Topic: 23 Rides in 2023, Frank's New Years resolution that we can all enjoy.

[grcamna2]

Looking good Dennis, I’m guessing that it’s geared pretty low so that the turbo is never far away when you need some boost? My twin turbo Subaru is the same, 4000 RPM @60 MPH, with the secondary turbo coming on at 4500.

Thanks Terry.  The boost starts coming on right around 5000 rpm.  Under 5000 rpm it runs pretty much like any strong 650, it has very good acceleration, nice crisp throttle response and no flat spots or hesitation.   From 5500 rpm to 9500 rpm the rush of power lets you know it's not a normal 650.  It's just perfect for passing on a two lane, drop a gear and the boost comes up and whoosh you go from 55 to 85 just like that.  It's very enjoyable to ride.

Does the turbo unit function as it should? sometimes they have problems.

It gives me every indication that the turbo is working correctly.  While it's not fast like a modern sport bike, when it's on the boost, it feels like it accelerates much like my 79 CBX.

I imagine you give it regularly scheduled maintenance 

[BallAquatics]

I imagine you give it regularly scheduled maintenance 

Most definitely!  I enjoy maintaining my old bikes almost as much as riding them.   

[budman]

Ride #7 - 95 miles

Warmish day here.  The sun was out with a high of 80F.  I had kind of lost hope of riding because it was super windy this morning, just like they predicted.  Around 1:0pm it started to slow down and by 2:00 I figured I go for it.  Since the wind was coming out of the south, I figured I would in the direction and ride on some slower roads.  That way if I caught a lot of wind it would be easier to ride home with the wind to my back.  Once I got to town and filled up it had calmed down a lot.  The skies were clear, but it was hazy.  Looked like smoke or pollution for miles and miles.  You could really it see how widespread it was from the tops of hills, looking out across the landscape.  Probably some crap blowing up from Mexico.

I hit a couple of shorter roads that I hadn't been on before.  One of the longer roads I rode on I had ridden several times before, but I rode it the opposite direction today.  I do that a lot out here.  You get a different perspective.  It's like riding a different road.  My route looks like a figure 8, but it's really an hourglass.

I only took the one photo.  I just felt like riding today.  The Scout and I are getting a long well.  It feels like it's breaking in and handling better...or maybe I'm just getting used to it.  I feel much more confident on it than the top-heavy Triumph Tiger or my old Road King.

It's supposed to get down to 29F on Friday morning and then back up to 74 on Sunday, then 80 & 84 on Monday and Tuesday.  I see at least two more rides in the near future.

[budman]

Ride #8, 74 miles.

I had a lot to do today, but was determined to get a ride in while I could.  I had forgotten that my son was coming for a visit this week.  So instead of enjoying some sun and warmer temps on two wheels I get to spend the week with him.

After getting everything done that I need to do today I only had time for a quick 74 mile ride around the block.  No pics.

[BallAquatics]

Needed to go to the auto parts store to get some gear oil to change the diff fluid in the Turbo and ended up doing ride #6 today.

Temps were in the mid 50's but the wind was howling.  Would have been the nicest day so far this year without the wind though.

[jgger]

Sounds like the typical motorcyclists version of  A.D.D.  good  on you for squeezing a ride out of it!

[BallAquatics]

70 in February in Ohio!  Was a bit on the windy side, but I'll take it.

Rode to work, first time out in the dark on the Seca...  the headlight leaves a great deal to be desired.  From a quick look it seems to have a halogen bulb, perhaps I can swap it for led.

Ride #7 turned out to be a joy ride to nowhere in particular.  First ride where I wasn't bundled up to fight off the cold.  Ended up clocking around 90 miles in total.

[RAFster122s]

70 in February in Ohio!  Was a bit on the windy side, but I'll take it.

Rode to work, first time out in the dark on the Seca...  the headlight leaves a great deal to be desired.  From a quick look it seems to have a halogen bulb, perhaps I can swap it for led.

Ride #7 turned out to be a joy ride to nowhere in particular.  First ride where I wasn't bundled up to fight off the cold.  Ended up clocking around 90 miles in total.

