Wild Hare

You know, sometimes things happen and you don't see them coming. This is about something I saw coming, that didn't happen.

Saturday I went down to the Chopper Place, to get a gasket, some advice, and my weekly dose of abuse. It was a hoot. I'll have to write it up some day. On the way home, I wanted to stop by Sears and pick up a 36mm socket (I had just learned the size of the axle nut on my Ultra). I pulled up to the intersection catty-corner from Sears and a young woman who's sitting in the grass nearby calls out loudly, "Hey, gimme a ride!"

"I'm just going right there," I call back.

"Doesn't matter. Gimme a ride. Come on!"

We banter a little longer and finally I pull over a bit and flop down the passenger footboards. She hoots and shouts, "Bitchin' man, thanks. Woo Hoo." and climbs aboard. As soon as I flipped down the footboards I started asking myself, "What am I doing?"

The light turns green and I take off. I head on up the street and weave a little through traffic. She has no helmet. I'm speeding and passing cars. She's shouting and waving her arms as she declares how much she loves to ride. We're a huge ticket waiting to happen. Plus, I don't know this chick.

I make a right down the longish stretch beside the railroad tracks. Here we can pick up some speed. She's even more amped and animated. She says, "I may be homeless, but I love to ride."

Great now I'm doing twice the legal limit with a helmet-less nut waving her arms on back. "When we do get pulled over," I'm thinking to myself, "that's when I'll learn she's a known prostitute. I'll have some job explaining to Lana why I was gone for two hours at the motorcycle shop to get a gasket and was caught speeding down the road with a prostitute."

At this point, I make another right and start planning a route along residential streets that might get us back where we started without being noticed by cops. And that's what we did. A few minutes later she hops off, says she had a great time, and her boyfriend shakes my hand and says, "Happy Halloween."

Boo Who?

It's Halloween today. Yesterday the students wore costumes to class, as did many of the staff. I didn't and young Ms. Rodriguez wanted to know why.

"Well look at me, Molly," I said, "aren't I scary enough?"

"You're not scary. You're weird," she mocked as 13-year-olds do.

"But really," she insisted. "You've got all the stuff in the cabinet. I've seen you on your motorcycle."

"Yeah, true," I said. "But that's the real me. This (and I pointed to my Hawaiian shirt and shorts) is the costume."

Now I said that to get Molly and the gathering group of young teen critics off my case and into class. But it bothered me all day. You see, earlier in the office one of the teachers came to school dressed as a biker chick and everyone commented the she was my kinda girl today. And when another teacher showed up with a cool Clint Eastwood shirt on, I asked if it came in black. Just like that. Without a thought.

I've changed my appearance over the years. I've gradually become one of those black t-shirt, black jeans, studded belt kinda guys. Yikes! I'm only out just out of bed and I'm wearing an all black outfit! What's happened to me? Is it a bad thing? Is it real?

My friend, Steve, always rails against RUB's. (Rich Urban Bikers) who own the machines, but don't really ride them. And when they do they dress in Biker Drag. Sort of like the undead in halloween movies, who are mild manner dead people during the day, and only come out at night, always wearing "distressed" outfits. Holy Smokes, have I become one of them, the costumed zombies of cheap horror movies?

When I first started riding, back in the early '70's, I wore my work boots, t-shirts, and 501's. In fact, that's what I wore all through the '80's too, come to think of it. It wasn't until about 10 years ago that I could afford a leather jacket, actual riding gloves, riding glasses, and my now beloved riding boots (all black , by the way). In cold weather I'd always worn .., well, I don't remember. A parka, maybe? A Levi jacket I inherited from my father's closet at some point, seems to have come across my path. I don't remember ever thinking about what I was wearing while I was riding. I guess I just wore what I needed to wear for wherever I was heading. Riding wasn't "Riding" back then. It was just getting around in my bike.

It's still that way. I think. After all, I'm a rider, not just a dolled up B-movie "biker". Aren't I?

Hmm, scary.

Gotta Love It

Often I arrive at work early and am engrossed in the tasks of the day when Schumacher, another teacher and fellow rider, rolls on in. After a few minutes he makes his way to the coffee pot and usually cuts through my room. I'll throw him a nod, and resume my work as he walks on through.

However, he is a rider. We do share, a certain love of riding. Schu. and I are different as riders. He rides a BMW and listens to Mark and Brian on the radio in the morning. And well, I can't see myself on one of those and couldn't hear a radio above my motor. Still, we both get a thrill from the morning scoot to school.

