The Stupidity of Bling

Hey. Like any guy, I like shiny things. It's in our nature. But some things are just one bridge too far.

I'm sitting at the stop light waiting to turn left. In the neighboring lane in this little brownish Chevy S-10 pickup. Very new, as it has the tape residue from the temporary registration still in the back window and the thing looks like it's never been rained on. (Summer in Seattle remember) It's got brand new shiny 'ICE' wheels whatever that stands for, which in this case I doubt stands for crystalized water molecules. The wheels are nice. Not really high-end wheels, but nice. Then I look at the tires.

The tires have this really aggressive 'sport-style' tread pattern. They're quite thin and comparable to the difference between car tires versus those stupid high-performance tires you see on the blinged-up ricerboy-mobiles. Then I look at the sidewalls and say 'WTF!'. Chinese tires. Yes, that's right, the brand name on the tires was Nanning.

Well, I figure maybe it's a new company and they're specialty tires made by some hypothetical English-bloke named Thomas Nanning or something. No, Google confirmed they're from the Chinese Nanning Rubber Company in Nanning, China.

How about a little self-respect eh? Put some Firestones or Dunlops or Michelins on there. Just say no to no-name Chinese import tires on expensive wheels. Sheesh.

Some days, it doesn't pay to be an IT worker...

Today is one of those days.

The weather is perfect. The bikes are everywhere. The roads are warmed by the 14 hours of summer daylight. The air is dry as it hasn't rained in a week. Fine motorcycling weather.

Obviously, I'm here at work. Sitting at my desk in my little cubicle. Sitting in my cubicle in the basement. If I took two turns, walked 35 feet and levitated myself up another 20 feet I would be able look at a section of the building that is actually illuminated in part by genuine reflected sunlight.

For all you lucky buggers who aren't leashed to the desk today, I envy you. Go enjoy yourself.

Squidicus Max

Saw a real live hooligan this morning. Yessiree!

Was heading north on 4th Ave to work this morning and he was sitting at Royal Brougham in the left turn lane. The sweet super-moto setup for the KTM and the vivid orange bodywork instantly grabbed my attention.

Pretty quickly surmised it was an SMC 625. Crazy hooligan was one lane over filtering between the lanes down to the old I-5 ramp on 4th Ave. Shifting from left to the right and running down the lane lines looking for good spots to squeeze that super-narrow bike in between the bumpers of cars. I was more than a little impressed and a bit jealous. Bubba is about a foot too wide for anything like that.

Paul Newman & Once Upon A Wheel

Late last night I caught an awesome little documentary on Speed Channel. I've mostly given up on seeing anything of quality ever come out of Speed Channel, and lately I expect no more than the endless rehashing and Op-Ed drivel about the endless parade-lap that is NASCAR racing. I might be able to deal with SC showing lots of Nascar races, at least that's racing. But the endless shows chit-chatting about the teams & drivers a la Wind Tunnel with that cretin Dave Despain makes me want to retch.

Back on topic though, that documentary I mentioned is in my humble little opinion is right up there with 'On Any Sunday'. The 'movie' in question is 'Once Upon a Wheel' narrated by Paul Newman. I really liked the way it was produced and was truly shocked to find that this was a production with Paul Newman in it that I didn't instantly hate! It was really quite neat to see the variety of very famous (and many now very dead) people from the 70s at the various events including the Celebrity Pro-Am race with Kirk Douglas and Lorne Green or the presentation of the trophy for the Ontario 500 by then-Governer of California Ronald Reagan!

Good stuff all around, and a video that I highly recommend.

Another Monday

Another Monday indeed.

I went up to the Denny Triangle this fine morning to repair a non-critical piece of computer equipment that had failed mid-morning on Friday but hadn't been reported until right before Happy Hour on Friday. True to our usual Murphy's Law form, I arrived downtown at 7:30 but got turned around near the north end of the Battery Street tunnel and had to fight my way back to the other side and over to Republican. No wonder everyone else just sits in the backup on I-5 under the Convention Center and puts up with the delay, it's a far sight better than wandering around the north end of downtown for 20 minutes. Of course, when I arrived I found that the equipment was working just fine after all and had been since Saturday morning according to the Sunday night shift staff. But that's a story for another time.

