That First Ding

Ken’s post over at Passes & Canyon blog about his new to him used bike already came pre-scratched brought this memory come flashing back.

True story. 12/26/1992 brand spanking new first Harley a FXSTC (that's a Softail Custom for you non-Harley folk). To say I was a proud man would be the understatement of the day. Now considering I live in Iowa you can bet that day was plenty chilly. I ride a few miles from the dealer and load it in my buddies truck to get it the 45 miles home.

I'm walking around it in the garage with a smile as big as can be. My boss and wife even drops by to have look at all the shiny black and chrome. They want to hear it and well with stock mufflers... well you know. I had always like the sound of the stock pipe on the Evo motor with just the plugs knocked out. Not to loud with a nice deep throaty rumble.

So after the boss and the misses leave I walk over to my tool box an grab my long pipe for beating on an a big BFH. A few smacks later plugs are removed and I've got to hear this thing. So instead of replacing the tools in the box first I just let the big pipe hit the concrete floor. When it did it bounce up off the floor and hit the rear fender. First paint ding! I just kind of laughed saying well I got that out the way now.

I rode 100 miles that night showing off my new prize to any an everyone and enjoying the sound of that Evo with the open mufflers.

I had a great time for 10 years and 114,000 miles on ol’ Silver until some low life piece of shit stole him in October of 2002. My buddy was just as reliable as a guy could ask for. A voltage regulators or two, a stator and countless batteries and tires. Dropped a small bolt in camshaft at about 50K for a nice little bump to 70HP and we would ride together all day long to any and and everywhere. We seen both coast together and an unknown number of states. Like I said we had a great time together. 

Miss you ol’ buddy!!!

fasthair

More Tires

What follows is my response to a post by Dr. Wrench about tire pressure. I wanted to repost it here not because I think I know it all, but because it is very important and to the best of my knowledge accurate. Also, second only to your brakes your tires are the most important thing on your bike for your safety. This is only slightly edited because I’m too lazy to do it all again. So if it seems I’m talking to a third party it is because I was responding to a response in the good Dr’s. post. To understand this it might be worth your time to read the Dr’s. post if you haven’t done so already. With that out of the way…

fasthair said…

I'll add my two cents here. As mentioned weight is also a factor. If you are going to be riding two up with lots of stuff (face it if your riding two up number two SHOULD be a female and they always have to bring lots of stuff) Then max out the pressure. If you read your owners manual (yah I know who does that?) it will even state this.

And Mr. Baron with all due respect you got the logic wrong. As you might know I work on Mercedes-Benz for a living. During service of these fine high performance machines I always check and set tire pressures. Each model has different settings. How do I remember all of these settings? I don't, I look in the gas door. Guess what? I quote, "for driving 100+ mph + 4PSI, for warm tires add + 4PSI."

Here is why your logic is wrong. The extra pressure actually helps the tire hold it's shape and NOT expand as much as if it had lower pressure. Just as someone else said, lower tire pressure will also affect the contact patch of the tire, i.e. the shape. Now before you say "but drag slicks only have about 5 to 6PSI" remember this, these tires are designed (Edit: and sometimes don’t last even the quarter mile because of this) to run at these pressures. Plus have you seen how that tire looks at speed? The back side (in direction of travel) is almost flat against the wheel and it has grown several inches in size. This is all the effect of low tire pressures. There is also this. Lower pressures cause higher tire temperatures too. Why? Friction. This is why properly inflated tires give you better gas mileage, less friction. Less friction equals less heat. A under inflated tire will actually fail sooner (Edit: because of heat… Ford Explore anyone?) then an over inflated tire because of high heat. Which all add up to longer tire life. So in the end, for high speed riding, max it out.

So after saying all of this can you guess where I run my tires? Yup, maxed out, 45 rear 42 front. For all of the reasons above but also because the bike does handle better and it does promote longer tire life.

