Then again, 1000cc is a nice round number....

Well, regardless of what Irondad thinks....

Maybe less is more?

Ever seen a Roketa Scooter Dealership?

I had never seen one in person, but recently, Sunshine Motorsports opened their door in nearby Havana.

I had a day off and no duties at our new childcare, Superstar Kids, so after a nice breakfast at What A Burger (their taquitos are excellent!), I headed over to Havana.

I found their store and walked in. The showroom is full of Roketas! To be honest, except for Glynn's Roketa, I hadn't seen many in person. So, after meeting the owner, Tad, I took a look around. They have several ATV's, including a really sharp looking 250cc but I was there to see the MC 54B.

I must say, the Roketa MC 54B looks very nice, take a look at it here. It's big and comfortable and looked like it was well put together.

After talking for a while with Tad, he offered to let me take it for a ride. I accepted and headed out. It rode very smoothly but the acceleration was a bit lackluster. However, the scooter had less than 8 miles on it and it was not broken in, so I expect that the acceleration would imrove with a few hundred miles on it.

So, anyone thinking of a Chinese scooter might want to take a short trip to Havana and take a look. They also had a number of nice looking 150cc scooters and 49cc scooters.

I wish they had one of the 200cc dual sports, though. I keep thinking that would be a perfect bike to have in this area....

So...about me not understanding the need for a 1000cc sport bike...

Well, ummmm, I can sort of see why people like them now.

Let me explain.

Thanksgiving Day, my family went to my Grandmothers for the traditional dinner. What was different this year was that my nephew had his 95 Yamaha FZR 1000 at her home. Here's sort of what it looked like:



So, after lunch, we head out to take a look at the bike. It's not in pristine shape, but my nephew paid $700 for it and it runs, so it's ok. I sit on the bike and it feels pretty good, even comfortable. He hands me the keys and I crank the bike. I probably shouldn't have done that, but I did so there was nothing left for me to do but take it for a test drive, you know?

I was a bit jittery but the bike was very smooth. Anyway, after driving it a mile or so, I turned around to ride back to my Grandmother's home. I got it turned around and decided to give it a tiny bit of throttle....

After a tiny bit of throttle, I glanced down at the speedometer and saw the needle was only at 20 mph or so. You know, barely off the zero mark on the guage. In the split second it took me to look back up to the road, something registered that I was going faster than 20mph.

A quick glance back at the speedometer showed that although the needle was in the 20 mph spot on the usual guages I've seen in cars and other vehicles, on this particular FZR, it was actually 50-60 mph...

Oh, how much throttle did I give the 95 Yamaha to get from 0 to 50 + in probably three seconds? Well, I maybe moved my wrist a quarter of an inch.

So that's what it feels like, huh?

Maybe my Nephew really doesn't want the FZR?

More motivational motorcycle posters.

These were stolen from a thread at Adv Rider.

Ok, decision made!

First off, no, I did not buy that bike.

That Ninja belongs to a local guy who also frequents the
Ninja 250 Rider Forums . He had made a post detailing the new pegs he had put on his Ninja. He also has handlebar risers and a beaded seat pad so I was curious as to how much of a difference it made in comfort. I had set on several Ninjas and thought I'd be ok on them but after sitting on a Versys, I was quickly aware of the difference in comfort levels between the two bikes.

However, a $1000 Ninja versus a $7000 (or more) Versys is a big difference.

So, I sent the Owner a PM asking if it was possible to meet up and let me sit on his bike and see how it felt. He agreed and even told me I could ride it.

So I did. Three times. And every time I am sure I had a big goofy grin on my face. I didn't take it on any open roads, keeping it to a parking lot at the local Vo-Tech school (where they also administer the MSF class...) but it was an absolute blast.

The handlebar risers made a huge difference between this Ninja and other Ninjas I have sat on. There was no pressure on my wrists at all. The lower pegs and seat pad made a difference, too, I'm sure but the first thing I'll do when I buy a Ninja is install some risers.

