had an arrow and indicated a speed of 50 MPH, I would double it and throw the bike in and go. If the corner had an arrow and no speed indicated, it was at least 110 MPH. With the 900 Kaw I wore out a couple pairs of boots because they were used as lean indicators. The next bike acquired was another crotch rocket, a 1981 GPZ 550 Kawasaki...this was a giant killer. It was as fast as my 900 Kaw, 140 MPH, more ground clearance, lighter and had superior braking power. I rode with a radar detector mounted on the handle bars, it satisfied my need for speed. These were the bikes of the "good old days".

This is just a partial list of the 22 motorcycles I have enjoyed over the years.

This 250 KLX is a blast, fast enough for the highway. It will run up to 85 MPH+ if need be, with over 11 inches of suspension travel front and rear. Looking forward to riding it off-road this summer.
Kinda back where I started 37 years ago on a Kawasaki Green Enduro. GOOD TIMES...

Corinth Jump by Robbie Maddison & My New Ride

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Picked up this KLX 250 Kawasaki last week. It's a blast.

Don't think I'll be jumping over any canals any time soon, but Robbie can.

A Week in the Spring

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Urban biking with Weez along the lakes on Monday.

City skyline.

A trail off the paved route. Did a nice loop of about 15 miles.

How about a Thursday noon baseball game? Outdoors at the brand new Target Field.

Got to the ball game early and the first thing, gotta have a hot dog.

Soakin' up the afternoon sun in the left field bleachers, 3 rows up from the fence. The boys brought their baseball gloves along. The Indians hit 1 home run just a bit to the side of us.

Kirby...yeah!! Tyler and Tanner strike a pose.

Starting the Spring landscaping season with the new trailer. Bought it Friday, I added the wood sides. Painted em black on Friday night and bolted them in Saturday night. Sunday the trailer starts to earn its keep with 2000 pounds of mulch, 76 bags.

Funny thing happened on the way to the job sight, bought a 250 KLX Kawasaki enduro. This is why a guy needs a 3/4 ton pick-up and trailer...to haul stuff. Ya never know.

Sunday Ride Turns Ugly / Then Good Times Watching Dirt Bikers Playin in the Woods & Mud

Packed and ready to roll Northward.

The gear and a last minute cheese Burrito at 7:30AM Sunday.

At the St. Croix River north of Sandstone, MN, off Highway #23.

Took this picture as the river was so calm and the sun was in the eastern sky reflecting off the water. It appeared as a kaleidoscope effect. The morning was turning out to be a great ride adventure with plans to ride to Duluth and continue on up the North Shore of Lake Superior. Ride till 1 or 2PM and turn back and head south back towards home... Annnnyway, I don't do anything without a little adventure creeping in. Heading north on Highway #23.

THE DEER STORY

The next thing ya know ole Bambi is a dead deer. Hit that sucker at 64 MPH. There were some exciting moments for about 4 -5 seconds. It is amazing how it is that peoples lives can change in a matter of seconds by the reaction to outside forces and the way ones reactions take action, if you have to think about what to do next, it's all over, no do over, it ain't a video game.

I saw the deer bolt out of the trees, and at full speed proceeded to run up on the shoulder, it was at that point it decided its fate. Go right and get to frolic in the woods and have a good day or go left. The deer made a wrong decision, went left running at full speed, ran into my front tire, almost jerked the handlebars out of my hands. At that point I never let off the throttle, there was a fraction a second that I didn't know where the deer was after impact, then I ran over it's legs and I was still up on 2 wheels thinking, What the Hell!! I then hit my brakes and made a U-turn back. The deer was stone dead, laying in the middle of the lane, some fur wafting in the air.

This is where I go back to the reaction to an action. I surely didn't plan this, but I have gone over in my head a hundred times what to do if I am put in this situation. DO NOT SWERVE INTO DITCH OR WOODS, YOU WILL GO DOWN! Keep a grip on the bars, stay on the road, deal with the impact and ride it out if at all possible. Some bonehead local stopped and told me "ya gotta hit the brakes and swerve to try and miss the deer". I felt like punching him in the face. I'm standing there uninjured talking to him and deer is dead. I win. If you hit the brakes or swerve when you are about to collide, it will cause the front wheel to lose control and you are at that point screwed. You will be on the ground or off the road and into the trees. Now at the same time if you see up ahead a possibility of trouble, hey slow it down. Not when you are 15 yards away.

The impact blew apart my fairing, tore off my left turn signal, busted my fender, pushed my oil cooler back a bit and broke a few pieces. I checked the motorcycle out thoroughly and it was OK to ride, I cut the front of the fender off so as not to rub on the tire.

The deer impacted my front tire so hard that it had hair wedged in between the tire and the wheel, it was still there when I arrived home. This was the initial impact that almost wrenched the bars out of my hands. If that had happened it would not have turned out very good for me.

Deer crap splattered on the right side of the bike. There were hoof marks on the left side of the bike on the paint.

PLAN B / FORGET THE NORTH SHORE AND CHECK OUT A MOTORCYCLE RACE THAT WAS TAKING PLACE JUST DOWN THE ROAD OFF HIGHWAY #23 NEAR THE TOWN OF BRUNO, MN

This racing is what is called a Hair Scramble. They leave in waves with fastest groups of riders leaving first. They start out in the field and enter the woods and complete a 12 mile loop through the woods, much like a mountain bike race. Some riders do 1 lap and some do 3 laps. They are out there 1.5 hours to 3 hours. It is a very physical event needing strength and endurance.

Good air off the first double jump.

This is the son of a fellow I used to work with, Jake. I believe he got 3rd on this day. 3 laps in about 2.75 hours.

Met this guy and his son at the race. Great people, Dad supporting his 15 year old son having a great time. I have noticed that the motorized crowd, the mountain snowmobilers and the dirt bikers are usually good people having a good time.

It ended up a good day with about 290 miles on the motorcycle on Sunday. The beer tasted good when I got home.

Motor Pacing Jeff Through Wisconsin

My support motorcycle packed and loaded for a total of 300 miles. Of which 103 miles would be providing food, water and motorpacing Jeff when we hit some nasty headwinds. I carry everything we might need including extra clothes and energy drinks for both of us. This day July 17 was windy with temps in the 50s and a couple of rain showers. I wore my rainsuit all day.

"Motorpacing" is me, riding my motorcycle in front of Jeff on his bicycle. I act as a pack of bicycles enabling him to ride at a tempo in my draft. It can be very tricky with wind gusts on my motorcycle and he is about 6 inches from my back tire. He must be very attentive not to touch my tire and I dictate the pace so he has to respond to my throttle inputs. It takes very steady throttle control. I also comunicate the traffic coming up from behind, we are on public roads so we deal with traffic and on a busy hiway such as #77, I protect Jeff by flashing my brake light and riding behind him on the white line.

With storm clouds in the sky all day and a stiff wind out of the north, Jeff and I embarked on a 103 mile ride. Him on his cross-bicycle and me on my 1200 Suzuki, I had a few more horsepower under me.

The goal was Jeff's in-laws cabin in northern Wisconsin. His wife and kids would be there to meet him. 103 miles in 5.25 hours, it was a good pace on the cross-bike with knobby tires.

I would eat a POWER BAR, drink a caffeine drink get back on the motorcycle and ride 140 miles to arrive back home by 9:00PM, started the day on the motorcycle at 9:30AM to ride and meet Jeff in Wisconsin. 11.5 hours on the motorcycle this day for me. Good Times!!