Lacombe LA

St charles LA

Going for a ride today...

I'm trying something new. I'm going on a long solo ride today, hopefully to tag a state I haven't yet visited...and something else. We'll see how it goes.

I hooked my cell phone up to my communications system. If you have my phone number, give me a call. It's set to auto-answer after a few rings, so if I stops ringing, just say hello. I won't know that you've called until YOU say something.

A Busy Schedule

I think I complained back in October about my busy schedule of motorcycling social events during the week. This week was busier than most.

Monday:
Rebecca’s first weekly Sugarland Coffee Meet was a hit! Replacing our Monday Night Football for a few months, we had a great turnout at a little café off of US59. Rebecca’s report and pics are on her blog here.

Tuesday:
I had an office dinner this week at a very nice restaurant in The Woodlands and couldn’t make it this time, but Patricia documented a very nice turnout at my normal PO’s Burgers meet in Cypress.

Wednesday:
It’s normally my quiet evening at home, but some sharp eyes had noticed a short blurb in my community newsletter about a new meet in the neighborhood. I stopped by briefly after dinner to meet eight riders who live in my community. It was a good mix, with a Kawi sportbike, an Aprilia scooter, two Harleys, and several metric cruisers.

Thursday:
I headed down to Ming’s Café at Montrose and Westheimer for some yummy Chinese food and some Italian, British, and German metal. The café’s owner beamed over his Ducati while assuring me that it’s meant to be an All Brands Bike Night and EVERYBODY is welcome.

Friday:
And now, it being just a few minutes past 6pm, I’ll head out for a quiet Friday night at home. I think I’ve done enough this week.

Rear Tire #4 Mounted

Lessee, I’ve got some catching up to do…

When last we left our heroine, she was rolling into her garage after foiling the cunning plan of that pesky sliver of metal.

//I guess that means my mettle was match enough for that metal.
///Stopping now.

After getting home to a pleasant NYE, I set about making plans to get some new rubber on the R1200ST. My friend Rebecca also needed a new tire, so she offered to do the pricing research, thinking the two of us could save money on shipping by pairing up.

Having mulled our options, Rebecca decided that the best deals to be had were through a popular local sportbike shop, Motorcycles Unlimited. She called and reserved a Michelin Pilot Road for me and ordered her own dual sport tire.

Between work and social events, I didn’t get around to pulling the wheel off the BMW until Saturday morning. It was as quick and easy as I remembered.

I was welcomed into Motorcycles Unlimited with a “Hi Becca!” from the big man holding court at a desk toward the back. Patrick (the owner) immediately directed a tech to take my wheel and mount my new tire. With the MotoHouston Forum discount, mount/balance was only $10 and the tire was priced close to internet-pricing. I was in and out in less than half an hour…and they do have the special spools for balancing BMW R1200 wheels.

I think I’ve finally found a tire dealer to replace San Jose’s Road Rider. Thanks again to Patrick at Motorcycles Unlimited!

Rear tire #4 is mounted at 22333 miles.

Just a note for R1200ST owners who are having a hard time aligning the exhaust hanger bolt:
It’s rubber mounted, so if you can just get the bolt through and threaded into the nut, the two pieces WILL come together even if they don’t appear to be aligned. I vaguely remember struggling with it last time. Hopefully this little note will jog my memory NEXT time so this bolt doesn’t take so long to start.

NYE Ride and Tire Repair Kit Review

Most of the time, emergency-use items such as first-aid kits and tire repair kits are just so much extra weight. In those rare occasions when they are needed, they are worth their weight in gold.

It was a beautiful Texas winter day, brisk but clear, and the last day of the year. The blue skies and rolling fields beckoned.

Riding out of College Station, where I had spent the previous night at the TWTexans end of year BBQ and Pie Run, I headed north toward scenic OSR (Old San Antonio Rd). It was quite a contrast from riding in west Texas. Lush green farm fields populated with herds of livestock behind white painted fences bordered the small two-lane.

The recent storms had made an impact. I stopped briefly to wait for a pilot vehicle to guide me through an area that had been hit by a tornado. There was trash everywhere; twisted metal, ravaged farmhouses, and bits of paper and wood. The road was covered with mud from the construction crews struggling to re-erect downed power lines.





I fueled up at the intersection of OSR and I-45. The gas station had been there a LONG time. The modern (but still not yet card-reading) pumps were in back, and the older style pumps (not working, but still neat) were in front.



Heading north toward my highly anticipated transition from the “Prairies and Lakes” region to the “Piney Woods” region, I noticed my rear tire wallowing into turns. I pulled over and found that it was losing air but I felt it would probably make it south to Madisonville (a larger town on I-45).

Which brings me to:

Review - Progressive Suspension Tire Repair Kit – Tubeless tires

I’ve been pretty lucky. My last flat tire was back in mid-2002, over 60,000 miles ago. It was a sad, messy affair: That first moment when I realized that something must be very wrong because I was able to flat foot my bike…limping it under power around to the corner gas station…kneeling there looking grimy, cute, and helpless with a just-bought plug kit until a passing motorist took pity on me and did the deed.

In the last hours of 2006, I was in a very different situation. Due to the diligence of a past boyfriend, I was prepared with a never-used plug kit and a little more confidence in my wrenching chops.

After discovering the flat, I slowly rode the bike 15 miles to the first gas station I saw and pulled over next to the air pump. A wandering-by BSG (big strong guy) balanced the bike so I could get it onto the centerstand. Optimistic, I dismissed him with thanks and put 75 cents into the machine to get it to dispense air.

I shouldn’t have wasted my coins. As soon as air began entering the tire, I heard it hissing loudly out. I rolled the wheel around (DOH- should have done this before buying air) to find a staple sized sliver of metal lodged in the tire.



Some needle-nose pliers from my onboard tool kit easily removed the sliver and I was rewarded with a rush of escaping air as my tire went completely flat.

My plug kit included an awl-like implement, several torpedo-shaped rubber plugs, a tube of cement, air cartridges and a tube for using them (not needed in this case), and (happily) a small sheet of instructions.



The instructions were straightforward enough. Ream out the hole with the awl, smear hole, awl, and plug with cement, insert plug (it fit neatly onto the awl for the push), and trim the plug. It seemed easy enough for the greenest novice and much more simple than the sticky string-type plugs I’d struggled with in 2002. The plugs included a “self-vulcanizing strip” around the narrowest part, which I guess is supposed to permanently bond to the tire when it heats up.

The instructions mentioned nothing about drying time for the cement. Just to be safe, I left it to cure while I went into the gas station for more quarters and a bottled Starbucks caramel frappuccino.

I heard no tell-tale hissing when I filled the tire with air, so I felt safe to head home. Throughout the ride, I frequently tested the air pressure by rolling the bike side-to-side to feel for wallowing. It held air sufficiently to get me into my garage.



I would recommend this kit. It’s simple to use and small enough to fit on most sportbikes.

Progressive Suspension Tire Repair Kit, Tubeless Type - $34.95
http://www.ridegear.com/rg/item/F-6232/Progressive_Suspension__Tire_Repair_Kit_.html

Also available as a bare bones kit without air cartridges - $9.75
http://www.parkeryamaha.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=21548