Breaking Bad Riding Habits

It is said the best way to break bad habits is to never develop them in the first place. I hope whoever coined that bit of wisdom promptly got kicked in the shins by someone trying to break a bad habit.

Lately I've been trying to get rid of habits that have a negative impact on my riding. So far, it hasn't been easy.

The particular bad habits I've been trying to break are: not keeping my knees in, putting too much weight on my arms (which is, amusingly enough, mostly fixed by keeping my knees in), and rolling on the gas too late in curves.

Keeping my knees against the tank is easy to remember, so long as I'm paying attention. As soon as I do it, it's easy to keep the weight off my arms. Of course, eventually I stop paying attention and get lazy and before I know it my arms are tired...

This probably isn't a revelation to many of you, but keeping my knees against the tank also does wonders for my riding confidence. Tight corners with my knees out? Scary. Tight corners with my knees in? Exhilarating.

The habit I've really been battling, however, is rolling on the throttle before leaning the bike over. I've somehow developed the habit of not applying throttle until I've hit the apex of the curve. Now, I know that getting on the gas before leaning into the curve makes for a more enjoyable and controllable turning experience. But I still tend to coast into curves and hit the gas at the apex.

For what it's worth, I've been working on it. I've been slowing way, way, way down and hitting the gas before the curve when I remember to. Over course, when I'm thinking about other things, like that oncoming truck, sometimes I forget. Frustrating.

Have you got any bad habits, or stories of breaking bad riding habits?

Post-Apocalyptic Desert Biker Grub

Canned bacon is pretty neat, and coffee in a tube is simply brilliant.

And now, canned sandwiches. I, for one, can't wait for Candwich to go into production.

This is just an awesome product idea on so many levels. It's presumably shelf stable for a while. Rather durable packaging, and I imagine you could re-purpose the can as a small hobo stove. Or as a drinking/eating/cooking vessel. And you won't have to use your precious water supply to rehydrate it!

Of course, in a nomadic post-apocalyptic biker society, the bulk would require you to either have a food stash hidden away, or a large support vehicle in your tribe. That could be a problem if your survival requires light and fast travel.

Motorcycle-Enforced Minimalism

In my recent musings on the subject of motorcycle luggage, I think I mentioned my main annoyance with the various options available is the hassle of carrying stuff around. Having my hands full with a helmet, gloves and a bag of some sort drives me nuts. As such, I've got a very minimal list of things I bring with me, and every single one of those items has been closely examined. Each item has to prove its utility, or it's getting left in the garage.

My motorcycling habit forces me to consider what is essential, and what is superfluous. I think it's great.

Back in those dark days before I owned a motorcycle, I made do with the Rat Buick. It was a great car - you know, for a car - and it had an absolutely enormous trunk. You know those mob movies where they've got three bodies and a 55 gallon drum of lye in the trunk? That's how big the trunk of the Buick was.

It rapidly became my rolling storage solution. That might have been a good thing if all my trunk space were filled with items of utility. But, really, it was a bunch of stuff I meant to bring to Goodwill and various trash I'd been too lazy to throw away.

I don't have anything I've been too lazy to get rid of with me when I ride the Triumph.

I'm planning to do some motorcycle camping this summer, with at least one extended trip to Colorado, as well as some backpacking (hopefully)*. As such, I've been researching what is needed and what is extra weight, and the best way to haul the gear I need around on the Triumph. What I've discovered is that what one needs, and what one wants is the difference between 30 pounds of gear and 50 pounds.

The thought of schlepping an extra twenty pounds around is enough to make me consider every item and its proper stowage twice. I'd rather carry the stuff I know I need, and maybe one or two luxury (sanity) items than a bunch of crap I think I might want. And riding to work every day will make items with no purpose immediately apparent.

*I know a couple of you are backpackers. Do any of you use your motorcycle to go backpacking? If so, how do you manage your pack on the bike?

Observing A Physical Expression of Joy

Last night I was sitting at a stoplight on my way home from picking up a few essential groceries.

A group of teenagers walked past in the crosswalk. As they went by, one of them - a six foot tall young man - did a cartwheel, leading into a handspring, leading into a leap and a full forward flip.

It was a whole lot of motion, and I don't think I need to tell you I was impressed. I wanted to yell, "that was totally awesome!" to the kid. I didn't because I was a couple cars away from him by the time he landed, and I didn't think he'd hear me clearly.

I looked around, and the other motorists had the same old sour faces they'd been wearing before. Had they missed it? I don't think so. It's hard to ignore 6 feet of airborne teenager.

It's got to be bad when you're so grumpy that impromptu street-gymnastics can't even raise a smile. Here's hoping I never reach that point!

