More farkling

Installed the new IMS footpegs. As Tony the Tiger would say: "They're great!" They provide a nice wide, solid, non-slip platform to stand on. Kinda expensive at $80, but they make a crappy trail rider think he has skill.

2-week update: One thing I noticed about these rather expensive pegs is that they are a very snug fit in the peg mounts, that is, they fit so tightly that they don't fold up. If I hit a rock hard enough, sure, they might fold up as they should, but I'm sure they would remain in that position. During installation, it took some real encouragement to get those suckers in the slot and to line up the hole for the pin (I used a rubber/plastic deadblow hammer). In any event, they are much better than the OEM pegs. They sure feel a whole lot more stable when you stand up. I can't help but wonder though if those $20 eBay pegs would have been the same (they look identical).

New Skidplate:

I also ditched the parking sign, in favour of a real skid plate. After looking at all the brand name models available, I finally selected the one made by Pat Walsh Designs. At a tickness of 3/16" it's the heaviest gauge aluminum among the all the brands of skidplates I've seen. Plus, it's full length. That is, it goes all the way to the back of the engine. Many of the cheaper brands clamp onto the frame rails about 5" from the rear, but I don't know what their engineers were thinking.  This one goes all the way back, and it bolts onto the mounting tabs provided by Suzuki. This one is definitely the ticket and not crazy expensive ($120).

trail riding with ADV'ers

Hooked up with 4 other ADVRiders today and hit the trails along the power lines -- off Hwy 511 near Calabogie. Even though all four of them ride KLR's, I didn't hold that against them. Actually, they were a great bunch and we had a blast -- even if we did get caught in the rain. Hopefully we can get this group out again.

This was the route we followed. I turned on my new

Garmin Oregon GPS as we passed Carleton Place (Hwy 7).

We met up at Tim Horton's (Hazeldean & Terry Fox)

Quartz Quarry on Tatlock Rd.

That's a giant excavator way down at the bottom.

Well, Fuck You, too !

ADVRider inmates: Quantis, DVD_Scott, Rider23, Koi

Odometer: 20,999

Online shopping addiction

OMG! I'm addicted to onine shopping.

- Garmin Oregon 200 with Topo Canada v4
- 16GB microSD memory card
- RAM mount for GPS
- Acerbis roost deflector with full length spine protector
- elbow guards
- jersey
- Pat Walsh skid plate
- IMS foot pegs
- front and rear wheel bearings
- used cush drive with a new set of wheel bearings
- heavy duty tubes and rim strips
- Unifilter slip-on pod (for an experiment)
- Michelin T63 tires

I'm liking the Michelin T63 so much, I bought spares for when I wear out the first set.

Great tires for just $109 a pair.

Manypause Beer and Motorcycle Club

Went for a great ride with a bunch who call themselves the Manypause Beer and Motorcycle Club. This year, the club marked its 10th anniversary ride for Max Naterrer. I'm told Max was an unusual character who brought together a unique and unlikely gang of motorcyclists, more than 30 years ago. He was a wealthy businessman who loved and owned many types of motorcycles, and he regularly led this gang of two-wheeled friends on many adventures. He also loved a good party with his friends.

Max died 10 years ago while on a ski trip to Aspen, Colorado. Every year the club [not formally a club, rather, a casual group of riders] meets at the Centennial Restaurant in Pakenham, and they chart a ride for the day. For the 10th anniversary ride, the group of ~ 30 riders ended up at the Bent Anchor Bar in Combermere. The bar sits at the edge of the water along a very peaceful stretch of the Madawaska River. The main group took paved roads the whole way, while 3 of us followed an alternate route which included many Kilometres of some of the nicest gravel and dirt roads in this part of Ontario.
Bacon 'n eggs breakfast in Pakenham to start the day.

Max Naterrer - the person behind this gang of motorcyclists

Centennial Restaurant -Pakenham, ON

Jim led the way on his trusty DR650 for the 

three of us who rode gravel roads

Bent Anchor Bar - Combermere, ON

John's shiny new KTM Enduro 690 attracted a crowd of 

drooling, jealous on-lookers 

Jim's DR all decked out with Moose racks and Pelican cases.

Jim, John, and a few others are headed to Baja in October.

Local CBC personality Simon Gardner rides a sweet KTM 690SM

This is far from accurate, but the route looked
something like this. About 450 Kms for the day.

As a side note, the new Michelin T63 rear tire has impressed me so far. It's now got 850 Kms of use, mostly paved roads. On pavement, it's almost as good as a TCK-80, produces a little more noise, but off-road I'd say it's a little better. And in the mud, it's definitely better. Tread wear has gone from 10 mm deep lugs when brand new, to 9 mm after 850 Kms. It had great grip on the gravel running at ~20 psi. For the street, I've been running ~33 psi.