So, riding the bike? Well, in the past I have said I don't get people that say 'Oh, I outgrew the power of the Ninja 250' or 'Well, whwen you are going 80, you need to have more power to get out of the way' and other goofy things. I didn't ride the Ninja very far or very fast but I am sure it has plenty of power and plenty of speed for me.

The highest rpms I hit was 7500, highest gear was second and I was at an indicated 35-40. So, I was no where close to redlining the bike, nowhere near highway gears and was doing 40mph. Nice.....

All I know is when I do buy a Ninja (soon! Final inspections THIS WEEK!!!), I will wear a full face helmet to hide the goofy grin from the Seller. That way I might be able to barter on the price a little :)

This will not be pretty!

Check out this Craigslist ad (it's totally safe for work)


R1 motor wanted for go cart!!

Seriously, what are they thinking?

Life is good (Three reasons why...)

Reason Number 1:

My wife and kids are happy and healthy. Jen had some fairly major surgery a few days ago and came through fine. It was stressfull but it also sort of calmed me down from worrying about things I have no control over. Now that she's ok, of course I'm right back to chomping at the bit wanting to murder someone over the continuing saga of getting our building ready that was promised to be ready NOVEMBER 1, 2007!

But even that is on the horizon, hopefully by the end of the week. I am not holding my breath, though, having already missed 10 previous dead lines.

The kids are also doing extremely well, growing up happy and loud. Lots of loud, but a lot of happy, too.

You really don't need any reasons other than that to say life is good, but I promised three reasons so the other reasons follow below.

Reason Number 2:

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

I watched the Hall of Fame game. Football is here! I love this time of year for many reasons, the promise of cooler temperatures, the upcoming holidays and yes, the arrival of football. Although FSU has fallen far from the dominance we once had, this area is still football hungry. Football is my favorite sport so I am always happy when the season finally gets here.

Add in that I absolutely love fantasy football and it is even more exciting. I'm going to win my league this year!

Reason Number 3:

The Long Way Round and The Long Way Down.

Wow. Have you seen, read or heard of these movies, books, trips? Long story short, Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman (google them if you don't know who they are) took off from England going east, all the way around the world. They had one guy riding with them to film it and had a support crew that met them at borders.

Check out the wiki. Now, I know that their trip and planning and everything are far beyond the reach of most people, but it still all boils down to two guys on two motorcycles. Sort of. And if you read the ride reports at Adventure Rider, you see normal Joes like you or me doing some incredible riding all the time.

I had heard of the TV series a while back from my buddy Glynn and caught some of the episodes on the Fox Reality Channel (the Long Way series is the ONLY thing worth watching on that channel) and DVR'ed them. I had three or so episodes in the series and watched them and thought it was great.

But with the showing of The Long Way Down, they reaired the first series and I DVR'ed all of them and finally finished watching them this morning.

My first thought of the series is how normal Ewan and Charley are. I knew who Ewan MacGrwegor was from seeing him in the Star Wars series. He was also in Trainspotting, and other movies. Charley Boorman is the son of film director John Boorman and has also been in several movies, including 'Deliverance'.

All that aside, watching these two and reading the first chapter of the books, I was struck by how normal and laid back they were. Of course, all of that could have been carefully crafted by some PR firm in New York but it was cool seeing MacGregor on the side of the road in Mongolia, ad libbing in his best Jedi Knight voice, 'These are not the bikes you seek...'

Another thing I really appreciated was seeing what Mongolia and Kazahkstan looked like. I'll never set foot there more than likely, but it was very cool to see what it looked like.

There wasn't a ton of riding in the series but it was still well worth watching. And again. And again. Take a look if you can.

Well, reason number two is sort of selfish and reason number three is definitely selfish but with what we have been through the last 10 months, they are still reasons to get a little happy.

Best Youtube video ever.....

He was wearing armor, so he's not a SQUID...

Who needs a KLR when you have a Ninja 250?