A couple of times this week he'd break out in a broad smile and declare, "Damn!" as he strode on through.

I know exactly what he's saying. Namely, "The ride to work this morning was bitchin'."

"What?" I reply.

"Sped along the 15 behind a CHP this morning," he says. "75 to 90 the whole way."

"They let you do that 'cause you are riding the same bike," and on we chat as we head for java.

Now, I love to tease Schu. about his quiet bike when we happen to saddle up at the same time at the end of the day. You can't tell if his bike is even running when it's sitting next to mine. But we share more than would first appear.

Warm or cold, sun and fog, open road or splitting lanes, we love it.

Leather Clad

I don't exactly know when I crashed my Springer, but it's been a while now and as the weather here is cooling off I've decided to replace my riding jacket. For the past eight or ten years I've been wearing my Harley FXRG, but after it got skinned up and perforated in the wipe-out I've been considering replacing it. Several zippers no longer work , some snaps are missing, and it has a hole in the elbow from road rash. Also, I've lost some weight so it no longer fits well around the middle. All that to say, this foray into fashion has not been about my vanity, but rather about equipment. (That's my story and I'm stick'n to it.)

Since I'm at the Stealership every week buying parts anyway, naturally that's the first place I started shopping. Truth is, however, I don't feel very comfortable shopping in general and even less so when there are a couple of young twenty-something cuties showing me clothes. So it has taken me a while to actually scope out what's available. Harley has a bunch of cool looking clothes that, quite honestly, I'd love to wear. But for practicality sake I can't justify the purchase of a tough looking hoody riding jacket, nor a light weight leather jacket without armor even if the sleeves zip off and it doubles as a cool vest. Also, being 50 I just don't like calling attention to myself with flashy clothes that boast "Harley Davidson" across them. I figure the script across my gas tank says enough. Nor am I a bad ass who displays skulls etc. That has narrowed things down to just about one thing in the Harley line; the FXRG riding jacket. It's the new version of what I already have.

As it turned out there was one of the perforated models in my size. I have long arms (I can tie my shoes without bending over) so I need a "tall." Another customer had ordered one in my size and never came to purchase it so one of the cuties showed it to me and it fit well and looked good. They want $630 for it! Even after I use all my loyalty points toward the purchase I would have come up to $570 after taxes. I guffawed at this and replaced the coat on the rack. Still, to my everlasting shame, I coveted that jacket. (Plus, I've always had trouble saying no to cuties).

Later, during a particularly funny portion of Seinfeld, I brought the subject up to my wife, thinking the levity would encourage her generosity. But that didn't fly. She simply muted the show and asked when it was all going to end. (I'm pretty sure she was talking about money here.)

This has been about two-weeks ago now.

Since then I've been to Chaparral Motorsports and shopped for jackets that are more in my price range. It's hard to find any that come in a "tall". Also, most of their stuff is for sport riders and dirt bikers. But I've found a serviceable model made by Joe Rocket for about $310.

Yesterday, I went back to Harley to price a part (a shocking $140 for a signal flasher control unit) and the motor clothes sales girl spotted me. "Oh you've come back!" she said smiling. (I just love it when they say that. But I know they look at me and see dollar signs not Brad Pitt.) I commented that the jacket was too pricey for me. She said she'd see if she could take a little off for me. (Here too, I'm sure she was taking about money.) The manager offered me the jacket for 20% off. That's $537 after tax and about $460 with my loyalty points.

Home I went again, conflicted. And to make things even murkier, my wife has switched sides and now insists that I deserve anything my heart desires. (I love it when she says that too. Even though I know for certain she's talking about the money.)

When its all said and done, I'll probably go with the Joe Rocket. I'm not sure I could live with the guilt of wearing a $600 jacket, and every man my age should practice saying no to young cuties.

Daily Pleasures

The other day I was leaving work for home. I had changed into my riding clothes and shuffled things around in my classroom to make my return the following day a little less intimidating, but I actually hadn't finished my day's work. Fact is, I'd straightened the piles on my desk a bit, but hadn't made a dent in the mountain of ungraded papers, and there were no carefully prepared plans for my classes the following day. It was simply time to go home. Despite the knowledge that I should stay and finish things off, I wanted to leave.

As I walked out to my bike in the parking lot I realized as well, that I didn't have anything drawing me toward home either. My son is working in another town for a while, my wife will get home a half hour after I do, and my grandson won't be there to greet me. So I asked myself, "Why leave the pile and head for the parking lot?"

