Just Ride.

Should this ride thread be just a.... well, thread? Or should there be a dedicated Forum topic?

  • Yes, it's own topic in the Forums

    Votes: 19 90.5%
  • Nah... threads good enough.

    Votes: 2 9.5%

  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .
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Black Steel - White Concrete
Lighthouse at Jeanette's Creek at the end of one of the few curvey roads in Kent County. It's up to 23 degrees today and great to start burning off last October's gas.
 
By the numbers,
9:00 Am departure
91 degrees
70 miles
4 stadiums
3 cities
2 hours
1 great ride

I drug my trusty old mule outa the garage.
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I didn’t really have a plan when left the house, I just wanted to ride somewhere......anywhere. I pointed my bike towards the spring training complex in Surprise , it’s where the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers play.

The season that never was......

“Just to hit the ball, and touch 'em all, a moment in the sun
It's-a gone and you can tell that one good-bye“
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Right next door to the spring training facility is an Ottawa University campus and the city of Surprise municipal complex.
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So then I was thinking , where else could I ride to? How about another spring training complex? Sure! How about the Dodgers and White Sox complex in Glendale?
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As long as we’re in Glendale, the Arizona Cardinals stadium is just down the road.
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Are you guys familiar with Pat Tillman? He was an Az Cardinals player when the twin towers were taken down on 9/11. He wanted to do something so he joined the Army and became a member of Special Forces, he was killed in a friendly fire incident. A lot of folks here wanted the Cardinals to name the stadium after him. That’s his statue behind me, it’s actually much taller than me, I had to stand well in front of it to fit it in the frame.
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How about one more spring training facility? This time I’m heading to Goodyear Az to the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds complex. You know what’s weird? This virus has everything just shut down, these places are never usually deserted, there’s always workers around, but today they look like ghost towns. And nobody to tell me I can’t park on the sidewalks and take photos!
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I want to show you one last thing before I’m done. Very close to the ball fields is this place, across the field behind my bike, see the passenger jet tails sticking up?
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There’s probably 75-80 of them over there right now. That’s a company that takes in passenger jets from all over the world for refurbishing and dismantling. They are all planes that have exceeded their maximum airframe hours.
They take some of them and refurbish / rebuild and sell them to poorer countries, some get turned into cargo jets and some are just dismantled and disposed of.

So with that I point old trusty back towards home and head for the barn! About a 20 mile highway blast back home.
I just have to say a word about this bike, when I first got it, any of you who ever read “ My 60th Birthday Present” knows how much I struggled to make this bike road worthy. Everything was shot, suspension, charging, brakes, and OMG the carburetors. It took me a long time to get this bike dialed in, but now? It is the picture of civility, I was thinking about it today while I was riding home. I pulled off the freeway after a sustained 70mph blast, and it was hot out. As soon as I came to a stop light. It never stumbled it just dropped down into a perfect idle. And my gearing and handlebar / windshield set up have turned it into a surprisingly comfortable highway bike. So until next time.
See you on the road,
Bob
 
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By the numbers,
9:00 Am departure
91 degrees
70 miles
4 stadiums
2 hours
1 great ride

I drug my trusty old mule outa the garage.
View attachment 166579


I didn’t really have a plan when left the house, I just wanted to ride somewhere......anywhere. I pointed my bike towards the spring trading complex in Surprise , it’s where the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers play.

The season that never was......

“Just to hit the ball, and touch 'em all, a moment in the sun
It's-a gone and you can tell that one good-bye“
View attachment 166582
View attachment 166583
View attachment 166584 View attachment 166585


Right next door to the spring trading facility is an Ottawa University campus and the city of Surprise municipal complex.
View attachment 166586 View attachment 166587

So then I was thinking , where else could I ride to? How about another spring training complex? Sure! How about the Dodgers and White Sox complex in Glendale?
View attachment 166588 View attachment 166589 View attachment 166590 View attachment 166592 View attachment 166593

As long as we’re in Glendale, the Arizona Cardinals stadium is just down the road.
View attachment 166594
Are you guys familiar with Pat Tillman? He was an Az Cardinals player when the twin towers were taken down on 9/11. He wanted to do something so he joined the Army and became a member of Special Forces, he was killed in a friendly fire incident. A lot of folks here wanted the Cardinals to name the stadium after him. That’s his statue behind me, it’s actually much taller than me, I had to stand well in front of it to fit it in the frame.
View attachment 166595 View attachment 166596 View attachment 166597

How about one more spring training facility? This time I’m heading to Goodyear Az to the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds complex. You know what’s weird? This virus has everything just shut down, these places are never usually deserted, there’s always workers around, but today they look like ghost towns. And nobody to tell me I can’t park on the sidewalks and take photos!
View attachment 166600 View attachment 166601 View attachment 166602 View attachment 166603

I want to show you one last thing before I’m done. Very close to the ball fields is this place, across the field behind my bike, see the passenger jet tails sticking up?
View attachment 166604 View attachment 166605 View attachment 166606

There’s probably 75-80 of them over there right now. That’s a company that takes in passenger jets from all over the world for refurbishing and dismantling. They are all planes that have exceeded their maximum airframe hours.
They take some of them and refurbish / rebuild and sell them to poorer countries, some get turned into cargo jets and some are just dismantled and disposed of.