Deja Vu on my Commute

This morning I got stuck riding behind a black S.U.V. on the freeway. Of course, the driver was a slowbie, and wouldn't move to the right to let me pass. I slowed down to maintain a safe following distance, and cruised along to my exit.

The S.U.V. took my exit. Nothing weird there. Then they turned the same way I do. Again, not that weird.

Then, after the next stoplight, they were off to the races. That was weird. They did weird things like changing lanes back and forth for no reason and passing another car which was travelling plenty quick.

I coincidentally followed this truck all the way to my parking garage, where the driver did an abrupt U-turn I'd seen performed by a black S.U.V. another time...

It made me think of a detail in Wiseguy, how the gangsters would drive erratically to see if they were being followed. Apparently someone was a little paranoid this morning.

Dear S.U.V. pilot - I'm still not stalking you. I'm still not trying to kill you. We just happen to take the same route to work in the same place. Have a nice day.

Meeting a Road Warrior.

Last summer, it was my pleasure to meet a fellow motorcycle enthusiast for coffee. This might seem like no big deal if you live in a more temperate climate. The Sonoran desert, however, is far from temperate in July and August. On an outrageously hot day - easily 114 degrees in the shade - I met this biker from Los Angeles at a coffee shop to swap stories.

On this particular day, I was not riding. Frankly, 114 degrees is too hot to go out riding for fun in the afternoon. When it's that hot out, the heat coming from the motor works together with the sun and the heat reflecting off the road and cars to punish anyone foolish enough to venture out without air conditioning. I've done my time riding in that kind of heat, and I'd just as soon avoid it when I'm able.

The biker I was meeting had ridden all night from Los Angeles. His bike is a newer Harley-Davidson Sportster, ratted out and modified until it looked like a much older Sportster. It was flat black, with a bamboo luggage rack he had built himself, and a Pabst Blue Ribbon bottle cap epoxied on the top of the upper triple tree. As for the rider himself, he was dressed head to toe in black.

He told me he'd been having some motor troubles and almost hadn't made the trip. The bike had been making some strange noises, and he'd pulled the motor all apart trying to find the cause. He never did, but when he put it back together, it was making a different noise. A mechanic buddy of his told him he worried too much, and to get back to riding.

The morning of the trip, he'd stood looking at his machine, trying to decide whether or not to risk a six hour ride, including a couple hours through Death Valley, in the middle of the summer.

"So," he said, "I asked myself - what would Beowulf do?"

He took a swig of coffee, and continued.

"And I decided what Beowulf would do is go and kill himself some Grendel. So here I am."

You kind of have to admire that.

A Question For My Readers

To start this off, thanks for reading my blog. You folks are all quite attractive, intelligent and have excellent taste, and I'm honored that you spend time reading what I've written.

Now, concerning what I write... What do you guys like to read? Are you itching for more ride reports? Personal stories? Rants? Half-baked philosophy? General observations and commentary about how awesome motorcycles are? Let me know! You can leave a comment, or if you prefer, there's a convenient link to email me on the right side of the page.

An Amusing Feature on the Vespa GTS

I've been trying to rotate through the various motorcycles in my stable to keep them healthy and happy.

Yesterday I rode the Triumph in. The weather was darn cold, and I was happy to have the 600cc heater keeping my legs warm. Today I took the Vespa GTS.

I noticed something on the dashboard display that I had never really paid attention to before: an outdoor temperature thermometer. I mean, I've seen that there's a temperature display, I just never took the time to really check it out and contemplate it's value to the rider.

Today, it was 51 degrees Fahrenheit on my ride in, with a couple fluctuations. Neat.

But then I got to thinking about this thermometer on the Vespa. How silly is a thermometer telling me it is cold outside? Or hot, in the summer? I already know that! I am, in fact, experiencing the current temperature first hand.

OK, OK, I kind of see the value of it. For example, instead of telling my co-workers "Man, it was chilly out there!" I can say "It was 43 degrees out this morning. With windchill that's, uh... [pause to count on fingers] 20 below zero! Good thing for coffee, eh?"

These are the kinds of things I think about when I'm not dodging traffic...

Ask Lucky: How Big Should My Next Bike Be?

In the comments, Noam Sayin' asked a question with an answer too big to be left buried in the comments of some other post. So, I figured I'd bring it out in the open.

Noam says: I'm thinking of buying a motorcycle this year. One question I need to answer is whether or not I'll be happy on something around 900cc or should I jump to something in the 1100 - 1300 range. I'm thinking for a touring or sport-touring bike; something on which I can kick around Northern MN & WI and eventually maybe a trip out to the PCH.