With all due respect to the KLR and other dual sports, who needs 'em? A Regular on the Ninja250 Riders Club , Skippii, went for a ride on his Ninja and stopped to take a few pictures, as seen below. Read the ride report >here.

Cool ongoing trip report I found...

This guy is taking a Vstrom from Oklahoma to Alaska. Very neat read and some awesome pictures. Take a look here.

Sorry if you have seen this before.....

What's your reason for riding?

What a simple question. What a hard question to answer.

There are, of course, a million answers, none of them wrong, either.

For some, the answer is pure speed. That's why they ride. For others, the answer is necessity and with $4 per gallon of gas, that answer is going to be relevant to more and more of us. The answer can also be freedom, which is in itself a million different answers. Freedom from what?

I've been thinking of the reason I like to ride so much and there are many reasons but the main one I think is part of all the other reasons is exploration. I want to see new places.

Yet, the more I look around, the more I realize how I don't have to go hundreds of miles away to see new things. There are things in Tallahassee I haven't seen. For example, there is a home that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, right here in town. Aren't too many of those in the country, are there?

There are probably five or six cool experiences in every nearby county, waiting to be seen, one weekend at a time. It is probably the same for everyone, but most of us put the blinders on and look further out for the cool experiences, don't we?

I think I'm going to pull out my Rand map book and really investigate the three or four surrounding counties. See what pops up.

Then, once I get two wheels (soon!), I'm going to go see them. Take lots of pictures. Blog about it.

Sounds good to me.

More thoughts on motorcycles....

Well, I've sort of rekindled my interest in the Kawasaki KLR 650. You have to like a bike that even its most rabid supporters will say 'It doesn't do anything great, it just does everything ok.'

If you think about it, that's actually a pretty cool thing to say about a motorcycle, in my opinion. Want to ride 300 miles on the interstate? You can...at reasonable speeds. Want to go off road? You can...but a bit slower than smaller dirt bikes. Want to do both? You certainly can...

I also know it's really not a good idea to lump all KLR owners into a group, but after doing some research and meeting a large group of them January, CAMPING!!, I can say it's a group I'd like to be a part of.

I've been reading up on the KLR at a lot of sites. One of them, Adventure Rider, is an amazing site for people going way out of the way, doing all sorts of awesome things on a motorcycle, then taking lots of stunning photos and posting them online. Take a look, I bet $5 you won't get past the opening page without spending five minutes or more looking at the slideshow. I know you won't.

Anyway, I ran across a thread entitled You know you're a KLR Owner when... That has to be one of the funniest things I've ever read on the 'net.

I love the one about 'If you have any accessories made out of wood...'

I guess I could be a KLR guy, huh?

Tallahasseescooters 2.0

Well, as you may be able to tell, especially if you read KymcoJones (who owes me my tag!), I sold my Kymco. The plan was to sell it and get a motorcycle, but of course, that plan didn't work. I am still bikeless, due to other issues. Namely, the Owner/Realtor/Developer still not having completed the renovation to the building my wife and I are using to hold our new business, a Childcare Facility. However, there is very little left for the guy to screw up and lie about, so maybe, hopefully, miraculously, we may have a COC next week. Of course, work was supposed to complete November 1 of 2007 so neither my wife or I am holding our breath. Seriously, November 1. This is approximately the 9th missed deadline.

The Owners even chuckled at the fact they had four months to get the work done. They swore it wouldn't take longer than two months to finish. We signed the lease at the end of June, 2007.

Yeah.

As you may be able to tell, I am not happy about this ordeal, it has seriously caused a lot of stress and pain for me and my family. It's hard to plan finances for a certain date, only to have that date stretch by over 8 months. It's been tough.

Add in that I haven't been able to go for a ride in a long time, and if you ride, you know how quickly the ride becomes the perfect reliever of stress and you can understand how badly I want a motorcycle.

But, I have had time (oh, have I had time) to really research bikes, decide on a bike, change my mind, decide on another bike, read ADVRider.com, decide I need an adventure bike and change my mind again.