So with that I point old trusty back towards home and head for the barn! About a 20 mile highway blast back home.
I just have to say a word about this bike, when I first got it, any of you who ever read “ My 60th Birthday Present” knows how much I struggled to make this bike road worthy. Everything was shot, suspension, charging, brakes, and OMG the carburetors. It took me a long time to get this bike dialed in, but now? It is the picture of civility, I was thinking about it today while I was riding home. I pulled off the freeway after a sustained 70mph blast, and it was hot out. As soon as I came to a stop light. It never stumbled it just dropped down into a perfect idle. And my gearing and handlebar / windshield set up have turned it into a surprisingly comfortable highway bike. So until next time.
See you on the road,
Bob
You sir are the picture of civility..Love the themes to your rides and pics...BTW I'm surprised the cleveland indians left Tucson for the Phoenix metro area..i remember watching the indians Spring training at Hi Corbett field in Tucson back in the day...
And yes I am giving the the Yamaha some love......The honda will be a the tool for the cross country run to the SW..4 corners states...maybe later this year or next...
 
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I got up Saturday morning and threw a leg over my bike when it warmed up to 50 degrees. I was just going for a little ride. I kept going and going and going. I rode The Black Prairie, The Red Clay Hills, and The Delta. The total ended up being about 350 miles (XS1100). I burned my beak due lack of prep. I ate a half slab of ribs along the way. I sat alone at an outdoor picnic table. I gassed up a few times as well. I consider that minimum exposure. I had sunshine and cool temperatures all the way. Great day. I feel better.

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I got up Saturday morning and threw a leg over my bike when it warmed up to 50 degrees. I was just going for a little ride. I kept going and going and going. I rode The Black Prairie, The Red Clay Hills, and The Delta. The total ended up being about 350 miles (XS1100). I burned my beak due lack of prep. I ate a half slab of ribs along the way. I sat alone at an outdoor picnic table. I gassed up a few times as well. I consider that minimum exposure. I had sunshine and cool temperatures all the way. Great day. I feel better.

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Nice ride Marty! Happy to see you got out, looks like pretty country. But...no photo of the ribs? You know we love BBQ!
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Nice ride Marty! Happy to see you got out, looks like pretty country. But...no photo of the ribs? You know we love BBQ!
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I’m pretty good at barbecue. No. I’m very good at it. I barbecued some pork on Sunday. A little hog fest for me and my missus.
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I remember going to a Toro's game at Hi Corbett field and after the game a stage was quickly set up and Huey Lewis and the News played a concert. Security tried to keep the fans in their seats and not by the stage but, after several successful rushes, they gave up.
 
Been seriously preoccupied.

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Up to my armpits with ECU reflash tuning.

For those who're curious...

https://www.thevog.net/threads/texican-gets-a-vegas.160031/
Good thread 2M. I read the whole thing. Now I have a slight headache. You do get into the nitty-gritty of things.
On my RE I added a Power Commander. It's kind of fun being able to alter the injector pulse and ignition timing based on RPM and throttle position. It was necessary to add after making changes to the air cleaner and exhaust system.
The RE must have a similar E-Start system as your Vegas. Kick back using the E-Start or when using the kicker can/will cause catastrophic damage to the "sprage" gear. I also retarded the timing at cranking/kicking RPM.
I like what you did with the TPS at closed throttle. Going to have to see if that might be a benefit on the RE.
 
Great thread over there Steve...

Good thread 2M. I read the whole thing. Now I have a slight headache...

Wow, you guyz actually read that stuff?
And gggGary, you actually joined-up over there?
Well, makes sense. Might find a bargain there.


... You do get into the nitty-gritty of things.
On my RE I added a Power Commander. It's kind of fun being able to alter the injector pulse and ignition timing based on RPM and throttle position. It was necessary to add after making changes to the air cleaner and exhaust system.
The RE must have a similar E-Start system as your Vegas. Kick back using the E-Start or when using the kicker can/will cause catastrophic damage to the "sprage" gear. I also retarded the timing at cranking/kicking RPM.
I like what you did with the TPS at closed throttle. Going to have to see if that might be a benefit on the RE.

Yes, a sprag clutch.
Sprag.gif


Be interesting if the TPS mod works on your RE...
 
Went after a CL (will fit) backrest yesterday. Pics don't do justice, but was a beautiful day to be out, the GPS was in country lane mode, so got the full amish, horses, buggies, wagons, over hill and down dale. One kinda scary encounter; a guy riding a draft horse leading a skittish horse on a halter coming towards me at a canter. Train wreck waiting to happen, but eased off a bit, all was good, whew. 230 miles round trip, the Beemer, :thumbsup:.
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It has baffle rot at the muffler exit, a common problem on these, resulted in a bit of back fire, slightly blubbery just off idle running.
baffle.jpg

I made the problem worse by crafting a retainer, which split the baffle the long ways, you can kinda see it's not a straight tube but snakes around a bit. working on a better fix.
Anyways seems like a good platform for mile eating rides.
 
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