My Holiday Message

The following passage just spontaneously wrote itself when I was writing about something else. I thought it was a good message for the holiday season so I'm re-posting it here:

I'm a WASP-born agnostic with zen leanings. I might be an honorary Catholic because my wife's family and so many of my friends have been Catholic. By that reasoning I might be an honorary Jew as well. And maybe an honorary black man. And I'm on my way to becoming an honorary east Indian and Mexican. If you hate me on sight for not being just like you, then stay the hell away from me. But I'll have a beer (or coffee) with anyone and everyone else. Most people are just people. Ignore the divisive media. United we stand.

I love motorcycling!

Today I took what will very likely be my last motorcycle ride for the year. It was also, possibly, the last ride of my life. (That last statement is truer for a leukemia patient like me than for the average rider. I'm doing well on that count but it's always touch and go.)

The day couldn't have been nicer. It was around 50 F and damp. In my cold weather gear I was snug and comfy and the big British twin LOVES damp cool weather. On days like this the Chrome Nun doesn't like to end the ride and neither do I. On my way home I kept turning down side roads and taking a longer and longer way home.

The Chrome Nun is a 2008 Triumph Bonneville T100, arguably the last truly great retro motorcycle. It's the last model year with real carbs. It also sports old-fashioned incandescent lights and mechanical gauges. It even has tall spoked wheels that require inner tubes. The only brake control and traction control are provided by the rider. The T100 version of the new Bonneville line is a 60s style motorcycle with 21st. century engineering and quality.

The Nun got her name because she's black and white and chrome all over and because in the hot months I take lots of early rides on Sundays which I refer to as "going to church." "The Chrome Nun" was a nickname that David Crosby gave to Grace Slick. Like her namesake, my motorcycle looks like a lady but is lots more fun than a lady.

Around Saint Louis, once the temps dropped below 60 F all the hogs disappeared. Below 50 F the sport bikes all disappeared. Then it was only me and a few BMW riders out risking ice patches. The BMWs were always newer models, probably equipped with heated handgrips. That means I won the prize for craziest winter rider. (The prize is really cold stiff hands.)

But in Northwest Indiana, I see very few BMWs. Instead, I'm joined on the road on cool days by hogriders. Any rider who can't wait for warm weather is a bro of mine. You'll hear me criticize hog-poseurs, fair weather riders who only ride to the bar to be seen with their fellow boys. But you'll never hear me criticize a true rider, no matter what he rides. Besides, some hogs are really @#$% cool!

On one of my last rides I went down to Cedar lake and rode all around the area. I saw a few real hogriders and a bar full of poseurs. Also, when I pulled over to check my phone for messages, I was passed by about a dozen youngsters on sport bikes. They were respectful and safe and several of them waved. They weren't in town on busy streets showing off like assholes, they were enjoying a ride in the country. That makes me feel good. 

It's noteworthy that my Bonneville gets respect from hogriders and sport bike riders alike. The two groups don't always extend the same courtesy to each other. I expect all real riders do. To me a real rider is someone who simply loves riding motorcycles, like I do. You don't have to be the fastest, loudest or most reckless in order to enjoy riding. Just seeing a nice motorcycle makes you feel good, and riding one makes you smile inside and out.

The Chrome Nun 12-2017

click to enlarge

Moto Explorer

[I've written about this before but it's one of my favorite topics. And though I tell some stories over and over, at least I never tell them the same way twice.]

I enjoy riding a motorcycle. I don't have to go fast or look cool or impress anyone in any way. Just being on a motorcycle makes me happy. I make this distinction because many people who ride motorcycles don't simply enjoy riding motorcycles. They are dissatisfied if their mount isn't fast enough or cool enough or impressive enough. But put me on any motorcycle and you'll put a smile on my face.

I do prefer naked standard midsize motorcycles. "Naked" means no fairing or other body work. "Standard" means an upright seating position with feet straight down, instead of reclining like on a cruiser or laying face down like on a "sport bike." Midsize these days would be around 750cc - 1000cc. My 865cc 2008 Triumph Bonneville T100 is all these things.

My favorite kind of riding is unhurriedly exploring back roads. I take off in no particular direction and when I see any road that looks interesting I explore it. I've equipped my Triumph with dual-sport tires for roads that turn to gravel or worse. I ride roads that aren't suitable for cruisers or sport bikes.

I've done this kind of riding since I was 16 and rode a 250cc Honda Dream.* As a result, I've seen countless interesting sights that no one else has seen unless they live down those roads or have had some kind of business there.

