Nestled deeply in the joy of riding, is the love affair we have with our bikes. Being in love with our bike includes a collection of photos. Right? Any rider worth his or her salt likely has a host of pics of themselves with their bikes, their bikes in front of everywhere they have ever ridden, other people sitting on their bikes, their bikes after being freshly detailed, and the list goes on and on. The bummer though is we rarely get that awesome photo of us while actually riding. Sure some of us have been lucky enough to have someone riding pillion on another bike snap a few. But we rarely get to see ourselves in motion, in the perfect riding position, looking cool and well… you know what I mean.

It’s not some self-glorifying, vanity thing. Not at all. It’s seeded in the fact that our bikes are cool and we like to see ourselves when we’re looking cool. Human nature! How many times have you been riding past some strip-mall and watch your reflection on the store front plate-glass windows? Come on… admit it. You’ve done it! I know I have! Okay, maybe there is SOME vanity there but hey… we’re only human!

Well, if you ever get out to Southern California and find yourself riding through the hills of Malibu you simply MUST ride the famous Mulholland Drive up to The Rock Store . In July of this year I took such a ride (See my article on the Hills of Malibu), and on that route, as I negotiated the twisties, digging the feel of my floor boards dragging, was a pair of guys, strategically positioned on one or the other side of a rather nice bend in the road popping off pictures with their pro gear and logging hundreds and hundreds of incredible images. Each made available at Rock Store Photos (for a price of course).

Look at the picture at the top of this article. That handsome rider poised on the big Triumph in that cool riding position would be me! Note the detail in the picture is so clean that you can see I didn’t shave that day, and you can see a few scratches on the side of my tank. Heck, you can even see my pal Marvin the Martian clearly on the windscreen!

Photos are priced individually by the photographers themselves and are in fact quite affordable. They go through the painstaking process of cleaning up images, correcting color, and essentially bringing out your spirit as you ride by them. Thus satisfying the need for the much coveted “in motion awesome shot.” I took it a step further though and after receiving my images (delivered digitally right to your computer), I ordered a large print on canvas to hang in my office at home. Yeah… yeah, I know… vanity. But it’s a cool shot!

Note here that I am not receiving any compensation or commission or even a discount for my own image with the writing of this article. I’m posting it here because I know what riders like. And in my quest to point you all to the things I think are cool, I am presenting this to you just because it’s really bloody awesome! So, get your wheels to Malibu, jump on Mulholland, and get your image immortalized so you to can show people how bitchen you are while straddling your machine and digging into the twisties!

Products, Raves

 

There is a big misconception about Southern California, with respect to choice motorcycling locations. Given that SoCal is home to Los Angeles, Hollywood and other “big city” places, most believe there aren’t any decent “out in the world” rides left for the true motorcycle enthusiast. Well, let me share something.

For about a year and a half I have been a member of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club (MT. Baldy Chapter). With them, I have had the benefit of being in the company of a lot of good folks, who know a lot of great places to ride. Yesterday was one such ride. In fact, I’ll even go as far as to say, the absolute best, to date, ride I’ve taken with the SCRC! 

First, a slight mishap. I dropped my bike trying to turn around in the parking lot. I put my foot down, slipped on something, and down it went. No damage except a tiny, superficial scratch on the underside of one of the pipes. No biggie at all. 

We left San Dimas mid-morning, and headed east on the super-slab. Yeah, we burned about 55 miles on the freeway to get where we were going. Which was US Highway 101, north along the coast toward Ventura County. From there we took the ever-famous Mulholland Drive, a road with smooth sweepers and tree-top canopies, skirting the Malibu Mountains.

First stop, The Rock Store. The Rock Store, is a well-known stop-spot for motorcycling enthusiasts of all kinds. From the hard-core Harley guys, to retirees with their vintage British bikes, to the sport-bike crowd, to celebrities, to the simple joy-rider, the Rock Store is an attraction that you simply must visit. Great ride getting there, the people are cool, and you’ll have plenty of opportunity for good-old-fashioned motor-head conversation.

From there, lunch at Malibu Seafood for some tasty fish-n-chips and onto Latigo Canyon road for about 20-odd miles of some really hairy twisties! What an awesome ride! No traffic to speak of, few bicyclists, great weather which lead to great visibility, and a group of folks who know how to negotiate their big cruisers through those tight switch-backs! And me at the back of the pack, digging into the turns and occasionally dragging the floor-boards! Yes!

