Monthly Archives: April 2006
April 28, 2006
XM Radio
The long ride from SoCal to northern Washington for WFO-4 last year highlighted the limitations of an iPod for on-the-road entertainment. A lot of guys at WFO-4 had XM radio's installed, and I picked one up at a Best Buy in Bellingham during the meet. I wasn't able to kludge together a working install until I got back home.
Here's my setup:
- Delphi Roady 2.
- Hardwired Car Adapter from myradiostore.com
- Satellite Radio Mount from Motorcycle Larry
- RAM-B-309-2 RAM mount for clutch bolts
The Roady 2 model has been discontinued, but is still the best for use on a motorcycle, because the mounting bracket makes a hard connection to the unit. Newer models use a drop-in cradle that does not securely hold the unit in place without an add-on strap. You can still pick up a Roady 2 unit at car stereo shops (Al & Ed's in SoCal, for example), or on eBay.
I installed the hardwire module behind panel B, with velcro to hold it down to the bottom of the bay. I connected the unit to my barrier strips (positive under panel B, negative under panel C), which recieves power through an ignition-on relay directly from the battery. (See this article on the FJRTech website for details.)
I installed the RAM mount on my clutch bracket; I got the two-ball unit, but only use the second ball on rare occassions with a RAM-mount cup-holder, of all things.
The Roady 2 comes with a 20' antenna cable. You can buy shorter cables, but a $39 cable for a $29 radio just didn't work for me. I wound up the long antenna cable into a 2" diameter circle, held together with three cable ties at 120°. This fits neatly around the RAM mount bracket. The antenna mounts on the shelf built into the mounting bracket.
I use Shure e2C sound isolating earphones. These come with a variety of sleeves - foam, hard plastic, and soft silicon, each in three sizes. The large silicon sleeve works well for me - I wore them for 17 hours on my SS1K ride back in March. These have an MSRP of $108, but can be found for around $70. I got my last pair for $68 from GadgetFreeks, with no sales tax and $6 shipping.
I connect the earphones in a couple of different ways, depending on the ride. For rides where my radar detector isn't in use, I plug in directly to the headphone jack on the Roady 2. Actually, I ran a 1-foot coiled headphone extension cord down the left handlebar, and used a cable tie to hold the female end in place down by the steering head. I plug the male end of the extension into the Roady 2, and plug my earphones into the female end. I put a few twists into the earphone cord to shorten it before plugging it in.
If I'm using my radar detector, I have an Amplirider mixing amplifier mounted in my tank bag; headphone cords connected to the Amplirider pass through small holes in the tank bag and plug into the Roady 2 and radar detector output jacks. In this setup, the earphones plug into a female cord that connects to the Amplirider's output jack.
Pictures of the on-bike setup follow.
The vehicle mounting bracket included with the Roady 2 package is bolted to the MotorcycleLarry sat radio RAM bracket:
The antenna cable is wrapped into a 2" diameter bundle, secured with three cable ties, and passed through the RAM mount arm:
The coiled audio extension cord is cabled-tied to the clutch line; the female jack is secured for easy headphone connection, down by the handlebar mounts:
Stop & Go Pocket Tire Plugger
On my trip to the Central Coast last Saturday, one of the riders in the group got a flat front tire. Bob had no repair kit on board, but Mark from Visalia had a Stop & Go Tire Plugger, and a little 12 volt compressor. With Bob using the tools and Mark reading the instructions, the tire was repaired, inflated, and ready to go in less than 10 minutes. After seeing it in action, I resolved to never go far without this kit.
On Sunday I stopped by K-Mart and picked up a nice, inexpensive little compressor, and I ordered the Tire Plugger kit from the Stop & Go website. UPS dropped it off today. I put it in a stuff sack with the compressor.
April 27, 2006
Bike cover
I have a Covermax half-cover for my bike.
April 24, 2006
Central Coast Romp
Toecutter organized a ride he called the Central Coast Romp for Saturday, April 22nd, and a bunch of riders on the FJR Forum joined in, including me.
I left at 7:24am, and made good time to the meeting point in Coalinga, at I-5 and SR-198. Head winds cut my gas mileage way down at the end, so I stopped for gas at SR-41, about 20 miles short of the 198. I got to the meeting point at 10:05am, in plenty of time for the scheduled 10:30am departure.