I know there are more moto-explorers like me out there, but I bet there aren't many. And I bet that between us we've seen as many interesting sights as all other riders combined.

You, too, can be a moto-explorer. You just:

get your motor running,
head out on the back way,
slow the @#$% down,
pay attention to your surroundings,
stop and take a closer look sometimes.

You can thank me later.

---------------------------------------------

*It wasn't fast or cool and no one was impressed, but I had a blast on that little bike!

Leukemia

Starting April 1, 2017 I was slammed down by Leukemia. Some April fool joke, eh?

Last Sunday, June 25, 2017 was the first time I rode the Nun since March. It was wonderful.

I'm in remission right now and feeling pretty good. But the doctors will soon put a stop to that.

Next on the agenda is worse chemo than I've already done, plus stem cell therapy.

Prognosis: 50% chance that I'll be "healed", 50% chance that I won't, and 15% chance that the treatment will kill me. Gentlemen, place your bets.

Those odds are based on average patients, meaning much older and sicklier than this tough old dog. So maybe I actually have better odds. Odds are for suckers, anyway. Anything might happen. The Russian roulette aspect of the treatment just keeps things interesting. Yeah, right.

I'm not really sad or despairing. It mostly just kind of sucks. I had finally reached a point of contentment in my life. All was well and I was looking forward to maybe ten more years of the same. Surprise!

Oh well. I've had one helluva good full life. If my life flashes before my eyes as I depart this existence, it'll be the blockbuster of the year.

Winter in NWI

Since buying the Nun in the spring of 2009 I haven't gone for more than two weeks at a time without riding... until now. Now I live in NWI (Northwest Indiana) where there's more snow and cold than I've encountered since a residency in Iowa in the 70s.

This winter hasn't been bad and I don't think I've gone more than three weeks between rides, but the winter is young and I'm not. If I stay here for the rest of my life, like I plan to, there will be some long spells between rides most winters.

Good thing I bought a battery monitor/charger when I bought the motorcycle, not that I've needed it until now. It was not a cheap one so I'm kind of glad to be getting use from it. I always use a little fuel stabilizer during the colds months which is probably not necessary but better safe than sorry.

Yesterday, January 21, temps got just over 60. All the motos were out and I was among them. It was a grand thing. I think all the waves and nods of motorcyclist to motorcyclist recognition were genuine and that most were accompanied by smiles. My smile was hidden under my full-coverage helmet.

The Nun is a true Brit. She loves cooler weather and especially damp or foggy weather. I used to think I was imagining it but it's too distinct a difference to be imaginary. Maybe its the result of the engine's first tuning taking place in the UK.

Nothing more to add today. I'll try to write again before 2018.

Leisurely Motorcycling

I have described the Chrome Nun, my 2008 Triumph Bonneville T100, as a "Gentleman's Motorcycle" and I tend to ride like a gentleman. I don't make unnecessary noise, pull wheelies or drag race. I simply enjoy riding a motorcycle. I'm in no hurry to get anywhere and I usually don't even have a specific destination. The ride itself is my goal.

This came to mind last Sunday when I "went to church" (my term for riding the Nun on Sunday). I recently moved to Northwest Indiana, which is nearly as flat as the Central Illinois flat-lands I swore I'd never return to. There are no exciting hills or curves, but I enjoyed my ride very much. I was doing the kind of motorcycle riding I like best: exploring!

A motorcycle is the best vehicle for exploring. You have the best view and it's easier to turn around than a car. This is important when roads unexpectedly end. And when I pass a road I want to explore I'm more inclined to turn around and explore it if I'm on two wheels. Finding a place to turn a four-wheeler around in the middle of nowhere can be a problem.

I turned around several times last Sunday and the ride was much better for it. I gratified my curiosity and saw new places and things I would have missed otherwise. The speed limit was consistently 30 mph. The only real curve was a wide, banked curve marked "dangerous curve." What was dangerous about it? Nothing, except it was the only curve around.

On the map this area looks like it would be boring to ride. But I've taken two long rides so far and both were far from boring. I found a lot to explore. In fact, the lack of challenge posed by the roads makes the ride more leisurely. I can pay less attention to the mechanics of riding and more to the scenery. That's a good thing for explorers like me.

OREGON !!!

I moved again.
This time I moved to Corvallis, Oregon.

Corvallis is a peaceful, sleepy little village full of pale-faced college kids and pale-faced natives.
It sits next to the Willamette (dammit) River, which looks like a creek compared to the Mississippi.
The river runs the wrong way; that is, it runs straight north.
I went to the river yesterday just to witness that for myself. It seemed so wrong!

