New vehicle for the stable

1988 mazda 323GTX

a lot of nothing?

I've been on Facebook for a few months now, but I'm still unsure when to post a status update. There seems to be a bit of ego displayed when one updates that they're doing something cool. On the other hand, would I want updates just about boring things? So, I haven't posted about the things I've done the last few weeks. GABF, WWE, Eagles Hockey, Battletech, USN Gathering and local meet and greet, picked up Eagles tix.

Eagles season ticket pickup party

New season is apon us. Preseason starts this week.

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GABF Notes

Great American Beer Festival 2010 notes, starting with the winners list http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/the-competition/winners/
I see that Blue Moon's Chardonnay Blonde won the Fruit Beer category. I remember trying this, and yes, it tastes like wine. So, why drink this instead of wine? As a trend, there seemed to be more of these wine-beers and more scotch beers. Not a lot, but more than previous years. (unless comparing to previous years shows I'm wrong)
A Boulder brewery I hadn't heard of (that won) is Twisted Pine Brewery. (but the Big Shot Expresso Stout sounds familiar. Hmmmm)
New Planet Beer Company of Boulder, advertising Gluten Free beer, got Bronze for 3R Raspberry Ale. Didn't taste any different than Gluten beers. Still, great news for getting drunk if you have IBS.
Of course, there's this category full of WIN:
Category 30: American-Style Specialty Lager or Cream Ale or Lager (42 Entries)
Hamm.s Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, WI
-
Rainier Pabst Brewing Co. Woodridge, IL
-
Old Style Pabst Brewing Co. Woodridge, IL
-
I guess there's a reason they're still around. Last year a blog (Life in the Great Midwest) did a crappy beer challenge. (http://lifeinthegreatmidwest.blogspot.com/search/label/Crappy%20Beer%20Challenge) None of the winning beers were in that challenge. The closest would be PBR. I wonder if these day's they're small enough to be Craft Beers? I went to C.B. & Potts Sunday, and they won bronze in European-Style Dunkel for their Dark Side Lager
I'll be in Keystone for Thanksgiving, and a local there, Pug Ryans Brewery, got Gold for their Bock, Hellats Good Beer
Bristol's Laughing Lab Scottish Ale won an award AGAIN. It had also won Silver in the Scottish Ale category at the 1996 World Beer Cup, the 2000 and 2006 Gold Medals, the 2007, 2002, 2001, and 1996 Silver Medals and the 1994 and 2005 Bronze Medals in the Scottish Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival
Wow, Equinox in Ft Collins, a new brewery, won bronze for Eclipse Brown Ale. Equinox was started by a home brew store.
Sun King Brewing Co in Indianapolis won two awards. They're just east of downtown. Strangely, on their website, they don't list either of their winners as currently being on tap. It'll be a place to hit after the Auto Show this Christmas.
Durango, a city of 14,000, won 4 awards from 2 breweries, and they have 4. My count puts Ft Collins at 7 breweries. We have a LOT of breweries in Colorado.

Misc notes
I drank less beer this year, but had more fun.
I wasn't as concerned that I pass by all the tables.
Many booths took down or covered up their sign listing their name, location and beers offered. This made it harder to figure out if I wanted something from them.
I never felt I had a buzz. I was full, so I know I was drinking.
Even though we got in line later and were much furtherback, the line moved so quickly I don't think it mattered.
Pretzels worked for me, and my necklace was about the right amount. Still, there has to be other foods that would work too.

Downtown Vegas

Freemont st

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PKA 2010 down, G2 to go

Last weekend was the Professional Knifemakers Show in Denver. It's a 3 day show, which seems a day too long for a show of its size. Show was full this year, or at least all the tables setup were sold. I heard there were seven new makers. Spyderco was a no show, as were the Drapers. Took time off on Saturday to go to the Spyderco factory store. I was tempted to buy a few knives, including the Bug, Honey Bee, Grasshopper, and the brand new Native 3.5 . However, I left with just the Bug.

If I have to give a reason, it was that I had a discussion with a collector back at the show who was pruning back his collection. He came to the conclusion that he had too many items just sitting in drawers doing nothing. This made me think about the above listed knives. Would I carry any of them (maybe the 3.5)? I have a group of knives I carry regularly, as I do with watches. Some rotate in and out, but there's a style I gravitate to: 3.5" blade, slim handle, any lock I can operate with one hand. The knife I carry the most is a Benchmade 940. I has all these qualities. I wish the handles had more grip, and wish there was something keeping my hand on the handle if I were to thrust at something hard and fast. The 940 sister knife, the Gaucho fixes these problems, but adds a weird recurve/tanto blade shape. I've heard you can swap the blades, but never tried.

