Monthly Archives: March 2007
March 23, 2007
Audio note from the road...(15:36)
March 22, 2007
Audio notes
I've been working most of the afternoon and evening setting up a way for me to call a voice mail number and have it appear as an attachment here on this blog. I'm almost there, although I can't find a way to get the QuickTime plug-in to work in Firefox on the desktop at home. For security reasons I won't put the technical details here, but if you're interested send me an e-mail and I'll be happy to share them.
I still need to hack mtmail so it sets a category for the post, but otherwise it's holding together pretty well.
March 8, 2007
Hwy 58, 229, Tepusquet - and a nice walk on the beach
I needed to burn off a vacation day, so I took the FJR and all its new goodies out for a day-long ride, meeting up with Carole in Santa Barbara for sunset on the beach. I tried to do this ride a couple of weeks ago, but got sick instead, and last week Carole was under the weather, but our persistence paid off.
I poked around the house getting ready for too long, but finally hit the road around 9:35am. The trip to Frazier Park was uneventful, but I did try out my snazzy new, Smitty-installed cruise control. From Castaic until Gorman I played cat-and-mouse with a black-on-black C5 Corvette, but I had to slow down just before Gorman to deal with heavy crosswinds.
I topped off the gas in Frazier Park, put on my wind breaker and neck gaiter, and headed out to Cuddy Valley Rd. Both Cuddy Valley and Mil Portrero had long patches of gravel — not just in the corners, but all along the roadway. Once I hit Cerro Noroeste, the gravel problem went away - thankfully.
Cerro Noroeste is one of my favorites, and I had a fun on the wide sweepers. At the 33/166, I put a route into the Zumo to try it out, and headed northeast. It was fun listening to the Zumo tell me where to go.
The 58 was wonderful, as usual. I only had one vehicle to pass - a small RV that happily pulled over to let me pass. A pickup pulled out in front of me a couple of miles before the 229, but I waited it out.
I love the 229 — an almost perfect motorcycle road, even if it is a little short. The 41 took me into Atascadero for a quick bite. I was running late for the planned 4:30pm meet up at East Beach in Santa Barbara, and thought I'd have to kamikaze down the 101 to get there in time, but on my way back to the bike I heard the message-waiting beep on my cell. Carole was getting the balky passenger window on the Vette fixed, and needed to move the meet time back to 5:30pm, which suited me just fine.
I stopped in Santa Maria for gas, and headed east on the 166 to Tepusquet Rd. A couple of miles south of the 166, I came across a flock of about 10-12 wild turkeys sitting in the roadway. I pulled out my camera for a couple of quick pictures, and then eased past them slowly. About a mile up the road, I spotted a single turkey crossing the road into a downhill ravine. Pretty cool.
Towards the end of Tepusquet it emerges from the woodlands and opens onto a huge, green field that always makes me smile. I had PM'ed twowheelnut a while back, and he told me that Tepusquet was open over the river, which saves about a 10 minute detour. The Zumo displays your projected arrival time, and it would have been tough to make it to East Beach in time if the river crossing was closed.
Foxen Canyon was lovely, as always, and the 154 was fast. I pulled into the parking lot at 5:28, and saw the Vette sitting in a prime spot down by the sand. Carole was down by the water when I called her, and she had to schlep all the way back to open up the car so I could change into civvies.
We walked a little too far watching the sunset, but it was such a great day we didn't want to stop. Carole got a couple of great pictures as the sun fell behind some light clouds to the west.
They're renovating lower State Street, but we found a parking spot in the lot to the east, and enjoyed our dinner at Joe's Cafe. Carole had a small prime rib, I had roast beef and mashed potatoes, and we shared the spaghetti.
It was cold when we got back to the bike at the beach — I wish I'd brought my Widders. I bundled up as best I could with what I had with me. Carole left while I was getting suited up on an ultimately successful attempt to buy some shoes at the outlet mall in Camarillo. I was tired, but mostly enjoyed my drive home. The amplirider had static problems most of the way home, and my wrists were sore from recent excersing, and it was little cold. But all in all, it was a great 470 mile+ day of riding, and sunset on the beach with my girl.
March 4, 2007
Motorcycle Saturday
Carole had other things going, so I spent Saturday fussing with the motorcycle. I installed the bracket for the Garmin Zumo GPS, and even shrink-wrapped the soldered spade connectors before attaching them to the barrier strips. I installed my cool new TCFJR personalized plate (thanks, Carole!), which is actually a pain because of the helmet lock bracket. I finished the setup of the Skyway hydration system by drilling out a lid, inserting the hard tube, and threading the long tube into the neoprene cover (which tore up my hands).
Finally, I installed my new Cateye V-1 security enclosure. This took a few tries (including drilling a couple of holes for the diamond RAM base), but I'm happy with the final outcome. The remote audio unit attaches to the bottom of the main enclosure with velcro and a cable tie (routed through pre-drilled holes on the base of the enclosure).
I replaced all my RAM arm knobs with 1/4x20 x 1.5" hex head bolts. Last night I ordered ten high security bolts from McMaster-Carr, along with two drivers. I won't leave the Zumo on the bike unattended, but once the tamper-resistant bolts are on I'll probably be able to leave the V-1 on the bike during a quick lunch stop.
March 3, 2007
Garmin Zumo 550
Carole tried hard to order a Garmin 2730 GPS system for a Valentine's Day gift (yes, I'm a lucky man), but couldn't get everything arranged with Costco. After researching it, I decided the 2730 wasn't the best unit for my needs, and Carole supported my choice of a different unit.
After much research, I decided on the Garmin Zumo 450. The Zumo 550 includes Bluetooth and XM radio and traffic, but to actually receive XM you have to purchase a $300 external antenna, and I have no plans to use Bluetooth anytime soon. The Zumo 450 has everything I need and want, and nothing I don't. I ordered it from GetFeetWet.com last weekend.
While I was down in Huntington Beach getting my cruise control installed, Barry showed me his 550, and convinced me that it was worth the price to get the extra flexibility. I converted my order from a 450 to a 550, and it arrived on Wednesday.
I installed the bracket today, using an MCL steering stem RAM mount that was also recommended by Barry. For added protection, I replaced with RAM knob with a 1/4x20 x 1.25" hex-head bolt. I'm going to order some tamper-resistant replacements early next week — still not enough protection to consider leaving the Zumo on the bike unattended, but it will protect the mounting bracket somewhat.
V1 enclosure
I ordered this V1 security enclosure from Cateye on the FJRforum:
I got a diamond RAM base from GPScity.com, which doesn't fit the pre-drilled mounting holes on the enclosure. I wound up trying a couple of different setups, but finally settled on one that has the mount attached towards the rear, with the remote audio unit velcro'ed and cable tied to the bottom of the enclosure. (My first mounting location blocked the main power cable from the remote audio unit.)
The unit sits higher than before, and I have to tilt it up just a little to see the band indicators and bogey counter, but it's still a big improvement. I left the second coiled cord mounted to the left handlebar for now.
Steering nut RAM mount
Barry down in Huntington Beach has one of these for his Zumo. I installed it along with the Zumo bracket this afternoon.