Here's an example

of why I sold my motorcycles... in this video, the motorcyclist was riding responsibly, was on his own side of the road close to the side of the road, and did everything right. Then an idiot trucker came around the curve too fast and fell over on him.

Ugh. I had a couple of close calls like that where people pulled out of side streets in front of me and things like that, but there was always some place for me to go. But in this case, there wasn't even half a second to react. It was literally the truck comes around the corner too fast, and falls over on him, just in the blink of an eye.

-- Badtux the Former Motorcyclist Penguin

I am becoming ordinary

I sold my V-Strom 650 today, my last motorcycle. I am now that much more boring. I am sad :-(.

-- Badtux the Boring Penguin

94F

Crap, I musta brought the desert back with me. It's friggin' *hot* outside. I sure am glad I changed to my summer windshield last night (the small one angled to blast air at me) and wore my mesh-vented gear today, otherwise I'd have a mighty warm ride home this evening!

-- Badtux the Motorcyclin' Penguin

3PM update: *96F*! This in a city where nobody even bothered building houses and apartments with air conditioning until the 1990's, because the climate is generally so mild that you never needed it! "Global warming is fiction", my overheated penguin ass!

Been a busy day...

Sold my KLR today, and now I'm putting some wider fender flares onto my Jeep. I was afraid that I'd gotten flares that were too wide, but they seem to be just right. The only real pain is the rear flares, since you have to remove the plastic fender liners and the fender liners have those %!@# one-time use plastic button fasteners that Detroit loves so much (as vs. the reusable ones that are used to hold the plastics onto my Suzuki). So I'm just ripping those guys out and replacing them with zip-ties or with nut/bolt/fender washers depending upon how accessible the holes are. It's not as if the plastic fender liners are a structural part of the Jeep anyhow, they're just intended to keep mud out of the area behind the wheels where the wiring for the lights and the emissions gear all live...

Earlier today, The Mighty Fang let out a horrific howl as if in agonizing pain. I was, like, "What? What?!" but he refused to answer me. Finally he puked up two different balls of... chewed-up rubber bands.

Yes, rubber bands! Apparently, after mugging the guy who came in to buy my bike (poor guy was trying to fill out the transfer papers, TMF kept rubbing against his hand to get petted, which sort of interfered with things!), he decided to eat the rubber bands off of the Saturday paper. Blasted cat has a fetish for rubber, sigh... he ate part of my spare inner tube for my bicycle, too.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

Becoming ordinary

I haven't been able to ride my KLR in over a month because I injured my leg and can't trust it to not be re-injured by mounting and dismounting the KLR (which requires stepping on the footpeg to get over the seat due to its height). I also have to face facts that I'm several hundred years old in penguin years and simply don't bounce like I did when I was young :-(. I like the Wee-Strom as a sport-tourer, but its care and feeding is somewhat expensive and its value as a commuter is low because of the amount of time it takes me to put my safety gear on and off, it takes over 5 minutes before I get on the bike, and over 5 minutes at the other end, and my commute is only 15 minutes in the first place. And like I said, I don't bounce like I did when I was young (and my commute is at high speeds on freeways), so doing without the safety gear isn't something I'm interested in.

If I do away with the motorcycles, I can empy all the motorcycle crap out of my garage, which frees it up for non-motorcycle crap, and keep the Jeep there full-time. I can also move to an apartment downtown when my current lease expires in May 2010, I extended my lease on the current place because the downtown apartment didn't have room for both my motorbikes and my Jeep in its garage (and there is no additional parking available -- it's downtown, duh). The downtown apartment is right by the train station and close to two different light rail stations and pretty much eliminates the need for a second vehicle, which is why it's not a big deal that there is only space for one vehicle in its garage. And also, this makes me much more portable and mobile. If I have to get out of town, I don't have to worry about possessions left behind, I just pack what I need, toss the rest or put it in storage, and drive off into the sunset.

Problem is, then I'm well on the way to becoming ordinary. Just another penguin with a Jeep. Sigh...

-- Badtux the (Motorcycling? Jeeping) Penguin

141mpg, anybody?

