Two wheels is enough.
Of a Friday (middle TN country talk), work all caught up, only one left in the office, having just finished my poverty lunch, I decided to enjoy the rest of this sunny day.
So, I hopped on the AG (adventure goat) and blasted east (which is actually more south than east) on I24. Exiting at hwy 64 I angled over to hwy 41 south and caught hwy 280 toward McMinnville.
I traveled through the town of
280 changes names just about every 5 miles and has no signs calling it 280. But, I didn't get lost and managed to follow this rural two lane to McMinnville.
McMinnville is not a destination, just a town on the way to the very nice, twisty, hwy 30 near
I was just about through the curves when I caught up with one of those low slung looking Chryslers. He was moving pretty good for a car, but was just plain old slow for a bike. And there is no safe passing to be done. So, I made a 180 and headed for home.
But I wasn't going to miss a chance for new road, so I took
The next day, with, again, an afternoon, I took off without any plan. I headed south and explored country roads between hwys 41A and 31A down as far a
I tried out combinations of gear in preparation for the EaSToc trip in a couple of weeks. I believe I have a combination of gear that will work for all conditions 40° to 90°F.
A new rear tire goes on this weekend. Just not enough left for a 1500 mi trip. The
With the Avons at one size bigger than stock, the AG is surprisingly agile through tight turns for my type of riding (which I would describe as brisk+). The modest weight and strong torque combine with pretty darn good road clearance to make a pretty quick ol girl.
One reason I call the bike the Adventure Goat is that I like to ride roads that I have never been on before. Did a little of that this weekend. I started out with a quick blast toward Monteagle on I24. Just short of Monteagle I took hwy 50 east so I could ride a nice stretch of hwy 41 that climbs up to the top of the ridge. A nice start...a road I know.
Then west on 41A and south onto a new road, hwy 156. A pretty nice road. Smooth mostly easy two lane. Of itself not a destination, but the scenery is nice and the ride pleasant.
I follow it down to
I then hopped on hwy 72 south into
I am pretty sure that Orme is a city that ran completely out of water during the drought last summer. They arranged to get from
A few miles further south I caught why 117 north. This road turns into hwy 56 in TN. Overall a pretty nice road. I took some pics of an old, abandoned business made of concrete structures, some of which were formed castle like. I don't know what it used to be.
Just north of there the road climbs steeply into the hills. This was the best riding of the day. A local Taurus came up on me pretty quick while the road was flat, but when we started climbing, the Taurus disappeared. Nothing climbs like the goat. Just twist the throttle. The only gear changes need are in the slowest, tightest spots.
I came up on some traffic and had to toodle along through the rest of the good twisties...just a few miles. Then I was back at hwy 41A.
My available time was pretty much used up. I stopped at the McDonald's in Monteagle and had a large fry and a diet coke. I talked to a guy there about motorcycles for a few minutes. People enjoy that.
Then it was back down the mountain on 41. I stayed on 41 'til
Then back on I24 to blast on home.
A good afternoon and a good ride. Something just short of 300mi.
An intriguing road that I did not ride was the "Old CCC" road that runs between hwy 156 and hwy 56 in TN. It is a gravel road that may turn into a single track way back in those hills. For these kinds of roads I'd love to have a dual purpose bike like the KLR650.
Oh, well. For now my employment is certainly uncertain, so new stuff has to wait. There are still a lot of paved roads that I haven't been down yet.
Four way stops bring together the bold and timid in ways that defy a motorcyclist to live through the day.
I go through 3 four way stops on the way to work. At the first this morning I arrive clearly after a car to my left. I wait and wait and wait for the car to go. Finally, after I've stared at him for what seemed like minutes, he eased through the intersection. At the second four way I arrive just before a car to my right. I am fully into the intersection when that car bolts toward me.
I don't know whether I was in 1st or 2nd at this point, but I angled to the left and gunned the big twin. The rear tire spun a little and the old goat launched clear of the intersection and the imminent t-bone.
At the third four way I was by myself.
Though a little closer than usual, this was a fairly normal morning.
I take a look at most published stuff related to motorcycles. Yesterday I read a story (may have been in the form of a blog) about a recent study on motorcycle safety. The results indicated that while motorcycles represent 7% of registered vehicles, they are involved in 10% of vehicle fatalities (cue sound track of gasps and moans of horror). I meant to supply the link, but I can't find it this morning. Doesn't matter.
The statistics don't bother me. I don't live by statistics. If I did I would be at home now cowering in a closet. No, instead, I will live doing the things I enjoy as responsibly as I can.
The responses are predictable:
"Murdercycle"
"Organ doner"
"I shouldn't have to support those who maimed themselves with motorcycles"
"My cousin works in an emergency room"
"That's a bold statement" as John Travlota would say. None of that bothers me. I'll take vitriol face to face only.
I am an organ doner. Just have to sign the back of the driver's license in Tennessee. And in the event that I am not using them anymore, I am fine with giving my organs to someone who can.
But I am going to add an asterisk:
*DO NOT GIVE MY ORGANS TO @$$HOLES
The Virago, aka the Adventure Goat, is a machine of opportunity. This weekend was longer because of Good Friday, and, it also being my birthday (weird theological possibilities there) the AG brayed, bolted, and did some roadin'.
Tennessee acquired some new nature area acreage recently and I was inclined to go look at it ... at least from the road. Required: a fast blast down I24, scouting out the area, and a faster blast back up I24. Really a great afternoon of riding. Headwinds on the way back were quite strong and gusty. And semis on the interstates just make things worse, but the old Goat hardly shook 'er head at all and motored easily at 75-85mph.
