Motorcycle Misadventures

Selling and shipping your bike safely to someone far away

There's a very informative post on Adventure Rider - Selling your bike safely - from a member in Oregon who sold his bike to someone in New York. He was worried about shipping it without cash in advance so followed a how-to on eBay to set up an account with escrow.com. He describes his concerns, the problems, and the solutions.

Need to make a decision? Jump on your motorcycle!

  I just listened to journalist/author Jonah Lehrer talking about his new book How We Decide on In Forum (a suborganizataion of the Commonwealth Club). (He also wrote Proust was a Neuroscientist.) He talks about, well, how we decide, and emotional vs. rational thought works, i.e., the conversation between those two parts of the brain that helps us make decisions. What does this have to do with motorcycling, you ask? Well, he didn't say specifically, but automatic tasks like having a conversation with a friend, doing a crossword puzzle, driving a car (riding a motorcycle), frees up the analytical/rational mind and allow us to make the right decision. It's a fascinating conversation. And we probably already knew this, but next time we need to make a decision, it's probably best to jump on the motorcycle and let the decision happen there. Right? Listen to the program.

Cash or credit? Punt or go for first down? Deal or no deal? Life is filled with puzzling choices. Reporting from the frontiers of neuroscience and armed with riveting case studies of how pilots, quarterbacks, and others act under fire, Jonah Lehrer presents a dazzlingly authoritative and accessible account of how we make decisions, what's happening in our heads as we do so, and how we might all become better deciders. Luckily, this one's a no-brainer: Read this book.
--Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)

The Sweet Scent of Spring

This morning when I was riding I caught a whiff of sweet broom and was reminded that the sense of smell is the most powerful of all of them, and one of the reasons I like riding so much. Whether it's flowers or manure, at least I'm always "in the moment," for better or for worse. By the time I've got where I'm going I'm fairly fully aware of the places I passed through, which is more than I can say when I drive a car.

Home again this late afternoon I hiked in the hills above my neighborhood in Point Richmond. One part of the trail was absolutely overloaded with broom laden with yellow flowers, the heady scent as strong as if I was sniffing from a bottle of perfume. I walked slowly then, to make it last -- the yellow flowers, the perfume, the blue bay sparkling below, the families in the park with balloons and barbecues. It's a shame that it's an invasive species but, so are we. I suppose the best we can do is try to contribute something sweet.

Happy spring riding, with all your senses.

Want to Work at Moto Guzzi in Mandello del Lario?

My friend Alis Agostini, (yes, daughter of Duilio), in Italy is fabulous and fun and she has a dream job -- maybe for you:

Do you want to work and live in Mandello del Lario? Meet people from all over the world? Do you think that working at the historic Agostini Moto Guzzi dealership would be at least interesting if not actually fulfill a lifetime ambition?

If so . . . click: Position Vacant News flash Announcements Moto Guzzi Concessionaria Duilio Agostini Mandello del Lario.

Uneasy riders: Yen and the lack of motorcycle company maintenance

"The New York Times today offers a story about the serious problems affecting Harley Davidson, producer of the nation’s iconic motorcycle. Among the problems are that the age of the average rider has climbed to 49–a year shy of the requirement for AARP membership–and the average income of those riders is $87,000. In the meantime, as with cars, Japanese companies have been more efficient, producing better, cheaper and more varied products. And as with cars, those competitive problems began in the 1970s." Read the whole story at: Uneasy riders: Yen and the lack of motorcycle company maintenance : James McPherson’s Media & Politics Blog.

Via an IronWorksMag tweet.

Do Motorcycles Keep You Young?

If you're tired of hearing about how motorcycles are supposedly responsible for everything from "death rays" to impotence, there's a new report that suggests that riding helps keep you young....read more from Basem Wasef of About.com Motorcycles.

Discomfort Zone: Cruiser vs Sport Riding Positions

Jerry at Tread Life talks about re-tuning his motorcycle’s riding position. "I have some back problems, and when they flare up the only thing to do is change the handlebar position, or add a seat pad, or both, to change the ergonomics slightly." He notes that, "if you buy a sportbike, you get the racer’s crouch along with it. You buy a cruiser, you get the laid-back, feet-forward position. Car designers would see that as the tail wagging the dog. Motorcycle designers don’t, so if for example you want a bike with the performance of a sportbike and the relaxed seating position of a tourer, or a big thumping V-twin engine without the hurricane-force wind up your pant legs, you’re out of luck."

