Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Achievement Unlocked: Rode to Work

Rode to work on the bike for the first time on Tuesday. It wasn't completely smooth, but I made it. I left early to try to beat the traffic. That worked out decently well. I avoided some, but not all the traffic.

The whole trip was about 14 miles each way. Three major streets, and 2-3 smaller streets in between. The 3 major streets all had a max speed of about 50 mph in certain parts. Two involved decent hills, and all were very busy. I had to sit in traffic on the way to work and on the way back ( with the way back being much worse). I lucked out a few times, in that when I got to an intersection, it was either green, or just happened to have no traffic at that instant.

Good:
  • Engaging: Because I'm riding to work, the whole trip has your full attention. Whereas if I was driving, I'd basically just be annoyed at the traffic, or hoping to find a path to get to where I'm going as quickly as possible, when you're riding your thinking of everything all the time. This keeps you very alert, and its never boring. 
  • Riding: After all is said and done, I'm riding to and from work on a motorcycle. That's pretty cool no matter which way you cut it. 
Bad:
  • Heat: Even though it was a cool morning, by the time I got to work I was still decently sweaty. Same for the trip home. It had rained a bit, and cooled down, but having to sit in traffic, I was in need of a shower by the time I got home. Any warmer and I might not have been able to get home!
  • Traffic: Sitting in traffic is horrid. The normal annoyances of being in traffic, plus no AC, plus having to feather the clutch and throttle, plus making sure not to get run over by inattentive drivers. I now know why motorcycles all seem to filter to the front of the line during red lights. Its not just to avoid waiting, its to keep themselves cool (by moving), its almost necessary. The slow meandering in first gear is much easier to do than the constant stop and go required for siting in traffic. I'll have to learn this skill soon.
  • Versatility: I had to walk to get lunch, simply because it wasn't worth riding. Bringing the food back to work would have been difficult, even if I brought the backpack. Having a mesh of some sort might have helped the situation, but having to ride through the area just for food was still a chore. Walking to lunch resulted in me being sweatier from the walk than the ride to work!
All in all I had fun riding to work. Its different, and I have much much to learn still. I'm not sure if I'll ride to work again this week. The earliest I'd be able to is friday possibly. But with the amount of work needed, and me possibly having to stay late, I might not have the energy to ride back home.


Monday, August 27, 2012

Fudruckers



Went for my longest ride yet on Friday. Took the day off, and decided that I would be riding to Mira Mesa ( a very busy, 3 lane each way street). Its one of the main streets I'd need to get to if I want to ride to work. Original plan was to head out around 10:30, and just ride for a while, taking breaks, and then meet up with some people for lunch.

Plans changed a bit and it ended up where my riding buddy was in the area, so we met up and headed out to Fudruckers together. It made it easier traveling in a group, you could ask questions and was easier to be seen. We headed out about 11:15 and made it to Fudruckers about 11:55. Not too bad, considering by car, in a bit of traffic thats normally a 30-35 minute drive.

The day was very overcast, so it kept me nice and cool. I decided not to bring a backpack since I wasn't going to be riding as long as I thought I would be. Plus I didn't bother wearing the tinted visor because it was so overcast.

The ride itself wasn't too bad. The two parts I was most worried about, weren't bad at all. Black Mountain Rd, which is a big hill and can get to 50mph had a decent amount of traffic, so the fastest I got was about 45mph. The trip back was equally uneventful. I did stall getting out of the parking lot, surprisingly NOT from a standing start.

I went to get gas at a Mobil station and the bike wouldn't start cleanly after the fill-up. I could get it to start with a bit of throttle while starting, but its never had that issue before. This was before I dumped the rest of the carb cleaner into the tank after I got back home. I'm hoping that will help with clearing up whatever is gumming up the engine.

Update: Started it up again on Sunday and it fired right up. It did stall after a few seconds because the idle went too low. A bit of choke and it kept up and warmed up. I'm not super concerned about it because its stalled on its own before. It looks like adding the gas must have stirred up the tank and gotten some stuff into the fuel filter, or something like that. 

Update 2: Checked the oil level and it looks completely empty in the window. Will have to pick up some oil and top it off before riding it again. 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Solo Ride

Went for a longer ride tonight. This will be a shorter entry. I basically went almost as far as we did last friday. I got near a VONS and stopped there for a bit. I actually thought I was farther than I was, but I took a short break there, then headed home. Before that I did my lap twice. All in all about 11 miles.