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/na/natareas/jericho/
Saturday, opportunity called again and I stitched together some of my regular "fun" rides. I headed to Watertown, skipped up to hwy 141, followed that to hwy 96 (at center hill dam) headed south to hwy 266 to Smyrna and home. A lot of curves and smiles. All two lane, all good to super sweet.
365 miles of therapy. I'm feeling a need to make another appointment.
Four dollar gas. Sounds downright Continental. Too bad that does nothing for me. Well, the ol Vgo is getting 46mpg+ under all circumstances now, so it doesn't hurt so bad. It is kinda weird to see double digits when filling up the ol' girl though.
Gas prices are making for strange behavior. Yesterday, going home from work, I got stuck behind a guy in his big ol' V8 truck. He was driving like a granny to, I guess, squeeze a few more miles out of a gallon. I have observed this in a variety of gas guzzlers. Rather comical actually. The guy yesterday, though, was pretty pathetic. You have to go fast enough for it to shift up into the highest gear to get better mileage.
The Virago doesn't care much; burns at about the same rate fast or slow. Steady 60mph with little stopping and she approaches 50mpg. I got tired of granny and had to double yellow pass. 20 to 70 in a hiccup. Doesn't really make any time difference, but at least I didn't have to stare at the backside of that thing any longer than necessary.
February has been pretty cold. By that I mean too cold for me to ride. The ol' Virago has been ready, but I've just been holed up away from the temps and other weather restraints.
But Saturday, wind or no, it was warm enough. The new windshield works great. I agonized over how much to cut it down. Once before I was putting a new Plexifairing 3 on my '83 Sabre and screwed up and had to cut it a second time lopping off 3 more inches than I'd planned. Thing is, it worked great at that height. A little wind and turbulence across the top of my hat, but otherwise quite sweet.
I tried to get it right with this shield, so I sat and looked bolt upright, slumped down. Finally, I marked my center spot with the only "soft" marker I could find...my wife's lipstick.
Anyway, visibility is great, wind protection is much, much better. The windblast up my ears is total gone. I now have a tendency to go too fast. The wind let me know before. My vision is much better as the shield does not interfere at all. Much better.
100 miles of great fun riding that afternoon. South of Nashville on nice two lanes east of
Til then, though, I will ride even if I have to follow the grizzlies toward the recently thawed north pole.
For incomprehensible and therefore inexplicable reasons at work, it made sense to take a week of vacation in February. Course, it is February and, being winter, there's nothing fun to do.
The thing to do, then, is to catch up on vehicle maintenance ... and I need a whole week for that. To Do: Brakes on the two cars; install new Plexifairing 3 on the Virago (includes cutting to height) and adjust valves on the Virago. (Also throw in replacing the basin, faucet, tail and trap in the downstairs toilet and also changing the oil in the Gravely and Aerostar).
This all went quite well. The weather was just warm enough that I didn't have to cobble up heat in the garage. But the weather wasn't quite good enough to be missing any fun opportunity.
I generally like mechanic work fine, but I have never liked adjusting valves. I guess this goes back to my old CB550. You could do a perfect valve adjustment on that bike and the valves would be silent and the bike would run its very best ... for 500 miles. Then it went back to "normal".
So, the Virago. I've put 25K miles on it and never even thought about an adjustment. My old CB1000C with shim and bucket valves I never touched. The valves were only making a little noise when the big oil leak between the head and crankcase started. At 115K I think the valves were way down the list of things that needed attention.
But, the cap gasket on the Virago's rear cylinder exhaust valve started leaking. Logic says all the cap gaskets need replacing and, since you're already there, may as well adjust the valves too. I did the preparatory reading, assembled the tools and had at it. Turns out to not be as bad as I thought. Still a pain, but not all that bad.
And the Virago is a tough ol' girl. This is probably the first time the valves have been checked (almost 50K). And they are perfectly in spec. Not on the edge, dead in the middle of spec.
So yesterday, everything being finished, it was warm enough for a good ride. I headed east on my "short" ride to Watertown and kept going east and north: 96 to 70N to 53 to 290 to 56 to 53 and then headed back. A little over 200 mi. 99% sweet two lane; 30% super fun curvy two lane.
Well, I did need some good fun riding before heading back to work!
I have absolutely had riding withdrawal over the last week of too cold and too wet.
If the DEA understood, they'd be over at my place to declaring the old Virago contraband.
Well, they'd have to come to work today. HAHAHAHAHAHA
Cold, snow, rain ... nothing much to do but think about motorcycles. The ol Virago sits patiently in the garage for me to give her some attention.
It is kind of a pain thinking about a new motorcycle. The drive belt on the BMWF800 is like a $300 item and replace schedule is something like 24,000km. What? Also little bits of gravel can punch through the thing. The MFG recomendation? Replace the $300 belt. Geez.
There a lot of improvements in the 08 Kaw KLR. One is a better piston and rings to improve oil consumption, especially at higher speeds. But a high proportion, IMO, of 08s are using a lot of oil. Could be contamination, could be bad parts. And of course, a 35" perch and tube type tires and a stinking chain. Geez.
The Kaw Versys looks to be a nice bike, almost dual purpose. About the same amount of suspension I'd end up with lowering a KLR to suit me. Also cast 17" wheels . Also uses a mildly detuned (for more torque) Ninja 650 vertical twin which doesn't have the oil burning history of the KLR. This bike would probably do fine on gravel and dirt...only fair on sand. Not a bike to do real trail riding on.
Similar to the Versys is the Suzuki V Strom 650. Well though of bike...might find a pretty good one used. Costs almost another $1000 over the Versys new.
Kinda makes my head hurt. The weather needs to warm up a bit so I can take a ride and clear my head.
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