Even Halogen bulbs age and get weaker in light output. The Xeon filled bulbs are much whiter light.
The Nightbreaker bulbs aren’t bad, I use them in my car.  As long as you don’t have excessive vibration fatiguing the bulb, you Sega should be fine and give good bulb life. Adventure bikes and off-road bikes are really rough on headlamp bulbs.

[Terry in Australia]

I was supposed to go to a Royal Enfield open day today, but was in two minds. I had to take a box of carbs to the post office to send to a member here, so when I came home I was looking for an excuse not to bother going to the RE show. I rang Jeff to see how the F2 was coming along, and he told me that it was ready to go, so that was enough, I bought another "Unregistered Vehicle Permit", ordered an Uber, and went over to pick it up.

I'm really glad I did too. When I arrived his workshop was full of blue smoke. When it started to clear, I noticed a Yamaha RZ350 that Jeff was doing a roadworthy inspection on. Not only was it smokey, it was pretty loud too, so I asked Jeff if that was an issue? He replied that it wasn't, so I asked him if I could bring my Suzuki T500 in for a RWC inspection, and explained that I had new Titan Performance expansion chambers on it, but otherwise it's stock, and he said, "sure, that'll be fine". Woohoo! Next cab off the rank......

Anyway, I jumped on the F2 and fired it up. I decided that since I have a spare parking space in my storage unit after swapping my K2 to Dion for the Kawasaki Mach III 500 projects I'd take it there. It was running so well though, I "missed" the turnoff from the freeway and somehow rode another 50 miles, trying to find my way back. I didn't stop for food lest someone in a blue uniform notice that I didn't have a back number plate (the permit has very strict limitations) and anyway, I haven't insured it yet, so I just stopped at one of my favourite spots to take a pic before I turned for home.

F2 Saturday 25 Feb 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

When I put the bike on the centre stand, I was horrified. The fcuking left sidecover was missing! Fcuk! The same thing happened, on the same road, many years ago, on my second F2. Fcuk. Fcuk fcuk, fcukety fcuk fcuk. Oh well, not much I could do except scan the road on my way back, but no dice. I rode it back to the storage place and took some more pics, either for my club permit "red plate" registration, or for Ebay, if I decide to sell it. The bike went great, felt really solid, no rattles, no smoke, no oil leaks, and no fcuking sidecover, fcuk it.

Anyway, I enjoyed the ride, it went really well, was a nice comfy ride and a good seating position. I definitely didn't think it was any faster than the K0, and didn't really like that the F2's lower gearing makes for higher RPM's at highway speeds, so I'm leaning towards selling it, it's a lovely old bike, but now that it's ready to go back on the road, it's better suited to someone who'll love it and ride it regularly. Ride #9 down, and I'm looking forwards to my next ride, maybe on a smokey old Suzuki........

T500 20 Oct 2021 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[budman]

Ride #9 - 118 miles.

It's warming up here.  High of 85F today.  It's supposed to hit 88F tomorrow, but I have work to do the rest of the week.  Sunday looks hopeful for a ride.  The wildflowers are starting to bloom here. I hope we have a spring season this year.  Last year it went pretty much straight into summer after winter.  Still, it was a great day.  I was home by 2:00pm and didn't break a sweat.

I rode down to Center Point, TX.  I took all familiar roads on the way down and hit a couple of new shorter ones on the way back.  I pulled over for a few barn pics.  These were the only ones I could get close to.  Most of the barns around here are way back off the roads.

Recently I noticed that a small herd of Longhorns has moved in down the road from me, so I made a little detour on the way home and snapped a couple of pics.  Looks like it was nap time.

No food pics.  My son was here all last week for a visit and we used up my lunch money.

What year is the Suzuki, Terry?

[Terry in Australia]

Beautiful pics Bud! The Suzuki is a 1974 model, I restored it in 2021 and somehow forgot about it until the Mach III came along, probably because Dion started my 2 stroke road bike journey with the T350 I bought from him and restored the same year. (Still not quite finished) I hope to do a qualifying ride on the T500 this weekend.