However, I honestly feel like I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I decided to get serious about picking a bike that I will find and purchase (unless I find a really, really good deal on another bike that is on my list).

So, how does a bike get on my list? Well, good question. I only have a few criteria:

1. Must be able to cruise at 80 mph. The bike must also be able to hit 90 without adversely affecting the motorcycle. If I ever decide to hit I-10 for a few days of riding, I want to be able to. Not sure I will, but I want to be able to do it.

2. Light weight. I don't want a 700 pound bike.

3. Must be reliable and newbie friendly for repairs/maintenance.

4. Must be cheap. Real cheap. Like one to three thousand. In good shape. I've been looking and that's doable.

5. Must be a cool bike. I'm a fan of the underdog or the things that only a true fan could love. You know what I mean? For example, I had a dog that was part lab, part dachshund. There you go. He was cool.

6. Would be cool to have an online following. Cause I like to belong :)

So far, there are five motorcycles that fit the bill:





1. The Buell Blast.

Ok, where to start? I first saw a Buell Blast last year, when Tim and I went to bike night at Famous Dave's here in Tallahassee. We were walking around the parking lot looking at the bikes and this was the coolest looking bike there. Well, it was, until the ratty BMW dual sports pulled up. Nothing cooler than those, if they're muddy, in my opinion. Anyway, I had no idea what the Blast was but it was definitely cool looking in my opinion.

So, when I got home, I googled it and found out it is the sport bike Harley Davidson. Sort of. More or less. The Blast is not a sport bike, but the bigger Buells are, in every sense of the word. The Blast is a very small bike, with an air cooled 500cc single cylinder motor.

It is not particularly fast, in motorcycle terms, but will outrun most any car off the line and will cruise at 80mph, so performance wise, it is fine. They are also reliable, after you weed through the knee jerk comments. There is a dedicated group of people that absolutely love these bikes and their site is at the
Buell Blast Motorcycle Forum

So, the Blast fits my criteria. The only concerns I have are that it is a very small bike. I look ok on it, and felt great sitting on it. The handlebars are up high and sitting there, hearing the single cyclinder rumble... ok, it was a slight rumble, but still.... It just felt cool to me and that's all that counts. The other concern is that they cost more new than a Ninja 250 and used, you can find a Ninja 250 (and even Ninja 500's) for what some people ask for their Blast. Yes, I know about haggling and all, but still, it is a concern.

Next bike:





2. Pre-2008 Ninja 250.

To be honest, this is my choice as of right now. It does everything I need and want in a bike. Sure, it's a 250cc engine, but so what? The bike has completed several Iron Butt Rallies, goes 100 mph GPS verified, is extremely reliable and easy to work on and has a rabid following, as seen at the Ninja 250 Riders site.

They are also dirt cheap, because too often, people buy them and consider them a 'starter' bike. I do not buy the whole 'I outgrew the bike's power so I HAD to upgrade' BS you see. The Ninja will outrun most every car out there, will break every speed limit in America, so why do you need to 'outgrow' it's speed ability? Noone can explain that to me.

Sure, I understand that you might WANT more power but my guess is the majority of the people buying and then selling a Ninja 250 that use that excuse are doing so because of peer pressure or some goofy ideal of what a real Motorcycle is. I do understand that the Ninja may not work well for 2 up riding or heavy touring but I don't see many people riding their Hayabusa or R6 or whatever at 100 mph in Tallahassee or on the Interstate.

Sorry, let me get off the soap box.

I've always liked the way the Ninja looks, ever since they were released back in 1986. The fact that they remained basically the same for 20 years also really appeals to me. Their underdog status also really appeals to me. Add in they are cheap and I'm a big fan of them.

The main concern I have on the Ninja 250 is the comfort of the bike. It is pretty small and I'm not sure how comfortable I'll be riding it for longer than an hour. Sitting on them, I'm pretty comfortable but I'm not sure if the slight lean to the handlebars would become a pain.

