Cube Zombie Let us be silent that we may hear the whispers of the Gods.

Some Changes

I bought a different domain to host this site. Since I started this it's something I decided I wanted to keep up so moving it off my main domain seems the way to go. Over the next day or so this address will change to:

http://www.cubezombie.org

I thought that was a fitting title since it's the name I go by on several motorcycle forums. You shouldn't notice any change on your side but you'll need to update your bookmarks. I'll have the necessary redirects to get to the new site.

What A Difference

I've been riding almost every day since I fixed my old bike and I've been riding everyday since I got my new bike. There has been some *really* cold mornings but overall it hasn't been that bad. I won't go so far to say that I wasn't cold, because I was damn cold..But it wasn't an uncomfortable cold. I think this is due to the windshield that both bikes have. The new bike even has lowers which are below the windshield and deflect a good bit more air.

I've also found that anything below 30 degrees my gloves suck. It typically takes me 45 min to get to work with the route that I take. Under 30 degrees and 15 min into the ride my hands start to get numb. I've found that as long as I move them they don't get so numb that I can work the clutch and brake. I also picked up a pair of glove liners for, ~9 bucks, that are silk and not only do they make it easier getting my outer gloves on but they also give me an extra 10-15 min on those below 30 degree mornings.

Today was just a perfect morning to ride in. There was no humidity in the air which means no frost on the bike (naturally since I remembered to cover it up last night) and the temp was 40 degrees. Perfect riding weather. There are some pics after the jump that I took on Wednesday since it was ~23 degrees and I forgot to cover the bike the night before

New Pipes

Well..That didn't take long did it? I've found the pipes I want for my new bike.

My intent is to black my bike out since I'm already rocking the black/gray paint job. They are HardKrome SideBurner 2 into 1's. Brian over at MrZog.com has the chrome version on his bike and I really like the way they sound. Once I have some funds in the bank these will be on the way..I'm going to have to get something to re-tune the fuel injectors as well I think..

A Funny Thing Happened Outside The Waffle House

So Saturday I go to Waffle House and have breakfast. I've been doing this just about every weekend since we bought the house. This past Saturday I had the new bike and as I'm leaving I have an interesting exchange with another Waffle House patron. This requires a bit of setup so bear with me:

The Players:
Me
Harley (It will become apparent as to why this gentleman has the name Harley)

I'm putting on all my gear and force of habit is I start my bike and let it warm up. With my previous bike it needed a few min to warm up on cold mornings. So I start it up and a guy standing in front decked from head to toe in Harley Davidson gear (Bandana, Jacket, boots, wallet with chain hanging from it). He looks at my bike and chuckles and shakes his head. So here's how it went down:

1800 Club

As of today I'm a member of the 1800cc club and here's how I got my membership:

And another of the big ass rear tire

All the pics I've taken of it so far can be seen here. All the new bike pics start with "c109rt". Tomorrow looks to be an awesome day to ride and since I have some errands to do I'll actually have a purpose ..(Not that I need one!)

Winter Is Here In North Carolina

Over the last few weeks we've had several cold fronts sweep through and made things quite chilly. For the last few days I've ridden to work with temps in the mid to upper 30's. This morning was no exception..24 degrees when I left the house. I really did debate riding in or not and once I walked outside I just started the jeep and let it warm up..I've found that my cold weather gear is a bit lacking for temps under 30. I'm searching for some good over pants and a nice warm jacket. Currently I'm riding in with a sweatshirt under my jacket and it does the job but it's still quite chilly.

I'm starting a new section here called "A Day In The Ride". Basically I'll be taking my camera with me and taking random pics as I ride...I keep seeing things as I'm riding that would make really good pics but I can't usually pull over to take them..My thinking is to have my camera on a lanyard around my neck..I've played around with the setup and so far that's the best choice..And don't worry I'm not going to be taking pics when I should have my eye on the road . I'm inspired to do this because of pics I've seen on a forum I frequent, AdvRider. I've got a few pics already that I'm going to upload tonight so look for a new post in the next few days.

Back In The Saddle

Been sick the last week or so but I dragged my sick ass out to get the bike fixed Saturday afternoon. Took me all of an hour to drop the exhaust, pull the old oil filter relocation kit, get the new one installed and fill the oil back up...Took a short test ride to make sure no oil was leaking and then re-tightened all the bolts again. I was planning on riding Sunday but the little voice in my head told me not to so I listened

It was 35 degrees this morning and let me tell you..50 bucks for a pair of gloves, totally worth it!! It was actually really nice riding in and just felt good to be back on the bike. I haven't ridden since I got back almost a month ago. Anyway..Rambling post but I don't care cause I got to ride again ..Back to work..

The Dark Side

Picked up an iPhone on Friday...I feel a bit dirty by using it but I have to admit it's a damn nice phone. I went to T-Mobile with the full intention of buying a G1 Google phone. 3 things, 1. They had no working phone instore to play around with..I'm a geek I like to play with technology before I buy it. 2. There is no 3G network in this area and won't be until next December. I spoke with a guy who has one and he said it was slow but there was a fix going out this weekend that would speed it up. 3. The sales person that I talked to had some song blasting out of his phone, which was in his pocket, the entire time I was talking to him and it was annoyingly loud..

So I have an iPhone now...I have loaded it up with music and downloaded a few custom ringtones (The Knight Rider theme and the Imperial March)..So far I'm really happy with it...I also have a free app called Lightsaber which is freaking awesome...

Oil Leak to Oil Spray

As I said in an earlier post I had to cut my vacation short due to an oil leak on my bike. I found where the leak was and I used some teflon tape to patch it up. Well, this morning that leak graduated to a spray. I stopped to put air in my back tire no more than 2 miles from the house and before I got my kickstand down there was a puddle of oil under my bike. *sigh* Luckily I have been carrying a 2qt container of oil since I left MS last week..So I filled er up and limped back home.

By the time I got home it was halfway down again. So I'm trying to identify the type of oil relocation kit so I can order new lines and fittings to see if that fixes it before I drop 280 bucks on a new relocation kit. I've emailed the previous owner and he's looking through his docs to see if he has that info..

I've also had to bump up a project I was hoping to save up for. I need a place to work on the bike. Currently I work on it in the front yard and that is just not a good place with all the grass and bugs and what not. So this weekend I'll be buying the material to add a deck setup to our small storage shed in the backyard. Not ideal but since Feb when I last tried to buy a 24x24 metal building the price has gone from 5k to 7k. So while I'm saving for that it's going to take a nice long while to get that much money and I'm pretty sure the price will only go up in the time it takes me to save it. So the deck is my only short term option.