Riding home was south from the LA/Ventura County line on the Pacific Coast Highway, all the way into Long Beach and eventually, home. A coastal ride with the waterline to our right and weather that couldn’t make up its mind. We rode through warm and energizing sunshine, to brrr, chilly and damp air, and it even rained for about 30 seconds! What?!

In the end, I had enjoyed freeway, sweepers, twisties, tight switch-backs, and a wonderful coastal ride. We actually hit every venue I enjoy. And surprisingly, I came in at just under 300 miles for the entire day.

So to those who will assert that Southern California doesn’t have any nice rides, I’d like to suggest you check out the hills and coastal rides of beautiful Malibu! I promise, you’ll soon change your view.

Raves, Rides

I have to say, this was by far and away, THE largest motorcycling event in which I have ever taken part! The eleventh annual West Coast Thunder! I was both humbled and honored to have been involved in such an emotionally charged experience. Read more…

Events, Motorcycles, News, Raves, Rides

Review: Life Savers Traction Control Braking (TCB) 
And a special rebate offer for readers of Twist the Grip. Details at the end of this article.

Life Savers Traction Control Braking (TCB)
When brakes are applied, a pressure spike occurs that causes the brake pads to grab onto the high and low spots of the brake rotor. In panic or sudden braking situations where both the front and rear brakes are applied, the weight load of the motorcycle is shifted to the front of the bike. This causes a reduction of the rear wheel contact weight, such that up to 70% of the vehicle weight is shifted to the front. Effectively this “lightens” the back-end and that means the likelihood of rear wheel lock-up increases.

The TCB is a control valve that replaces the brake caliper banjo bolt and is designed to turn the pressure spike into a pressure wave, thus allowing the brake pad to apply an equal amount of pressure to the entire rotor. This has the benefit of more efficient use of the pads and rotors, as well as decreasing the ease with which rear-wheel can lock-up can occur.

Having experienced a rear wheel lock-up… at speed… several times…  I know firsthand that it’s a dangerous situation and regaining control of the bike is completely dependent on the rider’s skill , the capability of the bike, and the presence of mind not to panic. And in those situations, while my brain was yelling at me to “get off the brake!” my foot remained firmly planted.  Needless to say, this solution seems exactly what I need.  So my good friend Donivan and I each got one and tested them on our bikes. The following documents the installation, road testing, and overall impression of the device.

Test bikes:
We installed the device on two separate motorcycles.

• Bike 1, Mine: 2008 Triumph Rocket III Standard.
  • Roughly 25K existing miles on the bike with the last 10K miles on the current brakes.
  • Drive train including brakes and suspension are completely stock.
  •  You can read about this bike here
• Bike 2, Donivan’s: 2008 Triumph Rocket III Touring model
  • Roughly 15K miles on the bike with about 5K miles on the current brakes.
  • Brakes and suspension are stock

Installation:
The lifesavers website has installation instructions  that you can print out. It’s a fairly simple installation and from start to finish it took about 15 minutes per bike. This included bleeding the brakes. Keep one thing in mind, you’ll need to get replacement crush washers, brake fluid, and if your bike needs one, you’ll need to supply your own bleeding kit.

 

Locating the Banjo bolt on the brake caliper was easy, but I’d suggest checking your bike to be sure it’s located as easily as mine. An alternative would be that you can install the device at the master cylinder end.

Removing it was a fairly simple process, but be sure to put down some paper-towel because you will drip some fluid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When installing the new TCB, we added a little teflon tape just to give it an added seal. Note: be sure to use new crush

washers when you do this to ensure there’s a good seal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final step is bleeding the brakes. We used a bleeding kit that you can get from just about any auto-shop retailer. But you can use any bleeding technique that you are used to using.

 

 

 

 

 

Road test considerations:
We approached this with the mindset that testing of the device should include controlled scenarios that emulate sudden or panic stops, as well as real-world riding. And with that, the specific considerations were:

• Baseline information must be recorded prior to installation so we have something to compare it to once the device is installed.
• Braking from a variety of road speeds.
• Weight and load on the bike (single and two-up riding).
• Application of rear only or of both brakes simultaneously.
• Affect on stopping distance.

Note: Because this test and report were done in a single afternoon, what this eval doesn’t cover is if there are any long-tem implications with respect to the wear on brake pads, rotors, or any other part of the braking system.

