Weekend trip to Arkansas!

I'm giddy. I just made hotel reservations in Mena, Arkansas for this Saturday night. Wheeeee!

I'm gonna combine the August TWT pie run with some Arkansas & Oklahoma twisties!

Getting *Legal* and Rear Tire #3

Before work this morning I went up to the Harris County Tax Office in Tomball to get the truck and BMW plated. I was happy to see that there was an actual line to stand in (instead of the voodoo-esque "take a number" system employed by the CA DMV). After filling out a bunch of paperwork and writing a check for $350, I walked out license plates in hand in less than 1.5 hours. I'm told that initial registration is more expensive than renewals.

Now I have to find my social security card so I can go down to a different agency's office and get my drivers license transferred. They have a really convoluted system here.

In other news, at 15,200 miles on the R1200ST, I installed rear tire #3.

This was also my first attempt at maintenance on the ST.

From reading the manual, I knew that I had everything needed except the big T50 torx bit for the rear wheel bolts. I rolled out of bed on Saturday morning and called Cycle Gear to make sure they had the tire I wanted in stock. I had them pull a Pilot Road rear for me. Then I checked with Dad to see if he had Torx bits. He did, but not big enough, so it was time for a quick trip to Lowe's for a full set of Torx bits that would work with my torque wrench (Dad's wouldn't).

Coming home, I grabbed some latex gloves, had Dad help me get the BMW up on the center-stand and then started going through the steps to removing the rear wheel. It was amazingly easy, taking probably 3 minutes. You loosen the clamp on the exhaust, rotate it out of the way, and then remove 5 bolts.

Then it was off to Cycle Gear to get a new tire installed. The guys at CG had previously assured me that they could handle the funky rear wheel, but it turned out that they were unable to balance it because of the huge axle hole. Their spacers didn't go big enough. I ended up taking the wheel down to the BMW dealer to get it balanced. I think I might have to invest in a Marc Parnes balancing axle (~$150) so that I don't have to run around like this again.

Back home, reinstallation was just a reverse of removal. The only hitch was that the owners manual only listed torque values in Nm whereas my torque wrench is really made to be used in Ft-lbs. I found a torque value table for the R1200GS on the internet that translated Nm to Ft-lbs and wrote them into my owners manual so i'll have them next time.

I'll be replacing the front tire next month. The removal procedure looks a little more complicated than for the rear, but shouldn't be a problem.

Euro Bike Night at Ming's

My social schedule has been getting rather hectic lately.

There's Monday Night Football (hot waiter watching) at the Fox&Hound pub, Tuesday night TWT meet, Wednesday night "show my face at home", Thursday night in Katy or Montgomery, and then Friday night go out with whoever doesn't shoot down my plans. :P

Last night I tried something different. In an effort to meet some more new people, I got on my bike on an amazingly hot and humid evening to head inside the I610 loop for the Euro Bike Night at Ming's Cafe on Montrose @ Westheimer.

I could tell it was a different crowd immediately upon stepping through the door. I turned to the nearest person holding a helmet and tried to introduce myself. "Hi....I'm..."

"Becca." He finished for me. "Yeah, I recognized your bike from your posts on TWT."

Don't you just love it when lurkers on forums (that you personally have less than 200 posts on) recognize you?

It was a great conversation starter at least. After speaking with him for a few minutes, I started rotating around to different tables, introducing myself and trying to come across as friendly and respectful.

A couple of Ducati riders invited me to put down my jacket and pull up a chair, so I ordered my chinese food dinner and sat down to get to know them.

It was really wierd. The two of them (young men probably around my age) seemed nervous and were slightly turned away from me during further conversations - strange after the initial invitation to sit at their table. I tried to make small talk, but maybe they were just shy...

No worries - I moved on from them and finished eating with a slightly older group who seemed more social. After dinner, most of us gravitated outside to sit on the patio, sip delicious raspberry iced tea, and talk bikes. One other TWTexan that I recognized showed up on his Ducati Multistrada and introduced me to some more people, including the owner of a south Houston BMW/Triumph shop and the sales manager of one of the big Harley dealers.

There was quite a variety of bikes too. I don't think I've ever seen so many Moto Guzzis in my life. There were several Ducatis, Triumphs, vintage and newer BMWs, etc. I think there were only 2 japanese bikes there, a Honda 599 and a Silverwing.

Some pics (it was dark - quality isn't great):

A new R1200S. It wasn't yet plated. This is the first one I've seen in the flesh.

A British Racing Green Triumph Sprint ST. For years, this was my dream bike. Green and made for sport touring. Mmmm. If only it came with shaft drive.

A Honda Silverwing and a Moto Guzzi. Interesting juxtaposition because I once owned a 1983 Honda Silverwing...which shared the scooter's name, but had something like the Guzzi's opposed v-twin engine.

Femmoto 2006

Ok - so after wrestling with the website for days (I'm apparently very dense) I finally managed to get my registration through to attend Femmoto 2006. I'm registered with Bluepoof and Stargzrgrl for the Saturday morning MSF dirt beginners course and the Saturday night riders banquet.

Carolyn comments with a "yay!!!!!" in 4...3....2.....

