Author: gjosol

Posted on

Snow mobile

Let’s start off with I had no intentions of riding in this weather. If you’re a commuter and ride a motorcycle every work day of the year you will at times get caught in weather and road conditions that are not ideal.

If it weren’t for the cage tire trails I’d be stuck. Riding on the center mush is very hard to do. Pick you line and stick with it.

I have never seen a sun and cloud formation like this before. I could see something falling from the sky but couldn’t tell if it was rain, snow or hail. In hndsight I should have known it wasn’t rain, there were remanence of ice on the road and top of the hill.

At this point I should also have decided if I wanted to ride that direction home or figure out an alternative route. At my current location it would mean possible an additional 30 mile detour.

If I were to be in this situation again my thought process would be to avoid the snow, hail and slush road conditions at all cost. Find another route home or wait it out somewhere nice and warm.

Posted on

Do not do this!

During the winter months I’ll take a glance at the tires to and from work. This time of the year the roads are muddy and wet and lately when I look at the tires they are covered in dirt or mud.

The treads are worn through so bad it a freakin’ hazard to be riding on it. The front tire is not bad and can easily see the tire wear.

Lesson learned, take the time and wipe down the tires for inspection. I noticed the loss of traction on the mountain curves as I would occasionally slide.

If I were doing a Centramatics commercial this would be a good sample. I took the rubber down to nothing and still no cupping. The tire looks balance.

To add insult to injury, I ran over a small nail at some point.

The previous owner must have had used an impact wrench that had way more torque then the electrics and air Mac Tool impact wrenches I have. The Mac Tool impact wrench has taken out every bolt or nut I’ve thrown at it. Not this time.

I had to use a 4 foot extension breaker pipe to release the lug nut. That sucker was on tight. I’m not sure if the previous owner felt additional torquing was needed to sandwich Centronics balancer in securely.

Since I no longer have a bike jack I had to remove the rear plastic fairing piece, support cross bar and the reposition the amplifier housing to make room for the wheel removal.

It’’s not too bad of a job. The Centronics balancer has to be removed and installed first when taking the wheel off and then back on.

Maintenance Note: rear tire replaced at 41,088 miles.

Posted on

Maybe snow?

The weather forecast is showing rain and possible snow tonight and the morning hours when I leave for work.

This should make an interesting ride if it all comes about. I’ll take photos and a video.

Posted on

Got new shoes

I ordered a set of Dunlop Elite 4’s. These are the set I’m currently riding on. I’m having good wear life on so far I figured I’d keep it the same.

The wear bars in the case of the Dunlops are “wear holes”. These don’t have the traditional rubber bar in the threads. I have a few miles left on mine, I’ll take the tires down a bit more before having it replaced with the new set.

Posted on

Freakin’ Cold

The ride to work in the morning is fairly chilly. It has been dipping down below the 30’s. Add the windchill factor and you’re going to feel it. The photo below was taken in the city of Ione. This is approximately 20 or so miles from home. I’m parked on the side of the road right near the Preston Castle.

As an example: the temperature this morning was 26F, riding along at an average speed of 50 MPH that’s a windchill factor calculation of 6F. Tell me that’s not cold.

Alright, full disclosure. I’m riding with heated gloves and jacket liner. I’ve been riding too long and no better. LOL!!

Posted on

Storms are gone for now

We’ve had crazy back to back storms. There was a couple days where the winds topped 60 miles per hour. Yeah, I rode to work. There were a few times I second guessed my decision to ride. Mostly in areas where it was too flooded to ride the sled through, trees that had fallen in the middle of the road and winds that were catching me from the side (crosswinds).

This is one of my go to spots on my way home from work. Not so much on my way to work as it is still normally dark. I don’t even know the name of this “look out” point It is near the Pardee Dam single lane road.

The mountain scape behind me is part of Mt. Diablo. Between us lays the San Joaquin Valley, Stockton CA. And Lodi.