Got off on a tangent there. It was a fun show, see a lot of knife friends, picked up 2 lefties: an Eddie Baca custom and a ProTech Doru. I should trim the collection, but it's hard.

three rails

none electrified. Two gauges of rolling stock.

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At Colorado Railroad Museum

Very nice layout. Lots of important stock

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the visible steam engine

@ colorado railroad museum

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a better ending to the weekend

Sunday was much better. Got out early to shoot the Glock Sport Shooting Association local match. I've never bought a Glock, so I borrowed a friend's Gen1 Glock 17 (9mm). It's a match designed for non shooters. The match is designed where accuracy is more important than speed, but I can't shoot that way well. I came in 50th out of 92. The friend I went with came in 24th, and shot twice as well as I did.

Sunday Evening went to a customers house and watched Summerslam. A great pay-per-view. A number of surprises, good matches.

These made up for the Mini disappointment.

The mini Minicross

Drove an hour down to Denver this morning to do a Minicross, the Mini (car) version of an autocross. They're having their national convention here this weekend, and this is one of the activities.
I looked at the Mini back in 04 when they first came to the US market as I wanted a car along side my F150. I left a deposit on a Cooper S, but when I finally got to drive one I asked for my deposit back. I loved the handling, but it was a little underpowered, and hard to see up out of (at traffic lights). I ended up buying a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, a better car.
I was in Denver at this event, as I was interested in the new 4 door all wheel drive Mini, the Countryman. I found out that they were only showing it to mini owners in private tonight. So, I registered for this minicross, and told to show up a half hour before my hour slot of 9-10am. I got there at 8:30... and had to wait a half hour for registration to begin. 9am comes around and registration is smooth and I cycle outside where the cars are waiting. Everyone wants a stick, so I volunteered for an auto. I'm with a guy in the passenger seat from Mini. We start off, make a right turn, do some zig-zag back and forth lane changes in the street between cones. We make a right at the corner and do some more, another right, and we're done. That was it. I didn't even begin to push the car, as I thought there would be more to it, like a second and third lap or a autocross area or something. I was majorly disappointed.

They did have two of the Mini E electric cars there, but in a static display, not even with the hood open.

Twisted Tea Mix Pack review

I've tried 4 of the 6 varieties in the Mix Pack, I only have to try Original, and Half & Half. The four I've tried are Light, Backyard, Midnight, and Raspberry.
I didn't like the Raspberry. The mix of tea and berry just didn't mesh here. I like other raspberry iced teas, so I assume it's something to do with the malt beverage part.
The other three are about the same- tea. The Midnight is stronger, while the Backyard is weaker (waterier?), and the Light (ONLY 115 calories) tasted like the Backyard, which is supposed to be sun tea (the Midnight is supposed to be black tea).
I expect the Half & Half to be slightly lemony, and not the half lemonade, half iced tea it should be.
I assume that Original will be like the triplets mentioned above.

In conclusion, they're all about the same, all good. I may not have the greatest taste buds, or may not have developed enough of a palate to differentiate the differences. I wonder if I could tell the differences between regular tea varieties?

Gnarly Barley 2010

Went to the 2nd annual Gnarly Barley Brew Fest on Sat 8/7/10 over at the Larimer County Fairgrounds. This is about 20 min from my home. Got there 15 min early and were about 5th in line. By the time the 'doors' opened, there were about 50 in line. $15 to get in, which got us a mug that held about 8oz, and 6 wooden tokens each worth $1 or 4oz of brew. They had about 15 breweries, each had 2 beers on tap (some more some less [cans]) all setup under their own small tents. When we went back before leaving, it was the most crowded, and many tents were out of beer. I ended up using 9 tokens ($3 extra) to try all the wheat beers that were new to me. Also had a taste of my friends beers, when he got something different.

Got to talk to two new NoCo breweries: Equinox and Grimm Bros.

Equinox is out of Old Town, Ft Collins and grew out of the owners homebrew store. Or, I should say, grew into. They have a tasting room.

Grimm Brothers Brewhouse are in East Loveland, near Walmart. Opened 2 weeks earlier, they're still feeling out their market for the hours of their tasting room.

I'm not sure if these are anything more than a different style of brew pub. If you don't bottle and distribute... Then again, if you don't serve food, what are you?

Back to the tasting. I used 9 tokens, and chose these:

1- Tommyknocker Jack Whacker a Wheat Ale Style: Herb and Spices 14IBU. A good beer.

2-Equinox Sunrise Golden Ale. Too hoppy. I'm not a fan of hop flavor, but don't mind IBU (see Guinness)

3- Durango Wheat Beer 12IBU. Again too hoppy, but better than #2

4-Ft Collins Brewing Major Tom's Pomegranate Wheat. Best wheat yet, still not there.