I found this interesting as I recently became aware of sport/muscle cruisers when I rode the 2009 Suzuki Boulevard M90 . . .  Well, actually, come to think of it, my introduction to this breed was actually a couple of years ago when Genevieve Schmitt of Women Riders Now showed up at my door with a Harley V-Rod and a Fat Boy. I chose the V-Rod because I'd never heard of it and it looked cool. I'd just returned from my trip Around the Adriatic on a Moto Guzzi Breva 750 IE sport touring bike. (Yeah, hey, there's another hybrid for ya, but it remains my favorite ride for touring on mixed highway and twisty European mountain and coastal roads.) 

On the V-Rod I had trouble remembering that when I reached for the footpegs I needed to reach forward, not backwards, which mad for an interesting experience on the streets of San Francisco, but I managed to ride along without falling down with Genevieve for the film crew and photographers while she interviewed me for the magazine -- and for a San Francisco motorcycle cop who escorted us off the Golden Gate Bridge. (He didn't like the camera guys hanging out of the back of the truck, but we managed to talk him out of a ticket. Gee, I wish I had that video!)

So, the point is that the new muscle/sport cruisers solve Jerry's initial problem -- that is, the desire to lean his bike back a bit into a cruiser riding position so his back doesn't hurt any more. As for his wish for adjustability . . . I predict that'll take a while.

I want a handlebar that can be raised or lowered 5 or 6 inches, and tilted forward and backward. I want a seat with several inches of height adjustability. I want footpegs with a usable range of positions to take the kink out of my knees on long rides. . . And I want them now. Please. Because I’m running out of combinations of handlebar risers and seat pads.

Read Jerry's Tread Life blog entry.

The Top Ten Motorcycle Day Trips from the San Francisco Area

I just posted what I think are the top ten motorcycle day trips from the SF Bay Area. Do you agree? It's just a start, and I'd like to invite you to vote on and edit this list.

I've also drafted top ten lists for these categories, and would also welcome votes and edits:

• Motorcycle Weekends from the San Francisco Bay Area
• Motorcycle Rides in California
• Motorcycle Roads in the USA
• Motorcycle Rides in Europe
• Epic Motorcycle Rides

Enountering a Drunk Rider: What Would You Do?

Last summer I was at Alice's Restaurant at dusk helping a friend deal with a flat tire he'd gotten during our ride. We were both busily trying to solve the problem, calling AAA and nearby friends and a tow truck and etc. when a biker rode up too fast and too close to us, stopped suddenly, almost dropped his bike, parked it, and wobbled across the parking lot to the restaurant. Yes, he was clearly so drunk he could hardly walk.

Why did I do nothing? Well, at the time I was busy helping my friend with his problem and so it was easily dismissed. But then, maybe I was simply avoiding the discomfort of the drama it would have certainly created.

But later, as I was riding home, I realized that I had a lot more discomfort around the *inaction* I took. I hate wondering if he hurt himself or others and I know that I should have done something.

When this came up in conversation with my friend Greg, he (not shy of confrontation) says he would have followed him in to find his friends or the restaurant manager. Failing to elicit a satisfactory response, he says he would have disconnected the spark plug wires on the guy's bike. "You know how hard it is to figure out your engine's firing order when you're drunk," he reasoned. Good tactic, Greg! Now I'm thinking we could have just moved the guy's bike back behind the building under the blackberry bushes. (For sure he didn't lock his steering.) Or hey, maybe I could have locked my Cryptonite on his tires. A few bucks lost, but better than life, no?

So next time I will take action. But I'm curious. Have you ever encountered a situation like this and, if so, what did you do or not do? Barring that, any creative brainstorming?

When you start your motorcycle, pull in your clutch

Most motorcycles are built with a wet clutch and recently it was pointed out to me that you need to pull in the clutch for a bit before putting it in gear. I do this anyway, I don't know why! Maybe my dad taught me that was the correct starting procedure, when I was a kid, and it just became a habit. (Click on image to go to wikipedia topic.)

Motorcycle-Glossary.com defines a wet clutch as: A clutch that contains many plates that are in the oil spray of the transmission and the oil gets between the plates. The plates on wet clutches have a tendency to stick together when the bike sits. So, when you start the bike in the morning, before you put it in first gear to move off, depress the clutch lever for about 30 seconds to allow the oil on the plates to drain off and the plates to separate. Otherwise, you’ll get a decided clunk and slight movement forward when you put it in first. (Compare Dry Clutch)

Some motorcycles have dry clutches, which results in what one forum poster describes as the "Gawd-awful racket emanating from the tranny on a dry clutch...ala Ducati."

Your comments welcome!