Ninja Blogging » Motorcycles

It’s Done

Administrator — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:45:34 +0000

I finally pulled the trigger, I sold both of my bikes in the past 2 weeks. I sold one to my brother, which didn’t really bother me. Partially because I still had a bike that I could ride, and because I knew it was going to a good home. But today, I gave up my last bike to some guys that I will probably never see again. And above all, it was a bike that I had dreamed about owning for 6 years. It was the most powerful and well designed streetbike that I had ever owned. My 2004 Honda RC51 will be missed, it has been to the race track 3 times since I have owned it and down to deals gap once just recently. Now that my bike is gone, I feel kind of empty. Especially, since I work so much it was nice to commute on a motorcycle to break up the monotony of everyday life. I enjoy everything about riding on two wheels, and now that joy is gone. Also, it’s going to be that much harder to buy a motorcycle when I get back since the money I got from the sale of the bike is going towards paying it off. So it will be another 2 years until I get a motorcycle. Fuck that’s a long time. But it had to be done to do the things Katy and I want to do. I’m not sure if I should be mad at myself or just sad. I just have to be careful to not take my anger out on Katy, because it’s not her fault and it wasn’t her decision. I think I’m going to go sulk. Thanks for listening. I’m going to miss riding on two wheels, a lot…………

Motoczysz to be feature in July edition of Cycleworld Magazine

Administrator — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:06:04 +0000

Motoczysz will be mentioned in the July Edition of Cycleworld Magazine. If you’re not sure what MotoCzysz is and what they do, then I will give you the short version. They are a radical thinking Grand Prix Motorcycle Development Company that is base out of Oregon, and has been around since 2005. They are radical in that they have created and patented a motorcycle motor that has two counter-rotating cranks, and mounts in the frame long ways to reduce gyroscopic forces which are created by the motor. In short the bike handles as if it had a smaller motor, which makes it easier to ride in the corners. The Discovery Channel aired a documentary on the MotoCzysz group earlier this year called Birth Of a Racer which I will say is very exciting and informative. I really hope these guys make it, since originally their plans were to build a 1000cc bike to compete in MotoGP But in 2006 the regulations changed to build 800cc MotoGP bikes, shortly after Motoczysz began development and construction of their Prototype C1. Hope is not lost though since AMA and WSB still race 1000cc motorcycles. Currently they are still looking for investors to help stay afloat and compete against the big Japanese manufacturers.

Just a couple Yamaha Videos

Administrator — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:03:23 +0000

Here are two videos that Yamaha just uploaded to their server from the recent scooter introduction they did. The videos feature former Daytona winner Scott Russell, former Superbike champion Jamie James, GP rider Colin Edwards II and the ever-lovely Meredith Penrod of Yamaha US.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelvideo/607/656/0/video.aspx

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelvideo/608/653/0/video.aspx

High Speed Motorcycle Crash

Administrator — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:53:47 +0000

A motorcycle driven by 28 Year old Benjamin Snook crashed Saturday May 24th, 2008 just south of North Shore Drive on Cassopolis Street in Elkhart, Indiana. Ben was traveling at a high rate of speed when going around a bend and veered into oncoming traffic, striking a car at about 7:07pm that was heading south. Benjamin died from head injuries later that evening. You can read more about the news report here

News reports like these upset me, because although it wasn’t specifically stated. From the sounds of the injuries, he wasn’t wearing a helmet. How many more people will have to die because Indiana does not force riders of motorcycles to wear helmets?

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Airbag Jacket Saved A Motorcyclist’s Life

Administrator — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:18:04 +0000

A company by the name of Impact Jackets have been making this Jacket and selling it for a nominal $400. Ok, well it’s nominal when you consider it life insurance. As an Avid Motorcycle rider myself, I’m always screaming at riders “Where’s your helmet”!? Now, I can scream “WHERE’S YOUR INFLATABLE JACKET”?! Here’s the story on the guys life that was possibly saved. I can’t wait for the idiots that spend the money on this jacket and then don’t wear a helmet. This may be a future addition to my riding gear, because you never know when you may drive your motorcycle into a lake!