Tomorrow I'm going to be trying to ride from the Apartment to Work. I'm taking the day off, so I don't have to ride during rush hour, and I don't have to worry about being late. I can take my time, and get used to riding that far ( 15 miles 1-way), and for that long ( 30 mins or so). I basically drive the route on autopilot in the car, but it'll be a challenge on the bike. I'm both nervous and excited about it. Looking forward to it, and dreading it. I've built up some confidence from the last few rides, whats why i'm challenging myself to do this. I figure if I don't, I'll never get anywhere with my riding.

Monday, August 20, 2012

First Impression: Bilt Air Demon Hybrid Mesh/Leather Motorcycle Jacket

Its on sale from Cycle Gear for $129.

I noticed it while browsing the Cycle Gear website. Bilt is apparently the in house brand for Cycle Gear. Explains why I don't see it sold anywhere else. At $129, its a good value. Most comparable leather/mesh hybrids start closer to 180-200. Full mesh is better in the heat, but doesn't provide as much abrasion protection. I even like the look of the jacket.

  • Fit: Its a "sport" fit jacket. I recently found out this means its TIGHT. I've never had to wear anything this tight short of a rash guard. I got the size 42. Last time I got measured for a jacket, it was a 44. I had the guy at Cycle Gear help me with fit and he said the 42 fit me better. I tried on the 44, and yes i was more comfortable, but I could see it being loose enough that it would start to flap at higher speeds.  
  • Looks: The looks was one of the first things that drew me to the jacket. I wanted something that I wouldn't mind wearing, even while not riding ( or more likely, wearing when I got to wherever I was going). The jacket wouldn't be mistaken for anything other than a motorcycle jacket, but it doesn't have crazy patches or anything like that. It looks like a basic jacket, that wouldn't look out of place on a sportbike, standard or cruiser. 
  • Protection: Obviously being leather/mesh hybrid, this would have better abrasion protection than the full mesh jacket I was using before. The jacket looks pretty hefty, we'll see how well it performs. 
  • Heat: This is my biggest concern, next to fit. With the leather, its going to be much warmer riding around in this jacket. Again, I won't know until I try riding with it on, but we'll see how it goes. There's a lot of potential air flow, so I think if I can keep the bike moving, I should be ok. 
The jacket also has a 5-year warranty, so that should help with anything that goes wrong with it. I noticed some of the stitching was already coming loose, but with the warranty I didn't sweat it as much. 


Sunday, August 19, 2012

SV650s vs SV650N

Cousin came over today, he brought along their SV650. Their SV650 is the same year as mine, 2002, but it's the S version, which means full fairings, lower bars ( clip-ons), and slightly different gearing. I never really thought about just how different the two models would "feel". I knew that the fairings drastically changed the looks, but other than that, I always figured they'd feel the same. Apparently I was mistaken.

Notable Differences:

  • Lower: As soon as he got on my SV650, he commented on how much higher it was. I sat on his SV650 ( I didn't feel comfortable enough in my riding ability to take it out for a ride), and confirmed that his was at least an inch or two shorter than mine. 
  • Handlebars: The "S" model has clip-ons, whereas mine are the higher handlebars. Again, I didn't think this would affect the bike so much, but having the clip-ons changes how much you lean quite a bit. The "S" version lends itself to a much more sportbike stance, whereas mine is a more upright, standard position. 
  • Throttle/Acceleration: He commented that mine had a more sudden acceleration. Whereas his was a linear progression, mine would start slow and build slow until a certain rev range. Then once it hits that rev range then the bike takes on a different profile and the amount of power increases drastically. We're not sure if this is because of the exhaust, or because the carbs/plugs need servicing. 
  • Exhaust sound: I don't think this was particularly influenced by one being the S and the other being the N model. Because my exhaust was a modified aftermarket exhaust, the note was quite a bit different between the two bikes. Mine is a deeper rumble, while his is a higher pitched whine. This plus the backfiring issue, makes my bike sound even more like a cruiser than a sportbike. 
  • Feel: The overall feel of the two bikes are very different. His is much closer to the sportbike side of things. The sitting position is crunched down, the exhaust whine is higher, and the full fairings really give it a sportbike look and feel. Mine has a higher seating position, the bike itself is taller, the exhaust has a deeper rumble and backfires. This is much closer to the "cruiser" side of things. 
I'm hoping once I get the carbs cleaned and the plugs replaced, that will eliminate some of the backfires and straighten out the throttle response. A more linear response would help with my stalling issues. I like the IDEA of a more crouched position, for aerodynamics, and looks, but I can see my back hating it quickly. I really just need to get more used to my bike.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Major Road and another Night Ride

Went out on my first ride on a Major Road on Friday. It was fun. Being around traffic is definitely a new experience. Also, having cars merging into your lane was also a new experience.

Here is a rundown of the things I've learned:

What I've gotten better at/learned:

  • Shifting: I've gotten quite a bit better at downshifting. One of the things that I truly had to learn on the bike that I never had to worry about in the car was downshifting when slowing down. I guess if you've driven a manual car, then this would come more natural to you, but I've driven an automatic my entire life. It finally "clicked" and I figured out that I should stay in gear, with the throttle on most of the time, even while slowing down. Let the engine braking slow me down, and if I ever need to speed up, I just need to open up the throttle a bit. Before this I would simply clutch in, and use the brakes. Then when I stopped, I'd downshift all the way to first, and get ready to launch. This never felt natural, so I'm glad I know what to do now.
  • Launching: Speaking of launches, I took my friend's advice and have been giving the bike more, smoother throttle. Its helped quite a bit with my launches. I'm more prone to dumping the clutch with a bit more throttle than I should, but its cut down on stalls quite a bit. I think the next phase will be for me to find the right amount of throttle, but not stalling is having a good impact on my confidence level.  


Things to improve on:

  • Distractions: I noticed I get just as distracted riding as I do driving. My amount of distractions when driving is pretty low, but I think its still too high for if I'm riding. Riding requires 2x more concentration than driving does. I need to be a bit more focused when riding. But not soo focused that I'm over analyzing and actually working against myself.  
  • Speed/Follow distance: Follow distance is something I haven't had to worry about before. Usually I'm going pretty slow in the residential areas, so any cars in front of me will leave me in the distance quickly. In traffic, I'm keeping up and trying to maintain speed. I had to remind myself a few times to keep more distance between me and the next car. But not so much distance that its an opening for another car to fill the space. 
So things are improving I think. I want to ride to work within a month or so. A few more runs through some major roads and I think I'll be ready to try the apt->work route on a weekend. After that I'll try riding to work.


Thursday, August 16, 2012

First Group + Night Ride

Got out on the SV650 again last friday. I wasn't doing great at first, was shifting badly, and stalling out like crazy. Even had a panic stop in for good measure. A friend came over with his Victory and we rode around together. I showed him the little loop I've been doing, and we stopped at the park I've stopped at before. He tried out the SV and gave me some tips on things he noticed I was doing, and little quirks of the bike that he found.

Tips

  • More Gas: Specifically, more, smoother, gas. He noticed I wasn't actually giving it continuous gas from the start. I'd give it some gas, let off, then give it even more. That little blip is enough to bog the engine down. I should just give it gas, and keep that gas on as I let the clutch out. I tried that a few times and it's worked better.
  • Look Up: I've been looking down more, and trying to look when I'm trying to stop and brake. He said that will unbalance me and just look up. If I stop short or a bit far, its no big deal.
We headed out after the loop and went to get something to eat. We went through a side street, and crossed the main street. He stayed behind me until the cross street ( so I had plenty of time at the light in case I stalled). Once we passed that he got in front because I didn't know where we were going. 

Following someone is a new experience for me. I had to figure out how far away to keep him. For a bit I was target-fixated and kept steering towards his bike. It was nice following someone because I didn't have to worry too much about how fast/slow I was going for the road. I just matched his speed, and kept a cushion. We also hit quite a few green lights, so it was one of the longer stretches of uninterrupted riding I've done. 

We headed to Ogge's Pizza and had some dinner there. By the time we were done eating it was dark, so it was my first night ride. I still had my tinted visor, so I had to keep that up, but other than that, night riding is fun. There's less cars, its cooler, and seems peaceful. When I'm more experienced I'll definitely have to do it again. 



My first time parking somewhere for real =). 


Monday, August 06, 2012

More Road Time, and some lessons

Stopped at a parking space near a residential park. Had to check the GPS to see where I was. 

Got back out on the road with the SV650 today after work. I actually had to work myself up before I could get the courage to get on the road again. That drop, even though it was very calm and controlled, still shook me more than I thought it did.

Once underway I made about an 8 mile ride around the neighborhood. Yes 8 miles isn't much on a motorcycle, especially considering I stopped twice, but I'm taking it very slow.

I expanded on the route I took last Friday. I did a long loop around the neighborhoods surrounding my apartment. Got onto a night curving straighaway that got me up to 35mph ( flying I know!) in third gear. I went up a hill, which included an incline hill start from stop. I had my first experience with a long downhill, and a long uphill.

I even did my first stop light, crossing a major street, and had cars next to me. After my first lap through the residential neighborhoods, I got ambitious and headed towards the main street. This street is on another hill, incline. I ended up being at the light, with no cars behind me ( fortunately). There were cars next to me though. I was nervous waiting for the light to change. When it did, I almost stalled it but I clutched in a bit to give the carbs some time to get the fuel and then let it out once the revs came up. I even made the left turn into the AAA strip-mall. Woots.

I went back and did the loop once more ( but without passing my apartment and heading to the main street again). It was a new experience being around cars on my sides. Up to now, my only experience was having them behind me ( which feels sooo much closer on a bike than in a car), and a few times, having them in front of me.


Lessons I learned today:

Parking lot = First gear:

When heading back into my apartment's parking area, I was in 2nd gear from the decent climb up the hill. I figured that I could probably stay in 2nd gear, all the way to the parking spot. This would have been true, had I kept up the speed I was going. Unfortunately right before the ramp into the parking lot, I slowed down to less than 10mph. 

At some point I was going slow enough, that I had the clutch all the way out, no throttle, and in 2nd gear. The bike promptly stalled when the revs got low enough. Since the clutch was all the way out, that LOCKED the tires. I skidded to a halt before I could even think to pull the clutch in. 

This could have been a very dangerous situation if I was leaned over in anyway, or if I was going faster. Fortunately I was straight up, so after it stalled I simply skidded to a halt, nothing hurt but my already beaten pride. If I was leaned over enough, I would probably have dropped the bike or worse slid out. Had I been going faster, I could have been propelled over the bars. Though this is a fallacy since if I was going faster, I wouldn't have stalled out in that situation anyway.

Lesson learned: If I'm in a parking area as tight and slow as my apartment's, its time for 1st gear. 

Grabbing is bad:

On the hill during my first or second lap, I was trying to make sure I didn't stall. I was at a stop sign, on an incline, and no one behind me. I was feathering the clutch, and trying to keep the revs up to not stall. I kept the revs up a bit too high and grabbed a handful of throttle. This jumped the revs from a manageable 1.5-2.5k to a hurried 3.5-5k. I had to hold on to the bars in order to keep on the bike. This of course caused me to yank on the throttle even more. I regained control pretty quickly, and let off the throttle. 

It wasn't that dangerous because I did still have the clutch half-way in. If the bike really did get away from me, my instinct would have been to grab the clutch as well, which would have stopped the surge of torque. 

It would have been much more dangerous had I been on a 600cc inline-4 supersport, or worse a 1000cc superbike. I could easily have wheeled the thing and gotten into some major troubles. Thank you Reddit, and everyone that told me to start out on a small bike. Yes a 250cc bike would be lighter and more manageable, but I don't think the 650 is that unwieldy, and my back appreciates the larger frame. 

Conclusion:

I'm slowly building up confidence in my clutch control, and overall control of the bike. My stops still leave a bit to be desired ( they're not all that smooth and I tend to put my feet down too early). I also haven't had very much sustained riding. Most of the riding I've been doing have been short bursts, since there's not a lot of long uninterrupted straightaways in residential areas. I don't think I'm quite ready to tackle a major street yet, but I do think I should try stopping less. Today I stopped twice, once to look at the map to see where I was, and another simply because I didn't know what else to do. I think it might help if I try actually having a goal to get to, instead of just riding around. 

Its certainly coming along. 


Friday, August 03, 2012

Instagram

I've been really getting into photography the past few months. Today I rediscovered Instagram. To most people those two should be mutually exclusive, but hear me out. I think I finally see what the appeal to instagram is. It lets you make snapshots look... composed.

