Topic: 22 Rides in 2022 - Frank's legacy rides on!

[budman]

Noice photos!  Looks like some young longhorns.  Congratulations on Ride 22.

Are those the Harbor Freight Apache cases on your bike?  I was going to do the same thing with my Triumph Tiger, but decided to sell it.  Just wondering, do the handles rattle when you're riding?

[70CB750]

Thank you!

Yes, HF Apache with Cariboo locks.  As far as i know the handles do not rattle on the road. 

[Kevin D]

Yes congratulations Prokop on #22       
Blow the trumpets, Tip the glass, eat a burrito… for Frank…. for Prokop!

What is your good camera Prokop?
Looks the longhorns were curious too.

Looks like a gray day in Virginia, not much sun around here lately either. The weatherman says we are in for a big winter blast, nationwide, just before Christmas. Snow, wind, cold, I don’t mind so much as the gloom.

[70CB750]

Yes congratulations Prokop on #22       
Blow the trumpets, Tip the glass, eat a burrito… for Frank…. for Prokop!

What is your good camera Prokop?
Looks the longhorns were curious too.

Looks like a gray day in Virginia, not much sun around here lately either. The weatherman says we are in for a big winter blast, nationwide, just before Christmas. Snow, wind, cold, I don’t mind so much as the gloom.

Thank you, Kevin.

My camera is Nikon D3300, much smarter than me.   

The weather was a mixed bag with some snow clouds passing and some sunshine.  There was no snow but you can tell what the cloud is holding.

But I know about gloom, Czech Republic does not see sun sometimes for a month or longer and days are quite short in winter. 

[Terry in Australia]

Well done Prokop, the "20+ rides" club is a very exclusive organisation with only a small membership, but hopefully will grow in coming years.

Yesterday the power was supposed to be switched off from 9am to 3pm so I decided to go for a ride. I'd worked my arse off the day before and was still sore and tired so was grateful for a day off anyway, so even though the power was still on at 10am, I went over to the storage place and jumped on the K0 for a ride. I had to stop along the way to pose the bike with some Christmas decorations outside one of the farms I ride past, they do some great decorations, I've taken pics of my bikes with their decorations in previous years, and am always impressed with the effort that they go to.

K0 Tuesday 20 December 2022 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

It was another beautiful day, so I wore my "as new" $50 Joe Rocket ventilted jacket, which was quite pleasant at speed, but not that comfortable when I hit a 5 km (3 mile) traffic jam on the way back, caused by roadworks. Unlike much of the traffic around me I was able to scoot between cars (being careful not to get squished between cars when a car decided to change lanes without indicating) and get ahead of the traffic again. I did stop at the bakery and instead of a pie I decided on a dessert, so bought this Jelly slice and a chocolate milk, but forgot that I'm pretty much lactose intolerant nowadays, so wasn't able to finish it. No biggie, it's not like I'm starving.

K0 Tuesday 20 December 2022 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

Anyway, ride #36 is done and I don't think I'll get another opportunity now until after Christmas for another ride, but that's fine, I'm really happy to have been able to get so many rides in this year, considering how crap the weather has been right up until last weekend. Hopefully I'll get a few more in before the end of the year.

[grcamna2]

Well done Prokop, the "20+ rides" club is a very exclusive organisation with only a small membership, but hopefully will grow in coming years.

Yesterday the power was supposed to be switched off from 9am to 3pm so I decided to go for a ride. I'd worked my arse off the day before and was still sore and tired so was grateful for a day off anyway, so even though the power was still on at 10am, I went over to the storage place and jumped on the K0 for a ride. I had to stop along the way to pose the bike with some Christmas decorations outside one of the farms I ride past, they do some great decorations, I've taken pics of my bikes with their decorations in previous years, and am always impressed with the effort that they go to.

K0 Tuesday 20 December 2022 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

It was another beautiful day, so I wore my "as new" $50 Joe Rocket ventilted jacket, which was quite pleasant at speed, but not that comfortable when I hit a 5 km (3 mile) traffic jam on the way back, caused by roadworks. Unlike much of the traffic around me I was able to scoot between cars (being careful not to get squished between cars when a car decided to change lanes without indicating) and get ahead of the traffic again. I did stop at the bakery and instead of a pie I decided on a dessert, so bought this Jelly slice and a chocolate milk, but forgot that I'm pretty much lactose intolerant nowadays, so wasn't able to finish it. No biggie, it's not like I'm starving.

K0 Tuesday 20 December 2022 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

Anyway, ride #36 is done and I don't think I'll get another opportunity now until after Christmas for another ride, but that's fine, I'm really happy to have been able to get so many rides in this year, considering how crap the weather has been right up until last weekend. Hopefully I'll get a few more in before the end of the year.

