After seeing my Givi T411 Voyager Saddlebags rub the paint job on the VFR and VStrom and the Two Brothers logo on the VStrom, I finally broke down and got a pair of Givi E36N cases. These cases are designed to be either top or side cases. With the addition of the Givi PL528, I will mount them as side cases. I found all three components (2 x E36N’s and 1 x PL528) for a bit of a discounted price compared to most websites. A company out of Southern Georgia called RL Motorcycles has a website dedicated to Motorcycle accessories. The cases and PL528 were a bit under typical MSRP and shipping is a flat $9.95 per order! Continue reading »
Jul 302008
This is the 20 oz. 6 CFM Gravity Feed Spray Gun by Central Pneumatic from Harbor Freight. It was my weapon of choice when I decided that it was time to attempt to paint the Shoei RF-700 blue. I had painted it red last year as practice in painting and to match my VFR. I only used spray paint for that project. It was not a good match, but it worked for the time being. This old RF-700 is about 12 years old. My Dad got it back in 1996 when he got back into motorcycles with the purchase of a ’96 Harley Road King. Anyways, onto painting it blue. The past few evenings that I have had free, I sanded the old red to get it nice and rough for painting.
Jul 212008
With a bit of help from Hollifield’s mad skills, I repaired and painted the VFR in preparation to sell. He began the work on Monday the 14th before leaving town. He took charge of the lower fairing that had road rash from my lowside at Arroyo Seco back in November 2006. I did not get the opportunity to document his wonderful bondo/sanding job as he already had a couple of coats of paint on it by the time I got home from work to take him to the airport. The photo to the left is a few coats into the process and no work done on blending in the two slightly different red colors.
Jul 152008
Hollifield and I went to yet another track day at Sandia. We tried out a new video camera that mounts to the bike. It was really neat. I have not compressed the video for online viewing yet. However, I did grab this awesome clip.
A Perfect Endo to a Perfect Day – Watch more free videos
Jul 072008
My parents came out Thursday night. They had a real tight connection between Atlanta and Albuquerque and barely made it themselves. Their checked luggage did not make it. So, we had to wait for the first Friday flight from Atlanta to bring the bags. This was nice, because we got to take them to Frontier to experience one of Albuquerque’s best restaurants. We also got to have a nice leisurely start to our weekend on Friday morning. We got the bags early Friday afternoon, and headed out at around 4:45pm.
Jun 252008
Tamara’s niece turned two over the weekend. This is the Jones family and they live in Roswell, NM. It is her sister and brother-in-law live there with their 4 children (3 girls and 1 boy). We took the opportunity to drive the VStrom on a longer trip and test out a few new toys.
- Our new BlueAnt Interphone bluetooth headsets that also have an intercom feature
- A homemade hardware mounting plate for my garage door opener, MP3 player
- New headphones for the both of us
- My old Escort 945i radar detector
We took a straight highway route to get there on Saturday morning. It was colder than expected, humid, foggy (in Vaughn), and a bit rainy. It took just a bit longer than usual because we took an extended gas break in Vaughn to let the weather pass over us a bit. The route we took home was the fun part.
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840 Miles of Southwest Fun!
It all started out with replacing a REALLY bent inner fork tube for the VFR. Check it out… <sarcasm>Can you see where it is bent? I’m not sure that it is pronounced enough.</sarcasm>
Tamara and I fixed the bike up together and went on a ride to Western NM and Eastern AZ over the Memorial Day weekend holiday. Check out the photos here: Memorial Day Weekend Ride.
Day 1 (Friday): 80 miles to Socorro
We left after work around 6:15pm and headed to Socorro. The wind was a bit high and we were heading into it. The one hour drive to Socorro couldn’t go by fast enough! An annoying start to the ride. We stayed at a Howard Johnson that was strategically placed across the street from Socorro Springs Brewery. They have the best beer and pizza in the Southwest! This would be our only stay in a hotel, too. Continue reading »
May 112008
My Dad, Hollifield and I had another set of successful track days this past March and May. We started at Arroyo Seco on March 8. My Dad and I were down there and taking turns on the GSXR750. The track was running counter-clockwise. I enjoy both directions, but seem to find better lines going counter-clockwise. I guess it is because I have ridden that direction more often.
Sandia was on May 4. The track was running clockwise which meant that the poor little CBR F2 was going to have trouble in the front straight. The carbs need to be re-jetted, but we have not had a chance to try to work on them. I had my GSXR750 out there for the first time since Dave (the previous owner) last raced it out there. Continue reading »