Odometer: 20,689 Kms

Gatineau Park, Wakefield, trails near Lac Girard

Dave and I went for a ride on the Quebec side. We started in Gatineau Park, then it was over to Wakefield for lunch, and explored some trails near Lac Girard. Great day.

Champlain Lookout in Gatineau Park

Tire Talk: Michelin T63

Time for new tires, once again. For the big roadtrip I did with Sean a few weeks ago, I decided my rear Continental TCK-80 Twinduro wasn't going to cut it. It was pretty worn -- a little bit of meat left on the centre knobbies, but not a lot. And the tread pattern was pretty squared off from all the pavement riding I had done. It may have lasted the 2,200 Kms of our trip but I didn't want to push my luck so I threw my old Avon Distanzia back on just for the trip. With it mounted on my spare rim, swapping it over was a 10-minute effort.

Here's a photo of what the rear Conti TCK looked like after about 4,800 Kms:

about 4 mm left on the centre knobs

according to my tread depth guage

And here's the Distanzia that I used for about 4,000 Kms last year:

Now that's a high mileage tire for sure, and it's

got awesome grip for street riding in the rain.

Great all-around for street use, and not bad for

light duty dirt/gravel (dry dirt, no mud). The

cracking is a little disconcerting and I will

now toss this tire out.

7 mm tread remaining after ~ 6,200 Kms

** I contacted Avon about the cracking and sent

this photo. Waiting to see what they have to say.

The new rear is a Michelin T63. Many people have compared them to the Conti TCK-80 in terms of performance for both on- and off-road, and in terms of mileage. The difference between them is price. $55 USD for the Michelin, and $115 for the Conti. You do the math. I'm curious to find out if it is as good as the Conti. So far, I'd say it compares quite well to the Conti on the street, and I'd even give it a couple more points in the dirt, but I really haven't given it a thorough test yet to say for sure.

Michelin T63 - newly installed

Tread depth is 10 mm

The front TCK-80 is still holding up well,

with approx 6,500 Kms on it. It's beginning

to show signs that the tread is flattening out

a bit from all the paved roads it has seen. I'm

quite impressed with how it's lasting. Not the best

in the mud, but can't compalin. Tread depth is 7.5 mm

And the new Michelin T63 for the front.

With the TCK holding up so well, I may not

even get to mount this Michelin until next year.

For now, this tire waits patiently in the basement.

Tread depth is 9.5 mm

Odometer: 19,850 Kms

Review: Cardo Scala Rider G4 Powerset

Before embarking on my 8-day roadtrip with Sean around Georgian Bay, I decided that a Bluetooth intercom communication system might be a useful gadget. Sean already had his last year's model Cardo Scala Rider Q2 headset. After doing much research and reading online, I determined that the latest and greatest Scala Rider "G4" would be the way to go. And instead of buying a single unit, I should just bite the bullet and purchase a pair (the "Powerset" kit) so I can use it with my son.

The new G4 model is very similar to last year's Q2 model, however, Cardo claims the effective range has been increased from 500 metres with the old Q2 units, to 1.6 Kms with the new G4 system. The new G4 also has a built-in FM tuner and supposedly better quality speakers. The documentation said that the new units are backward-compatible with the old ones, and we managed to pair our two units together in about minute -- after consulting the owner's manual, it was quite easy.

Being able to talk to each other while riding was really great -- having never experienced it before, it's hard to describe -- it's just one of those things a person cannot understand until they can do it themselves. From this point onward, going on a motorcycle trip without it couldn't be the same. How did I ever manage without it? Full-duplex, crytsal-clear, voice activated communication -- just like talking on the telephone. Who'da thunk it? It's amazing.

And when I wasn't talking with Sean, I was able to connect to my iPhone via Bluetooth, and use voice commands to listen to music, or to initiate/receive telephone calls using voice commands (ex: just speak the command "play -> AC-DC -> Highway to Hell," or  "Dial -> Smith, John -> work number"). The shit just works, and it works over Bluetooth -- no wires!  For shits and giggles I called Brad -- a buddy from work -- as I cruised along the highway at 130 Km/hr and he remarked that sound quality was excellent.

I even wore my ear plugs during our entire trip (as I always do) and I was able to hear no problem. The G4 units automatically adjust the volume for you - it's that easy. If you don't have a Bluetooth communication system, then you need to get one. It's a no-brainer.

In this photo you can see that I have the antenna flipped up:

not required unless you really want to get the most range out

of the system.