5-Bristol Brewing Beehive Honey Wheat 16IBU. Solid (A)!

6-Brothers Grimm Snow Drop, a Pale Wheat Ale. Too hoppy

7-Del Norte Cinco Mexican Style Lager. This is the Mexican Light style they make, and it's what I expected having drunk Corona, Sol, etc. Nothing exciting, but a light refreshing beer.

8-Sam Adams Coastal Wheat. I rated this a good+

9- Oskar Blues Old Chub, a Scotch Ale. I cheated here as this is a favorite, but we had reached the end of the tents, and I had one token left. I said I wanted to try something new from them, but the only beer I hadn't tried were all IPAs. Guess I could have tried the Mama's Little Yella Pils. OK, I SHOULD have tried something new from them.

Also tried the Brothers Grimm Fearless Youth, a Munich Dunkel Lager, and thought it was great.

Tried the Breckenridge Brewery Buddha's Hand Witbier at Old Chicago later. Horrible. Took two sips and left the rest. Strangely, the waitress never asked about why I wasn't drinking it.

My highlight (and showing what a wimp I am) was trying Twisted Tea at the Sam Adams booth, on ice. I couldn't (at the time) taste any alcohol in this, it just tasted like Iced Tea. I think my taste buds were dead, or at least confused by this time. However, I liked it so much I sought out the Mix Pack, that has six different flavors in it. Didn't find it at the first two (big) liquor stores, but found it at my local. The second place told me they had it on order, but it had been out of stock for a month. At home I crack open the box (no date markings on the outside), and see the bottles listing their 'best by' dates being months ago. They still seem to taste fine, and still enjoyable. But, that's the topic for a different post.

2nd charge

With the meter on the correct screen, I see it uses 450w while charging, and 5w at rest. That seemed low to me until I thought about fuses blowing. Except fuses are measured in amps. At work we have a refridgerator that is listed at 7.5amps. We have two of them. When we tried three, on a 20 amp fuse, it blew if all three tried running at the same time.
I wrote down amp usage for the scooter, but don't have it with me.

1st charging notes

Charger started at 118 volts, but within 5 min was down to 117 volts. Before plugging in, was reading 12 volts.

UPDATE

I don't know squat about electricity. I was measuring the outlet, a 120v outlet, and not the draw. Gonna try again tonight.

3 of 3 Dollar canned fish

This is the worst of the 3, and the only sardines in the set. Still edible, so the only $1 sardines to be so (damning with faint praise). If you can't read it, it say Sardines in Louisiana Hot Sause (product of Thailand). Barely crunchy, and it shouldn't be crunchy at all.

Falling into the depths of obsessive compulsiveness

Just purchased a device called a Kill A Watt EZ. It's an electricity usage monitor. I plan on using it to see how much draw items in my house use. I'm wondering how much power my electric scooter draws, and how much power a turned off thing uses (TV, stereo, appliances, etc).

When I shopped for home solar, installers were surprised how little my bill was. At the time, two years ago, solar would have taken 15-20 years to pay for itself, even with rebates. I'll wait for it to fall under 10 years before I commit to it.

Tying the two together, the Kill A Watt EZ telling me how much juice my electric scooter is pulling may help me figure out about using solar to recharge it. Saw a 45 Watt system from Harbour Freight for $200. Also interested in seeing how much I need to do to recharge a netbook.

I expect this to be fun and interesting.

Beer reviews

The GABF web page has a Sell-out-o-meter up, and they're 66% sold, with SAT evening session being the least sold out. 522 Breweries, 2,338 beers served.

In other beer news, I found a 6-pack of Upslope Brewery (new brewery in boulder) Pale Ale when I was in Denver TUE at Tipsy's (a store I remember seeing on Upslope's page as carrying it). They currently make two beers: the aforementioned Pale Ale and an IPA. The PA impressed me: not very bitter, good amber color.
I figured maybe I had this whole pale ale thing wrong, so I went out and bought a Pliny the Elder, an A+ rated IPA. OK, a pale ale isn't an IPA; IPAs are stronger in taste in all categories. Still, I hated it less than any IPA I've ever had! I do like the Upslope Pale Ale.
I also bought a 6-pack of Colorado Native, a new microbrew Lager from A C Golden (aka Coors), all ingredients from Colorado and sold only in Colorado. It's not my favorite, but I wouldn't turn one down. I'd put it close to 90 Shilling, stronger than Fat Tire.
I Still have some Crabtree Golden 8 in the fridge. It's an interesting beer whose taste seems to vary depending on what I'm eating along with it. Sometimes it tastes very sweet. Still enjoying that 'ale' (seems to be a catch all or a wide category). Officially, it's a golden ale.

