Big snow = no mo...

...torcycles

At least I hope it doesn't. Today's unofficial snow fall amount, measured on the top of my car, is 6" thereabouts. Motorcycles and snow don't mix well. Drive your car or stay home. Trust me.

I've seen intrepid motorcyclists ride in the snow--I've done it myself. But it's not to be condoned; especially so for new riders but for experienced riders too. Unlike rain, good tires and good riding technique (see tip 9 in my 9 tips post) cannot compensate for the loss of traction in snow. A motorcycle, unlike a car, is inherently unstable. It can go down in the snow even when not leaned over. Coupling this with generally poor visibility--including when it warms enough for road spray to be a factor--suggests motorcycle riders should exercise their car driving skills when the ground is white.

If you really can't stand not riding when there's snow & ice on the roads, then make sure your life insurance is paid up and be prepared for some puckering experiences.

Be careful = be smart.

Lava lamps akimbo

In a previous post, I mentioned purchasing a lava lamp and using it to stimulate pleasant thoughts.

Well, I love it so much I got another. The first is a "blue" lamp: blue water & blueish white lava. My new one is a "black" lamp, which is more accurately described as a chocolate lamp. Very cool.




If I'm not careful, I'm going to have one in every room!

Have fun...john

Summer riding plans firming up

I might have found a theme for this summer's rides. Recall that my last summer's theme was photographing suspension bridges in VA. This summer might be a run to see how many weird and wacky travel sights we can visit. Check this out: click me.

I'm open to suggestions if you have other ideas. Please pass them along.

later...john

Motorcycling Malaise Ended?

Something is not right. Today marks the 5th day in a row that temps have been above 50^oF. Very unusual for February in the Washington metro area. Earlier in the week, temps were nearing 70^o! Yet, I felt no compulsion to ride. On the contrary, I drove 4-wheels every day but today. What's going on?

I hesitate to be too introspective asking 'Why'...I'm concerned I might not like the answers.

However, this morning, I donned my riding suit and rode my Valkyrie to work. Cold air, stinging eyes, numb fingers...and yet, a most excellent commute. The stars aligned and I was forced by traffic to slow down through a sweeping right hander in time to give a respectful nod to a uniformed radar operator.

All is well with the world.

Saw no motorcycles today

I think the high of 14 ^oF (that's -10 ^oC for you folks outside the US) kept riders inside. Not only was the temp low, but the wind was blowing too. The apparent temperature (aka wind chill) was below 0 ^oF at times.

Man am I looking forward to warmer weather.

Improving motorcycle power to weight ratio Part II

All together now:

Control portion size...
...no late night snacks.

How to: Increase the power to weight ratio on my Ducati

Any vehicle's acceleration, be it a car or motorcycle, is determined by its power to weight ratio. I think its a bit more intuitive to flip the ratio giving weight to power, that is, a number indicating how many pounds each horsepower has to move.

Some examples:
Dodge Viper

• 10 cylinder engine
• 450-hp
• 3500-lbs
• power-to-weight ratio = 0.129 hp/lbs
• weight-to-power ratio = 7.8 lbs/hp

So, for the Viper, one hp pushes almost 8 lbs down the road.

Ducati Multistrada

• 2 cylinder engine
  
• 90-hp
• 500-lbs
• P-to-W = 0.180 hp/lbs
  
• W-to-P = 5.6 lbs/hp

That is, each horsepower on the Multistrada pushes less than 6 lbs down the road.

Now we see why even relatively small-engine size motorcycles blow the doors off nearly any automobile.

But wait...
Neither cars nor motorcycles drive themselves. So, we should factor in the weight of the driver/rider to be a bit more precise. For most cars, the weight of the driver is relatively negligible compared to the weight of the car. For example, for the Viper, a 200-lb driver (yeah, a portly dude) amounts to less than 6% of the car's weight. So, the 7.8 lbs/hp becomes 8.3 lbs/hp...not much change (6% change to be exact).

What about the motorcycle?
The 200-lb rider is a whooping 40% of the weight of the bike. Thus, the most excellent 5.6 lbs/hp raises to a Viper comparable 7.8 lbs/hp. So, now this Ducati won't stomp the omnipotent Viper.

So, how do I increase the W-to-P ratio of my Ducati?

Control portion size.
No late night snacks.

Motorcycling and the zen of a lava lamp

An impulse buy. I bought one of these and set it up on my desk at work. Brings back that slow up & down motion of the head with the unfocused eyes and slightly open maw threatening drool--a look that was prevalent in the 1960s among certain crowds. One that I didn't experience personally by the way.



The slow, methodical movement of the "lava" (what is the lava anyway?) got me to thinking about pleasant things like motorcycling. Now that we're on the "right side" of the winter solstice, I'm anxious for longer days, warmer temps, and cycle rides with friends and family. Alas, here in the Washington DC metro area, we're in for more colder weather before warm weather arrives.

Things to do before spring:

• Put fuel stabilizer in all bikes.
  
• Change the plugs in the Valkyrie.
• Change the plugs in the Goldwing trike.
  
• Change the front brakes on the Multistrada.
• Replace brake & clutch fluid in all bikes.

All of these could have been done during the holidays...none were. The holidays turned out to be a black hole sucking time into oblivion. My winter-a-zation for our bikes is minimal (click here) owing to much experience in what works and how much really needs to be done. Different folks in different places must adjust their winterizing accordingly, especially north of here.

Despite the less than ideal riding conditions during the dark months, the number of motorcyclists, and definitely the number of robust motorcyclists, is clearly on the rise. I've seen more riders out and about during this holiday season than I can remember. Many riding with open face helmets sans a face cover. Tough dudes! (I didn't notice any dudette riders, but there may have been some who wisely donned full face helmets making it difficult to determine gender.)

Comments solicited.

Tip: Don't shake a lava lamp. The lava bursts into tiny bubbles taking hours to coalesce disrupting its soothing properties.

2008 Statistics: How many visitors?

Using Google Analytics, another useful free service provided by Google to capture statistics for a web site, I tracked the number of visits (blue line) and unique visitors (orange line) for each month in 2008. Though the numbers are paltry compared to popular blogs, I'm happy anyone is reading mine. May was the best month with about 125 visits by almost 100 readers. And not surprisingly, the last three months have been on a decline. I hope to rectify this for the new year. We'll see....

Happy New Year folks. Ride safely.

I'm back!

After 3 months of silence, I'm back. Hopefully, back with a writing vengeance. Given the timing of my return, this may appear to be akin to a New Year's resolution. Not so. Technically, it's not yet the new year. (Yes, I'm anti-New Year's-resolution.)

It took 3 months for me to get over not making a post of our last suspension bridge ride in late August (I think it was late August). If you're wondering what that last ride was like, click: here, here, here, here, and here. By the end of the summer, they began to look a lot alike.

So, from now until about the spring equinox, I'm going to post more frequently on topics not necessarily related exclusively to motorcycling. Consider them topics associated with getting ready for the 2009 riding season. They will include:

• What to do with motorcycles sitting in the garage.
• Photography.
• My ever vigilant effort to lose some weight.
  
• Anything else that may come to mind.

One topic that I've been having difficulty with is coming up with a "riding project" for the coming year. Last year was VA suspension bridges. This year it will be ......
I solicit your ideas.

Feel free to comment. I'll be back soon.