Just heard from the fellas at the Pace Poscast that Harley has announced tire introduction of a water cooled engine to go into some of their touring bikes in 2014. The design helps with overall performance and emissions. Will the the Harley traditionalist riot? I don’t believe so. Harley is mainly introducing a cooling system around the heads. It’s a long time coming. I’m sure the new adopters will really enjoy the added performance and comfort from they water cooled hogs.
Summertime motorcycle commuting is something I normally don’t do a whole lot of because of the afternoon temps. Mornings temps rarely dip under 80 degrees but the rush hour return home is well into the triple digits. I have to give my 2004 Yamaha FJR1300 some credit. With a 1300 cc inline four cylinder, full faring and tipping the scale at about 600 lbs. This sport touring rocket has a very efficient cooling system. I keep synthetic motor oil in her and a recent radiator flush to help her along, keeps my afternoon return home uneventful. Well, minus the occasional leg burns from the heat burps the engine fans my way from it sides.
I sometimes wonder how lane splitting would be like if it was legal in Texas. It has come up for votes the last two or three sessions but the powers that be (and the existing road ragers) say we are not ready for that much excitement yet. The FJR with its side cases maybe too fat for lane splitting. The use of its top case may be in order to piss off my fellow Texans while I whisp by them in traffic. If it were legal to lane split, I would only use it if traffic was absolutely at a stop. I wonder if one can just travel on the shoulders in that kind of situation?
What about gear? After witnessing too many motorcycle accidents on our organized rides. I have started to wear all the gear all the time (ATGATT). I have to say when I road a Harley a few years back with a t-shirt and half helmet in this kind of weather. My skin would feel toasted and the air cooled tractor would struggle in stop and go traffic. My current water cooled FJR allows me to navigate this heat only while I wear my gear. Full face helmet, mesh jacket, gloves and armored over pants keep me cool and safe. Yeah I see the cruisers and sport bike riders in their shorts, muscle shirts and running shoes. I just don’t get it. Maybe they have yet to see someone in an accident yet and the aftermath of the road rash, broken bones and more serious – death. The following video was out together by a friend of mine Photoryder on a spill another friend of ours took a while back. We helped him through his recovery. Not a fun time in his life.
Firstgear Mesh Hi Boots
After my Previous Cortech Solutions WP boots bit the dust – soles became unglued. Had to pickup some boots for the semi tropical weather we have in South Central Texas.
After a day of riding in temps topping 107 degrees, the boots provided a dry, comfortable and rigid enough fit to make my ride awesome. First impressions, sizing is slightly smaller than US industry sizing. I fall between a regular width 9.5 to 10 but these boots fit pretty good. One observation and it may fall with the particular pair I bought but the right boot fit a bit bigger than the left. Didn’t look like they were a demo set. Slightly stiff, but can see them breaking in easy for all day use. Would like to see stitched soles on motorcycles boots. But I guess the cost vs value thing.
With the amount of heat my Yamaha FJR1300 puts out, the height of the boot gave me just enough protection from the heat blasting thru my lower fairings. The soles had enough grip to maneuver my heavy sport tourer by foot. Vented comfort was felt earlier in the day at the pegs but slowly decreased as the day got warmer. They are easy to slip on and to remove. Zippers and Velcro worked fine. A quick note – make sure you examine the zipper as it connects to the boot. The demos I tried had one of the zipper unstitched. 2 year warranty – felt comfortable paying the retail $139 sticker price.
Sold the Harley, sold the Honda VFR – down to one to do it all. For now…
The Long Ride ‘Home’
http://amzn.com/B006Y9B2QW
Just heard about this book on Clevelandmoto.com
Brit flys to Australia to vacation there. Ends up buying a Honda CT-110 to roam around while there. Ends up riding the sucker back to the UK. I feel like a pussy now. Check it out.
Wife and the kiddos took a trip out of town to a basketball tournament. Allowing me a wonderful weekend to myself. Luckily, a trip was on the boards that I was able to hop onto. Not a long trip in general but a long trip for this rider that has been out of the loop for a while, since the birth of my son Ian.
Sometimes you’re given a chance to ride and one must take them as they come. Even if they are few and far between.
Made the mistake of removing my Corbin touring seat with the much cooler looking stock seat with the passenger cowl. Ouch! That may have been my so called punishment. Crisp lower 50 degree morning that warmed up to a nice 75 degree day. Not chilly for most but this South Texan prefers warmer riding temps.
That day was also the day that MotoGp came to Austin, TX. Really wanted to go to that, but one must pick and choose in life no? Our return from College Station, Tx took a different route than earlier. Instead of taking the scenic back farm roads, we were delivered on to the I-30 toll way with 85Mph speed limits. With no surprise, we were met by a lot of sport bikes either commuting to the MotoGP race that was happening just north of us or just enjoying stretching the legs of their bikes. The cruisers that were riding with us that day were left behind by the time we reached our exit to Buda, TX.
Fun.
Well, I’ve taken a bit of time off due to the arrival of a new family member. Meet Ian. I’ll be squeezing in some Moto blogging when possible but I’m very excited to be a daddy. imp
A hundred years from now my great grand kids will not recall my bank account balance, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove.
But they will remember I road a “Motorcycle”.
Today a stretch of Central Texas Hwy opened up for public use with a speed limit of 85 mph. A toll road to help with the congestion of Austin traffic. Free to use for the next two weeks. Gonna have to give it a spin.
Nice summer evening for a bike night. Sunlight till 8:30, greasy burgers, cold drinks, friendly crowd. A local motorcycle shop that normally caters to Scooters has been putting together a second Tuesday Bike Night for while now. A great change of pace from the typical Rocker/Harley get together.
Sexy Ducati’s, “adventury” adventure bikes like KTMs and Urals, Cafe Triumphs and lots of Vespas.
The crowd stuck to their cliques and would occasionally speak to others if you asked them about their bikes.
Great to know there’s more than Harleys and Asian sport bikes among our ranks. I’ll try to drag more folks out to these Euro Bike Nights to introduce some of our riding group to something other that Vanilla and Chocolate.