Test results:
My initial results (with both bike 1 and bike 2) in all honestly were not all that favorable and I was concerned about the efficacy of the device enough to contact the CEO of Lifesaver to share my findings. Donivan did as well and he was able to return his for a refund and opted to return to his stock set-up. After some back and forth between myself and the CEO, with him conveying some tips and ideas, we settled on removing the originally installed valve and getting the next size up instead. And after installing that one I am happy to report… I am officially impressed! Read on!

Bike 1:

Straight line hard braking – rear brake only: 

• 30 MPH.
  • Trying hard, I was not able to lock up the rear wheel.
  • Stable braking with zero impact on control.
  • This is expected behavior.
• 60 MPH.
  • Trying hard, I was not able to lock up the rear wheel.
  • Stable braking with zero impact on control.
  • This is expected behavior.

Straight line hard braking both front and rear brakes applied:

• 30 MPH.
  • Resulted in a roughly a 15 to 20% reduction in stopping distance.
  • No rear wheel lock up
  • This is the expected behavior
• 60 MPH
  • Resulted in a roughly a 15 to 20% reduction in stopping distance
  • No rear wheel lock up
  • This is the expected behavior

Summary of testing:
With the originally installed device: On Bike number 1, the ability to lock the rear wheel actually increased in situations where the rear brakes only were applied. However when both front and rear were applied there was no locking except in one particular instance during a real-world ”panic-braking” situation from about 60 MPH. This occurred on a freeway ride where I got tangled up in traffic and a sudden slow-down. I hit the brakes hard and the rear wheel locked causing the bike to slide.

I elected to (a) keep the device on and (b) bleed the brakes a second time. The plan was to extend the amount of time and miles for testing, while at the same time being in contact with the Lifesaver CEO, who in the end opted to send me the next size up on the device. This, as noted above produced much more favorable results. I will note however that all tests with the new valve were under controlled situations and I have not yet had a real-world experience.

On bike number 2, Donivan’s overall impression was that the device did not perform as expected, produced the high-pitched whine, and allowed for rear wheel lock up. He took the device off and requested a refund. Which was granted.

Responsiveness from the Manufacturer:
Both Donivan and I were in constant email contact with Steve Chicilo, CEO of Lifesaver. In our communications we conveyed our testing results and initial impressions. Steve was responsive, gave some instruction, suggested a prolonged test and over-all stood behind his product indicating that after selling several hundred monthly, has had no requests for return/refund. Nevertheless, Donivan, as mentioned above, has returned his and a refund (not counting shipping costs) was granted. With the continued effort from Steve and the installation of the next size up I am happy with the level of attention and responsiveness from the company.

Overall assessment:
After settling with the appropriately rated valve, my overall impression is that the device has performed, under controlled testing, as advertised and I am happy with it such that I will be keeping it on the bike.

Take control of your breaking and get $10.00 for it!
My good friend Steve Chicilo, CEO of Lifesavers has kindly offered a $10.00 rebate for orders placed as a result of reading this article.
Here’s what to do:

• Visit the Lifesavers website and place your order.
• Payment is made via PayPal
• Use the discount code, “Karl” (no quotes) and proceed with your checkout.
• You will receive your $10.00 rebate with delivery of the TCB Valve.
• Offer expires July 15, 2010

 

 

 

General, Products, Raves

Johnstown, PA: Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after reports of three animal rights activists going missing after attempting to protest the wearing of leather at a large motorcycle gang rally this weekend. Two others, previously reported missing, were discovered by fast food workers “duct taped inside several fast food restaurant dumpsters,” according to police officials. Read more…

General, Just plain silly, Strange

On Memorial day, we gather as a nation to celebrate and pay tribute to all those brave men and women who fight to protect our freedom. Don’t get me wrong, I do not advocate war or violence. But I do advocate defending the things that are of value to me. And my freedom and my country are among the top of my list of that which is worth protecting. In truth… I love my country. Evidenced by the fact that nearly every time I hear our National Anthem, I tear up.

West Coast Thunder is an annual event designed with one thing in mind; to benefit those brave, selfless men and women, and their families. They literally put their lives on the line for me… it’s only right that I do what I can to show my gratitude.

This year the event will be on Monday May 31st… Memorial Day. The expectation is that several thousand motorcyclists will take part in the event. I along with members of my riding club, Southern Cruisers Riding Club, will be there. Celebrating our military and what they have done for us.