Upcoming NoCo events

Gnarly Barley Brew Fest is coming up on Aug 7th.
Also, the weekend after that (Aug 14-15) there are two events:
1- Glock shoot at Weld County.
2- Mini Takes the States is at Infinity Park in Glendale on SAT, with events test drives and other stuff. I've signed up for a free test drive/ autocross of the new AWD Countryman (I think) on sat morning.

push vs pull

I just read an interesting essay talking about whether Israel or the EU will prevent another Holocaust. The view boils down to empowering the Jews vs un-empowering the state. Either would have prevented it/ or prevent it in the future. This is a push vs pull idea, where both sides see something moving but make a different conclusion from the available data. This is true with many issues: do you prevent highway deaths by slowing down traffic or making the cars safer? Do you cut down on crime by increasing jail time or having more police? Do you stop accidental shootings by banning guns or increasing gun safety education?

http://via.readerimpact.com/v/1/792bc4b1ec4cad1ee531faa767415e58abbea5209e0fb1f0

more thoughts when I'm up to it.

Tuesday tasks

Going over my checklist, I completed 6 tasks yesterday. One was a modified completion, but it still counts.

makes my head hurt

i was watching truck academy on outdoor channel, and they had a quiz:
properly inflated tires can help fuel economy-
A. up to 3.3%
B. over 50%
C. under 3.3%

The correct answer was A.

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Free Time

Free time is created by shifting responsibilities later.


I have a bunch of chores and items on my check list. I could and should do a bunch of them tomorrow, my weekday off.

We'll see.

canned dollar fish 2 of 3

The second of the dollar buys. Fillet isn't as good as the others I've tried, in all the categories mentioned previously. However, I still enjoyed it, never felt like throwing it away. The overwhelming tomato sauce helps this a lot. I'd buy again, but prefer the other dollar herring I bought.

Went to Elitch Gardens Theme Park: Amusement & Water Park

Yesterday, I went to Elitch Gardens. Weather was 70-85 and clear. Got there about noon, stayed to about 6pm. Crowds/lines biggest/longest when we arrived (30min for Mind Eraser). Hit all the big rides. They put a fresh coat of paint on the rides this year. However, some were closed: Superman rollercoaster (for a few years), the observation tower (again, for a few years), Troika, Rainbow (may also be closed, as I don't see it on the map), Shake Rattle and Roll. I rode some rides for the first time: Chaos, Halfpipe, Ghost Blasters, Dragon Wing.

It was a good day, and I had fun. Went with a friend and his family (minus his youngest boy). Food and drink still expensive, like the $9 beer or the $8 soda (w/ $1.50 refills). Had a footlong homemade corndog. Drank only water. You couldn't self serve water. I expected jugs scattered around the park with paper cups, but there were none. Instead you had to go up to a soda stand and ask for water, and they gave out small plastic cups of water. I was constantly thirsty.

cheap AND good

I think I like herrings better than sardines. This was bought from the local dollar store. I've tried some dollar sardines, but end up giving them to alley cats. I have two more to try, one sardine, one Herring.

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Ride over

Finished the ride in heavy rain. Big difference is that I removed my Oakley sunglasses, which fogged up, and the sun went away.

This was not something I could do while moving, so I pulled off at the next interstate exit and removed them. I made for the nearest shelter, Johnson's Corner www.johnsonscorner.com . I went into their entrance, pulled off my gear and pulled my phone (surprisingly the only dry item on me) to text Rob that I pulled off and was OK (he was ahead of me when the storm hit and we got separated), and he walked into the entrance from the other direction- he had the same idea.

This is when I took the picture in the previous post.

We warmed up a bit and then made for the bikes to head home. It looked from inside like it had let up, but it was still coming down, was very windy, and cold (~55deg). I've ridden in the rain before (heck I've been in snowstorms), but never in this lightweight gear. So it's a grin and bear it sort of thing. Once you get set in a riding position, the body adapts and it only feels cold when you shift. BTW, when your whole body is shivering while you're riding, it effects the direction and stability of the bike. That's body english for you.

Got home doing about 45mph the rest of the way. In my driveway, shifted the bike into neutral, and the light lit! Previous owner said it was burnt out, and I was going to order a bulb tomorrow. After such a miserable ride, it made me laugh. I stripped off my clothes and took a long, hot shower. I feel much better now.

(I wonder if the saddlebags are waterproof?)

first ride

less than successful

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Combining two things I love

For the first time in the 20 years I've been riding, I own a bike with a clock. I'm a watch collector, and I ride motorcycles, so I'm really getting a kick out of this. It's analog and lit.

