Thursday, July 29, 2010

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.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

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.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Tuesday tasks

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

Monday, July 12, 2010

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.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

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.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

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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Sunday, July 04, 2010

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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Saturday, July 03, 2010

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.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

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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