| Author | Message | ||
     Naustin |
I love that last picture! :tup: Looks like it was really a good time! | ||
| Ezblast |
LOL - I was just talking With Brian Nallin at our Sponsor Revolution Performance because something Erik Buell mentioned at the dinner last year has been nagging me - he said that if you offset (fill in the old cyl. mounting holes and bore new ones) the cylinder - keeping the same stroke - you could go to 650cc - he said that they did a factory version of this - it produced 50hp using shelf parts and was a world of fun - hmmmmm - so that would be smaller than 4" jug/cyl - Brian said you could go all the way up to 4" - sounds like fun so far - right? (- by the way Brian said this would be no problem to do on the Blast -) Then lets say you stroke it to XB12 size - hmm - wow! - There is the 809cc Blast - now in unlimited singles - this would be the ultimate stump puller - he said that with that size the 729 cam would even be a streetable cam to use - lol - by the way - he is selling the 45"kit to any interested parties, however, the 809cc kit sounds like the ticket to me! Now thats Thump! Got Thump?! Just Blasting on the Dark side! Ez  | ||
| Berkshire |
RE: offset cylinder w/ same stroke makes 650cc I'm having trouble understanding how that would work - it seems to me that displacement is simply a product of bore and stroke, and the only way to increase the stroke (without changing the bore or flywheels) would be if the stock cylinder position is such that the cylinder centerline did NOT intersect the crank centerline. EZ, I don't want to sidetrack this thread into a tech discussion - can you move a copy of this post and the one above over to new topic in TKV? | ||
| Berkshire |
Awesome pics! That must have been really cool getting an up close look at the radial powered planes, and I would LOVE to ride that road where D. Maul was parked, where the yellow bagger rode by! | ||
| Ezblast |
Done - look in the Engine 515 and bigger bore section! GT - JBOTDS! EZ | ||
| Cobalt60 |
That must have been really cool getting an up close look at the radial powered planes If you get a chance sometime check out the new National Air and Space Museum near Dulles outside of D.C. Awesome.} | ||
| Super_single |
I was out in town yesterday (not riding, driving) and Encountered the first blast besides mine I've ever seen in my area. I desperately fought the urge to wave and point frantically while mouthing out "I HAVE ONE TOO!" Good god I need a life. >_> | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
I feel your shame... I mean enthusiasm! On the rare occasion I see another Blast, I seek out the owner and they look at me as if I'm NUTS ! The last time I saw someone on a Blast, did the point and "I have one of those too", I wasnt on my Blast (on my old FL instead). I saw him 2 weeks later and he'd traded it in for a Dyna Glide! | ||
| Styxnpicks |
wooops.... it figures. I have the bike for two days and already have all the crap I ordered installed... wouldn't you know I lay it over the next day. I entered a nice sweeping turn nice and fast... you know put it through its paces. it was a small turn so I downshift to 1st. brake. lean and right as I hit the apex I see a van comming at me. well I was going to straighten it up and brake but wouldn't you know beginners luck wouldnt have that. I ended up rolling the trottle back ever so slightly while I was braking... duh I'll never do that again | ||
| Swampy |
Well I hope you are alright... Good lesson, keep after it. | ||
| Styxnpicks |
I scraped the frame and tail on the right pretty good and broke the front turn signal which was the wrong one anyway. I actually hit the curb and ditched it in the grass. got a nice scrape on my arm.. about what you would see if you fell of a bicycle. I was actually more pissed to the fact that the gas cap popped open spilling fuel all over and also flodding the engine... I wanted to get back on the bitch and show it who owns it. right of passage I guess | ||
| Ezblast |
Ralph's been Blasting on the Dark side again! Makes you proud - lol - Heres the story! (Alternate title: Why I no longer want a Triumph Twin) I've debated whether I should post this, because I'm supposed to be a reponsible 48yr old adult, but oh well what the hell :-ţ Yesterday I got into a street race up over the mountain (Shade Mt) behind my house. First off, let me preface this by saying, I know the risks, and never ride like this where it may endanger the lives of others on the road, but when the road is clear, sometimes I misbehave. Also the fact that the road (Rt. 253) over the mountain was just repaved this summer and is pristine, so I like to travel the Mt./valley road just to feel a rush. BTW- I'm not the only one, as yesterday I don't know what what going on, but I saw more motorcycles traveling that route all day, than I'd ever seen in one single day. ANYWAY, getting back to my story. I had just fueled up(prices have sure dropped!) at the bottom of the mountain at Rosewood Markets in McAlisterville(Pa), and was about to pull out to ride the 10 miles north on Rt235 -up and over Shade mountain to the town of Beaver Springs (home to Beaver Springs Dragway and also nearbye to the Horse Farm where Davey Jones of the Monkees resides during the summer). Well just before I could pull out onto the roadway, this loud - white and orange (creamsickle colors) Triumph T100 Bonneville comes roaring down the road heading up the mountain too, so off I go in pursuit ! He must not have seen me coming up from behind him WOT, but I finally caught upto to him doing about 90mph and passed him- as he musta been doing 80ish(?). Well this musta startled him and kinda pissed him off too- so he took it as a challenge and he wicked up, and was now in pursuit of ME ! Well, I know every bike in a 20 mile area (it rural where I live, we know everyone), and he wasn't from around here, so I knew he didn't know my mountain road as well as I do, so I thought- what the hell, lets see what that Bonnie can do. Before we get to the actually steep winding grade of the mountain, we first go up a smaller ridge and back down slightly and thats where he started gaining on me and at around 100mph he was right on my tail ! Well there is a straight section for about 1/2mile before you start hitting the curves and steep grade, so I hunkered down flat on the tank as I saw his headlight in my rearview mirror pull out to my left- as if to pass me, and I figured- uh oh, he's gonna blow past me coz he's on an 800cc Twin ! Well he just about came alongside and then he just stayed there as if he didn't have anything left to pass ? And he couldn't ! By now my Blast had crept to it's top speed of around 105mph and he pulled back behind me as we were approaching the first hard right curve, well he braked earlier than I did and I just scrubbed off enough speed to be safe and leaned hard.....Scraaaatch- ooops I'm dragging pegs, and hadn't done THAT since installing the honda 919 rear shock....oops- I NO longer have that shock on - I have the Seca II mounted, oh well- I better be more careful. So we raced up the mountain, and during every staight stretch he kinda caught up and then fell back when he approached the next curve, this went on and on all the way up the mountian until we hit the top which has about a one mile straight section before the downgrade and curves. I wicked it back upto 105mph+ and he was about 10 bikes lengths back but slowly falling further rearward ? Hmmmm.... I guess the T100 do live upto their name (ie- those Bonnies were supposed to do the magic Ton = 100mph!), but I didn't think that meant the current ones Too !? So he couldn't pass me on the mountain top straightaway either and we headed down the other side, with him in pursuit- but by now he had backed off and I could see wasn't pushing it as hard at all. We got down to the bottom of the other side, and I headed toward the local resturant in Beaver Springs called "Rayunda's" and I pulled in and so did he. As I was taking off my helmet so was he, and he exclaimed: "WOW- that was a Wicked Ride !...so thats a buell?" I said - "YES". He replied, "is that a 1200?" I LOL, and said : "Nooooo, it's ONLY a 500cc Single!" -His mouth dropped open ! He said- "Yer shittin' me?" I said: "No...see- only ONE cylinder!" - he replied- "Holy F**K!...what did you do to that thing?!" I replied, really not too much to THIS motor- you shoulda' seen when I had the 600 motor in it." Well, he then said something like- "how about I buy you lunch and we can talk some more inside"....I said sure, and so we did for the next hour or so :-) I now have a new friend named Roy from Perry Co. and I Think he maybe turning into a Blastoholic too !? But in the end, I'm slightly saddened, as it BURST my bubble about the Current Bonnie T100's ! They ARE faster than a Bone stock Buell Blast, but just do a few mods to a Blast like I have, and they can't keep up.... now don't that be darned ? ~Ralph LOL - Ralph's Definately got thump! Got Thump?! Just Blasting on the Dark side! EZ | ||
| Mabueller |
Great story Ezblast. Thanks for the post. So what are the upgrades to Ralph's bike that let him run 105 mph? | ||
| Ezblast |
Basically simular to ours, ErikO, myself, Ralph and about probably 2 dozen other owners or so - a plus 500 lift cam, heavyduty springs, guides, seals, some basic headwork, high comp 10.5 Piston, exhaust & intake aftermarket or custom, and a Pro-series/Crain Cams Programable ignition. Carb tuning for such a combo is actually leaner jet than stock and running richer -lol - it is a really fun change in the bike - I can get the Red bike to a certain fun pace, however the Blacks is quite more at 4000 and more - lol - GT - JBOTDS! EZ (Message edited by ezblast on September 12, 2006) | ||
