Cube Zombie Slave To The Cube…But Trying To Find More….

Google Docs

I've been looking for an easy way to keep up with maintenance on the bike. I think I've found it. Google Documents. I'm able to update via Google and since I have the doc published it updates within 5 min on my site. You can see the Google App spreadsheet in action by going to the C109RT page.

UPDATE 2/4/2008
More fun with google apps . I've added the trip stats from my Oct trip to the Oct 2008 Trip Overview.

K.I.T.T Gps

I want this for the simple reason that it has the voice of the guy who did K.I.T.T in the original Knight Rider:

Knight Rider GPS

And not to mention that it calls you by name and can ask you where you want to go...Simply *awesome*!!! Btw..The new Knight Rider is a big steaming pile..Hopefully it'll be cancelled very soon and put out of it's misery...

Updates

Finally got around to upgraded cz.org to the latest wordpress release. If you notice anything broken leave a comment or shoot me an email..

Biker Code

This sums up why I ride and why I enjoy it..

Link Page Updated

I've added a link to Jen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. These two are setting out to Tierra del Fuego on a 1976 Yamaha XS500. I'm very interested in their journey and wish them all the best

Driving Habits

As I was coming home tonight I started thinking about the things I do differently since I started riding again. And also a few things that other people do that pisses me off..Here are a few:

• Pouring a drink out - I've been guilty of this before. Pull up to a stop light or something and just dump the remains of a Burger King drink out. I've had this happen numerous times when I was on the bike..The way I position myself is closest to the yellow line so I can see the driver's mirror. Of course I don't assume they see me but I like to be able to see them..So with that choice in mind as soon as someone pours something out I usually ride through it and spatter their tasty beverage of choice on my bike and me. Not good. I've also put my foot down in left over food, drinks, spit, etc..No more pouring for me..
• Flicking cigarette butts out the window - I haven't done this since I don't smoke. But I've had to dodge so many that I've lost count..There's nothing like seeing those glowing, sparking embers bouncing down the road at you..All you smokers please hold onto your butts and don't throw them out..It's really gross.
• Rolling at a stop sign - Been guilty of this one as well. Get to a stop sign and you just have one vehicle coming up so you don't really stop just kinda cruise until that vehicle goes by and then you continue on. When I see someone at a stop sign I look at their front tire and assume they don't see me. If that front tire is moving then I'm looking for an escape route in case they pull out in front of me. I know that I've gotten more than one funny look because I've moved over to a different part of the lane I'm in or a different lane altogether because the car that I was watching didn't stop completely. When I'm in the Jeep, or any cage, I stop completely every time.
• Turn signals - I hate it when people don't turn on their turn signals. Seriously, it's not that hard to use them and it makes people who ride behind you happy..
• Trying to talk to someone on a bike at a stop light - Most of the time I have music playing or my earplugs in and I won't be able to hear you..I'm not going through the effort of muting my music to listen to some inane comment. If you see me stop for gas and take my helmet off then feel free to talk to me. I've never tried to talk to someone on a bike at a stop light or even at a gas station but I'm not what you'd call a "social butterfly". I'm amazed how many people just start talking to me while I'm waiting for the light to change.
• Constantly rolling in bumper to bumper traffic - It's easy just to coast when you're in a vehicle but when you're on a bike there's shifting, picking up and putting the feet down. It makes it very tiresome to go through that when the person in front of you goes just slow enough to make you put your feet down constantly. I usually let get a car length between me and the person in front and then I can usually work the clutch and brake enough to keep my feet on the pegs. Along that same vein, don't pull in front of a bike in traffic if you see a space. That space is probably there so the rider doesn't have to do as much work..If you must pull over then for godsake see the bullet about turn signals.
• Throwing a full tobacco spit cup out the window at 55mph - Ahhh..The best saved for last. So this actually happened to me today On the way home from work.  I see a white cup tossed from a truck and as soon as it hits the road I know what it is. I recognize the nasty black liquid mixed with chunks and used napkins it..Yep..A tobacco spit cup. When it hit the road and spattered I was trying to decide how to avoid the nastiness that was coming my way. It bounce a couple of times and the spit when everywhere. I know some of it hit my windshield and when I got home I found some on my helmet as well...As soon as I cleared the rest of it I laid on the horn and hit the high beam. I could see the guy look back and I stood up on the bike and flipped him off for a good 30 seconds. He sped off and made the next left turn into a subdivision...I tried to slow down enough to follow him but the roads were wet and traffic was heavy..I will not forget that truck and I know I'll see him again along that road..Nasty bastard.

That's all I can think of right now...I'm sure there are more and they'll come to me when I'm back on the bike

Dirt

So after a full week of riding to work with either wet roads or in the rain my bike looked much worse for the wear:

Where's the chrome again?

Needless to say I took it apart Sunday and washed the gunk off. Currently it's covered up awaiting my return from the great snowy north! (Pics of the snow coming soon)

Bad Weather Riding

These last few days have been pretty tough as far as riding. I'm really making an effort to ride in the rain since it's something I'm not overly comfortable with. I always listen to the "little voice" about riding in bad weather and so far this week he's been quiet so I've ridden every day. Now it's not that I *like* riding in the rain or cold..In fact I hate it..But I feel it makes me a better rider by finding out the limits of my bike and riding in conditions other than ideal. You never know when you're on an extended trip when/if it will start raining. I was extremely nervous when I took my trip back in October about bad weather. Luckly the only two days it rained were the two days that I used for a rest day.

This past week and a half or so the weather has been perfect for riding, aside from the rain of course . Over the weekend it was in the mid 60's with nothing but sunshine. Those days bring out the fair weather riders. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a fair weather rider. I still consider myself a fair weather rider. I've started really getting into riding no matter what the weather is though. But I've only been in that mindset for a few months now. So far I've hit some pretty damn cold weather. Multiple times in the last 2 weeks when I head into work the temp is below 25F. Since I really don't have any "good" cold weather gear yet I've been riding with my summer armored jacket with a sweatshirt on underneath it..Definitely not ideal but good cold weather is expensive, but it gets me by. Having a good windshield keeps most of the cold just on my hands and legs. Also found out that if the temp is under 28F I might as well not wear my gloves because they do no good at all.

And now back to the fair weather riders..I went to IHop for breakfast on Saturday and there were several bikers there ranging from Goldwinger's to Harley Riders..They were heading out as I pulled in and I watched them gear up..They were seriously dressed like it was -10F and it was ~62F. I pull up with my summer armored jacket on with a tshirt underneath and my summer gloves and I was very comfortable. One of the guys looked over at me as I was getting off and asked if I was feeling the cold..I laughed and told him I had ridden to work on the coldest day of that week and that the temp today made it feel like spring time. He shook his head and finished putting on his chaps and puffy leather jacket.

I guess that's the positive I take out of crappy riding days like today when it's cold and wet...When a random "warm" day comes along during winter I know that I can truly enjoy it without worrying about freezing to death. But I have to admit that even when it's miserable, cold, wet and just generally crappy..I still love to ride. Everytime I walk out of the house no matter what the weather is I just can't see myself taking the jeep to work. Does that define passion or obsession?  I'm going to go with passion because I don't like to obsess about anything

Settled Down

Ok..Things look like they're back to normal..If you still come in via http://kickstandsup.year26.org you should update your bookmark or history to reflect the new address. My old blog located at http://www.year26.org is back up now as well. Originally I was just redirecting everything from that site to Kick Stands Up but I figure I'll keep it around for a while since I've posted a lot there.