To add insult to injury, I seem to have forgotten my street shoes this morning. Thus I'm doomed to walk Pioneer Square today looking like a complete moron in my grey shorts, Hawaiian shirt, and floppy black motorcycle boots that I won't zip up because they're too hot to wear when I'm not on the bike. Case in point:



On the bright side, I was reading the traffic in front of me properly today and managed to avoid yet another possible LEO encounter at the speed-trap on Peasley Canyon Road. I ID'd the bike properly this time though. Last time I reported that they were green-painted Goldwings but they appear to be modified Honda ST1300s, which makes more sense. The topbox on the back of the King County Sherrif's Department ST13s are extremely Goldwing-like, and would probably surprise anyone trying to get away. Those STs are probably about 200lbs lighter and rev up a whole lot faster than that 1800cc flat-6 in the Wingabagos.

Motorcyclebloggers.com

The folks over at www.motorcyclebloggers.com are a good read. If you're bored and need something to fill your lunch hour, give them a look.

Hair-Raising Experience

No. I won't bore you with bad puns, similes, and anecdotes. No sirree, not I.

I did get to commute in one of the more rare weather conditions in the Seattle area: Thunderstorms. Having spent my childhood in the Midwest and adolescent years in the Northeast, I'd grown to actually enjoy thunderstoms. I recall from childhood the sharp smell of the ions in the air before the thunderstorm rolls in. I remember the sudden strange difference in activity and behavior by domestic animals and the avian fauna. The display of the raw power of the heavens itself is quite exhilarating, and something that is awe-inspiring when it's not downright terrifying.

Indeed, I got to ride in to work in the midst of a thunderstorm. Strangely, I feel quite blessed. Not so much that I made it to work, but that I got to be out in it and enjoy it. It's the first time in almost a year that I've been in one on Bubba. I must admit that maybe I'd feel less keen on the whole notion if I were wearing a steel rod atop my helmet though...

2004 Kawasaki ZX-10R

What you see here me laddies, is one of the sharpest and fastest motorcycles ever to be produced for the general public. This is the Kawasaki ZX-10R. I ought to include a tail shot of it, because in the hands of a capable rider that's all you'll be seeing.

I rode down to Oregon via Windy Ridge last September with a co-worker on his new ZX-10R. I was more than impressed. He was able to effortlessly carve corners at unmentionable extra-legal speeds where my poor Sabre was dragging the freaking muffler, brake lever, and entire botton surface of the footpeg at 50mph.

Ride to Work Day 2005 Redux

Another wonderful thing about Ride to Work Day is the wonderful variety of motorcycles I get to see. I expect to see the usual assortment of sportbikes, ST1100/1300 & Goldwings, and Harleys. But I'm also continually surprised by how many people break out some really unique bikes on RTW Day.

The most memorable bike was the one parked across the lane from me at the Convention Center Garage. It was a black mint-condition Moto Guzzi California III. It was so clean that I could've combed my hair in the reflection from the sidecovers.

The scooter contingent was out in full force yesterday as well, even outside of downtown. I saw a good half dozen scooters running around the various streets and rural highways outside of the city. As they were keeping up pretty well on West Valley Highway at 45mph, they were clearly 150cc-250cc scooters with modern engines and classic-styling.

All in all it was very good to see everyone out and about. I enjoyed it immensely, and was pleased to see so many people waving back to me even on the freeways.

Ride to Work Day 2005

I was blessed with that most wondrous of events: a sunny weekday off in the middle of one of Seattle's more dreary summers. I'd taken the day off for the most mundane of reasons. That reason being my wife's obstetrician appointment which I like to go to every 2nd or 3rd to make sure of what's going on.

However early in the week I realized that not only was today Ride to Work Day, but that it was also the same day I had my chiropractor appointment. So not only do I get to sleep in, but I get to ride downtown, I get to go to the range for my quarterly visit to the Marksman, and I get to put in 85 miles in during one of the nicest days we've had this summer. Simply blessed is what I am today.