UPDATE: They made a classic mistake with the clock: all three hands are the same color and the minute and second hand are the same length. This makes it hard to read at a glance as you have to wait for the second hand to move to discard it and read the time on the other two. If it's easy, I'd love to paint the second hand black. It wouldn't light up at night and would be easy to ignore during the day.

Then vs now

I'm disapointed with the state of motorcycles. Yes, they generally seem to be more powerful, but at what cost? Compared to bikes 15 years ago, current machines seem to be heavier and get worse milage. My ZX-11D weighed 600lbs, and the main reason I got rid of it was due to weight. Today, sport bikes expected, as they continue to get lighter and more powerful, sport touring bikes, crusiers and full touring bikes are heavier.
Here's a comparison between my S3T and the brand new Honda NT700V. Both are sport tourers, both are twins, both have saddlebags, both have frame mounted wind protection, both fuel injected.
Bike Buell S3T Honda NT700V
New MSRP $12,799 $9,999 ($1,000 more for ABS)
Engine Size 1203cc 680cc
HP 101 55
Torque 89 41
Wet Weight 518 lbs 562 lbs
Seat Height 29.5 in 31.7 in
MPG 50 MPG* 50 MPG
Fuel Cap 5.4 gal 5.2 gal
Range 270 miles 260 miles
Drive Belt Shaft
Storage ???? 7 gallons

Now I just need to ride the S3T and see if I'm right.

new bike notes

I unloaded the bike last night. I Read the owners manual to catch differences between the Lightning and this Thunderbolt; Mainly: fuel injection, and the associated things that means, like no petcock or choke. It has a low fuel light, but it comes on at .4 gal left, which seems a bit low to me. If the bike gets 40mpg, I'll only have 16 miles until empty. I think I'll monitor fuel closely and refill early to figure out what MPG I'm getting. It does have a 5.4 gal tank, which will give me a good range regardless.

It has an aftermarket shock by Works Performance. I read the manual for that, and I can set ride height. It's currently set high, so I'm going to clean the exposed threads (tonight?) and lower it to the lowest possible setting. From there I'll work on getting the other setting modified (front and rear).

The saddle bags are HUGE, and come with form fitted liners so I won't have to remove the hard bags when I get where I'm going. They are wide, and I seem to be scuffing the right bag throwing my leg over it. I used to keep hitting the rear turn signal stalk on the Lightning, and after replacing it twice, got a newer model that was flexible. I'd think if I had the narrow bag lid it would be better (at not hitting with my boot), but I'd lose space inside. I'm keeping an eye on eBay and craigslist for a set anyways.

The previous owner gave me one fairing lower and a tank bra. the tank looks good, so I think I'll pass on installing the bra for a while and see how much I contact it. I don't think it needs protection. I'll also note my legs and see if I feel the need for more weather protection for them. Again, I doubt it.

post trip bugs

Truck was black. Now covered with bugs.

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Drunken trip notes

This isn't the debrief, but just some notes on the trip, after a bomber of beer (or two).

Sturgis and the Black Hills: Fantastic roads, great for bikes or cars, but surrounded by miles and miles of nothing but flat terrain and straight roads. I loved my time there, but hated getting there. It's only 6 hours from home, but can I take the 5 hours and 275 miles of nothing to get there?

Of all the towns I passed through on this trip, I was most impressed with Torrington, WY and Valentine, NE. Torrington, WY: This little berg just hit the right notes for me. It seems to be fighting above its weight class for fast food franchises, and seems to be born by the railroad that runs through town. It's in the middle of nowhere, and I can see it getting isolated in winter. I think it'd be a good town to live in if you wanted a quiet town, but still large enough to get stuff you needed. It'd be a place to live if you never came out of your house and kept your shades drawn. Valentine, NE: a nice town, again in the middle of the plains, in the middle of nowhere, but has a lot more terrain going for it. Passing through town, it seems to also have rafting on the river as an income maker. Unline Torrington, if I lived there, I'd be out on the front porch a lot. Not sure what I'd be doing there other than rocking back forth and waving to passersbys.

Pierre, SD was also hidden in a valley so that you can't see it if you're not within a mile of town. Seems too off the beaten track to be a state capital, but it is the geographic center of the state. I'm sure government drives the economy as much as Ag does.

As I passed through a lot of towns I wondered what people did for a living in them. I kept coming back to government or agriculture. They are the county seats and the local train station. They are usually located on some terrain feature, usually the confluence of two rivers.

