All quiet on the Western Front

[2and3cylinders]

And apparently among the  Members of this cabal...

After the holiday weekend I was expecting glowing reports of those who were able to get out on the road, have an epiphany regarding our beloved mounts, or do some exciting new modifications.

For example, I got out yesterday, possibly the last day of this year.  It was a brisk but sunny ride outbound on some of the few quiet local wooded roads relatively free of salt.  I had added for the first time a new Italian wonder frabric, stretchy snug fitting but comfortable long sleeve, collared, quarter zip shirt under my usual long sleeve, CoolMax type material, slightly looser fitting long sleeve, collared, 3/8" zip shirt I wear year round.  Over these I wore my usual Warm N Safe 90w, pad type vs wire element, thin but twin layer nylon, collared, full zip, 2 pocket, heated jacket liner with Scotchbtite reflective striping; which can be connected to heated gloves and pants.  With the OEM heated grips and OBD ADV Gear Hand guard/ hand grip muffs, I could wear my old favorite Cortech Hydro GT waterproof, well armored (they even have 2 hard palm sliders), highly adjustable long gauntlet (they also made an identical but short gauntlet version) leather gloves.  Sadly these gloves are long discontinued but I had bought 2 pair on closeout for under only $60 a pair; and while my first pair are no longer waterproof they are still otherwise in great though stretched out a bit shape.

IMO I could go down to 15° F with this combination without resorting to my very good if a bit thick WnS insulated, carbon knucke arrmored but only double leather palm, waterproof heated gloves I must wear on my unprotected grip bikes.

Also sadly I barely was able to squeeze into my Aerostitch Transit 2 GorePro leather 2-piece suit pants after years now of expansion.  I thought about removing their CE 2 hip armor but was too tired and stiff to futz with that, as I was already in my thin, skin tight but stretchy wicking tights (no fly 😞 ) and shirts, and didn't want to get sweated up.  With the liner on, the matching CE 2 fully armored jacket was, let's just say, snug.  With my microfleece open face balaclava I could almost get the jacket zipped all the way up.  Adding my Hit-Air vest and Kabuto Ibuki fastest red flip front helmet and my heavy armored TCX Goretex touring boots I felt like I was in a cramped panzer tank.

Getting on to my FJ in my usual cowboy mount fashion was consequently that much more difficult.  At least the tights made pulling up the pants legs to where they had molded to fit on my knees easy.

On the beginning of this ride I was a bit distracted with how I physically felt with all my orthopedic challenges, adjusting the mirrors, how my left glove gauntlet caught slightly on the muff, trying to make a mental note of the Sykik TMPS readout with the helmet face shield and sun visor down refracting the TPMS screen, adjusting the jacket liner T-Stat, moving this way and that to try to get more comfortable in my gear and on my comfy but rather short custom Sargent saddle (oh how, like my wife, I wished for a couple more inches), and seeing if I could keep the visor open behind my barn door Givi Tour windscreen topped with the MRW Tour spoiler.

Being so distracted turned out not to be a good thing. 

As with almost all my rides north I got on Highway 41 / I-94, a 6-lane slab that enabled development of  Chicago's now highly affluent "Northshore".  Traffic was not bad but the Sunday drivers were out on Saturday in abundance with the few usual "do you really think you're going to get their faster" dodging in and out cager.

It was apparent even on my bike it'd be sketchy to try to filter through the road hogs, so I kept a safe following distance and chose to enjoy the sunshine, and continue to attend to my distractions. 

Then one of the aforementioned cager speedsters cut me off but I anticipated him, and dropped back.  I kept a eye on traffic but due to the thousands of times I'd been in this space and time, I was a bit complacent as I went back to my distractions. 

Suddenly, you were waiting patiently for this, that cager I was behind in the leftmost lane crammed on his brakes at 65+ mph.

I instinctively squeezed my front brake as I realized what could occur.

The front tire gave a left, right, left shrug as the cg shifted forward but then the front end settled out just as quickly as managed to reduce speed as I glanced in a mirror to see if anyone had snuck up on me, and then dropped safely back.

Then I took a very deep breath and tried to unclench my sphincter. 

The remainder of the ride was comparatively uneventful, and despite my feeling stiff and awkward, managed to satisfy briefly a bit of my need for speed, albeit with apprehension.

After following my convoluted and less than totally satisfying route to Woodstock Harley Davidson in Woodstock Illinois, I was wornout by being overheated and even more uncomfortable.  At least my right hip was not too painful, something that has become a pinnacle issue rising above my shoulder, lumbar region and neck.

Thankfully, Woodstock HD is a hospitable dealership that also carries Triumph and KTM, and part of a huge conglomerate of maybe a dozen locations, with access to a huge inventory of new and used bikes. They often have events with food and even have a little museum and AV theater.

So I went inside after trying three parking spots before finding one where I could dismount safely.  After wandering deeper into the massive bowels of the store I  found a salesman aquantance.  I then dropped with my usual grunt into a somewhat comfy chair at his desk.  As we exchanged formalities casually, I tried to evaluate what condition my condition was in while we compared our extensive health problems. 

Afterward I ate alone at Porkies BBQ, which actually is on a corner of the dealer parking lot.  Can you say brilliant?

The initial portion of my route home was technical if too brief, which was fine with me this time as my awkwardness continued.  For the remainder of the ride my psychological discomfort thankfully, in a backhanded way, easily surpassed my physical being despite my gear.