Okay, so it's a little bit ugly. But this Piaggio hybrid scooter supposedly gets 141mpg out of its 125cc engine plus electric motor hybrid setup -- or, if you're doing short distances, serves as a plug-in hybrid. Hmm, makes my Wee-strom's 50mpg look lame, but then I have to ride a three-wheeled scooter? Erk!

-- Badtux the Two-wheelin' Penguin

Over at Moto-tux...

I get a new windshield for my bike. The windshield was one of the three things that annoyed me in my trip to the desert and back on the V-Strom. The other two things were: Underwear (I really need some of that lycra moto-cross underwear!), and lack of a throttle lock or cruise control (my right wrist got a bit tired). But the windshield is having a bad interaction with two of my other mods to the bike. Go read to see...

-- Badtux the Interactions Penguin

Mo back

Attended a gathering of desert folk. Here's my campsite: And here's my motorcycle before I unpacked the camping gear: And finally a long shot of a bunch of us gathered around a bbq pit (faces blurred to protect privacy of various people). Note that there's a lot of people hidden in the shadows back there too:

And here is what we do for fun:

I'll probably post more of a motorcycle-oriented trip report over on Moto-Tux this evening. I'm still pretty tired from the trip, that's a long ride on a motorcycle then I did a lot of hiking going up that canyon (what, you don't think I was going to stay *in* that Jeep when it had a wheel off the ground half the time, huh?!).

-- Badtux the Tired Penguin

I'm back (sort of)

Just very tired. My camera is still in the topbox of my motorcycle, I'll try to update this tomorrow with a photo or two...

-- Badtux the Traveling Penguin

Gone riding

I'll be back in a day or two. Maybe with pictures. I've turned off anonymous comments to keep the spammers away in the meantime.

-- Badtux the Motorcycling Penguin.

Good thing penguins don't care about bein' stylish

Maybe because we're already hauling around our own built-in tuxedo. But if I cared about bein' stylish, I wouldn't be buying what appears to be the world's ugliest windshield for my V-Strom 650...

-- Badtux the Motorcyclin' Penguin

R.I.P. Cary Aspy

Cary Aspy was the creator of the 685 and 705cc overbore kits and "Big Valve" modification for the Kawasaki KLR-650. He was involved in a fatal motorcycle accident Monday evening when a SUV hit him while he was riding his KLR on his way home from a weekend riding trip to Tennessee.

Dangerous hobby, we motorcyclists have. I was thinking about buying one of his 685cc kits for my KLR, which is getting a bit tired in the engine department. Now... I guess not :-(.

-- Badtux the Saddened Penguin

Cross-posted with more info to Moto-Tux

Over at Moto-tux...

A reminder if you want to be able to see in this beautiful rainy fall weather...

Also: Operation Warm Hands is underway. More updates as I get to'em.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

Scottoiler!

Over at Moto-Tux, I install a Scottoiler automatic chain oiler on my Suzuki V-Strom 650 ABS.

-- Badtux the Wrenchin' Penguin

Electrifying!

Over at MotoTux, I electrify the left side of my V-Strom 650 motorcycle.

No electrons were harmed in the course of this project...

-- Badtux the Electrifying Penguin

Zen and Now

Another Jesuit scholar examines Robert Persig's classic motorcycling tome, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Mark Richardson's new book, Zen and Now, examines Robert Persig and the connections between technology and nature...

-- Badtux the Literatary Penguin

Two ravens

I rode my motorcycle today. More at Moto-Tux.

-- Badtux the 'Cyclin' Penguin

Over at Moto-Tux...

the world's luckiest motorcycle racer. Misses being smashed to a pulp by a microsecond. Also: Be sure your front axle nut is tight and is safety wired or cotter pinned so it can't come off!

-- Badtux the Motorcycling Penguin

Motorin'

Over at Moto-Tux, I talk about a flying penguin and the Never-Ending Electrical Project, which is, oddly enough, *ending* shortly as soon as I get the first circuits hooked up (two circuits, one at the handlebars for the GPS, one at the side for a heated jacket or vest or etc.).

So if you are interested in motorcycle technology, go take a gander...

-- Badtux the Motorin' Penguin

Why I'm glad I don't own a BMW

At Moto-Tux.

-- Badtux the Motorcyclin' Penguin