Space is big, really big. So is the US. If you're west of the Mississippi expect travel in hours, not miles. The further away someplace is, the harder it is to estimate how long it'll take to get there. You'd figure the math would be easy as there's few stoplights or stop signs, but anytime you have to make stops to refuel and eat, all time estimates go out the window. I didn't expect this. I Do expect this in the mountains, as you don't know what speed you'll be going at any time, and there's no straight lines between locations.

trip notes

This isn't the debrief, but just some notes on the trip, after a bomber of beer (or two).

Sturgis and the Black Hills: Fantastic roads, great for bikes or cars, but surrounded by miles and miles of nothing but flat terrain and straight roads. I loved my time there, but hated getting there. It's only 6 hours from home, but can I take the 5 hours and 275 miles of nothing to get there?

Trip mileage

I haven't refueled since Cheyenne, but here's the rest:
16.6mpg 249.3miles North Platte, NE
15.4mpg 254.6miles Pierre, SD
16.8mpg 336.2miles Pierre, SD
15.3mpg 208.5miles Deadwood, SD
Missing Cheyenne

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home again

Home 10:15pm. Mission time 2/13:00:30. ~1500 miles.

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crazy

Crazy horse memorial.

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four guys of note

taken on the grand terrace

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Wall drug

Number one turrist trap in the US.

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The deal has been made.

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State line and casino

At the NE-SD border there's a casino - hotel - gas on the Rosebud reservation.

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world's largest rail yard

Bailey yard. north platte ne

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catch and release

one bike in one out

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start

Starting mileage 40012

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blogging on the road

With this new Android app, I hope to liveblog from the road.

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2010 summer adventure pt1

Won a bike on eBay, it's located up in NE South Dakota. Bids from the shippers on eBay were around $500. I used uShip to get a bike last year, and was happy with the price, but you sacrifice a specific time window. If you're willing to wait an extra week or two, it's worth doing.
This time, I decided I'd like to go up and pick it up. It's summer, weather is nice, I've never been north of I-80 (Wyoming exempted), and hey, it's 'only two states away'. It's 13 hours away. For that time, I could make it to Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, Indy, or El Paso. 13 hours and I'm STILL in the middle of nowhere.
It'll be an adventure. I think I've roped a friend into going with me. The plan is to drive up on Sunday and pickup the bike, and take two days, via a less direct route, to drive back, hitting all the attractions in SD.
The plan is to hit:
Deadwood
Sturgis
Mount Rushmore
Crazy Horse
Wall Drug
Badlands national park
Black Hills national park
(and Devils Tower in WY)

Ever notice all these are clustered in SW SD, west of Rapid City?
The Corn Palace is a little south east of where we're going, so we'll probably pass on it. There's a go-cart place and a small amusement park near where the bike is, but again, probably pass.

Test Ride BMW F800ST

The other bike I tested was a used BMW F800ST. It had been lowered by the previous owner, so I could operate it easy at a stop. Started up, it had a bunch of warning lights. One was for low fuel, another for low tyre pressure. There's a button to scroll through the computer pages, but I never was able to find an Odometer or trip Odometer. The ST is sportier,with a lower windshield and a long, low reach to the handlebars. Steering was heavier than expected, and the dealer also mentioned it after riding it to service to put air in the tyre. The tyres felt triangular, meaning the bike would fall into turns instead of being neutral. Engine was smooth and quiet, but didn't seem to have much power in the lower 1/2 of its RPM range. I ended up riding it in a lower gear than I normally would. Clutch was light, but it was hard to find the engagement point. Airflow hit me below the helmet. With the forward lean, I wish it had less protection, as the air could help support my body.
The dealer also had a F650GS, which uses the same engine, but tuned for torque and not HP. I liked the short, wide reach to the bars. The suspension started tall, but with my weight settled into being only a little too high. Wind protection looks like less than the ST. I didn't test it. It's funny, but I want a bike between the two, but would have to modify either towards the 'center'.

I never did get to ride the lowered R1200GS they had. It's gone now. I would have liked to see if it has enough wind protection. I think I'd prefer it to the R1200RT, due to the lighter weight.


Overall, nice, but not for me. I want a more upright seating position, and more wind protection. In BMW model parlance, I'd want a RT not an ST. They don't make a F800RT.