Back on Two Wheels

Administrator — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:46:11 +0000

Well, the riding season has begun! Last night Brian and I went riding for the first time together in four months. The last time we rode together was December 2nd, which was almost unbearable due to the how cold it was. We rode over to Andrews house that day and if I remember correctly the temp was middle thirties but the wind chill had to be well below that. Well last night it was in the lower forties and it started raining while we were at mikes house. There is still snow on the ground and we had to be careful of the salt and gravel that is scattered on the road. It was really nice to get back on after not riding for 4 months. My bike started right up, but I did have some trouble starting the SV which is carburated. My RC51 is not carburated which is why it started right up. I kinda forgot how responsive the throttle is on my RC, and had to modulate the throttle to prevent spinning my rear tire. When it started raining I had to be even more careful, there was an instance where Brian took off down CR17 and I tried to keep up with him with out my rear tire spinning and kicking my bike sideways. I think Brians bike is a little bit easier to ride in the rain with since his bike has less torque and he can just whack the throttle with out having to worry too much about the rear tire. I just need more practice with modulating the throttle I guess. I can’t wait to go to the track with my RC. I think I will learn a lot from that experience. Well, I rode to work today and the temp was about 41F with a windchill of 36F or so. It wasn’t unbearable as I had full leathers on. I even had a compliment on my mohawk from the tollbooth attendant! I don’t think she was trying to mock be but was sincere in the compliment. Well Brian is meeting me here at work at 5 so we can ride for a little while. Oh yeah before I forget, Mike bought an 04 R1. His last bike which he crashed and burned on was an 03. His new R1 is a two tone silver and bluish silver, with 6800 miles and is EXTRA clean. You would never know it had that many miles on it just by looking at it. He won’t be able to ride until the end of May, due to an agreement with his wife. I’m pretty excited as it means that we have another person to ride with. Well, I will have be posting some pictures of the bike soon.

CrAzY Motorcycle Video

Administrator — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 03:03:36 +0000

I found this and thought I should post it. It’s probably one of the NuTzOest videos I have seen. It’s a tricked out import chasing a crotch rocket of an unknown type. I’m not real sure about what happened before the guy in the car started recording. If you listen, about half way through, the guy in the car turns on a police scanner. Which I’m almost positive is illegal in most states. Watch for yourself….

100_2110.MOV 141.9 MB

Life is Good

Administrator — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 04:40:30 +0000

First I would like to say that life is good, and I am happy with everything in my life right now. Today nothing extremely special happened. Just an ordinary day working at Market Motors. Detail some cars here, pick up some cars there, and talk to some customers everywhere. Devin came and visited us at the lot on his fancy new motorcycle that Katy and I sold him. He bought Katy’s old motorcycle and is pretty excited about it. I got home and Katy was taking a nap with Mozart. I took a ride on my bike down “River Road” ( CR 8 ) a couple times since I had time before Mike was going to show up. I kinda wished Brian was with me to enjoy the ride. I took it pretty quick feeling considering I’ve only had this bike for a couple weeks. I felt pretty confident in the speed that I took the corners. The suspension felt incredible compared to my SV. The suspension on my RC is fully adjustable Showa which came stock with the bike. I got home and Mike showed up to help me on my drywall. He’s awesome at cutting out the receps and cutting pieces to fit. He has helped me on a lot of the drywall and I feel like I owe him more than I could ever repay him. If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t have any of this done except for the part Brian helped me on. Katy cooked us some Pizza which Mike turned down because he already ate, and after he left Katy and I cleaned up. I think Sunday I am going to go to his house and help him out. I feel like I’m really indebted to him. Thank you again MIKE!!

After thoughts on trip to Deals Gap “The Dragons Tail”