This town is not the most exciting motorcycling town.
But it doesn't matter the least little bit.
Why?
Find Corvallis on Google maps... then zoom out... !!!

Mountain-ish hills to the west, real mountains to the east, real MOUNTAINS further east.
One of the best ocean-coast highways in the world less than an hour away.
The "high-desert" or Mount Hood a "good warm up" ride away.
More terrains and biomes within a day's ride than I have time left in my life to explore.
Practically year-round riding temperatures.

Conclusion?
I am in paradise.

The photo is from a gloomy day at Agate Beach in Newport, Oregon. Click the pic for a bigger image.

Wife and I love Newport. It's not a touristy town, it's a real fishing town.

The breakers looked big enough to surf on... to surf for a few feet, anyway.

I expect I'll be posting articles and photos here more frequently than I have the past couple of years. Where I lived in Missouri the best riding was right around my home. Once I'd written about that I'd pretty much covered it.

But in Corvallis I have to "leave home" to reach the good stuff, and there's different good stuff in every direction!

UNFORTUNATE UPDATE:
Oregon was a bust. Their ecology was ruined a generation ago and good motorcycling roads were much fewer than anticipated. A lot of the twisties on the map are just old logging roads lined with rubble and surrounded by identical species trees and nothing else. It's like corn country, only with Douglas firs instead of cornstalks.

I started out on the twistiest highway from Corvallis to the coast but turned back after awhile because the road was far more dangerous than fun. The pavement is crap from snow chains and spikes. The lanes are barely big enough for two vehicles to get past each other and drivers cross the line at every blind curve. The edge of the road is immediately followed by a rockface or a chasm. The curve banking in the twisties is so exaggerated that it just makes navigation worse.

Willamette Valley was as flat as and even boring than Central Illinois. At least in Central Illinois you saw wild animals. I could stand in the middle of the valley sometimes and scan the sky from the Coastal Range to the Cascades and not see a single bird. Creepy.

Most of the "wildlife" I saw in Oregon wasn't very wild. Most towns have resident half-tame populations of blacktailed deer (many of them crippled by SUVs) and a particularly stupid variety of turkey wandering the streets. Most towns also have an equivalent population of homeless people.

I do miss Newport, though. Sea lions, whales, crabs, sea birds, tidal pools...

Uneventful update, but...

Haven't ridden much this year. Still under 24K miles. Still haven't done 24K maintenance. But I have enjoyed the rides I've taken. Mostly I was ridiculously busy at work this past Spring and Summer and when I had time off I was pooped.

But there's exciting new development in the story. It looks very much like the Nun and I (and wife, and cats) will be moving to or near Corvallis, Oregon.

For those of you who are naive and/or just stupid, Corvallis is a little over an hour from the best sea-side ride in the US, is surrounded by mostly uninhabited "mountains" and the region has about as much park land as private land. The flora and fauna are very different from what I've befriended in the Appalachians and Ozarks. I have yet to shake hands with a cat larger than a Maine Coon Cat and Eastern Oregon has bobcat and lynx. They also have mountain lion, puma and cougar (oh wait... those are all the same thing).

5-7-14

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been busy. I moved again, made a lot of synthesizer music, even hosted an internet-radio show for a few months. But it's Spring now and the Chrome Nun (my 2008 T100) is demanding long overdue attention.

This morning I rode to work. I've seldom done that since moving because the ride directly to work is now very boring. Today I left early and took the not-so-direct route to work. That was much better. It was a great ride, except that it ended at work.

The Nun is coming up on her 24,000 mile service. Since she's now out of warranty I'm going to do most or all of the service myself. I might chicken out on doing the bucket and shim valve adjustment. We'll see.

I'm still rolling on my first set of Tourance tires. I can't say enough good things about them. I will absolutely replace them with the same kind (if these suckers ever wear out!). If there is a better bad-road tire it can't be better by much, and I'm tired of experimenting.

The Nun still purrs like a lady and growls like a bitch. John Bloor has reason to be proud of the 2008 T100. I couldn't be happier with this motorcycle. She was "on" this morning. Or was it me? Or was it the gas? Who knows? All I know is she usually runs great but sometimes runs even better. All my Hondas were like that. They always ran great, but some days there just seemed to be a little extra something. Maybe I'm just nuts.

It is true that all my motorcycles, every one of them air-cooled, ran best in cooler weather. And I could swear this British bike loves the fog. Any motorhead knows the importance of atmospheric conditions on engine performance.