The other concern I have is that with a bit of research, it is possible to find the next bike on my list for only a bit more money...




3. Ninja 500

Well, take what I wrote for the 250 above, and add another 250cc to it. This would certainly cure any worry about power and it is a bit bigger than its 250 sibling. There is a decent fan site for the bike at EX-500.com

There are a few concerns though. First, and I realize it is purely an aesthetic problem but I really do not like the horrendous front fairng. I'm sure I can live with it, but it is UGLY. But, I do not see this keeping me from a Ninja 500.

The only other concern is that I am wondering: Do I need a 500cc bike?

Other than that, I like the Ninja 500. In Kawasaki Green or in Yellow, please.

Next bike:




4. Suzuki GS500F.

Neat bike. Performance and comfort is fine. It is roomier than the Ninja 250, that's for sure. It is more expensive used, though. There is a decent fan site at GS Twin.

It's a bit plain, I guess but there's nothing wrong with that. Flying under the radar is fine with me.

This bike has everything I'd need, plenty of power, plenty of room, fun and reliable.

The only concern is price. I think I could find a Ninja 500 for less. I know this write up is small, compared to the others but I do like the bike.

Last but not least:




What a cool bike. It really fits the bill for everything I want in the motorcycle I buy. It, like the Ninja, until this years update, was basically unchanged for 20 years. It's a big single cylinder bike and a lot taller than the other bikes I have on my short list. I sat on a KLR at a local dealer and looking at it, the bike is huge! But, when I sat on it, honestly I felt better on it than the other bikes listed.

The bike would do everything I want it to do on my list and it has an extremely large online fan base, as seen at KLR650.net. Plus, it gives me the ability to ride off road, well, off paved roads. I don't think I'd be doing much serious off roading.

There are some concerns on the KLR, though. One is price. I'm not sure I could get a good model for under $3000. It's possible, but not as easy as the other bikes on my list.

The other concern is financial. For less money, the other bikes would do everything as well as the KLR, maybe even better, except riding on dirt roads. So if I found a KLR for the right price, chances are I could find one of the other motorcycles for less.

Anyway, those are the five motorcycles I think I'd be very happy on. If you've made it this far, feel free to let me know your opinion. They would be welsome!

Ok, time for a new (re)Direction.

Hello, long time, no see. Yes, this poor blog has been neglected, but there are good reasons for that. However, I had a thought today that one of the reasons for so few posts could actually turn into quite the entertaining blog, so with a bit more thought, here I am, once again updating the blog.

What's in store? Well, give me an hour or two and I'll make a nice long detailed post that spells out what I have done, what I'm doing and what I plan on doing.

Stick around, this might get good :)

Old Mustang Seats.....

Hmm, seems I found a complete set of 65ish Mustang Seats in the rafters of the garage.

Yet another Ninja 250 video...

This is one of the regulars at the Ninja 250 Riders Forum at Deal's Gap.

Ok, this is crazy, who needs more than this?

Ok, this is funny.

Guess it's time to sell that ol bike that's been sitting in the back yard...

This was yanked off an ad on
Craigslist.

What is this?

Some words to go with the pictures below.

A few months ago, I ran across a website, KLR650.net, that is dedicated to the awesome dual sport motorcycle, the KLR 650 ( and to a lesser extent, the KLR 250 and the Versys).

The group was planinng the third annual Tour de Apalachicola , which is a regional meeting of KLR enthusiasts for some off road riding, camping, wrenching and general fun. I asked if it would be ok for me to ride down on my scooter and hang out with the cool kids. Of course it was and Glynn and I rode down on Friday.

We made it down with no problem, except it wasa bit chilly in my riding jacket and light sweater. We pulled into the campground, Camp Indian Springs, and saw a couple of KLR's. A local guy we met a week earlier was there but he decided not to camp.

We walked around and talked for a while and then decided to find a bunk. In the picture below, you can see our bunkhouse that we stayed in. Not bad for $10 a night, huh?