Administrator — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:06:35 +0000

Well, we did it. Five of us took the trip to Deals Gap, Three of us on motorcycles, and two in the Miata. We left at 4:30 am on Sept 1st and didn’t arrive there until 2:30 am Sept 2nd. The trip down was 22 hours and 830 miles, and should of only taken about 14 hours and 600 miles. We decided about 3/4 of the way into the trip that it would be better to get off of the interstate and go east on 421 in Tennessee and then backtrack when we hit I-81 in Kentucky and go back west to hit I-75 south. By the time we got to our motel after being on the road for 22 hours we were ready to kill each other. We went to bed and woke up at about 9 am. We woke up to the sound of motorcycles driving by and I was anxious to hit the gap. I walked out and into the morning light to see rain. This kind of bummed me out but we weren’t going to let rain spoil our day. We showered and ate breakfast and hit the gap. I checked my oil in my bike and found it to be a quart low. David was nice enough to take me to “Hell Benders” to buy a quart of Amsoil Synthetic. We then got back on the road to see the scenery. Even though we were all sick of our vehicles it didn’t really bother us to be back on/in them. We then headed to the beginning of the Dragons Tail we hung out there for a bit. Here we got to meet a few people as well as check out the tree of shame and watch riders take off from the straight-away doing wheelies before the first turn into the “Tail of the Dragon”. We then hit the gap and ended up going all the way through it and turned around. Coming back we met David and Craig and decided to hang out at a turn off on the side of the road. I had Craig take some video of Mike and I taking the corners (This can be seen in the video). We hung out here for a little while longer and decided that we wanted to hit the “Tail” some more. Upon trying to leave we discover that Mike has not clutch on his borrowed Honda V65. His clutch is hydraulic and we could not get the cover open to even see if any fluid is inside the reservoir, since one of the screws are stripped to the point of no return. During this discovery a generous off duty firefighter riding his Harley pulls over and gives us a hand. The off duty firefighters name is Mike (also in the video). We concluded that the fluid is probably the original fluid and that we may be able to bleed the line and get it back to running condition. We lifted and propped the tank while trying to trace the hydraulic line. We bleed the line and Pepsi comes out and something in the line ends up clogging the bleeder valve. After cleaning the bleeder valve and reinstalling it we end up with even less pressure in the clutch handle. So whatever pressure we had in the hydraulic line is now lost. While putting the bike back together someone yells “Your leaking gas!!”. And sure enough gas is spewing out of the main line which is connected to the reservoir tank. We end up fixing the line and in the process lose almost everything that was in the gas tank. Mike (Firefighter) ends up staying with us the whole way through until we fixed the line which ended up to be about 3 hours. It’s now dark and we finally put the bike back together and get it back on the road (Also in Video). The next day (Sunday) we end up finding a drill and pulling the stripped screw out and running clean fluid through the clutch line. The clutch starts to work and the Green Machine is back on the road again! The only problem now is there seems to be a valve rattle which was not there before. The bike makes it through the day with out a hitch and we ended up leaving Monday Morning (Sept 3rd) at 4:30am. Along the way through the “Dragons Tail” we encounter a rattle snake in the road curled up, and five or six wild boars grazing on the side of the road. The Green Machine ends up making it back to Elkhart at about 7:00pm Monday evening to conclude the 600 mile trip in 14 hours with the rest of us. We were all glad to be home.

Although the long ride down was well worth it to spend a few days at Deals Gap, next time we are trailering our bikes.

Here is the video Deals Gap Movie

I couldn’t get all of the recorded video into this file. I will be making another video Let me know what you guys think of the video. This is my first attempt at one.

Xtreme Camera Mount Review On SV

Administrator — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 01:37:09 +0000

I ordered the Xtreme Camera Mount last Tuesday late in the evening and received the mount (from Plano, TX) in the Friday Mail. I Installed it Friday night and took some pictures along the way. There really isn’t much to installing the mount except for the removal of three stock bolts and the installation of three bolts that come with the mount. The reason I went with this mount was because of the one piece construction of the main arm. This I felt was important because of durability and strength. The mount is quite pricey at $90 plus shipping of $9.95 but well worth it. Every other tank mount I came across was between $80 and $100. If you mention you are a SV1000 Portal Member and give Anthony Rizzo your user name he will give you a discount of $5. I do have some video that I took with the tank mount which you can see for yourself. The Suzuki Spectre Model I bought will fit these models:
GSXR1000 1996-2006
GSXR600 1996-2006
GSXR750 1996-2006
TL / TLR ALL
Hayabusa ALL
Bandits through 2002 Mount Extension Required
SV650 ALL
SV1000 ALL
V-Strom ALL Mount Extension Required
Katana 600 ALL

MyGreatMovie.mov 15.67Mb

Here is a video that I found by EmpireGP from Deals Gap! GREAT VIDEO!
Deals Gap By EmpireGP Google Video