Those Christmas decorations look good;the nice green trees(they almost look a bit like Fir trees:'christmasy' in their own way)look Great as a background to the decorations. 

Terry,your K0 looks like the Ultimate Christmas present.  and looks very much part of that scene.

[budman]

I’m guessing Santa has to change into his ventilated riding jacket when he enters the southern hemisphere.

[RAFster122s]

Open cockpit gets pretty chilly as you go up in altitude. Fortunately most of Santa's route in deliveries is at low altitude, so less of a factor until he gets someplace really warm.

[Terry in Australia]

Well a belated "Merry Christmas" to everyone here, I hope you all had a good day, and got some new toys, even if you had to buy them yourselves. I weakened and after telling my wife and kids that all I wanted was world peace and/or heaps of bottles of good whisky/whiskey, after my 94 year old Ma sent me a lot of money for a Christmas gift, I bought the AC/DC TIG and welding table from Vevor. The table was delivered yesterday and hopefully the welder will arrive tomorrow, as I want to have a play with it doing a couple of little repairs on a K1 head.

Anyhoo, the weather this month has been sh1t. Wintery cold earlier this month, then a week of nice weather leading up to Christmas when I was busy cleaning the place up for the annual family XMas BBQ, so I only got that ride in last week when it looked like the power was gonna get turned off, and ever since Christmas it's been steenkin' hot, well up until yesterday when the temps dropped by 50% and it rained on and off, all day. Today it was a bit overcast and not hot, so an ideal day to go fer a ride. Now I am a self-confessed gimmick nut, so when I saw these riding undies advertised on FB I had to try them out.

Thursday Rocket ride 29 December 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Thursday Rocket ride 29 December 2022 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Now I don't normally have any "sore butt issues" from my 100+ rides that I do most weekends, but I have on longer rides, like the ride I did down from Hervey Bay back in April. I don't think the 105 mile ride I did today was much of a test, but they were quite comfy, once I got used to them. As it wasn't hot and I needed to make sure that the battery on the Triumph was topped up, I took it today, and really enjoyed that wonderful torquey 2300cc engine. I also wanted to take a pic with those Christmas decorations.

Thursday Rocket ride 29 December 2022 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I did my usual ride, but when I got off the bike to stop at the bakery for lunch I checked my phone and saw that I had a missed call from the wife's niece. She doesn't usually call unless there's a problem and as her grandmother had a stroke recently I put two and two together, and rode home, just in case we'd had a family tragedy. Well, I called her first, but she didn't answer, so I just headed for home. Luckily the bakery is at the 2/3 point in the ride, so it only took 30 minutes or so to get home. When I did I checked my phone again and the wife had sent me a text to stand down, it was all a misunderstanding. Poop. Oh well, I fired up the BBQ and cooked a couple of snags (sausages) to make up for the pie I didn't get at the bakery.

Thursday Rocket ride 29 December 2022 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Tomorrow I'm gonna replace the coils on the Fireblade, and if it's still running a little "fluffy" will rebuild the carbs, as I have new rebuild kits now. I still think it's coils, but I guess I'll find out. Saturday should be another nice day for a ride, so I think I'll try the K2 as it hasn't been anywhere lately. I saw this on TV a few nights ago, and it made me giggle.

 

[jgger]

Terry, thank you very much for not including a pic in your new riding undies! Pics of the new welder are ok though,
 When it comes in.

[RAFster122s]

Terry, thank you very much for not including a pic in your new riding undies! Pics of the new welder are ok though,
 When it comes in.

lol

[Terry in Australia]

Terry, thank you very much for not including a pic in your new riding undies! Pics of the new welder are ok though,
 When it comes in.

Thanks Jim, yes I'm hoping that the welder gets delivered today, but no big rush as I have plenty of other things to do if it doesn't.

[PeWe]

Terry, which bike need more padding?
Those underwear will raise seat too which can help to avoid hip pain when seat vs foot pegs distance is too low.

My stock seat on my K6 helped to avoid pain in my left hip during accelerations. The old seat was cut and rebolstered original seat that was more comfortable but the lower cut caused hip pain due to my age and old hits.

The rear shocks another thing. I found best setting to be highest spring setting and softest dampening. This work fine on these Ikon shocks with  progressive springs ordered from CCC Germany. Still OK handling.

My K2 has Ikon shocks with std springs. Not possible to find a good setting. Either too hard or too soft and worse handling. I preferred comfy softness for rides.
I have an old set of Marzoochi AG Strada to restore.