A rather disappointing post-script to the Moto Guzzi that I was playing with recently is that, due to it only having around a pint of oil in it when Rob checked it last weekend is that it’s going to need a total rebuild. Not by this little black duck…….

[ekpent]

That poor Guzzi, lousy way to die. No oil light on that thing working ? Got lucky on a Dodge van of mine once when an oil cooler line cracked while driving but got lucky and noticed the oil light came on before I killed it.

[RAFster122s]

It always amazes me to hear of people that will continue to push a MC or Car after it starts making noise or a warning light illuminates. The consequences of those actions are severe.
Seen a couple cars posted for sale recently where owner was asking 2000 or 3000 for a pedestrian sedan model that was over 10-15 years old and it has dead paint and dead motor because they didn't do maintenance and timing belt snaps. The price of new motors, even if you pull one out of a wreck is pretty high these days and in some cases the cars simply wouldn't be worth the effort IMHO. 
Saddest part is their doing this likely didn't teach them anything about properly maintaining the vehicle, they will repeat it with another.
They treat it like an appliance and ignore it until it breaks.

[Terry in Australia]

It really sucks Eric, when we collected it from Dave, the owner, I offered to do an oil and filter change and he told me not to worry about it because the shop that charged him $4250 and didn’t actually fix anything had also done an oil and filter change. No oil light, no leaks, no smoke? I’m guessing that they forgot to put any oil in it…..

[RAFster122s]

I would be sorely tempted to see if I could extract a pound or two of flesh from them as oil does not just go missing without a reason...
Doubt you're gonna succeed but I definitely would be trashing their rep on social media and every Moto Guzzi owner I knew on the results I had working with their shop...

[PeWe]

Oil sludge that plug the oil pump another thing.
That's why a good idea to open oil pan sometimes.

Typical for some turbo cars when oil is not replaced in time, sludge will create and finally plug the oil pump.  Oil warning lamp lit. Engine need a total cleaning of inside before total destruction.
It was an Class-act in USA 2011, for Toyota too so I was warned in time.

Some of them with small amount of oil need to be replaced at max 10.000 km intervals, 8000km is better., Not over double as VAG claims with fancy words and "LongLife" oil.

These cars can be helped by an engine flush before fatal, Bilstein engine flush machine that some shops have.

Good idea to use engine flush detergent in oil just before outside shop, engine running for 15 minutes to clear turbo oil hoses with turbo that the Bilstein engine flush machine will not rinse.

[budman]

Ride #10 - 183 miles.

Another near perfect day.  95% clear skies and a high of 79F.  It would have been perfect if the wind was blowing a few mph slower, but it was manageable.

I headed west for Junction, TX.  I had been through there once before, but took a different route this time on some roads I hadn't ridden on.  Lot's of stunning scenery.  It's a little hillier around there than it is here with more rocky cliffs.  I then rode up to the northwest corner of the Hill Country, where things start to flatten out a bit and is a little greener.  I went through a few Podunk towns that look like they didn't have much going on.  Lots of run-down and abandoned properties.  I should have taken some pics.  Lots of old cars rotting away.

I also hit the ton on the Indian for the first time today.  I got on a long stretch of straight road and let it go.  Didn't stay there long.  Just wanted to see if it was easy to get there (102 mph).  The Scout felt like it had a lot more in it.  The fastest I had been on it previously was 90 mph.

On the way home I saw the first signs of Texas Bluebonnets around here and stopped for a pic.  It's the Texas state flower.  The roadsides get covered with them in the spring.  I saw some last week, when I drove to Bastrop, TX which is about 3 hours east of here and has a little bit different climate.  We probably won't get very many around where I live.  It's been really dry here, just like last year.  When they really come out it's a sight to behold.

[Terry in Australia]

Beautiful pics Bud, and yes I'm sure that beast will go a lot faster than 100 MPH! Rob told me on Friday that the Guzzi will need new big and little end bearings, due to a broken oil ring on the right side piston. I think that he'll be up for a bit more than just that, and don't really understand how a broken oil ring could cause it considering that it wasn't even smoking, but it's none of my business, I guess. Regardless, he needs his primary ride, the little Royal Enfield back while the Guzzi is getting fixed, so yesterday I decided that I better take it for one more ride.