The riding today was great. I managed to avoid all of the regular cager backup points somehow, but I was in a really sweet groove too. I felt like all my cornering lines were lit up like neon for me to simply follow, and that God's own fingertip was heading through the corners in front of me cleaning all the gravel and detritus out of the best cornering lines. Simply fantastic.

I hope that you too had a good Ride to Work Day.

Seattle Parking Tip #1: Convention Center Garage $2

I found out this morning that the Convention Center Public Garage only charges $2 for motorcycles. Everybody in there was using the various corners, nooks, ends, and wedges to park their bikes. As today was Ride to Work Day I wasn't shocked by the number of bikes (I saw at least 15), but it certainly did warm my heart to see it.

Road Less Traveled

The commute's been a bear lately. The backups are sizable both in scale and frustration. It does have two nice (if not entirely pleasurable) side effects: I get time to think about riding and I get time to think about writing. Or more precisely, the written word.

Today I had decided to take a back route, and while waiting for the red light at the end of my SR599 exit ramp, I considered Robert Frost's Road Less Traveled. I've always felt that bit of literature has a profound resonance with motorcyclists, appealing to their noticeable inner sense of wanderlust. Some day I hope to find the words to express such sentiments through the lens of motorcycling, but as words are often not my friend nor even my ally I fear that cause may be lost before its begun.

In lieu of something of my own, here's Robert Frost.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

Road Hazard of the Day: Tire Carcasses

They're usually laying alongside the road on the lane lines. They're large, black, and tend to curl up if flipped on their sides. What most people don't know is that these things can be razor sharp!

One of my fellow riders in Wetleather pointed out a little anecdote while he was commuting to work a few years ago. He was trundling along in traffic when a neighboring vehicle ran over a tire carcass and flipped it towards him. With a deft maneuver he avoided hitting the tire carcass with any part of the bike, but the broken end of the carcass lightly brushed against his Aerostich as he went by it. Much to his surprise upon reaching work, the steel wires (ie., steel-belted radial) has sliced right through the leg of his Aerostich and into his pants!

Obviously, you should be careful of these things. They're almost as dangerous as the cagers themselves.

2004 Suzuki V-strom 650

One bike I've had my eye on for the last few months is the Suzuki V-strom 650. I've all sorts of people wax musical about the wonders of the little Suzuki V-twin. I know several well-accomplished riders (and a few Iron Butt riders) who swear by the baby 'Strom. A review is available from Motorcycle News of Australia.

For your viewing pleasure a photo has been posted:

Road Hazard of the Day, July 13th 2005

Road Construction. We're all aware of it, and how it affects on the traffic flow and road surfaces.

Edge traps are one of the nastier road hazards that you encounter in a construction zone. In Washington the state law mandates the ubiquitous 'Motorcycles Use Extreme Caution' signs that are plastered everywhere to extent that they're almost too common to be taken seriously. In response to some serious injuries in recent years due to poorly thought-out highway edge traps, the State of Washington passed that law requiring those construction companies to place the 'MUEC' sign prominently to warn cyclists.

David Hough had a rather informative article in Motorcycle Consumer News about this law and edge traps. My personal preference is to handle edge traps in the same fashion that I handle wet or icy railroad crossings (which are just a more common form of edge trap). I slow down and position the bike so that I can approach the offending train crossing at an angle as close as possible to 90 degrees, and then give the bike a tiny bit of gas to start the weight transferring to the rear as I cross so as not to get the front end sliding down the rail.

If you're over a particularly poorly-constructed crossing, you may actually run the risk of getting one of your tires stuck or pinned between the rails and roadway. I'm sure it doesn't require much imagination to consider that once your front wheel is well and truly immobilized, the bike can do one of two things: bend the front forks or rotate around the front axle planting you on the ground with the bike landing on you very soon thereafter.

Remember folks, watch those edge traps. You'll see them everywhere you go. Myself, I see about a half dozen of them each commute.