By "composed" I mean it looks like you took a few minutes, to think about what you were taking. Good or bad, it give sit a bit of a processed look.

Composition is my weakest trait, photographically speaking. I tend to just shoot, and try to fix it in post more than anything. I'm horrible at it. I'm just starting to actually take a few seconds, and think about what I'm shooting. My photos have gotten better for it, but they're still not what I would consider good. They're informational, rather than artistic.

With instagram, you can fake it. It lets you "fix" that image afterwards. It gives the illusion that you took the shot with something in mind. People will still judge whether you actually succeeded, or what the heck you were thinking, but it does make them think. I guess in a way its a shortcut.

Don't get me wrong. People can create amazing things on instagram. But I'm just saying it lets people cover up their mistakes, me included. I might start using it more, simply to set myself to take more pictures.

Recently I've noticed, I don't upload a lot of what I take, simply because the post processing seems a bit daunting. I can make the image look technically good, but there's nothing interesting about the picture.

A few minutes ago I took a shot of the sv650 I took on my first street ride. Ran it through instagram, and added some minimal processing. Made it look a bit over-saturated ( a guilty pleasure I'll admit) and posted it up. Maybe I'm comfortable showing that because thats the norm in instagram?

Either way, bottom line, anything that makes people take more pictures and share them, can't be all bad.


iPhone/iPad/iPod Calendar + Google Calendar not all calendars sync...

I had a problem with my Google Calendars. Some would sync with the Calendar app on my phone. Some would not.

I tried different things, but apparently its buried in this web address:

http://m.google.com/sync

Go there, find the device you'd like to edit, and find the calendars you want to sync.

No fuss, no muss.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

SV650

The past few weeks have been motorcycle fever at the old homestead. For a few years now I've wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle. I've also been putting it off, mostly because of time and money. Those concerns have ebbed and waned, but I've always put the motorcycle off. I literally woke up 3-4 weeks ago and the first thing I thought of coming out of my sleep induced stupor was...

"Today's the day. I'm going to sign up for the MSF...".

That as they say, was that. Signed up for the earliest one I could find ( which was last week). The class in general went well, I did better on somethings than others. In the end I passed the course, and was able to get my skills test waiver. The friday previously I went to the DMV and got my motorcycles permit.

Fast forward to Monday and I found a decently priced motorcycle on craigslist. It was the model I liked, looked to be in generally good shape, and for the price range. A friend from work was free to come with me to take a look ( he's been riding for ages). The bike was rough, but the seller assured me that a carb cleaning was all it needed to get it running in tip-top shape. ( More on that later). Negotiated a decent deal, taking into account the future work needed for the bike.

My coworker was gracious enough to ride the bike home for me. The ride improved on the way back, but it was still rough. Still it looked awesome sitting in my parking spot.

2002 SV650N - new to me



Update: Tried riding it the next morning after I got it. Went ok. Its running pretty rough, so I stalled out quite a bit. I was uncomfortable revving the engine because it was early in the morning. I was uncomfortable going down the slope on it, so I ended up walking it. I had issues riding it up the incline. I stalled out and was having trouble getting going. I eventually just gave it more gas than I wanted to and that did the trick. Unfortunately on the next lap I decided to go the other way. I was going slow, went over a speed bump and the bike started to lean. It went farther than I could save and it dropped. I got it down very gently, but I couldn't save it. Getting it back over again took quite a bit of effort, but I was able to do it. It was quite embarrassing.

Update 2: Originally I thought my back took the brunt of the drop. I was wrong. It is in fact my wrist that took most of the hit. I decided to take the rest of Thursday off from riding, help me recenter, and shake off the drop.

Update 3: Called a shop and its going to cost $500 to get the carbs cleaned. Another $500 for the tune-up. That's crazy. I haven't decided what to do, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to do SOMETHING. I want the bike in tip-top shape, mainly to ease my riding and to help with safety. I really wanted to go to THIS shop because it got really good reviews on yelp, and also its very close by to me. Riding on the streets seems a much more attainable goal than riding on the freeway.

Update 4: Had a decent outing on the bike. Finally got on the street ( woohoo ) even if it was just a small side street next to my place. Still it had plenty of hills, stop signs and even had to start on a hill, and make a left. That took a few tries and a few stalls, but I got it done. It was nice to build some confidence in the bike. Still really need to work on my smooth stops, but its coming along.