New shoes for baby...

Had a new rear tire shoe'd onto the FJR today: "Bridgestone T30 GT" in a 155/80-17, in prep for a Blue Ridge Parkway ride in a couple weeks. The T30 supercedes the usual BT-023's that I usually run and are supposed to offer better grip AND better mileage. I've been getting about 8,000mi each BT-023 rear, so I'm curious to see how these do. I'll do my best to check in with reports on wear and handling as I rack up the miles on these:

New rear Bridgestone T30 GT 155/80-17 tire
The old BT-023 had 8k+- on it, and was quite squared off. Its nice to have a round tire again!

My 2015 Motorcycling Resolutions

1. Finish my darn bike!

The salt bike I raced in August 2014 suffered a setback when the salt corrosion from Bonneville attacked critical parts more aggressively than I would have imagined. While I *think* I’ve managed to remove all the salt and halt any new corrosion back in September, everything from the carbs to the steering stem to the pushrod tubes needs to be disassembled, polished and refurbished or replaced in order for it to even run again, let alone be race ready.

BMW salt corrosion post-bonneville

2. Finish my other darned bike!
My prized Honda GB500 has been languishing in the stable for years (and years) in semi-running state. Last year I resolved to refit her properly and ordered $1200 worth of parts and paint to do so. Sadly, all those parts are still in their boxes and the GB still sits waiting her turn at some TLC. I vow that before Labor Day weekend (The weekend of the Bull City Rumble in Durham NC) I’ll have her fitted and road ready.

1989 GB500

3. Squeeze in another “father-son-son” ride this year.
Our last was in 2012, and too far in the rearview mirror. I, my Dad and my brother all ride and live within 50 miles of each other, so its a shame we don’t find/make time to ride together more. I’ll take it upon myself to plan another ride, epic in personality if not in achievement, knowing that no one can promise us tomorrow.

4. Push myself into the unknown or unfamiliar.
I started riding on the street, and have only ever done so. I consider myself an above average pilot on the road, so maybe this year is the year I attempt some dirt or dual-sport riding. Or maybe Trials riding. Or track school at Virginia International Raceway. Attempting something I’ve not done before is why I have medical insurance.

5. Get heated gear for my spouse.
My wife loves to ride, and while I need solo rides from time-to-time, I also love riding two up . But while anything over 45º and under 80º is perfect for me, that range runs much cooler than my southern raised gal likes it. She could easily continue to wear a heated jacket up to the high 70’s, so its about time (20yrs??) I get her one. Having her along for even more rides is a win-win, and keeping her as comfortable as possible is my primary goal anyways.

What about you - do you have any Motorcycle-related resolutions you’d like to share?

Milling around...

Waterwheel detail from Yates Mill

Took Pillion and the FJR out for a spin to central North Carolina to visit the historic Yates Mill. Here are some photos from that trip:

Saturday's ride to Pittsboro

Pittsboro Courthouse, restored after a fire a couple of years ago.

So, while I was good about getting some long overdue work done in the library Sunday after church (yes, I worked on the sabbath, but it was after going to church, so that's okay then, right?), I did manage to slip in a quick ride with Pillion down to the small town of Pittsboro, NC the day before.
The weather was miraculous for August in NC - mid 70's and low humidity. Here are some more photos from the short trip:

Shelving the shelves...or, Library Part 6

New oak panels to replace the old Birch ones

Wayyyy back in early March of this year, I got bogged down choosing stain colors for the trim in the library I'm building. While I had originally thought I'd have it all finished by sometime in April, here it is going on September, and I've not worked on this much at all in the 5 months or so since.
In the interim, I had decided to solve the staining issues I had been having with the pine and birch I had originally spec'd - splotching, unevenness, and mis-matched coloring - by ditching the birch and pine trim altogether and starting over with oak instead.

Stain tests on the old problematic birch plywood. Even tho' careful sanding and chemical pre-treatment
cut down on the blotchiness, once I switched the edge-face trim to oak, I'd never get this to match...

