GL Cruising – All I need are big dreams and open highways

March 12, 2026March 15, 2026

Riding season

The weather has been cleared for a good minute. I don’t think winter season has officially ended but we are going to be hitting the mid 80’s soon.

On my way home from work today I must have passed 15 or so motorcycle riders. Most of the riders were on Harley’s out stretching their sleds out preparing for the new “Riding Season”.

In other states such located way up north or east I can see a reason not to ride on the open highways. Riding in dangerous weather conditions is no joke.

My definition of a dangerous riding condition is snow. I’ve ridden a few times on snow and it sucks. I went down riding in snow one year. That being said that I avoid it. All other weather is free game, it depends on the extreme amount of it that makes riding sketchy. I will pretty much ride in any weather. I have the proper gear to handle it.

March 1, 2026March 3, 2026

Washed up

Getting the sled ready for the week. At least it will stay cleaner for a longer period, no rain is in the forecast.

Ever since I’ve been riding, the bike wash served 2 purposes. One is to obviously clean the bike and the other probably more important is finding loose or broken pieces.

This goes for the same with missing nuts or screws.

I may start using Saran wrap on the windshield. During the heavy insect riding months it’s a lot easier to keep the windshield clean and in good shape.

February 28, 2026March 2, 2026

Oil Change Time

It’s time for my maintenance oil change. As always I get everything from Wing Stuff because of the pricing and convenience.

The current mileage logged is 32,350 miles. My current ride commute and frequency is racking up crazy miles per year.

As far as tools go it’s the bare minimum. I use a couple 3/8 sockets, a 12mm and 8mm. These are used to remove the 3 drain plugs and clutch filter cover. A oil filter wrench is also used.

For whatever removing the oil filter was more difficult than usual. It took several good attempts.

The amount of oil used was 4.9 gallons. This was a measured procedure, using a measuring cup I removed 0.1 ounces from a quart of oil and poured in the remaining oil.

EDIT: I found this oil filter removal tool that has positive comments. I currently have 2 but both have its own issues under certain conditions. I’m going to order one and see if it is better than the cup tool I currently have.

February 12, 2026

Rollin’ in weather

It looks like a stretch of wet riding coming up.

January 19, 2026January 20, 2026

Foggy as Fook

Headed to Stockton this morning. Riding on 26 was super foggy., especially passing through Linden area.

The fog has been very heavy the last few weeks. There are not many riders out this time of year.

January 16, 2026January 20, 2026

Damn, another flat

On my way to work today I turned into Sunrise Blvd. and all three lanes heading towards work was covered with finishing nails.

As it turned out when I got off of work I had low tire pressure as indicated by the TPMS sensor.

I’m adding the photo of mileage for reference. It was actually around 29,650 when the rear tire was replaced.

I think this is the 5th rear tire I’ve installed since I got the bike. The wider 200mm tire versus the 180mm used in the previous Goldwing generation may be a factor.

One note, changing the rear tire is very simple to do and not that much time involved.

January 12, 2026

Break on weather

We’ve been having almost non-stop rain the past few weeks. Since I ride regardless of the weather the Bagger Wing has been getting its share of road grime and mud.

I checked the weather forecast and it doesn’t look like rain for at least a week. That’s long enough for me to get a wash in.

I’ve always said when you wash your bike that’s when you’ll find any physical abnormalities that may have occurred.

Unfortunately for me I found a big ass nail in the rear tire. It doesn’t seem to have penetrated inward into the tire but rather “sideways” piercing a rubber tread section.

I’m going to be ordering a tire soon.

January 1, 2026January 20, 2026

2026!

It’s the January 1, 2026 and the start of a new riding season. I don’t know if I will match the miles I put in 2025. That year was crazy in riding!

I think a lot had to do with the fact that I had a bad accident at the end of 2024 and needed to prove to myself that I wasn’t scared to ride. I ended up doing the opposite and piled up miles very quickly on my new to me 2022 Goldwing.

December 29, 2025