As the British Say: That's Cheek

Had a close one today. Was heading up Peasley-Canyon taking the back way to the freeway doing mumbledy-something on the long straight. I glance down at the mirror to check my six, and I notice that the pick-em-up truck in the opposing lane is flashing his lights at me. First I think, is he complaining about my high beam and the it hits me. There's heat parked up at the top of the hill running a speed trap!

I roll off the throttle quickly before I pass the truck at about an eighth of a mile from the crest of the hill. Knowing full well the local cops primarily use radar around here, I also know that they're not going to get a decent signal return off me until I'm past that big pickup's several large flat reflective surfaces. Sure enough I'm doing an indicated 42 as I roll up to and around the bend where the county deputies are parked on their green Goldwings(!). As I roll by I give them a friendly little wave with the clutch hand while I start to brake for the next stoplight.

A good encounter this time. And much thanks to the helpful gent in the pick-em-up truck this morning!

Seattle Combat Commuting Part 3: Return to the Parking Garage

The commute today wasn't too bad. Mostly because I was up at O-dark-thirty to be to work for a 7:30am server migration.

No, the problem was parking. Traffic was so good that my usual parking spots weren't even open yet. Yesler Annex Garage wouldn't open for another 35 minutes after my arrival, so I went down to the Butler Garage.

The Butler Garage used to be open at that hour. I guess they're not anymore. The steel roll-down doors were secured, the hours sign had been pulled down, and the parking rate sign's frame was out on the street but the poster inside has been ripped out. Not an auspicious view. Granted, the Butler's expensive but it's also fairly secure. Besides, when I come into work early for server stuff like this, my employer pays for it.

As I was sitting across the street from the Butler pondering my dilemma, a thought landed on me like a ton of bricks. My co-workers park at this little place on Cherry between 2nd and 3rd. So I toodled over expecting a big parking charge, and I was quite surprised. Bike parking was only $0.25 more than where I usually park, and I didn't have to walk up that damn steep hill south of Yesler. The place is cheap, clean, and well-lit. Yesler Annex only manages the first of those three, and the Butler Garage only the middle.

The Is of Damp

I'm a Seattle moto-commuter and I can handle inclement weather.

I can handle rain although I admit I don't really care for it. I have no problems with fog. I've been known to ride to town if there's snow on the ground as long as it's above freezing when I leave. If there's no precipitation falling at a given moment, I often ride the bike to work when the temperature is in the upper 20s. It's just a matter of being prepared for whatever circumstances the weather can throw at you.

What I can't stand are the drivers. I'm on I-5 for about 22 miles of my 31 mile daily commute. All but 5 of those were backed up today, for no discernable reason other than rain. There were no accidents. Nor were there any cars pulled over for speeding (fat chance of that at the agonizing rate they were driving today). Nor was there any road construction going on by the state for the I-5 freeway.

The SoundTransit bus (#7910 doing route 590) I was riding behind was a shining example of the poor skills shown by Puget Sound drivers.

At one juncture in my commute this fine morning, He was doddering along at 48mph going down the Southcenter Hill (65mph mainline flow speed) and there was noone in front of him until after the Route 518 merge north of the 405 interchange. If memory serves, that's 3/4ths of a mile. I'm fairly sure he can stop inside of 4000 feet.

The Morning After Independence

It's now officially summer.

A beautiful Tuesday morning for riding. I'm barely able to restrain my right wrist as the Sabre and I roll on in to work. The motor is running well in the thick cool morning air with a fresh tank of fuel from the weekend's joyrides. The front tire warms up quickly and tracks cleanly as I swerve around the myriad bits of fireworks detritus littering the side streets of the towns I pass through. This day being part of one of those extended holiday weekends deals, there's almost noone on the road. As we all know, what real motorcyclist prefers a busy road to an empty road?

It's not cold outside, as summer's finally here. The temperature readout held a solid 59F, and the air felt wonderful as it ever so slightly flowed through my JR Rocket 3.0 out on the rural highway. No fog, no frost, and no morning clouds obscured my morning commute. A blissfully tranquil blast through the little towns on the way to work, punctuated only by the occasional whiff of spent powder from the previous evening's festivities.

We shall see how the rest of the day goes. But for this morning, I'm well satisfied.