[Terry in Australia]

Those Marzochi's were good shocks Per, I have a couple of pairs kicking around in my garage but they're more "Garage Art" than usable nowadays. Someone was selling kits for them once and I think I bought kits, but don't remember where I bought them. I think I'll buy some YSS shocks from that guy in Italy, he's way cheaper than anyone else, and his shipping is really cheap too. My hips start to lock up on all my bikes (I have bursitis and chronic arthritis in both hips, knees, shoulders, and arthritis in both hands) and sadly the padded undies made no difference yesterday, but no biggie, I just need to take some very strong drugs before I leave, and more when I get home.

[PeWe]

I bought a kit to my AG Strada 2013. From Marzoochi UK.
I have seen kits to be sold via Ducati and Laverda forum.

I ordered stickers I needed from Australia. I think that seller had more than stickers only.
I have photos how stickers looked like from the very beginning, PSI rating around air refill.

Edit:
About pain in joint. My left hip only. Could feel like it was close to dislocate during accelerations. Butt dyno more  like hip dyno.
Higher seat helped.
I have eaten Collagen 2 capsules the last year which have helped. 2/day. It took 2 months to feel the difference to the better during and after longer walks, 3-8km.

The joints must be OK. Many around here have made an operation getting a new hip.

 I heard one guy describe the procudure which was something Dr Frankenstein could have done ....  He wished to die before next hip. He is in our age, 60+.

Maybe some medicines have a bad effect on joints.

[Terry in Australia]

Another beautiful day here today. Spotty came over first thing this morning to pick up some stuff, and we decided to go for a ride. We met up over at the storage place, and as his Triumph Rocket III wasn't going as well as it could, I offered him the Valkyrie. He was no stranger to it, as he owned it first, and we swapped bikes last year, and it's actually still registered in his name. I took my Sportster as I'd forgotten to grab my new log book for my K0 or K2, and if the cops caught me riding them without their logbooks, the offence would be "riding an unregistered motorcycle", which would involve a hefty fine and several demerit points that I can't afford to accrue.

We filled up at the gas station closest to the storage place, and rode out thru Wallan, Romsey, Lancefield, to Kilmore where I filled up the Sporty again, I'd done 85 Km's from the first gas station, and it took 4.03 Litres, so I was averaging 21 km/l or 60 miles per (imperial) gallon. (48.56 miles per US gallon) The Sporty only has a 12 litre tank, so just like I can't go past a toilet, it can't go past a gas station. In actual fact it has a possible range of 240 Km (150 miles) so I shouldn't be so anxious, but I am.

Sportster Saturday 31 December 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

We rode on to Broadford, where we stopped for lunch. No pies this time, special occasion, so we had Chinese. Spotty, being at least 7 feet tall has a much healthier appetite than me, so no food was wasted.

Sportster Saturday 31 December 2022 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The Valkyrie really is a huge bike, and makes my Sporty look tiny.

Sportster Saturday 31 December 2022 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

And that was that, we rode back to the storage place and parted ways, with a great ride to finish off the year. Of course it's the 31st of December, and my hope of doing 44 rides didn't quite come to fruition, but with todays ride, 38 rides of at least 50 miles (and thanks to the ill fated BMW ride down from Hervey Bay, my average was well over 100 miles per ride. It's been a good year, and while I haven't done as much bike work this year, I've really enjoyed all those rides.

Tomorrow the new "23 rides in 2023" thread will be posted, and hopefully I'll get another ride in soon. Its supposed to be in the 90's for the next couple of days so I'm not sure if I'll venture out for a couple of days, we'll see. Congratulations to everyone that got their 22 rides in this year, and congratulations also to all those who didn't, but at least had a go. Frank started this thread in 2020 as a New Years resolution to basically stop making excuses and get out on his bike and ride, and that has been my incentive too.

As I look back over 2022, I think it's been a pretty good year motorcycle wise, and like you all, I look forward to more two wheeled adventures in 2023. Happy New Year everyone, and all the best to you and yours, for 2023!

[PeWe]

A good ride Terry!
Chinese food is always tasty and good bang for the buck.
I have to wait until April.

I'll see if I can find a chinese restaurant in a city 70-150km away.
I visited one during a ride 1985 with other biker friends. Maybe still in business.
And a good burger place too.

Happy New Year to all of you!

[RAFster122s]

Nice and finding good Chinese is a challenge here. Too much of it is just not that good. The one place that used to be really really good has declined in consistency and quality yet it is the same owner/husband that is cooking the meals. Sometimes the chicken from there is chewy and dry yet the sauces are spot on...really disappointing combo. I won't complain to them about it given the aging owner and my long time relationship with them as a customer. I think it would be rude to do so. I just don't eat there as much. Tried a few places that others have raved about and they are really disappointing. People must not really think about the food they are eating other than the overall flavor. Flavor is just a small part of it for me as texture plays a role too.
Anyway... Glad you guys got to go for a ride and hang out and congrats on the 38th one for the year... that's something. Glad they were 99% without incident too...