I think I've already blogged about the huge differences in performance I've experienced just by fueling up at different stations. Didn't I? Didn't I tell you that after filling up at one BP I was convinced that something was seriously wrong with the Nun? Didn't I tell you how I spent a morning riding at different RPMs and different inclines trying to get a feel for the problem when I noticed that I was low on gas and far from home? Didn't I tell you that after filling up at a 66 in Otto I putted to the edge of town then opened her up and almost flew off the back of my suddenly super-charged monster?

I'm not exaggerating the difference. I really thought the Nun was sick. One new tank of fuel and she was 110%. It would appear that fuel quality is important.

But there is one other important variable in my ever-changing motorcycling experience: me. I'm not quite the same person any two times I straddle the Nun. Sometimes I'm just not "into it." Other times the machine and I are one; a bionic centaur, half-man-half-motorcycle. On those occasions life is grand.

You say, "welcome back but where are the @#$% photos?" Kinda pushy, aren't you. OK, I'll take more photos. See ya soon.

Your pal,
The Lone Nun-rider

Tourance update

Last March when I put Tourance tires on the Nun I raved about them.
Now it's one year later and I'm even more impressed.

With a year's worth of wear they still stick better on bad roads than my previous tires.
The original Metzelers and Pirelli Sport Demons are only good for clean, smooth, dry roads; they slide like snake snot on anything else. The Tourance tires work on damp, dirty and poorly maintained roads (my favorite kind)..

Tourance wears like iron. I'll get two years out of front and rear tires.
I'm stuck on Tourance.

UPDATE 12-2017: Still stuck on Tourance. I see no point in even trying anything else.

Springtime in Jeff Co Mo.

Jefferson County, Missouri, that is. 

There are a few hobby "farms" with horses, goats and llamas but it's mostly suburban subdivisions perched on ridges and nestled in a few of the hollows. Most of the land is too steeply inclined for development. Rock strata jut out everywhere and the ecology is diverse. Neighbors include deer, raccoon, opossum, groundhogs and skunks as well as box turtles, garter snakes and skinks. The armadillo is a recent immigrant. There goes the neighborhood. 

The roads along the ridges are some of the twistiest back roads anywhere. Other roads follow the contours of the hills like a lazy roller coaster. I see a few middleweight Euro and Asian motorcycles out here but not many highway hogs.

Winter Riding in Missouri

So far this winter I have mostly just ridden the Nun on weekends.

I only rode to work once so far this winter because morning or evening conditions are potentially hazardous on most days. I don't ride in the dark when temps are below freezing because icy patches are possible. Even when there has been no recent precipitation there can be moisture from other sources.

When temps drop toward the lower 40s F all the hogs disappear. The last of the rice rockets vanish a few degrees later. Then it's just me and some guy on a BMW out here in the Jefferson County hills. I haven't met him yet. We always seem to be going in opposite directions so our interaction has been limited to nods and waves.

Anywhere I stop, people ask me, "Isn't it a little cool for riding a motorcycle?" I list all the layers of thermal protection I'm wearing and explain that I ride mostly in the JeffCo twisties, which means I'm not usually going very fast. Still, a few people think I'm nuts.

I enjoy riding when it's cold. It's a different experience and a different challenge from riding in warmer weather.
The scenery is different, too. All summer my favorite woodland roads are lined with walls of greenery. Only in winter can I see all the way up the hills and down the valleys. And when there's snow on the ground those hills and valleys are breathtaking.

So what do I do to winterize my Triumph? Nothing. I ride that sucker.

I've been living in motorcycle paradise (Jefferson County, Missouri) for more than a year now.
It's about @#$% time I did a ride report, don't you think? Sure you do.

I thought Wildhorse Creek Rd. was twisty. I thought Calhoun County, Illinois was hilly. Then I moved to "JeffCo." The roads in my neighborhood have more snake curves than an exotic dancer and more hills than hillbilly heaven. Check out the map above. Rock Creek Rd. and Four Ridge Rd. are, like most roads out here, "ridgerunners" that stay along the high points of the hills as much as possible. Of course that's not always possible so there's some nice steep sections. And you'll notice one of our many cool hairpin turns on Rock Creek Valley Rd.

If you live near St. Louis you should check out these roads. Do NOT take them very fast until you know them. Many of the curves are blind and some of the local dumbasses tend to cross the line on blind curves. And there's deer, box turtles, rodents, goats, cows and armadillos (new arrivals to the area) crossing the roads. It's like a video game . But remember, you only have one life.

