Saturday, September 8, 2012

Dragon = Slain!

This past weekend I joined up with 2 other bikes and rode up to route 129, otherwise known as "The Tail Of The Dragon".  This road has 318 turns in 11 miles.  It runs between Tennessee and North Carolina just outside the Smoky Mountains National Park. For more information on the road, click the link at the bottom of this article.

We left around 7AM and had a quick stop at Starbucks for coffee.  Me on the Versys, my neighbor on his Kawasaki Z1000 and my neighbor's buddy on his Ducati 1098.  We made one more quick stop for gas at the bottom of the Foothills Parkway and then proceeded to 129.

We cruised past the overlook(the unofficial start to the dragon) at exactly 9:15AM.  From there I was on my own.  I knew the other bikes weren't going to wait up for me.

Taking the turns, I was nervous.  I'm a fairly new rider.  I got my certification in February of last year, and have ridden approximately 3-4000 miles since then.  Most has been commuting back and forth to work, with some back east TN roads mixed in.

I found the road to be more hype than it was actual difficulty.  Sure, there are some turns that you need to slow for and some that you don't, but overall I had fun.  We stopped at the campground/store/restaurant at the end for a few minutes and I got a T-Shirt and some dragon stickers to put on my helmet.  We then rode out to Fontana Dam.  Fontana Dam is HUGE by the way.  It was supposedly built during wartime to generate enough power for the local plant producing all the metal for the planes.  It's something like 480 feet high.  Another cool fact is how the spillway works.  When they open the spillway doors to lower the water level, it shoots down at 95MPH and out the bottom of the spillway, where it flies through the air and lands 150 feet away from the bottom of the dam below.  This is to control erosion at the Dam's bottom edge.

I had more fun going back through from the North Carolina side than I did the other way.  The turns seemed...easier.  This was either due to my comfort level of riding later in the day, or just because the turns truly are better going that direction.

Along the way back one of the photographers got a great shot of me.  #1 signaling it was my first time through.

Killboy Photo

If you're ever in the East Tennessee area, look me up and we'l ride this road together.




More Info:
http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

Fontana Dam - More Info

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Becoming one of "those guys"

This past Saturday I became someone I never wanted to become...one of "those guys".

You know the ones...the guys who make a dumb little mistake that they say they never will.

You guessed it...I dropped my Versys IN THE DRIVEWAY.

I had the bike parked in the garage behind my car, as I was  using it to commute to work ALL WEEK(that's another milestone).  Saturday morning I had some things to do which required the cage.  I pulled the bike out of the garage without starting it(mistake #1) wearing flip flops(mistake #2).  As I went to set the bike on the kickstand, I realized all to late the kickstand was up.  I tried to save the bike from falling over, but it was too far over.  I DID manage to prevent it from FALLING over, and it turned out to be more of a graceful set down.

To say I was mad was an understatement.  I was PISSED.  Luckily, I had mounted a set of SWMOTECH crash bars 3 weeks ago, and they did their job.  Well worth the $230 I paid for them. No scratches on the bodywork, engine, anywhere really.  The only blemishes were on the crash bars, the mirror and the footpeg.  It seems like the shift lever may have bent slightly toward the engine, I'm still trying to verify. 

I had to have assistance picking the bike back up, but I think that was because I was so mad and not paying attention.  A note here: IF you drop your bike on it's side, you pick it up with your back TOWARD the bike. I'm glad I learned this in my MSF course. 

Another casualty was my back.  About an hour after everything was done I had a really good pain in the right lower side.  I believe I pulled it trying to save the bike from falling over, not when I picked it back up. With heat and ibuprofin I was back to normal Monday evening. 

So, friends...never attempt to move your bike in anything less than sneakers...just like ATGATT.  You never know what will happen. 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

FINALLY! - A 5 Day Bike Commute Week

This week in TN the weather has been AMAZING so far.  With temperatures in the high 80's at the end of the work day(5PM), minimal humidity and temps in the 60's in the morning.  This will be the first week since buying my first bike last August that I will be able to commute to work all 5 days of the week!  :)

I'm having some issues with air pressures currently on both my bikes.  I can't seem to dial it in correctly so the bike feels like it should.  I know that the drastic temp changes between cold tires and warm tires, along with the temp swing during the day, are making it even harder to find the sweet spot.  I've thought about going somewhere that fills tires with nitrogen to see if it makes a difference. Any comments would be welcomed on advice. 

I've just been filling the tires to about 2lbs below what the max is(cold) on the tire and going on my way. 

I also bought a new pressure gauge at bike night last week(held by my local Cycle Gear store, more info to follow) so that should help dial it in as well.  The old style "pen" gauge just didn't seem like it was reading correctly. 

Here's to sunny skies and fair temps!

Bikes Volume 1: My Current Bikes

So here is what I started out with(Pictures Forthcoming):
2006 Kawasaki EX500R Ninja

I bought this bike from the first owner with around 6000 miles on it.  My friend had been bugging me to buy it for about 3 years, and I finally caved when the price came to the right level.($2500)  It is a GREAT starter bike.  I had just taken my MSF course and this bike was easy to jump on and ride around town, and commute to work on.  Unfortunately(or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the commuting portion wasn't so great on the Ninja.  My hands cramped and the wind in my face was a little annoying. In addition riding to work in the morning in the fall was a bit chilly.

So I upgraded.

2008 Kawasaki Versys 650

I bought this bike in March of 2012 from the first owner, who was a VERY meticulous older man and also an MSF instructor in Georgia.  Along with the bike I got a lot of farkles with it.  Three Aftermarket windshields, cover, maintenance manual, battery tender, and a 1" 3 ring binder full of receipts and work orders for EVERYTHING that had ever been fixed or purchased for the bike.  It had just over 26000 miles on the clock when I bought it.

Commuting on this bike in cold weather is MUCH easier due to the taller windshield(review to come later) and it is more comfortable on long rides because of the throttle lock and upright seating position.

I searched 4 different bikes before deciding on the Versys.  The Kawasaki KLR, The Suzuki VStrom, The BMW 650GS and the Versys.  I really wanted something with ABS as I've had close calls with locking the rear wheel in the past.  Ultimately I decided the KLR and the 650GS were too light for my taste.  Most of the bike time is commuting to and from work on the interstate and I wanted something a little more "Heavy Duty" than a dual sport. It helped that the Versys was also 2008 Motorcycle of the year and has a good following for aftermarket and support.

All in all I'm very happy so far...but bikes are addicting and I want to add more to my collection!  :)




Thursday, July 5, 2012

Introduction

Hi Everyone

Welcome to 2 Wheeled Wanderlust. I'm a fan of a lot of things in life...but a new obsession for me is motorcycles.  I'm mostly a Kawasaki person currently...but I'm open to other brands.  Except Harleys...nothing against them, I'm just not a fan.


I've started this Blog for a few reasons:
Documenting trips I take
Recording events
Adding perspective on gear and bikes
I need something else to fill my time(wait, no I don't!)

Would love feedback in comments and idea for future postings.

~Artem