Now on 50 years of riding, I have enormous health challenges to try to suremont on top of attempting  to orchestrate what hopefully will be a long and relatively enjoyable sunset with my wife and kids.

But distractions and complacency could see to another much less desirable future. 

Talk amongst yourselves...

 

 

[fjrchuck]

Too much sand and salt already on the roads up my way for any riding. Now just hoping for an early Spring! 😎

[KrustyKush]

I’m sitting in a Farmer’s Boy near Lake Elsinore. Rode the 21 Tracer over here in search of some concrete anchors at Home Depot. This hamburger is WAY too big for my geezer tummy.

From here, I will ride north on the 15 to the east bound 91. Then south on the 215 to home. This is my North Long Horn. Weather today is not bad at all.  I’d say temp is around 75. Golden sunshine. No wind. Fairly light traffic

As I round the Horn I will say a word of praise in honor of all the friends who cannot, for whatever reason, ride today. 

[Ride365]

I could've ridden yesterday, were I not on call at the hospital, good buddy of mine got out for a bit though on his new 1250GS adventure and said was quite comfy.

[texscottyd]

4 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

After the holiday weekend I was expecting glowing reports of those who were able to get out on the road, have an epiphany regarding our beloved mounds, or do some exciting new modifications.

I saved a turtle today, by relocating from corner apex to nearby creek.  

If I had been on the FJ, I might have kidnapped (turtlenapped?) him/her in a saddlebag, and rehomed him/her to the creek behind our house… 

[2and3cylinders]

Box turtles are one of the cutist reptiles going.  Too big for a pet though, best in the wild but they don't live as long there unfortunately.

They can live to 50!

[2and3cylinders]

5 hours ago, KrustyKush said:

I’m sitting in a Farmer’s Boy near Lake Elsinore. Rode the 21 Tracer over here in search of some concrete anchors at Home Depot. This hamburger is WAY too big for my geezer tummy.

From here, I will ride north on the 15 to the east bound 91. Then south on the 215 to home. This is my North Long Horn. Weather today is not bad at all.  I’d say temp is around 75. Golden sunshine. No wind. Fairly light traffic

As I round the Horn I will say a word of praise in honor of all the friends who cannot, for whatever reason, ride today. 

IFIYGD

Monty Python In search of the holy grail

French castle insult scene 

I fart in your general direction 

[2and3cylinders]

4 hours ago, Ride365 said:

I could've ridden yesterday, were I not on call at the hospital, good buddy of mine got out for a bit though on his new 1250GS adventure and said was quite comfy.

What do you do at the hospital?

I respect greatly our "front line" workers.  Two of my kids are ER docs. Well one got into a specialty last month. It's been bad for so  long and people think Covid is over...

[KrustyKush]

Safest (Covid) place in the world is aboard a moving motorcycle.

[Ride365]

19 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

What do you do at the hospital?

I respect greatly our "front line" workers.  Two of my kids are ER docs. Well one got into a specialty last month. It's been bad for so  long and people think Covid is over...

I'm a Biomedical Engineering technician of 20 years, wifey is a very skilled and experienced nurse of 31 years. MASSIVE hospital where I work is understaffed, and so is the hospital where the wife works, this is pretty much "still" the norm nationwide.  

[2and3cylinders]

5 hours ago, Ride365 said:

I'm a Biomedical Engineering technician of 20 years, wifey is a very skilled and experienced nurse of 31 years. MASSIVE hospital where I work is understaffed, and so is the hospital where the wife works, this is pretty much "still" the norm nationwide.  

Yep

Overworked and underpaid 

Both of which are insane and dangerous 

Many have left as a result or gone private

Kids get the Ole pat on the back while they cut pay and skipped bonuses...

[Warchild]

I'll play along, lemme tell ya how I went slightly insane over the Thanksgiving holidays.

Some here know that although I absolutely loved my 2020 BMW S1000XR for the first 25K miles, the past 5K miles has been a completely different story. Bike sat in the dealership undergoing huge-ass warranty repairs a good amount of time during prime riding season. 

First, the Keyless Gas Cap failed in the closed position. Can't open it to refuel, which is demoralizing on a long road trip when you pull in the gas station on fumes. Then it was discovered that my stock fuel tank had "swollen" and also needed replacement under warranty. Third, the water pump started spewing blue coolant out the weep hole in the back of the oil sump, so it needed replacement. Enough with my German experiment... time to go back to known reliable bikes from the Land of the Rising Sun.

So...  I am selling the XR and replacing it with a bike that is hardly suited for long-distance sport-touring. This will be quite the challenge, turning this Beastly Thang into a proper Long Hauler.

 

This 2021 Yamaha MT10 only has 1535 miles on it, only used as a track toy (check them chicken stripes on that rear 190 tire). Got the killer price of well under $11K. Going to transform this bike over the next 4-5 months into a hard-core Desert Runner. 160 hp, 84ft-lbs of torque, 463lbs, wet. phuck yeah.  😆

 

 

[Ride365]

We are expendable.......they aren't loyal to me, so why the hell should I be loyal to them? I do my job and do it well, don't like that the hospital is run by politicians instead of healthcare professionals "like it used to be", but I care about individuals on campus immensely. Thank your kiddos for me, it's a thankless job many times.

[Ride365]

I seriously jones for an MT10, please keep us updated on the farkle progress!

[OldBikers]

I saw an MT-10 fitted out for touring in Italy but didn't get a chance to chat with the owner.  It had a GIVI windscreen and both side V37 and top 50L cases. Very impressive looking.  Me, I was on a Ducati Monster 821.