We left around 10:40am, heading west on the 198. I don't do much group riding, but knew the basics of staggered formation and "The Pace", and I think I did pretty well. We made a short stop to collect everyone.
At SR-25, we turned north. The 25 is one of my favorite motorcycling roads, but I've only ever done it north-to-south, which made it fun. After the fun twisties to the south, we synched up at the entrance to Pinnacles, and headed north into the higher speed sections.
Bob took off at FJR nominal speeds to scope out the conditions. About 10 minutes later, we caught up with him on the side of the road - he had hit a rock and had a flat front tire. Luckily, Mark from Visalia had a plug kit and plug-in compressor, and in less than 10 minutes we were all back on the road. We turned off the 25 onto SR-156 to bypass Hollister.
The plan was to stop at a Mexican restaurant in San Juan Bautista, but when we arrived we found the streets around the restaurant closed for a big street fair. We found a backup pizza place, and I grabbed a sandwich and enjoyed some conversation with Jerry and Lisa, Mark, Andrew and Sherri, and the others.
We headed west on the 156 to the 101, then southwest to Marina, Monterey and Carmel. We stopped at the Chevron at Rio Road, across the street from the shopping center I always stop in for coffee, then headed south on SR-1.
The group was more comfortable with double-yellow passes than I normally am, but everything was done safely so I joined in (although Andrew and Sherri made some moves that gave me pause). We made good time, with people moving up and back in line as their whims took them. We hit some really nasty gravel patches that made me really unfomfortable, but we all got through unscathed.
About half-way through, we had split into two groups: me, TWN, and Andrew and Sherri up front, with George, Bob and Barbera, and Rudy hanging back. Our group stopped at the motel just north of Hearst Castle to wait for the others. We used the porta-potties, took pictures, and still kept waiting. After about twenty-five minutes, George and Bob/Barbera pulled in - they had stopped for coffee, and left Rudy smoking back at the restaurant.
We proceeded smartly to Morro Bay, where Tim/TWN collected the heated vest he'd loaned to Barbara. After the unplanned stops it was getting late, and I still had 200 miles plus to ride, so Tim and I made our farewells and headed out.
We made good time to Santa Maria, and stopped for a last tank of gas. Shortly after we restarted, it started to rain, and we fought a light drizzly rain all the way to Santa Barbara. Tim pulled off to go home in Carpinteria, and I kept going. I stopped to make a quick check-in phone call home, then hit the road again.
Traffic on the 101 was weird - a bunch of cars weaving around at 10-15 mph over the flow of traffic. It helped me make good time.
I hit the driveway at 10:45pm, tired but happy. I made a note to buy the same plug kit Mark had - it was great.
Here's a picture taken by Andrew. I'm nearest to the camera:
April 10, 2006
Bee in my bonnet
The lunch truck isn't coming this week, so after my lunchtime walk I went down to Von's to get a sandwich. The Cadillac is in the shop, so Justin is using my car, and I'm on the FJR. I put my helmet on the holder that's part of the license plate frame while I went into the deli.
When I got back to the parking lot, I put my bag into the side bag, and grabbed my helmet off the holder. Just as a fluke, I noticed what looked like some foxtails in the inside of the helmet. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a bee...
I stared at it for a half a minute, then decided to put on my glove and swat it out. It took a couple of tries, but I finally got it out.
I hate to think what might have happened if I had just blindly strapped the helmet on with a bee stuck to the inside lining.
April 2, 2006
Tourmaster Flex jacket
My current riding jacket is a Tourmaster Flex.
When my Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket reached the end of its useful life, I looked around for a new jacket with good warm-weather abilities, but also better cold-weather capabilities. After looking at a bunch of different models, I settled on the Tourmaster Flex. In its standard setup, it's a full-shell textile jacket, which is ideal for most late fall, winter, and early spring rides. When rain hits, there's a zip-in rain/wind liner, which in turn has a zip-in quilted insert for extra warmth.
For hot days, the outer shell zips off, revealing a full-mesh interior, just like the regular Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket.
One thing about this jacket - there's a lot of zippers.
I got the Flex just after my SS1K at the end of March, 2006.