That's easy. I just wanted to get on my bike. Even after nearly ten years of riding virtually the same route back and forth to work, I still like to ride. Often the same thing happens in the morning. I leave early only because I can't wait to get on my bike and ride. There are a few daily pleasures that don't diminish much over time, I guess. Strong coffee will always taste good to me even though it's the same kind every time. Riding my bikes every day still make me happy too even if it's the same route in and out of town.

At Odds with "The Odds"

The other morning in the paper there was mention of a rider killed in our town on a road I often travel. He was riding a Suzuki when a 93-year-old man pulled out from a side street and hit him. Everyone knows how these things typically happen. No doubt the driver didn't see the rider. Had the rider been in a car he likely either would have been seen or would have at least survived the accident. So we can conclude that because the guy was riding a motorcycle he was killed that day.

A chilling thing to read in the morning paper before one hops on a bike, straps on a novelty helmet and heads off through the drizzle to work. It raises the question, "What the hell am I doing?" To enhance this feeling of apprehension recently I was in the Chopper Place and up on the lift was an Ultra somewhat similar to mine with abundant evidence of having skidded across the pavement for a considerable distance. As I ran my hands across the ground edges of the bike, Chopper, himself, began to narrate how the rider had experienced an unexplained blow-out of the rear tire while on the freeway. It was a gruesome tale. Chopper had been in to see the guy that week to deliver some personal effects that were on the bike when it came in to the shop. The guy has broken ribs, one of which had to be surgically removed from his lung, and many other broken and lacerated parts. If the accident report is accurate, there was no one at fault here. Again, if this were a car the worst that would have happened is a traffic jam while Triple A towed the vehicle off of the freeway. The guy is in the hospital because he was riding a motorcycle that day.

So, what the hell am I doing?

Well, the newspaper isn't the only thing I read in the morning. As I zipped along the damp roads on my way to work the thoughts that lingered longest in my mind were from Philippians 4, in the New Testament. I was struck by how the imprisoned apostle Paul had written to the Philippian Christians saying, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." And later, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Clearly Paul had ended up in prison because he was a Christian evangelist in a pagan world. But just as clearly he continued to preach knowing with some certainty that this risky behavior would result in pain or death. What he also knew, and what I held on to this morning as well, is that all these things are in the hand of a God who controls every event in the universe, and who loves me enough to die in my place to insure my eternal redemption. Put simply, the same God who went to the cross for me controls the traffic and road conditions on my morning commute. When it is in my best interest He'll prevent me from experiencing harm, and when it is in my best interest, He'll allow tragedy or even death. And with either one, He'll supply the grace to handle it.

I know that riding a bike to work is a choice not a calling. But it's not the inherent nobility of my activities that motivates God to protect me and provide for me; it's His inherent love.

So while I acknowledge that risky behavior often bears tragic consequences, where would we all be if we avoided all risk? Do I really believe that the steel cage surrounding a Volvo, or the computer aided warning system in a new Cadillac will really prevent me from meeting my Maker when He decides my time is up?

Well, I don't.

My motto still stands.

Ride Like Hell,

But Live For Heaven.

Mr. Fixit

I'm not sure where the term comes from, but a guy who was handy with tools used to be a "Mr. Fixit," and that's pretty much what you have to be to keep a Harley on the road.

I'm following up here on the theme of maintenance on my bikes. I wash one or the other of my bikes every weekend. After riding them each for a couple of weeks there'll be a little dirt on them. But as much as for keeping them clean, the weekly washing is for maintenance. It seems that just about every other time I've got one of them on the stand being washed I find something that needs to be fixed. To illustrate, (and its not just today but a regular occurrence) today while washing the Ultra I found that the spark plug wire had been rubbing against the gas line clamp and had nearly rubbed through the insulation. I'm not sure what would have happened if it had worn completely through, but a short between the plug wire and the gas tank wouldn't have been a good thing. Also today I noticed that the left muffler was loose. The nuts at the head flange had loosened and the header was resting on the primary case.

I wish I had started keeping track of these things years ago. The list of things I've found while washing my bike would be as long as my arm and some were things that had they gone untended would have been disastrous. While I am truly amazed at the number of maintenance issues these machines have, I also love to fix them, so long as it's cheap.

My father-n-law was hanging out with me this morning as I washed and inspected the bike and found these things. As it happens I had washed my bike at his house in North Carolina on my trip across the country and found a loose shifter lever. (This pic was taken just after we finished changing the oil at their place in NC) So today he asked the question I'd love to know the answer to, myself.

"How do all these other guys who don't inspect their bikes every other week keep these things on the road?"