Here’s a brief rundown of the event:

• Priority Registration is $35 per participant (through May 17, 2010).
• Pre-Registration is $40 per participant (May 17 through May 30, 2010).
• Day-Of Registration is $40 per participant (May 31, 2010)

Each registered rider will receive:

• One registration packet for West Coast Thunder XI
• One venue entry wristband
• One general admission concert ticket (upgrade available)
• One West Coast Thunder XI ride pin
• One attachable American flag
• One raffle ticket for event prizes.
• One T-Shirt coupon

Registration packets will be mailed to the shipping address indicated

The first 1,000 riders to register will be invited to attend our
exclusive Saturday night V.I.P. Party.

This year, West Coast Thunder and Skip Fordyce Harley-Davidson have
partnered with their friends at KFRG Radio, 95.1 FM and Soboba Casino
to aide in the production of the event. As of 2010, the parade route
will change to accommodate the increased participation. Soboba Casino
in San Jacinto, California will be the final destination for the
parade this Memorial Day, Monday, May 31st, 2010. The parade will
still leave Skip Fordyce Harley-Davidson the morning of Memorial Day,
and travel directly to the Soboba Casino.

Will you attend this great event?

Visit the West Coast Thunder website at http://www.westcoastthunder.com for event details and registration information.

Events, General, News, Rides

Today I spent the day riding with some folks from the Sherman Oaks Riders. I found them through meetup.com, a place on the net where you can find a club that represents just about anything in your area. Today’s ride destination was Crazy Otto’s, a great place for breakfast if you like good, traditional breakfast foods served up in HUGE helpings.

 

Our ride took us from Sherman Oaks, California and into the Soledad Canyon. After riding the super-slab into the canyon we hit some really nice sweepers and the ride leader pushed us to just the right level of aggressiveness to make the ride exciting but not so much that it’d cause one to freak out. An absolutely awesome ride with perfect weather! Then we got to Crazy Otto’s where we enjoyed good food, good conversation and an all around good time. I even ran into the good folks from the Southern Cruisers Riding Club, Antelope Valley Chapter. For those of you who know me, I ride with the SCRC, Mt. Baldy Chapter, so any SCRC member is family.

 

After we ate, narrowly avoiding the dreaded “food-coma” we hit the road out of there and through Bouquet Canyon into Santa Clarita. From there it was super-slab the rest of the way home. It was about 200 miles round trip for me and as I said, an absolutely perfect day with a good bunch of people. I hope to ride with these guys again soon, and from the looks of it, they ride together frequently.

 

Here are some photos I took from the day:

 

 

General, Rides

On Saturday night I attended my second bike night hosted by a local MC called the Black Sheep for Christ. Now from my limited experience, I find bike-nights to be pretty sedate in that all that really happens is a bunch of people on a bunch of bikes get together somewhere to socialize. That’s pretty much it.

In this case however it’s actually a pretty cool event. I rode in on my own ahead of some friends and took a spot at the end of a line of parked bikes. Immediately one of the Black Sheep guys came out and gently got me to position my bike such that it was in line with the rest which gave the entire line a very uniform presentation. Okay that was cool. Next my friends showed up and positioned their bikes the same way. After we ate the bike games started.

Have you ever tried to slow-ride your bike? If you have a big heavy cruiser you will know the effort and skill that goes into something like that. If you’ve never seen it, take a look at this youtube video. Well these guys had their very own slow ride competition. Essentially the idea is to ride a straight line for a designated distance, side-by-side as slow as possible without putting your feet down. The moment your foot touches the ground, you lose! So with engines roaring and clutches being feathered and breaks being skillfully applied we saw some fairly skilled runs.

Next was the bag toss. Okay so this one isn’t really as exciting as the slow race but cool nonetheless. In this case you ride two-up. The rider navigates a straight line next to evenly spaced buckets, into which the pillion rider must toss bean bags. Simple right? Nope… it’s much harder than it looks. Well judging bu the number of misses that is.

Now in this particular case the winners get bragging rights and that’s about it. But what it does to those watching is pretty magical. Everyone is together, cheering and rooting for their favorite competitor and sharing in a really good time. There were other competitions of this nature but you get the idea. So if you have never attended something like this I encourage you to do so. At least once in your riding career. It’s good fun, friendly people, camaraderie and neat watching the skilled riders.

Events, General

Saturday January 9, 2010. This date marks the first group ride of the year for me and the SCRC (Southern Cruisers Riding Club). The destination for this ride was The Rock Inn in Lake Hughes, California. For those of you who don’t know the area well, Lake Hughes is a small agro community situated northwest of Palmdale, California and sits about 75 miles due north of Los Angeles International Airport.