Test Ride TU-250

I've read great things about the TU-250, and it's inexpensive, so I thought I'd give it a chance. It's very light, and maneuverable at low speeds, and you have a lot of lock-to-lock for some very tight turns. It's very comfortable, and that comfort makes it feel like you're going slower than you are. Suspension was fine, nothing noticeable. The rear shocks were set at 3 of 5 preload. The engine runs smoothly, but I did have trouble shifting into 5th gear twice. A firm flick of the shifter got it into 5th. Clutch feel is light. The left mirror wouldn't stay adjusted on my ride. The engine. As mentioned, smooth, and the fuel injection means easy start and smooth operation. However, at only 250cc, it has trouble making 55mph, and I'd expect with enough space it could get into the high 60s.
Compared to the Buell Blast, it's no contest. The Blast falls under my qualifications as a Real Bike- one that can do anything and go anywhere you ask of it. It may be the smallest bike to qualify. The TU-250 is more comfortable for me, and is a better 'under 40mph' bike. I think it would be the perfect delivery bike. It's a great bike to learn on.
I keep coming back to bikes I've owned (Blast, Ninja 500) as bikes that best fit me and fit the qualities I'm currently looking for in a bike. Maybe that's why I bought them in the past? As to the TU-250? So far, I've passed on it. It looks better than a Blast, but, for now, I can't see paying $3800 for an inferior bike. I wish I hadn't sold my Blast, as I don't look forward to sorting out another one, but with prices for used Blasts around $2K, I may be back in the Buell fold soon. I still have many accessories for it.

NoCO bike dealer tour

I spent the morning hitting all the moto dealers on I25.
Sat on the Suzi TU250 (MSRP $3799). Impressed, going back TUE for a test.I've read great things about it, and figure it'd be a good around town and short trip bike. Suzi says it gets 82mpg. Going to test it on TUE.
At Honda, I sat on the new VFR, and was unimpressed. Very sportbike,little touring. The NT700V (they had both the standard $9999, and the $10999 ABS models) is looking better every time I see it. It may not be 100+ HP, but it feels comfortable, has good protection and luggage.The on board computer said it's getting 38mpg, which seems what they all get these days. It might be a bit higher on a longer ride. May test it on TUE.
Went to Beemers and More on CO14, and really liked the BMW F800ST they had. It's an '08, 3K miles, and already lowered. Consignment at $9500(new is 12525 for the 'standard package model'). Again, going to test on TUE.
Finally stopped at Euro and sat on a bunch I am interested in. I was most interested in the Ducati Multistrada. They had the low seat installed, and it was still to high, but I don't know the suspension mode it was in. They say it makes no difference?!?! Sat on the R1200GS and RT, both were too high, but I know that they become OK with the lowered seat and lowered suspension setup.


Still pissed I didn't win a auction last week on a Buell Thunderbolt. This thing was loaded with every option and extras on many parts. Still, I'm in no rush for any new bike.

Concealed Carry Class and Guns

I took a concealed carry pistol class this week. There are a lot of contradictions, some may say choices, in choosing a concealed carry pistol, and what to take to the class. We all know small, light pistols conceal better, and carry easier due to the size and weight. However, those two features are a disadvantage when you have to shoot that pistol. Small pistols are less reliable and less dependable. That is, they malfunction more often, and their service life is shorter. They're also harder to shoot well, and hold less ammo. So, the best gun to carry isn't the best gun to shoot. The same relationship extends to caliber. In addition, the smaller the caliber, the smaller the gun needs to be to handle the power of the load. I have a .380acp pistol that weighs 8oz. I've seen very few .45acp pistols less than 20oz (the Kahr .45 is 17.3oz.)
I took my alloy 1911 sub-compact that is 24oz. I planned to make it my carry gun, as I don't expect to shoot it a lot, but I wanted to have a .45 if I needed to shoot. In the course we had a steel target with upper and lower plates that swung when shot (think of plates at either end of a letter 'S', so it looked like this --S--. Hitting the plates at the right time, with enough shots, would cause them to spin around the post. It was a lot easier for the .45 shooters to swing the plates than the .40 or 9mm shooters, but they had more shots in each magazine to succeed. I was able to spin it using a 6 round magazine (on my second mag). Still, my mousegun is a handful, with considerable recoil, and I lack in accuracy when shooting it. After trying the method taught, I encountered a problem with my gun where the trigger would lock up. Racking the slide would fix the problem, and shooting it the way I'm used to 'prevents' the problem (at least I never had the problem until then). The instructors and I decided I should switch to my second gun, a full sized 40oz 1911, also in .45acp. This gun shot great, accurately, and has two more shots, but it's HEAVY, and caused discomfort on my waist as the day wore on.
Quick aside. We were told to bring a jacket, so we could conceal and practice drawing our guns. I bought a used Sport Coat, but everyone in the class had a vest or winter jacket. Luckily, I also had an old winter jacket that I used day one, and a fleece vest for day 2.
The course was 2 days, with half of the first day being classroom, and the rest being at the range. The classroom time was about everything, except what we were going to be doing later. It covered philosophy, methods, law, equipment selection, student and instructor introductions and some other stuff. I felt like the Mall Ninja of the class- having the gear, but not the training or expertise. As it turns out, I may have been able to shoot better than a couple of guys in the class, but it was probably luck (I know I'm a D shooter in USPSA).