Service Contract Heart Attack

Okay, so after suffering a service contract heart attack (sort of a version of sticker shock) I was still faced with the decision about ponying up the cash in advance of trouble or hoping I'd not incur covered expenses that exceeded $1900 in the next 5 years.

First, I figure I'll ride more than 10k/yr. even with two running bikes. So over the life of the contract that'll be 50k or more. If the past 50k are any indication then I'll definitely have more expensive repairs in my future. But I was left with some nagging questions.

"Would the MoCo refuse to cover some expenses as the bike aged claiming that they were due to wear?"

"Had I already worked out the bugs so-to-speak?"

So I visited the local MoCo service department and talked with a manager (or someone behind a desk anyway). His response was clear and emphatic.

"I can guarantee you will have at least one primary leak. That'll cost you $750 to fix. There are loads of other things that will come up that you do not want to pay for. I would never let my contract expire and just before they say my bike is too old for a contract, I'd extend it to the limit."

This is a sad commentary, from one who presumably would know, on the quality of HD bikes. But unless I want to go in a completely different direction I just have to live with it. When I came down to it, I just didn't want to start a new quest. After riding and working on Harley's for all these years, I just couldn't see myself starting from scratch with a metric.

Heart attack not withstanding, I took the hit and bought the contract.

Cost of Ownership

On TV ads for cars they often try tout low "cost of ownership". This got me thinking, "How expensive is the Harley thing I've been doing for the past 10+ years?" Well, I can't trace the whole thing, but since getting my iphone and a little app. called GasCubby, I've been tracking expenses a little better. In the previous entry I summarized the expenses involved in a cross country trip, and shared that the cost per mile of the trip was $0.17.

Well, it's now time to pony up for some big expenses on my '05 Ultra. I've been wondering whether the cost of ownership has become so expensive that it's no longer wise to own the bike at all.

According to the service manual a big scheduled maintenance is due at 20K intervals. My bike has 50k on it now, and I never did the 20k service. I asked my trusted indy shop owner to give me an estimate ($500 in labor + parts) and the discussion led to the conclusion that in addition to the items listed in the service manual, I probably need to replace my cam chain tensioner shoes. My mechanic, Chopper, said that he has never seen a pair of cam chain tensioner shoes that didn't need to be replaced after 30k. Stock replacement shoes could presumably be expected to last that long again. If I upgrade my bike with Harley's hydraulic tensioners (the $430 kit includes a new plate, with better cam bearing, and a new bigger oil pump, a new outer cam chain and gear as well as new hydraulic chain shoes) there would likely be no need to change them out for the life of the motor. So parts and labor for the service and upgrade to the cam shoes came to a whopping $1600.

A second big expense issue also presented itself this month. My extended warrantee expires in November. When I bought the bike from the pervious owner there were nearly 4 years left on the warrantee and it has certainly been used. I would estimate that over $1500 worth of repairs have been done on the bike through the warrantee in the past 3 years. To extend the warrantee for another 5 years Harley wants just a few bucks shy of $1900. This works out to about $380/yr. Now there is no mileage limit on the warrantee, so the more miles I put on the bike in the next 5 years the lower the cost/mile. However, the warrantee requires that I do all scheduled maintenance and keep records. I can do much of the work myself, or have it done by my indy shop. But none of the scheduled maintenance is covered.

When I came home and told my wife about the upcoming expense she was rather upset. She suggested I sell the bike rather than put out the $2500, and who could blame her. Since then I've gone down the the dealer and talked with a service manager about whether he thinks the extended warrantee is a necessity. His answer, backed by many examples, was an unequivocal yes.

So there's the dilemma. Do I keep this expensive machine? Do I sell it and try to get something metric in the hopes of reducing my costs over the next 5 years? If I switch to another bike would I end up shelling out even more money? In the end, I've decided to stick with the mess I'm in and make the best of it, but I'm not happy about it. As my wife pointed out, we haven't spent much more than that on our Toyota Previa and that car has 250,000 mile on it!

Cha-Ching and Other Meanderings

So maybe you're thinking about making a big ride and would like to have a little data to help your planning. Or maybe you're just curious.

Lets talk about the cost of riding first:

Days = 30 August 3 through Sept 1

Miles 10,055 (ending mileage 48,056 - beginning mileage 38,001)

Average mpg = 37

Total fuel cost $702 roughly $0.07 per mile

Service and Repairs

Two tires and one rear brake pads installed $500

Two oil changes (done myself so no labor) $60

One other repair (shifter lever) $250 (though I have and extended warranty so I only out of pocket $50)

Total Service and repair $810 roughly $0.08 per mile

Total cost of running the bike over the 10,000 miles $0.15/mi. @ $2.70 per gallon and averaging 37 mpg

Now I did end up spending $250 on sort of elective bike related expenses.