Happy New Year!

[PeWe]

I prefer the European chinese restaurants. I have not tried any in USA.

I have visited real chinese restaurants in China. Good places, some really luxury when our Chinese office took me out. But it taste better in Europe.
The chinese immigrants have adapted their dishes for us.
Since late 70's early 80's.

The menues in Chinese restaurants in China can be huge, several thick books.
Mostly Shanghai area and Nanjing plus a special park a few hours outside Shanghai.

Goose liver made to look like cherries tasted fine though.
Plus a big buffet place in Shanghai was OK too even if I did not eat 75% of their dishes it was plenty for me

I have tried Chinese restaurants in Spain southern mainland as well as Puerto Rico Gran Canaria on Canarian Islands. Real tasty  bang for the buck. Not hungry for hours.

[budman]

Happy New Year, everyone.

I was hoping to hit 30 rides this year, but got stuck at 28.  It was super cold the week before Christmas, dipping down to 6F one morning…and just when the weather started to warm up and things looked promising I find myself laid out with the crud all this week.  Kind of a shocker, since I skated through the entire pandemic without even so much as a mild cold.

Looking forward to participating and hitting 30+ rides in ‘23.

Thanks for keeping it going, Terry.

…the problem with most “American” Chinese restaurants is they use too much MSG.  Gives me a massive headache.  I can taste it right off the bat.  I remember the Chinese food in the UK being quite different.  These days I make my own egg foo young at home quite often.

[BallAquatics]

Well it's years end and not a single 100+ mile ride on the CB550 this year!  It's not like it wasn't on the road though.  I logged about 3000 miles on the 550 this year.  Around 9000 on the NC700X, probably around 500 on the CBR250R...  I'm getting too old for the sport bike thing Lol.

Looking forward to next year with my recent purchase of an 82 Yamaha XJ650LJ.  It's been owned by 2 different collectors and has 6800 miles on it.  I kinda feel bad putting it back on the road, but I'm a rider not a collector.



Happy new year!

[PeWe]

I have also issues with glutamate. Give me a horrible very long lasting headache.
The Chinese restaurants around here does not have that much of it.
Same with salads, sauces, mustards etc in shops. Less nowadays.
It took me some years and lost workhours $$$ to find out.

Should be forbidden. Like adding poison (thallium and similar stuff) for the taste.  Glutamate does not add any good tast anyway, umami. Food taste much better without.
In Sweden it can also be called E681 on the specification labels

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, I'm debating whether or not to start the new year with a ride on the K0. It's 10 in the morning and already 28 deg C (82 deg F) so won't be all that pleasant, especially if I get stuck in traffic. It's only gonna get 3 or 4 degrees hotter (C) than it was yesterday so I shouldn't talk myself out of it, so I'll make up my mind shortly.

The Chinese food was good, but not cheap, $68 for the two meals, a shared steamed rice, and 2 cans of coke. Compared to $10 for a pie and a can of coke on my usual rides, it was expensive, but I am spoilt because there are several asian restaurants that I go to for lunch when I'm at work, and I can usually get a lunchtime meal for $15 including a drink. No biggie, it was nice to catch up with Spotty and do a ride with him. Funnily enough, the best Chinese food I've had is at a little restaurant in my home town, and I always buy a meal there whenever I go to visit my Ma.

Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone again, and lets all get some rides up in 2023!

[Kevin D]

Happy New Year to All
It has been a good year for riding and I hope and expect 2023 will be better.
It’s so nice to see and hear your adventures, your motorcycles, your meals, your challenges.
I’m also grateful for the support that I get from you all.
I did my first overnighter in 45? years, at Benelli’s invitation to attend the Ganaraska 250, a vintage bike ride/rally.
About 900 miles over a long weekend, I didn’t know if I had the stamina, but it worked out well. Thanks for your generous hospitality John. I couldn’t and wouldn’t have done it without your assistance.
BallAquatics, good to see you here, SE Ohio is still on my radar for a trip, might see you along the way.
I had hoped we might be hearing more from Frank Vaski EFF2, if you’re out there, Hello Frank.
As always, my CB takes me on so many adventures and to places I wouldn’t otherwise go.

[Trevor from Warragul]

the offence would be "riding an unregistered motorcycle"

VicRoads changed the club permit regulations from 01 July 2022, and now failure to complete a logbook is a specified offence that attracts 2.5 "penalty units". The value of a penalty unit is currently $184.92, so the fine would be $462.30 (which is half the fine for an unregistered over 501cc motorcycle).

No demerit points for either offence...