Pens, paper, and lefties

I'm a lefty. That brings about challenges. One of them is writing, where my hand goes over the text I just wrote. After a day of writing, the back of my ring finger is shaded from the smeared pencil or ink. At work, people have had trouble using ball point pens on thermal paper. Mainly the problem happens when there's nothing under the paper but the glass tabletop. Put a piece of regular paper underneath, and the pen works better. But, I hate having to need a loose piece of paper to hand someone when the pen doesn't work, as it does work some of the time. This morning I went out to try and fix this problem, while still allowing the ink to dry fast enough to not smear when I use it. I bought a pack of the new Sharpie Pens, and a pack of the Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens.
Both seem to work, but it's an expensive fix to the problem, so I'll need to keep an eye on the pens to prevent them from disappearing. I think others will enjoy their first fountain pen experience.

More Mustard Sardines

OK, I had one more tin of mustard sardines, and I wasn't looking forward to this. The cheapest brand of sardines I found was Beach Cliff. They had two varieties available, so I bought one of each (I'm trying every variety available in town from every market). I tried the plain last week and it was so bad I put it in the alley for the cats. It was mushy, had a bad taste and texture. Now, the other tin was mustard, so I figured the strong taste would cover up the bad qualities of the fish. Wrong. I had three or four bites before it too went into the alley. It took the animals two days to eat it all.

I also had the second tin of Herrings I bought from Sprout's. Bar Harbor Wild Herring Fillets. The first was great, a Cabernet Wine Sauce flavored tin. This one was pepper flavored. Not as good as the pepper taste was too strong, but it's good meat. I'd get it again, but would get the wine flavored tin first.

What Mustard Sardines may look like

A freshly opened tin of Crown Prince Mustard Brisling Sardines. The same tin menioned in the previous post.

Flavored Sardines

I'm in the middle of eating a tin of Crown Prince Brisling Sardines in Mustard. The mustard filled every nook of the tin not occupied by a fish. Even compared to the marinara flavor, the mustard is very thick (like regular yellow mustard), and I can still see an impression of the lid in the untouched mustard, ten minutes later. Plus the mustard flavor and smell is strong, overpowering the fish.

So, I can't see my food, I can't taste my food, I can't smell my food. All due to the drowning in mustard. As good or bad as the Brisling might be, I can't tell. I can vaguely tell that the fish are of good makeup, not mushy.

I have 2 other brands that are also mustard flavored. So far, I have to vote thumbs down on mustard.

Sardines & cooking with fire

been a long time since I posted. Spring has sprung, and it's warming up here in Colorado. It's still too cold for me to bike to work, but I will be able to soon.

I've been in a food mood as of late. A few reasons for this. Two 'natural' markets opened within a week of each other, and I wanted to check them out. Also Good Eats did an episode on Alton's Diet/ his weight loss. Plus, warm weather means I can get my BBQ running. I'm a wimp, and have a gas powered Weber grill. I grew up with charcoal, but I like the ease of the gas.

Back to the Good Eats episode, Alton was talking how he lost weight. He didn't come out and say it, but analysis of what he ate showed the no longer vogue Lo Carb diet. One of the things he listed that he used as a snack was Brisling. Later, the label fell off showing that Brisling is actually Sardines. Brisling is one of the varieties of fish considered to be Sardines. I'd dabbled in Sardines a few years ago after hearing an article on NPR on a Sardine Cannery. So, I've combed all the local markets for different brands and styles. They're great for lunch, but there's a huge range in quality. My favorite so far is King Oscar Herrings (not a sardine, but in the same category) and Brisling 2-layer. I'm digging the flavored fish more than the oil or water. I like oil better than water. I'm eating all these straight out of the can. I have Wild Planet cans coming this week, and they've received good reviews. I still eat Tuna and Salmon in cans, but the difference here is that the Sardines and Kippers (Herring) are more intact fish fillets. In the case of Brisling, you are eating the intact fish, just missing just the head and external fins. You can also get them skinless and boneless, but that removes taste, and makes it mushy/ not hold together. I eat a can every few days, and I'm rating it. Only problem is cans aren't cheap. Expect to pay $3 for the good stuff.

Also, getting the BBQ going, I grabbed some 80/20 ground beef and some brats. At one of the natural food stores, I saw they had ostrich patties and steaks. I'd heard good thing about them, that they're lean and good for you, and that they taste like beef. So, I grabbed an 8oz package that came with two steaks. They grill up real quick. I did 7 min total, and that was too long for medium; they came out med-well. Yes, they taste like beef. Their leanness means they're a little dry, and I hate using steak sauce. A little salt helped, for some reason. I'd get them again.