One last thing about the Google map above. It's wrong. Some of the road names are not current. The MapQuest map of the area is wrong, too. I don't know if the Wunnenberg Street Guide is correct. But you eventually always wind up on a main road so I wouldn't worry too much about getting lost. Just fill up your gas tank before you explore my neighborhood.

Mototireusa near St. Louis.

Update to this post, 3-10-13: Black goo has been oozing out of the rear rim around one spoke. These clowns didn't replace the inner tube they damaged; they put fix-a-flat in my tube!!!!
I would take the bike back and insist they do it right BUT I CAN NO LONGER TRUST THEM.

Mototireusa in Fenton, Missouri installed my new Tourance tires. They didn't have the rear tube in stock but said my year-old tube looked fine.

Two weeks later I had a slow leak that rapidly became a fast leak.

I removed the wheel (knocking the bike off the center stand, because I was way too tired when I did it) and took it to Mototireusa. I wanted a new tube and I wanted to know why the old one failed.

Next morning the man tells me their tech had pinched the tube. No charge for the repair.10-13

Yes, the tech made a mistake. What tech never makes a mistake? I used to be a tech. I made mistakes sometimes.

Bottom line, I have come to expect service companies to lie about it when THEY screw up. Mototireusa owned up to their mistake and did what they could to make it right.

I'm impressed. I'll be back.

And yes, I knocked the Nun off the center stand when I was trying to get the rear tire off. I work for a lawn and garden parts department and spring came early this year. I had just spent three days working at full speed all day. I was so tired I literally couldn't see straight. So why did I tackle the job? Because I also wasn't thinking straight. I could have injured myself or damaged the bike but I'm alright and I think the bike's OK. I'll find out today when I try to round up the parts that scattered when the bike fell.

Spring comes early

I've been riding to work every day. Today I saw daffodils in full bloom all over the place. It's only March 1st.

I love my new Tourance tires. They stick like glue and steer like ESP. I just think where I want to go and I'm there.

The tires were the last puzzle piece. Everything feels right now. With the Triumph K&Q seat, the Dart Flyscreen and Tourance tires, the bike feels the way I want it to. It feels like mine.

And I'm living in the midst of the best back roads around.

I'm having a blast.

Hello from Port Charlotte, Florida

As I was told in the Triumph Rat forums, Florida is not a good place for motorcycling. This place is flat and boring. It's like the Great Plains with palm trees. I've only been here a few days and I'm already homesick for my Missouri hills. My wife loves it here but I really don't like it. I fly home tomorrow.

Tourance = wow

I just took my new Tourance tires for a hard ride in the twisties. I sought out gravel, sand and sod and could not make these tires slip without deliberately trying to. The Nun is now ready for some serious bad road exploring. I'm in love all over again.

Motorcycle Slang?

I've been riding a lot (thank god for mild St. Louis winters) and reading Dash Hammett, again. Motorcycling and 1920's gang slang are getting mixed up in my twisted mind. So listen youse guys...

I got an eightball model T (black and white T100) with a tripod (center stand), a shovel (Dart Flyscreen looks like a shovel head), a throne (King and Queen seat) and a pair of snakes (Tourance tire treads look like reptile scales), see?

Will these slang terms catch on? Geez, I sure hope not.

Hello out there

I'm still here.

I thought I would be writing more when winter weather prevented me from riding but so far I still ride every weekend. We've had very little snow and it's off the roads quickly. Let me say again that I am very glad to be back in the St. Louis area!\

I haven't been posting photos because I got out of the habit of carrying the camera with me. Whenever I see a breathtaking shot, there is no place to safely stop!! The roads out here are nicely paved but they have no shoulders.

And from August through December I had another pastime competing with the Nun for my attention. I got bit by the music bug and made an album of Space Age Synth Music. You can hear it all for free at

http://aejotz.com

Lately I've been bike crazy again and I haven't touched the synthesizers for weeks. I come back from a ride satisfied, but in an hour I'm restless and craving another ride. There's a lot on my mind lately, lots of problems around me, even though I'm OK personally. Riding the twisties is like being rocked in mama's arms. It's very comforting.

I was fish-tailing a lot yesterday so I finally ordered new tires. I'm putting Tourance on the Nun. I'll let you know what I think of them after I break them in.

still too busy

I haven't abandoned this blog, I've just been busy with other things, like riding the Nun around motorcycle paradise. Also, around the time I turned 57 back in August, I got the synthesizer bug and started making electronic music again. You can listen to the results at aejotz.com

When the snow flies and I can't ride I will be back here blogging wistfully about motorcycling.