I'd installed some better handlebars and grips on it before the last ride, but due to the stupid clamping arrangement, by the time I got home the bars had slipped back slightly. Rob had used some rusty tin as a "shim" on the other bars, but I wanted something more permanent, so I re-adjusted the bars, then drilled and tapped a hole thru the clamp and bars, and threaded an 8mm bolt in, and was happy that the bars didn't move on yesterday's ride. Like Bud, I rode north into a strong headwind, which was pretty awful in 90 degree temps, my face is still as red as a beetroot from the sun radiating thru my visor. The other issue was that with that headwind, it was hard to get over 50 MPH, and a couple of times I had to pull over to the side of the road to let cars past. I took this pic in a side road when I'd pulled over to let cars pass me.

RE Sunday 5 Mar 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I rode on to Kilmore and stopped at the chicken shop for a drink as I was really dehydrated. I took my heavy jacket, gloves and helmet off and my T shirt was soaked in sweat. I just had a sarsaparilla and some fries for lunch, as I was a bit worried about eating a big meal on such a hot day, and as it turned out I was up all night due to a stomach upset.

RE Sunday 5 Mar 2023 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Anyway the ride home with such a strong tail wind was fantastic, I was cruising at 60-65 MPH all the way home, apart from the steeper hills where the poor little 12 BHP RE struggled. The more I ride it, the more I want another big single, but the 350 is just too small for highway speeds. I'd love a 500 Classic, or better still, the Continental GT535, which would happily sit on 60-70 MPH. Anyway, Bud and I are "neck and neck" at 10 rides apiece, hopefully this warm dry weather will stay for awhile longer, I'd love to continue to get a ride in every weekend.

[budman]

Terry, did you say that RE was branded as an Indian?  It would be fun to have a small displacement bike like that around here.  There are lots of slower speed ranch roads all through these hills.  A set of enduro tires on something like that and I could rule the dirt and gravel roads too.

I would like to keep up this pace and get out for a ride at least once a week.  I've planned a couple of longer rides I would like to do.  I'm hoping it doesn't start to get hot for a couple of months.  Last year we waltzed right into summer weather with barely a springtime.  I won't ride in that kind of heat.  I'll will have to ride in the mornings and barely cross the 50-mile mark, before it starts getting hot in the afternoons.  Last year it was in the 100's for practically all of June and July.

[Terry in Australia]

G’day Bud, no, I know that at one stage Indian were marketing RE’s under their brand but that was back in the 60’s? They’re made in India though so I suppose they’re actually “Indians” in the technical sense. Yep last year we had no summer worth talking about but this year it’s been great, it’ll start cooling soon enough so I’ll try to get as many rides in as I can, before it gets too wet.

[budman]

I think they stuck the Indian badge on some UK built RE's in the 50's after Indian shut down.  The Indian name has been plastered on the sides of lots of different motorcycles since then...including the Polaris Victory that I own.

[BallAquatics]

Yesterday was nicest day of the year so far.  Almost 70 °F with lots of sun and breezy.  Rode out to Mom's on the turbo to put the battery tender on the CBR and decided to swap the turbo for the NC700X.

I had no particular destination in mind and ended up just all over about 3 counties.  Ride #8 in the books for a total of 104 miles.

[Terry in Australia]

Did you stop at Tractor Supply mate? I’ve always wanted to buy a pair of their boots, we don’t have anything as fancy here in Oz.

[ekpent]

Did you stop at Tractor Supply mate? I’ve always wanted to buy a pair of their boots, we don’t have anything as fancy here in Oz.

Used to get cheap motorcycle bags there even though they were meant for a horse and saddle.

[budman]

Did you stop at Tractor Supply mate? I’ve always wanted to buy a pair of their boots, we don’t have anything as fancy here in Oz.

I think you're asking BallAquatics, but I actually happen to be wearing a pair of Justin boots that are my everyday kicking around/work boots which I bought at Tractor Supply about a year and a half ago.