Of course, I had all the larger trim surrounds for the window, door and window seat already cut and ready to stain in Birch, so switching to oak meant additional purchases, and trimming/fitting all the pieces anew, not to mention now I have all this Birch trim I can't use.
But...
in a fit of motivation, I was able to purchase, remeasure, cut, trim, sand and stain all of the trim surrounds in oak in a single day:

After sanding, the oak faced plywood took the final stain very well with good grain detail

The oak performed as I had hoped - it sanded easily in one step, took the stain well, and in a matter of a few hours I had all the pieces I needed to face the window and door surrounds in the Library. And since the shelf edge-facing will be of the same red oak, they should end up matching exactly.
The remaining steps on these surrounds will be to apply several coats of semi-gloss varnish, lightly sanding with 300 grit between each coat, then glueing/nailing them into place.
I'm still on the fence on whether to rebuild the window seat from scratch in oak, rather than the birch its currently in, but as that's a big expense to rebuild, I'll have to think hard and long on that one. If I leave it in birch, perhaps I'll think about staining or painting it a contrasting color to the oak, rather than trying to match it.
In the meantime, I also have a front tire for the FJR to save up for, as well as a battery for the GB500, and a trip to Italy in the fall...
Seems completing the library may have to wait on the backburner for a little while longer.

Commuting as best I can...

This RR bridge lies at the bottom of a left downhill turn, with a tight right-hander just beyond...
and adds just a bit to the commuting goodness...

Memorial Weekend Ride

Looking up, in Floyd Va.

So, after having sorted out replacing the rear tire on the FJR (See: Tyred...), we headed out Saturday for  the Parkway, and Virginia SR8. We tried to hit Fairy Stone State Park for rock hunting (that was a big BUST, boys and girls, so we plan to attempt this again), Floyd Virginia for a looksee, and Morrisette Winery to finish the day off before heading home. Its was chillier than I expected, never above the mid-sixties, and dropping to around 54 degrees around Woodwine on SR8, before climbing back to the mid-sixties as we headed home on the slab later.

Famous Tuggles Gap Restaurant, on SR8 at the Blue Ridge Parkway

Our first destination was Fairy Stone State Park to hunt for the famous "Fairy Stones". We were told the best place to hunt was at "Haynes 57" convenience store that adjoined the park, as we headed out to go find him. Trouble was, he wasn't on our map, pillion was quite cold, and since I looove stopping and asking for directions... Also, it was getting later than we wanted due to a very late start to the ride, so we resolved to suspend looking for fairy stones and head on out to Floyd for lunch, a looksee, and try to make it to the winery before they closed.
On the way to Floyd, we passed Tuggle's Gap Restaurant and motel, famous for being motorcycle friendly and for good home cooking. As it was well after 2 o'clock, we ducked in for a bite and were not disappointed.

After a nice lunch, we had to have the obligatory Apple pie, even tho' we're not riding a Goldwing

After leaving Tuggle's Gap, we headed into Floyd, a mere 8 miles up the road. I had been to Floyd Va. once before on a recent ride up SR8 with Dad, but this was a nice revisit with Pillion, as we took more time to explore, and felt less rushed for time now that we had eaten and were feeling better. Amazing what a little pie can do.
Floyd is best known for its Country Store, Friday Music nites and recording sessions of Blue Grass and Old Timey music.

Stage in the store for concerts and recordings - we just missed a 3 hr jam session...

The store has been around since 1909, and has a nice old time feel...and a cafe where we scored lemon bars and coffee

Other scenes in Floyd...

Trying to make a connection to Andy Griffith? There was also a Mayberry Funeral Home. Hmmmm...

General Hardware Store

The "Republic of Floyd" carries more beer selections than Blue Light in Durham, NC!

Floyd County Courthouse

On the BRP, near SR8 and Floyd, leaving Floyd and headed to the winery

Yeah - its a photo of a sign...