About 18 of us met up at one of our frequently used staging points in the parking lot of Lowe’s in San Dimas. KSU at 9:00 AM. From there we took the 210 freeway west through Pasadena and into Sunland. And this will have been the only time we were on the super-slab until everyone headed home at the end of the day.

Once into Sunland the ride got interesting… The rout took us through SoCal’s High Desert and was filled with great twisties and lazy sweepers. Something for everyone. We started the trek on Little Tujunga road through Canyon Country and onto Bouquet Canyon road out toward Lake Hughes. Our ride leader, Tim, lead all of us flawlessly and at a nice enough pace to keep your adrenaline pumping while taking it easy (just enough) for the new rider on her Goldwing (Yes you read the right, NEW rider on a GOLDWING. I’ll talk about that in a bit).

And as is always the case, we stopped for lunch. The Rock Inn is a great motorcyclist hangout and serves diner-style

 food. Burgers, hot dogs, chili, assorted sandwiches. Basic stuff. The place was packed! When we got there, there were maybe 200 other bikes already lined up in front, back and the parking across the road and the owner of the place greeted each one of us with a hug or handshake as we entered the place. How cool is that?!

After lunch we headed back along eastbound highway 138 through Little Rock and the Cajon Pass. That part of the ride was pretty much just lazy sweepers the entire way until we made Interstate 15. Typically on the return leg of our journeys the group splits off little by little to head their own way. And as soon as we hit the freeway… I punched it! I hit about 90 MPH and was splitting the number 1 and 2 lanes within moments! I left the rest of the gang and opened it up for the entire ride home!

Overall a great day, filled with a varied ride and surrounded by really cool people, in pretty decent weather. What more can a man ask for?

Side-note – The new rider on the Goldwing;

This was a woman who I’d say is around mid 40’s. She was riding a brand new Honda Goldwing. Which, for those who don’t know, is a fully equipped touring bike complete with 1800cc engine, long wheel-base, lots of storage with the hard bags and top-case, full faring, and weighs maybe 900 pounds. I learned later that she had had her motorcycle endorsement for only 2 months after having taken the MSF class.

Now I wouldn’t normally suggest a bike like this as being a new rider’s first bike. I have always been an advocate for learning on a bike you can afford to drop. Because you WILL drop it. Clearly not this rider. She went out and got her Wing and held her own really well. Though she did seem to love the middle of the lane and was timid in a couple tight switch-backs. Otherwise… she did very well indeed…

General, Rides

I’ve made the statement before that riding provides mental relief. That it causes the rest of the world to simply vanish. In my article titled My Zen Road Trip I wrote: “…there are those moments where time simply stops. There you are; straight line, 75 MPH, beautiful day, and you hit a mental zone where it all becomes almost meditative.”

I think by that statement alone you would be safe in the suggestion that riding provides some level of cathartic relief. On Christmas day however, I experienced just how profoundly cathartic it really can be. In this case it wasn’t a particularly active or overly aggressive ride. Instead, it was a 75 mile (one way) trek on the super-slab to see mom for the holiday.

In my case however, Christmas was not a happy occasion. Owing to a handful of terrible events in my life, I find myself indescribably anxiety-ridden and not in the best of emotional straights. I’m not prepared to share any specific detail about the recent events in my life but suffice it to say that these events have had the emotional impact of a broken-heart to the “enth” degree. The term, “Emotional wreck” would have been a mild form of what I was dealing with in my head and heart. The constant feeling that I was on the verge of tears was beyond agonizing and unbearable. Preparing to leave for moms I was teary-eyed and deeply saddened. Christmas just wasn’t Christmas and I actually considered not going at all, fearing that I’d only serve to bring everyone else down. Depression tends to be contagious that way.

My ride to mom’s and the ride home later the same day proved to have been a greater emotional haven than any number of years in therapy could ever provide. Ten minutes into it I forgot about everything. No anxiety, no heart-ache, no worry, no tears save for those provided by 75 mile per hour wind and not the most suitable glasses. I had experienced a profound emotional cleansing such that on my arrival to moms, I was smiling. Not one of those phony smiles that get put-on when trying to hide bad news. This was a real, warming-the-heart sort of smile. I was in a great mood and I suddenly felt a bit silly at my angst over the preceding days.

Thusly, in addition to the Zen-like meditative nature of riding, add to it the cathartic, emotionally uplifting, mentally cleansing properties and you have a pretty good explanation about why I ride.

General, Raves