BluepoofBikes Motorcycle Adventures

Yay happy seat!

Once again, Rick Mayer does great work. :)

Anderson, CA

Peter and I had a great ride today up to Anderson, CA (just south of
Redding).

It took us 9 hours to go 290 miles -- 100 of which were I-5 -- so that
tells you how nice and small and twisty most of the roads were. Yum.

We had to forego 2 nice-looking side roads when they wound up being
dirt...someday I'll get Peter on a tour-worthy dualsport. ;)

R4 vs R3: 2-6

The game was WAY more fun than the score implies. The other team got a couple of really lucky shots, a couple of really good shots, and our goalie had a couple of oopsies. So, y'know, no big deal.

Even though I'm still mad at Joanne for trying out for Maroon and making it (she's so much fun to play D with), our team is awesome this season and our first game had a lot of laughing and cheering.

I'm going to learn to play center this season, which will be entertaining for all. ;) Last night, I played D since we were short a couple of people from injury/illness. I had one short shift on right wing which was exhilarating and convinced me that I'm doing the right thing by playing up this season.

Peter also did a kickass job in his first game as our official coach! Yay sweetie!

Aww yeah.

Ladies and gents, I present a very crappy screenshot of the 2008 Ninja 650R from Kawasaki's *#&*@$ flash-only website:

Peter's disappointed that they didn't bring the red frame back, but I think it's perfect. I am très pleased. Now to just wait until they appear in dealerships.

Kwalatee BMW workmanship

Brakes; who needs 'em?

Apparently not me.

I swapped my front levers out for Wunderlich adjustable levers (much better for those of us with shrimpy hands) and immediately noticed that my front brakes were fux0red.

Turns out that the simple act of removing the old brake lever (ONE BOLT!) pulled the master cylinder plunger pin out of the rubber boot that it lives in, thusly:

"Oh poot," said I, and threaded the spring back into the boot as best I could.

That done, I figured I'd bleed the brakes in case air got into the line. And that's when I noticed the tumor.

Yeah.

So the Beemer is once again relegated to "back bike status" (i.e. the bike that's parked in by other bikes) until I can get a replacement front brake line for it. Here's hoping Road Rider or Cal have the right size stainless steel line in stock.

Take my money awaaaayyyyy!

The impendingly victorious R4!

Once again, it's time for a new NCWHL season!

For the third season in a row, I'm on Andrea's team, again with quite a few Val's Spiny Dogfish/Are Too! teammates. We also have at least one new player who I know to be pretty good from watching her at evaluations last weekend.

Also, SOOOOOSUN!!! Not only did the little sneak try out for the red division without telling anyone but she made it and is on our team! I do the happy bounce. This will allow many subversive opportunities for me to talk her back onto a motorcycle... ;)

Our first game is Tuesday night, hooray!

3" PVC Tool Tube for the F650GS

I finally got off my behind and made up a PVC tool tube for my F650GS. I have these on both of my XT225s and love them.

Here's the write up for the XT225-- the only difference with the F650GS was that I drilled two small holes in the skid plate to mount the angle bracket. I also installed two screw caps instead of a screw cap and a plug cap, so that I can open the tool tube from either end.

There are no problems with clearance with the front tire (stock size Tourance).

Sorry for the weird lighting effects; this picture was way backlit.

In the tool tube, I keep:

* 5-14 mm sockets
* 1/4" socket wrench
* Extension for the 1/4" drive sockets
* Folding hex keys
* Folding torx keys
* 13-in-1 ratcheting screwdriver
* Small vice grip
* Cable ties
* Roll of electrical tape
* Roll of Rescue Tape
* 1 pair of vinyl gloves

I'll also be putting 3 tire irons in once they arrive in the mail (my extra ones went to Seattle with the white XT225).

Hooray for Are Too!

Just saw the stats for last season's NCWHL team, "Are Too!":

We were division winners!

Games Played: 15
Points: 21
Wins: 10
Losses: 5
Ties: 1
OTL: 0
Goals For: 26
Goals Against: 18
Shots on Goal: 350

Woo!

Next season should start next week. Hooray!

Good news for Steve Miller

Peter and I have appointments at Rick Mayer Cycle for 10am and 11am on Saturday, Sept 29! Woo!

We're going to make a three-day weekend of it, riding back roads up to Redding on Friday, getting the custom seats made on Saturday, and more back roads home on Sunday.

Peter will be on the Superhawk, so no off-roading adventures, but there are plenty of twisties up there to keep us happy nonetheless.

And yes, Steve, the new seat will be a nice boring basket-weave black. ;)

Pics from the Pacific Rally

Can you call it a "rally" if only three people attended? Either way, I had a great time last weekend in and around Yosemite with Jodie and Kathleen.

All pics are here, and here are my favorites: