| Author | Message | ||
     Krjoseph |
Sounds fun, EZ. I was thinking about you guys riding around the west coast as I was tearing up the Dragon. Wish you guys weren't so far away, I'm blessed to be only 200 miles from the start of it. One of these years though, I coming out for the SLO ride. | ||
| Ezblast |
We stopped at a rest stop - to do that and grab a quick picture as well, then off to San Miguel for lunch and the Mission. The ride there was excellent, very relaxing, each curve feeling smooth and sure - I'm surprised at how nice most of the roads are, the weather perfect left all concentration for the road. It was great. We stopped by the Earthquake Capital, took a few pics, and enjoyed the scenery. The ride to San Miguel echoing the last part of yesterdays ride - very nice. The dinner in San Miguel was excellent, but I think the good company made it even better. Everybody was awesome, very unique and colorful - as Blastards are wont to be. The stop at the Mission for a look around was cool as well. The trip to Moro Rock was awesome and full of sweepers, just innocent fun, though the circle in the circle while leaving was fun as well - lol      After that it was a quick jaunt to the hotel - maybe 120 miles, 120 memory filled miles - very nice indeed. Mo's good food and excellent company rounded out the evening, tired but happy I bowed out at dinner's end to get some rest for the ride home. It was terrific meeting and sharing time with everyone. A truly great SLO ride. Day 3: I said good buy to everybody and saw everyone off successfully - their where smiles everywhere. I figure others will fill in details I lack (a lot actually), so I just wanted to give my feelings on it.To continue: Paul,Scott and I got ready, looking forward to the ride and ready to change depending on weather conditions. I was cold on 1 and stayed that way for most of the day, still we didn't turn off for warmer weather till after the Monterey, and Paul then split off for home as well. Still at the days end and 294 miles later, all I can think was - that was a great ride!      Old friends, and new ones, the SLO ride was over all to quickly. Thank you everyone for an experience to remember! That was Fun! Got Thump?! Just Blasting on the Dark side! EZ  | ||
| Ezblast |
Thanks KR - the West Coast is blessed with great roads, so many it really is hard to count them all - I couldn't - lol - It was a great ride. EZ | ||
| P3_pilot |
You said it all better than I could have EZ. Thanks again for the beer and all the info you give, you are a very giving person. To everyone else it was great to meet you all and I can't wait to do some more rides with my SoCal brethen. Erik and Kyle thank you both soooooooo much again for letting me crash on the floor I would have froze my ass off camping outside. Will be in touch with you guys soon as I catch up on my work load. Take care brotha's. | ||
| Ezblast |
It was fun! EZ | ||
| Ezblast |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdiQZ_ZB9k My New Theme Song - Take it EZ! EZ | ||
| Themagster |
Foghat - my first outdoor rock concert so many years ago I can't count (or refuse to!). Will never forget the sound of those drums from across the Toledo Speedway (Jam). Gotta come out west to ride again, next year will only get two weeks so it may not happen then, but year after....maybe | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
This is how the track day went: It was a perfect day. 80F predicted, some light wind. We got here early enough to get a spot in the pits fairly close to the classroom, tech and track entrance. I think we had 10 riders in our group, again perfect. At this track day they offered one on one coaching along with video available immediately to critique your progress. The first session out I actually got to follow the instructors lines (which is rare-you're usually so far back its pointless for a 'sighting lap'). Everything was good. I reacquainted myself with this track, remembering the turn in points, reference points, the traps, past mistakes, etc. Feeling good after the first session, even scraping my boots in a turn or two, I headed for the first 'class'. A few more pointers and we headed back out. It just got better. However, after that session and heading into the pits, the mild amount of back pain I had felt earlier, now made it difficult to wrench myself of the seat. After another classroom session, with some trepidation I headed out on the track. At this point every turn was mostly focused on the pain, making moving around on the bike near impossible. After struggling through a few laps I headed back into the pits, in pain and fearing if I didnt stop now, getting off the bike may prove impossible. Sadly, drugs and rest proved futile and the day was done.  The few decent pics I got were from those last laps. I'm surprised I was getting any lean at all  The lesson is that unfortunately, whether its poor weather, pain, fatigue or alcohol, you've got to know when to stop.  | ||
| Themagster |
Erik - sorry to hear of the early end to what sounds like a great day. The greatest athletes always know when to call it a day. You'll be back... Cool pics. | ||
| Dwinecracker |
So today, I finally took the military mandated experienced riders course. Mandated because of a few stupid people doing some really stupid things. Anyway, there were only 8 riders in the class. A 750 Shadow, a Victory Hammer, 5 crotch rockets from 600 to 1000cc's and my little Blast. During the whole class I kept hearing from the students and even the instructor about how interesting my bike was. Well, at the end of the day, there was one final exercise where the class was split into two groups and rode a kidney bean course. 6 turns, about 50 yards long, nice tight and quick. Well, I was split off with a cbr 1000rr, a gsxr 600 and an r6. The instructor said we would be bored with the other group, and he was right. two cruisers and two kids who had waaaay to much bike for them. My group took off, I was tail-end charlie, the instructor said not to worry, I would be leading soon... Unfortunately, he didn't seem to realize what I was really riding. The perfect machine(almost) for that little course. We took off, and I was right there. I fell back a little in the first two laps but then got my feet under me and I began pushing the pace. I started pushing the big sports bikes to perform better, and they still couldn't do what my Blast could. Needless to say everybody walked away with quite a bit more respect for Buell in general when the day was over. The only bad thing is I really realized that if I am going to continue to ride this thing, rearsets are a must. I literally had to lift my feet at least three inches off the footpegs to make the turns at speed! The rubber almost completely came off my left peg! All told, a great day and a good learning experience. | ||
| Ezblast |
I miss Battletrax - lol EZ | ||
| Reuel |
Sounds a lot like my sportbike course I took at Dover AFB. I beveled my boots quite a bit out there. | ||
| Ezblast |
With 23,300 on the speedo - she died of drum failure, and though she will be reborn into her next life through a rebuild for a custom bike - the XBBlast, still I will miss the original first bike in my life - ol Blast Vader -  evolution    And good times!  She was the first Blast to get a loudness ticket, she was nothing but fun, and everyone that tried her thought she was one wild Blast! I will miss that Blast, but I have my 2000 - the inherently fast Blast and though its launch isn't as good, that top end rush is very nice, and she can lift a wheel, though limited by stock ignition - gonna have to fix all that soon - she can hit that ton in good time. Still...I'll never forget that bike! Vader is dead! Long live Vader! EZhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdiQZ_ZB9k (Message edited by ezblast on July 03, 2009) | ||
| Crackhead |
swap the ignition from Vader over and put the xb fuel injection on the Xbader. Then you can really play with tuning. | ||
| Ezblast |
I plan to;0) EZ | ||
| Crackhead |
I have a few pics from my Skyline Drive trip. I need to still get a few off of mine and tom's phone. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30488563&id= 1496008006 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30488563&id= 1496008006 | ||
| Ezblast |
How about a write up? EZ | ||
| Crackhead |
i am waiting to get the pics. FYI: check the foam on your seat before a long ride. My friends low seat disintegrated, he had to ride almost on the pan for 200 miles. | ||
| Ezblast |
In the vain of the Steppenwolfs Born to be Wild Get your motor runnin' Grab them off the highway Lookin' for furniture An ottoman comes your way Yeah Darlin' go make it happen Cu3e the Blast in a crushin embrace Flame all of the Thumpers at once And compact them since they don’t ‘race’ I like firebolts and lightning Heavy metal thunder Crushing up the ‘win’ And the feelin' our days are numbered Yeah Darlin' go make it happen Take ad fluff put it in its place Fire all of the press execs at once Make them explode in its place Like a Blastard Step child It was cubed, crushed to be square We can make them so boxy They never wanna’d to die Crushed to be square Cubed to be furni-tare R.I.P P3 2001-2010 By: Cityslicker | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Nice! Maybe EB and the band will play it at the next homecoming! | ||
| Luigiblues |
Hi blastards! I just arrived in Seattle, after riding up the coast from SF on my awesome little blast. Took several days of easy and enjoyable riding  I've never done any touring either, so that was pretty fun also. Camping and foraging for food every day! I've not got to be back at work till mid September/Beginning of October. I thinking of riding to Alaska. I've been trolling through the forums for a couple of hours now looking at nearly all the posts that mention touring. I freaking love this site and all the awesome peoples in it! I'm not sure exactly how much of the 2k ride from Seattle to Fairbanks AK, I'm going to do just yet. Might take the ferry to Hains or something like that. The real trick is this getting everything I need to deal with the bike possibly failing here or there. From what I've been reading, i need to check my oil religiously, and there seems to be problems with the airbox breather tube, airbox leaking, valve guide break... Are there any other fairly common blast stuff that I should know and plan for before going? Sounds