We made it to Chateau Morrisette just in time for the very last wine tasting! Since I was piloting, no wine for me...well, I did have a few teeny, tiny tastes of what Pillion was sampling from time to time:

Some other folks enjoying a wine tasting

Pillion perusing the gift shop - we were able to fit all the wine she bought in the sidecases, just.

Part of the Winery - they have a very nice restaurant too.

So, while we were both disappointed to have abandoned our search for Fairy Stones, it was a nice pleasant ride, with lots to do and see for Pillion, and lots of curvy roads for me to break the new rear tire in on. Note to self - next "big gift" for pillion has to be a heated vest.

After returning from our ride on Saturday, we buckled down for the rest of Memorial weekend to attend to neglected house and yardwork (booo). But after a long day in the garden Monday, we treated ourselves to a short ride out for Sunset and Ice Cream at Maple View Farms:

The parking lot is often full for sunset viewing from the front porch of Maple View Country store.
Except for the cars, this is a nice shot of the bike I think.

Out of Waffle Cones?! Oh well, had to settle for a styrofoam cup, as I hate those sugar cone abominations

Don't know as if its the sunset that makes the Ice Cream so memorable here, or the Ice Cream that makes the sunset seem so spectacular. Its a good thing you don't have to choose, just eat and enjoy...

Sometimes she gets tyre'd...

New tire (or, "tyre" for you Brits) courtesy of the UPS guy...

I think over the years, Pillion has come to expect all sorts of irrational behavior from me regarding anything to do with motorcycles (or a great many things for that matter)...

Brisk Fall Ride...

Riding in cold-weather gear can make you feel like
the Michelin Man!
(or fixate on the number 20)

So, with sunny skies predicted and the thermometer hovering around 36 degrees, I decided I'd been on too long a riding hiatus (I mean, its been like, days) and scootered into work this morning. Living in the Southeast, figuring out how to stay cool while riding takes precedence over how to stay warm for me. But every year around this time, for the past 20 years exactly, I start thinking about getting some heated gloves as fall slips into the winter riding season. And for 20 years, I've not purchased a set yet. In the past, the excuses were money, complexity of hooking them up, money, general bulkiness, and money. But both the Concours, and now the FJR, have hookups that allow plug-and-play of electrical equipment, including heated apparel. So I guess its just the money holding me back now.

As it is, this morning was like every other cold start to a ride over the past 20 years - with me layering up and feeling a bit like the man on the bike in the above image. Being born and raised in the great white north, my tolerance for cold is a bit better than most, so my layers this morning just consisted of my normal riding jacket, pants, and boots, supplemented by the jacket's windproof liner. To that I added a quilted insulated liner scavenged from my old Motoport jacket, winter gloves, and a neck gaiter that was hand-knitted for me by a friend while she rode pillion with her husband as we all rode down to Daytona, just about 20 years ago.
All of that was more than sufficient for the mere 20 mile commute, and I even took the long way this morning. For the same reasons I like riding in the rain sometimes, riding in the cool air gives me a concrete sense of where "I" end, and the universe begins, as the cold air or rain (or both!) press up against me and define my place in the physical world; kinda like a human-shaped cookie cutter.

The roads were dry and clear of leaves, traffic was light on the secondary I added to the route (old NC10), and the FJR's engine was liking the cool dense air as I accelerated quicker out of each turn. It was only thirty minutes or so of riding, but it was the best thirty minutes of riding I've done in awhile.
I arrived at work pumped, refreshed, and grinning, and as I doffed some of my gear to stow in the cases, it was nice to feel the heat coming off the bike in the still air, while the engine ticked and pinged as it cooled down. Glad I geared up, glad I took the bike today, glad 36 degrees isn't too cold, and thankful the ride was quick-paced, fun, and safe.
But as soon as my hands warm up around my coffee mug, I may have to google some heated gloves.

CalSci FJR Windscreen Review

Diagram ©CalSci

Oh hell yeah!

Impromptu Ride...

Headin' out to Mount Pilot...

Big Ride - Day10 Homecoming

...You and me Sunday driving, not arriving, on our way back home....