Last thing for you others who don't check your tires. For the love of God please do so! Not only will it be safer for you but you will save money!

Of course your comments are always welcome.

fasthair

The Bare Truth Part Deux

One of the things I've really enjoyed about this blog is reading about what other people are doing and the places they have been or are at. It never fails that someone's post brings back memories both good and bad of my motorcycle travels. You people bring these memories back and I want to share them with you from time to time. Most of them will not be bad ones like this one though. Case in point, Dan's (aka Irondad) post over at Musings of an Intrepid Commuter about this tire. Thanks Irondad for the use of your photo.

 I’m 18 and I’ve had my first street bike for all of six weeks. Doing what normal 18 year old males do I am laying rubber ever chance I get. Then one day I decide I’m going to ride to the big city for a concert. I never made it to the show. About 110 miles from home and just 25 miles from the show I crash on the interstate highway at about 60MPH. I swear I’ve never been so scared in my life. Next thing I know my bike fish tails left, then right hard, then back left even harder, sliding out from under neath me then pitching me through the handle bars headed for the ditch. I remember hearing the glass break in my right mirror as I’m flying by it. The next thing I know I’m up chasing my bike which has stopped with the back half still in the right lane. Thankfully the car behind me wasn't tailgating and stops to help. Dragging my bike the rest of the way off the road I finally get to stop and take stock of what just happen.

There I stand still shaking trying figuring it all out. My rear tire is flat and my handle bars are broke along with other bits and pieces. There are feathers all over the road from my goose down coat (hey it was 1979 that was the style, plus I’m a- know-it-all 18 year old remember :)) being ripped to shreds. My leather boots are a mess with the right sole about half ripped off. My leather billfold has holes burned through three or four layers deep and my Levis aren’t much good either. And my helmet has the scares to prove I just went sliding on my head at some point. I don’t even remember what helmet it was at the time but I remember thinking if I hadn’t of had it on I may not be here right now. But with all that damage I didn’t have a scratch on me. Yes I was very lucky. Oh sure I was soar as hell the next day but I wasn’t complaining.

After my Grandma came and got me home, the next morning I went to the garage to have a good look at my bike. You see the statement of "never riding that damn thing that almost killed me" while sitting along the interstate had faded. My love for motorcycles and motorcycling was just too strong.  I start taking the rear tire off so I can put a new one on. It is at that time I realize just how bad my tire was. I distinctly remember looking at it before leaving thinking, oh its got plenty of tread left. But looking at it through the eyes of a rider who had just had the hell scared out him brought a completely new light to its condition. While my tire didn’t have cords showing like that tire does, it was pretty thin. To this day I never let my tires get pass the wear indicators and I ALWAYS replace them in pairs. Lesson learned the hard way.  

So every time I see a tire like that I instantly jump back to that time in my life. Whenever I see a person with a tire like that I re-tell my story hoping that maybe they will learn from my troubles. I pray this person doesn’t have to learn what I did the hard way. But then again maybe it will be a lesson they will never forget.

Needless to say I pay close attention to my tires now. I check my tire pressures bi-weekly. My friend Lori stopped by my shop a few weeks ago on her FJR1300. As soon as she dropped it off the center stand I could see the rear tire was very low on pressure. I rolled it in the shop and checked it and sure enough, it only had about 15PSI in it. Her comment of "so that is why the rear of my bike feels squirrelly" helped her understand now what a low tire feels like. It is said a tire can loose one PSI a week. Correct tire inflation not only adds to your safety but also adds to the life of the tire.

One thing to note about new tires. Be very careful the first hundred or so miles. Manufactures use silicone to help release the tire from the mold. This makes them very slick until it has worn off. This also goes for tire dressing. If you must use it be careful not to get it on the tread. Use a rag and rub it on the sidewalls instead of spraying directly on the tire. This gives you the added protection of not getting it on your brakes, which of course is a bad thing too. 

fasthair