Ah, the old dilemma: how much bike is enough?

The first part of this question is: Are you getting a Harley? If so, get the big motor. A Harley is still essentially a tractor from the early 1900's, so you might as well get one that can pull stumps and tow a hay baler..

Assuming you're not getting a Harley, it doesn't take much bike at all to do what you want. Dealers will tell you you need a liter bike. This is because they make more money if you buy a bigger bike.

In reality, though, most of the modern motorcycle manufacturers can make 100 horsepower with a rubber band and two paperclips. The Triumph Speed Four, for example, has a 600cc motor making 98 horsepower. I can cruise at 90mph for 6 hours carrying enough gear for a couple days. So don't let anyone tell you that you "need" a bigger motor.

A smaller bike is lighter, which means it will be easier to maneuver and handle. Coming from a scooter you're going to be kind of shocked at how much work it is to handle a bigger bike.

Smaller bikes get better gas mileage and cheaper insurance too.

So, why get a liter bike? Because you want to go really fast in a straight line. If you're going to carry a passenger every single time you get on the bike you might also want a liter bike for the extra room. Otherwise, you're never even going to touch the capabilities of the machine during normal use.

Now, I am a little biased towards small bikes, because I think it's far more fun to push a machine to it's limits than to never really dig in to a bigger machine.

OK. So, what do I think you should look at?

Well, first off, BMW is right out because of their tendency to break in expensive ways at 12,000 miles.

The Suzuki SV-650 is a very capable and friendly machine. It's also cheap. There is a big aftermarket full of performance and touring bits for this bike. I'd totally add one to my garage.

The Suzuki V-Strom is the fire-road-capable version of the SV. Totally decent from what I hear.

The Yamaha FZ6 is comfy and capable.

Don't get a Honda. You'll meet nice people on it.

Don't get a Kawasaki because it's generally agreed that they're for assholes.

You can't go wrong with a Triumph, though I'm very biased.

A few more things to consider:

How are you going to ride 90% of the time? I want to ride the PCH too, but most of the time I'm here in Phoenix battling traffic. My stripped-down machine suits me perfectly 90% of the time. The three hours of nothing between here and California does kind of suck, but I don't do that ride very often.

What's your budget? European bikes are more expensive to own than Japanese bikes. Of course, when you get the Euro bug, you don't care.

Finally, which bike gives you the biggest, dumbest grin? Get that one. Motorcycles are not appliances like, ugh, cars. Reason has very very little to do with what bike you get.* The Big Dumb Grin is reason enough. So if a 1300cc Sport-Touring bike makes you jump up and down clapping your hands and giggling, then you've got your answer already.

So, that wraps up this edition of Ask Lucky. You keep sending me questions, and I'll keep providing responses which might or might not actually answer your question.


*A note to newbie riders: You really ought to get something small and used for your first bike. We want you to survive long enough to get your dream bike.

Cagers are Obnoxious and Rude. Right?

So this morning I rode the ET4 to work and I noticed a higher percentage of people driving like complete twits than when I'm on the Triumph.

And I wondered - are people extra rude around scooters, or is it just easier to notice them being rude when I'm not watching light bend on the Triumph?*



*I do have it on good authority that cagers just can't manage basic road etiquette around scooters.

Causing Trouble Again

So it would seem that I've successfully repaired the oil leak on the Triumph. There were no puddles of oil under the bike this morning, which is just how I like it...

Anyway, after a couple of weeks on the Vespa, getting back on the Speed Four is kinda... exhilarating. What can I say? I like fast motorcycles.

So after riding a more leisurely bike, it's very, very tempting to get into all sorts of trouble.

Especially when some guy in his car wants to race. I love it when people in cars want to race. Usually, I don't actually indulge in my urges to whack open the throttle and leave behind a hazy outline of myself that can still outrun some doofus in his pick 'em up.

But a cager who wants to race a motorcycle is just begging to be messed with. Although I wouldn't do this - because it would be dangerous as well as foolish - here is what I sorely want to do:

1. Doofus indicates desire to race in usual way (getting next to me and hanging out, then keeping pace when I speed up to get my safety cushion back)
2. I get into full tuck and speed up the tiniest bit, just to get doofus hooked
3. Doofus tries to pass, and I keep pace as we accelerate
4. I let him get the tiniest bit ahead, then pull up next to him/slightly ahead
5. Repeat step 4 several times so doofus thinks we're really racing now
6. Look over and make eye contact with doofus
7. Wink
8. Downshift and watch doofus vanish in my rear view mirrors

So maybe I won't really do it, but it's sure a fun dream...