that would be indicative of problems.... There is something about going into the big nothingness of Canada and Alaska that makes me want to be more prepared than the 1k I road last week in the good old USA. I'm thinking of putting on the Avon Roadrider tire in the back, and getting a new Pirelli in the front because it held up much better wear wise than the back, and I'd like keep as much stickiness in the front Check out the picture of my little blast all burdened up! I'll post new ones in a couple of days when I re-outfitted the bike for it's new and epic journey! Thanks in advance for any advice! -Anthony P.S. Here is the blog of the trip, that I'll get to updating now that I have a roof over my head again. http://luigicycle.blogspot.com/  | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Welcome Luigi! Extra gas can, an extra carb boot and be sure you have enough tire wear to last or arrange to have one shipped. P3Pilot uses a ags can for coleman fuel and it looks like these aluminum drink containers that everybody seems to be selling. Great idea on keeping the Pirelli front and the Avon on the back. The Pirelli scooter Diablo rear tire in the 140 size might also be a good choice (but you might want to go with what you know). FWIW: You probably wont need the boot (but bring one). I dont know how far it is between gas stations, but my experience has been its very easy to get out of range when you're in the middle of nowhere. I've heard the roads can really suck. | ||
| Swampy |
Welcome Luigi! Wow, what an endevor. I would take an extra belt, and an extra front engine isolator. Everything else is pretty much rock solid. Good advice on the tires, gravel/poor condition roads are going to be pretty hard on the tires. My big worry would be the fuel range in Alaska, I think that there is big empty spaces between fuel stops up there and I wouldn't trust the Blast range more than 120 miles. | ||
| Ezblast |
Welcome! Sounds like a grand adventure! EZ | ||
| Luigiblues |
Thanks for the advice guys! I just got word from the dealer today that my tires(which are not needed yet...) are going to take a week longer than expected. Damn! Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get a pair shipped to a dealer along the way. Wish I was cool enough to change my own! I'm loving this adventure as it unfolds. I have a question about the Avons. What tire fits the back wheel? I couldn't find one of the Roadrider series that was 100/80 -16. What is everybody else putting on? I see there are the Viper Stryke that are the correct sizes...are they as good? It's going to be a long(but epic) 2K ride to Fairbanks! -anthony | ||
| Johnnymac |
Anthony, your trip sounds awesome! I hope the experience is every bit as rewarding as it sounds like it will. The roads are rough up there, so I hear, so make sure your exhaust mounts are all tight or you run the risk of the stock header cracking on you in the middle of nowhere. As for tires, might I suggest Pirelli ST66 in 140/70S for the rear. It will outlast the Avon RoadRunners and has a great aggressive tread for those poorly maintained northern roads. I am a couple hundred miles away from 8000 miles on my ST66 and am fixing to order a replacement soon to have on standby. I still have a little tread left in the center and expect to ring another 1000 miles out of it. My last tire, an Avon Viper Stryke (140/70P) only lasted me 3500 miles before I was down to the cords. I am HARD on tires as you can tell. The ST66 has yet to lose any air pressure since I installed it last November. The Avons are known for needing air a couple times a week. Best of luck to you on your trip! Keep the rubber on the road, the wind at your back and the rain off your face. Johnny  | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
ST 66 might be a great choice for this trip. Good idea. The 140 does fit without modification right? (140 rear Avon Viperstrykes dont and even though the modification is minor, I wouldnt do it for this trip). | ||
| Johnnymac |
That's hard to say, Erik. I had already modified my shock mount tab since the Avons were installed prior to the ST66. Since they are the same size tire I would suspect the mod is needed however I know when I installed the tire I had lots of room between it and the tab (post modified). Any reason why you would not perform this 10 minute mod prior to the trip? | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
If he runs into some dirt/muddy roads he's going to want as much clearance between the swingarm and tire as possible, lest things start jamming up the tire in the swingarm. If modification is necessary, he may not have enough clearance for that. Second: Beating on the swingarm miles from home is not a good idea. There's too much room for error and collateral damage. 140 rears are not all the same size, close, but so is the clearance between the tire and Blast swingarm. The Pirelli scooter Diablo 140 fits without modification and gives the same clearance as stock. The old Kenda 140 also fit without mod. | ||
| Ezblast |
The Kenda is no good - dangerous actually - the bead won't seat - the Pirelli - oversized - is perfect and will give you almost double the mileage of the stock Pirelli. EZ |