Later that evening, Glynn and headed into Crawfordville for dinner. We hit El Jalisco and had a decent meal but took a different route on the way home, since I was freezing by the time we got to the restaurant.

Little did we know that the road we took went from nicely paved to dirt road a few miles down. And it was dark. And it was still cold.

It was funny, actually. I was following Glynn at a good pace when suddenly, he slams on his brakes and stops. I do likewise and see that the road is dirt in front of him. Before we can even talk about it, some guy in a big SUV pulls up and asks if we were lost. We weren't but we asked how long the dirt road was and what condition it was in. He said it wasa couple of miles and was in good condition so we said 'What the heck, we are at a Dual Sport camp out, let's go off road!'. And we did.

Both scooters did fine, although the road was a bit washboardish. But we made good time on it, doing about 25 mph. After only one wrong turn, we made it back to camp where there was a nice bonfire burning.

We spent a couple of hours there before turning in and it was a blast talking to everyone there.

The rain hit sometime during the night and it poured. It also poured the entire day so we spent the day hanging out at the tech area, drinking coffee and talking KLR's. I started to question whether I wanted to stay another night when all that would mean was a night spent in much colder weather and a ride home the next day in even colder weather.

The rain finally stopped and I decided to ride into Crawfordville and see if I could find something to keep me warm while riding. Glynn and I rode into town and we stopped at Walmart.

I found a rain coat with a fleece lining for $11 and a fleece sleeping bag for $10. The jacket lets no wind in so it kept me toasty, in 30 degree weather so that was a definite score.

The fleece sleeping bag was also well worth it. I had a cheap sleeping bag that is ok if the temp is higher than 50 but I put the fleece bag inside it and was warm all night. The temp did get down into low low 30's but I was toasty.

So, that being decided, we headed back to the camp ground.

There was a big buffet at the site so we headed over. We grabbed the last seats and were lucky enough to sit next to Jake, who we had met the night before. He was in the midst of a story so we sat there and listened.

Have you ever met a guy and just knew he had more interesting stuff to say than you did, so you shut up and listen? well, thats the feeling I got so I sat there and shut up and listened.

He told some cool long distance riding stories and other accounts of some rallies he has riden and really got me to thinking of trying one...but not quite yet.

Anyway, the next morning, after seeing the masses of KLR riders head off for a variety of rides, Glynn and I loaded up the scooters and headed back to Tallahassee. The return trip was fine, except my gloves suck and my hands were freezing.

Stay turned for a few more pictures tomorrow.

KLR Event: Tour de Apalachicola

Wow! I'm buying this Roketa!!!

Well, some of you know I am sort of looking for a dual sport motorcycle. I like the Kawasaki KLR 650 and 250 and even went to a KLR camp out a few weeks ago in Crawfordville (look for that post and pictures soon).

I'm also kicking around the idea of buying a Chinese dual sport. Crawling around the web, it seems as if these Chinese Dual Sports are actually ok, if you understand what they are for and what their limitations are.

Tonight I was slumming around on the Roketa site, since they have inexpensive ds machines and came across this:




Wow, that is a seriously awesome bike, in my opinion. To me it looks great. Something else some of you know, I think the Kawasaki Versys is the best looking bike ever made:




I do drool over the Versys, it looks even better in person so every time I happen to walk by one in ashop, I leave a small puddle on the floor near by. But, for 1/3 the price, that Roketa looks really nice.......

I bet it would draw some looks at bike nights.

Let's play a game...

Hi, yes, it has been a while since I posted here but that doesn't mean I haven't been scooting. I have, and have been having fun, even with the colder weather. Actually, Glynn and I even went camping with a group of riding enthusiasts, but that's a post for tomorrow.

Let's just say I was impressed with my scooter's touring abily, such as it was. I felt like I was ready for a long tour with my bag and sleeping bag tied on the bag of the Kymco.

For now, take a look at Glynn's new exhaust he got at the camp out and I'll give you three guess what the exhaust was originally OEM for.