Replace lost bike cover $110

Replace lost helmet visor $10

Install heat shields $130

Conclusion: Well the cost speaks for itself. I find it acceptable. My bike was well maintained to begin with and relatively low on miles. The roads were definitely rough at times. Both gravel roads and those rough concrete Interstates created a lot of opportunity for things to bust loose. When I got home I found a broken mount on the saddle bag which I fixed for $10. Again I think the bike held up fairly well. A big concern for me when I started was being broken down in an inconvenient place, so for this trip I purchased Roadside Assistance coverage through Motorcycle Riders Association. If you read the rest of the blog you know I used it once, but would have actually been on the road faster if I'd not used it (a fluke). So, thinking about taking your Hog out on the road? Relax, it'll likely be fine the whole way.

Now let's talk about traveling style.

No doubt there are very few who would want to do this the way I did, but it may help in your planning to know about this so here goes.

10,000 miles/ 30 days = 333 mi/day which included 4 days in which I didn't ride at all making the average ride 384 miles. (The longest was 530 miles and the shortest riding day was <100>

I ate out rarely (not a single fast food meal, unless Subway counts), and stayed in a motel only once and spent less than $200 on memorabilia and admission to attractions so my non-riding expenses came to $1400. This included all my food, campsite fees, and attraction admissions.. Works out to about $50/day.

Here's what you've been looking for: The Bottom Line.

I'm sure I've forgotten something but I estimate that the total trip at $3200, or about $110/day.

My original plan (If I recall it correctly) was to take only 20 days, and spent only $2200 and cover 8,000 miles. Well, add 10 days and 2,000 miles and you can see how naive I was being. My wife seems to be okay with it though. She's really wonderful.

Okay, so enough about money.

I have a number of observations regarding enjoying a long trip as well.

Dale Coyner's book "The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Travel" really nailed it from the get go. Know your purpose and plan accordingly. My purpose was to "go there" so-to-speak. I talked with people all across the country who had different kinds of journeys over much of the same ground I covered. For example, Colin, the Scotsman I met in NY, was taking a very similar path west, but we could never hook up. He hit the cities, stayed in downtown hotels and saw the sights in each one. If you plan a trip trying to please others, or out-do someone else's trip then you're lost from the start. I met many people who told me about great things they had done and terrific things (concerts, games, rallies, sites) they'd seen, which I did not include. This could steal the joy of traveling, if you get into a pissing contest with someone who's apparently got more time money or whatever, than you do. But I had a budget and a time frame and was really happy within my limitations. I will treasure what I did see, and the people I did meet. If I make another long trip it may have a different slant, or it may not. Also I hope I showed my genuine interest in the adventures of others while not bragging or selling my trip to them. I don't want to be robbing others of their joy either. So again, from the start, know what you want from your trip.

Secondly, in preparing I imagined what would be worthwhile to me before I left. I upgraded to an iPhone so I could write and communicate with my family. This added greatly to my enjoyment along the way. I totally loved writing a description of something each day. I also got a GPS navigation device. This made it possible for me to relax in big cities and find gas (usually) without worrying, and find stuff like campsites, and to more accurately estimate distance and riding time. I also took a good book and the proper clothes. It would have been cool to catch a major league baseball game in towns like NY, Boston, or Chicago, but those teams were in the west while I was in their towns so one of the worthwhile things on my list never came about. Oh well, next time.

Which brings me to my last bit: Don't over prepare. You've seen pics of my rig. Everything fits in the bags and trunk except the sleeping bag and ground pad. My wife and I have a rule that works for us. Buy what you need on the road. Turns out you don't need much even if you don't bring much. Overpacking can make handling you stuff a burden. That said, I saw people with tents, trailer, shelters, stoves, lawn chairs, hammocks, laptops, power inverters, generators, and tons of other stuff who were perfectly happy. They just weren't riding so much as camping. Anything that would have made my bike handle poorly would have robbed me of the joy of riding. Over preparing can also mean having too rigid a schedule or route. Since I was camping I really needed no reservations anywhere and thus could take any route and be flexible with time. When someone suggested a track that was cool, I was able to take it without feeling like I was in danger of not making a reservation. On the flip side, if I'd called ahead a few times I wouldn't have missed the brewery tour, and the factory tour. So there is a balance.