New Helmet! and another TWT Pie Run

Yesterday was yet another TWTexans Pie Run. This one was held in Hutto, TX, just a little NE of Austin.

I've been wanting to visit Lone Star BMW in Austin for a while, mainly because I'd heard a nasty rumor that they carried Caberg brand flip-up helmets.

My trusty 3 year old Arai had been damaged in the crash in Nashville in June, so I was in the market for a new helmet and really wanted to try a flip up. Dante's Dame had a Caberg Justissimo (link goes to a review) at the STN WV meet, and I really liked the features. Unfortunately her head is a bit smaller than mine so trying on her Xtra Small wasn't going to work. I don't like buying helmets without trying them on, so I've been delaying my purchase and just wearing my Arai.

According to Mapsource, it was 130 miles from my door to the pie run location in Hutto. Figuring in the 20 miles from Lone Star BMW to Hutto, I determined that if I gave myself 3.5 hours to get there, I'd have time to shop a little in Austin.

Well, after slabbing out to Austin on 290, they had Cabergs, but the only medium was a glittery (not flat) black. I kind of wanted a silver, but all my previous helmets have been black, and I'd rather reward the dealership for carrying these rare helmets. The sales assistant seemed knowledgable and was able to demonstrate the features of the helmet. A cheaper version of the Schuberth flip ups, the Caberg has an integral smoke shield that drops out from the helmet internals (no more extra shield to carry!) and the clear main visor has a fog-free coating. The flip up catch is metal (supposed to be better than the plastic ones seen on cheaper flip ups). It seemed to have adequate vents, but I don't generally sweat that much. My only concern at this point is that the Caberg is reputed to leak in rain, but we'll see how much of an issue that is.

I wore the helmet in the dealership for about 20 minutes to make sure the fit was correct with no pressure points. The price onthe box was $299... but again, I was able to try it on...so I figured on paying for that convenience. Happily, it only rang up to $250 at the register, much more inline with online prices. I got out of there in the $270 range including tax.

I walked out of the dealership and sat in the parking lot to transfer my helmet speakers from my Arai (note - I will need to buy an open-faced Starcom speaker kit with a boom mic). The Arai and the collapsed box for the Caberg all fit snugly into my trunk. I headed off to the pie run to show off my purchase.

After being social and consuming a pretty good mushroom swiss burger and some very rich peppermint patty pie, I decided to ride home on a somewhat twisty route. Rebecca had made her own way to the pie run, and wanted to ride back with me. I was fine with that, but didn't really want a large group since I knew I was the one with the route on my gps...and would be leading.

Somehow rumors spread and we ended up with 6 people total. Grrr.

I was feeling a little off during the first part of the ride. My new helmet was feeling weird - the noise was different and I somehow felt taller on the bike. At one point, I was thinking to myself that I'd had more fun slabbing out there alone that morning than on twisty roads leading a group in the afternoon.

I think I started to relax and have fun when we hit FM696 and I asked Rebecca to lead the 16 miles to Lexington. I waved everyone forward and got to have some stress-free time in the back.

From there it was more of the trading off lead that I'd enjoyed so much during the hill country ride. I'd guide us through complicated road turn-offs and then Rebecca would take over during the fast twisties.

At a turn-off about 80 miles into the ride, I asked Rebecca if she thought the others needed a break. I usually don't take breaks except for gas and food, so I didn't need one. She didn't think they did, so we continued on. About 20 miles later, Debbie passed the two of us and pulled the group over in a shady turn out, complaining that she "thought we'd never stop!"

I was able to rate the day's ride as thoroughly enjoyable by the time we hit US290 and started going separate ways.

I really didn't take any pictures today, but Rebecca posted a pictorial report on her blog

Are you in a rut?

From Bamarider's latest trip report (link in sidebar):

"I think folks go in a comfort zone, and get stuck in a "rut." I believe you have to break out of it to live a full life. Go to work, come home, rub the kids, eat, pass out in front of the TV each evening. Riding a motorcycle across America, solo, certainly qualifies as a means out of Rutville. Not always easy, lots of uncertainty, but NEVER boring, I can't measure how it has enriched my life the last few years.

Take a rat, put him in a cage, with no interaction with the outside world, and see how long he lasts.

If you long to ride cross country, but talk yourself out of it by, "I don't like being by myself, I get nervous when I'm too far from home, I might get wet, it gets too hot, what if I have a breakdown, and the list goes on- just go do it. All of those things might happen, and all on the same day, but so WHAT?" Overcoming those things will make you better, you will walk in some cafe in podunk and folks will feel your confidence in the air, anything bad I might get on the road is far exceeded by the enjoyment."

Reading this brought to mind several friends who WANT to go out on that great American road trip, but seem to keep finding reasons to postpone it. I firmly believe that you just need to throw all those thoughts away and GO! It'll always work out.

I've been reading Guy's trip reports for a few years now. They are wonderfuly detailed, with great pictures. Guy has somehow magically found a way to slow it down and talk to people while still getting some serious mileage in. He's retired and takes his ST1300 and R1200RT on frequent multi-day trips. His packing tips page has several great ideas that I've adapted.