| Xgecko |
I wrote this last friday after an amazing commute ride. It was mostly written for people who don't ride so the tone is a bit different Mornings.... It's cool today as I pull on my jacket, the leather creaks as the zipper closes. The engine, a bit reluctant to turn over in the brisk morning air, settles into a rumble as I finish donning my gear. Helmet, sunglasses, gloves all go on as I prepare for the ride to work. There is something different about riding a motorcycle to work that is so much more spiritual that driving a car...maybe its the cold September air or maybe its just that one isn't surrounded by a cage. I swing my leg over the seat and shift into first, my dog barks as she watches me idle down the driveway. I turn onto the street and roll on the throttle a bit to accelerate away but not so much that I wake the neighbors with my exhaust. Turning again on Rt1 I pass by the city park and across the river and into Connecticut. No traffic yet which is good...engine RPMs climbing as I gain speed, I veer onto Rt234 for the highlight of my commute. Down through the wooded neighborhood and out into the pastures of east conn farming. What you would expect to see...fields bordered by stone walls, made from rocks removed from those same fields a century or two ago. A low fog covers the fields turning the green to a grey and adding a bite to the winds as I cross this rural stretch before riding into a residential area studded with wine grapes growing in neat rows next to the road. The CT wine trail...colonial houses with an acre or two of grapes growing in the back yard classic views of what a tourist should expect to see but since it's not a destination rarely does. Regardless it makes for an uplifting sight as I roll past. The road approaches the interstate and I turn away. Wide asphalt and fast moving trucks are not what I want to see. Back onto my favorite Rt234, Pequot trail, I roll through turn after turn consciously keeping my speed down as I count the seconds between each turn. I know each bump my wheels roll over, each tree that lines the road, having ridden this stretch 200 times or more...it's by memory that this winding piece of road goes past alone through it all I rejoice in the beauty that is New England until the last steep decent into Old Mystic...I glance to the outside of the last corner to see the wild turkey family crowded next to the wall, they stay and I rush past. The world intrudes and cars populate the roads as I cover the 1/4 mile up Rt27 to Rt184. Another classic road, Rt184, known also as the New London Turnpike, used to be the main road between New London Ct. and Providence, RI before the coming of Interstate 95. This stretch is still in good repair and used by many who eschew the hustle and bustle of the hiway for the gentle rolling hills and turns of a back road. I pull out and roll hard on the throttle to get up to match speed of the approaching traffic. As so often happens traffic is moving in unison at the speed the terrain dictates and 10-15 miles per hour over the limit...like me all who are taking this route know the road intimately and know that there is little chance of police presence. More miles roll away under my wheels, I wave to familiar faces on motorcycles passing the other way. I see these same people every day yet other than their bike and the eyes behind the face screen I don't know them. Yet seeing them each day tells me both where I am according to time and that others are also enjoying the road. Time...it has no real meaning other than how fast or slow I am moving. The trip can take as little as 20 minutes as much as 45 though rarely over 30. I don't care how long it takes just that the trip is pleasant and it always seems to be. Stop lights pass, cars turn off, new cars and bikes turn on as I approach my destination...traffic starts to bunch so I turn onto Gungywamp Rd...tar snakes litter the road as the tight turns of this little shortcut around urban sprawl winds it's way closer to work...a new neighborhood appears and people preparing for their short journey to work are apparent, two more turns and the base approaches...the ultimate reality intrudes but that's Ok my morning is already perfect. I roll up to the gate raising my faceguard and the guard says "Welcome to SUBBASE" I mumble a thank you and roll away careful not to be too loud. Its a short ride up the hill past all the kids on their way to class, I'm not so careful about the throttle now and actually take great joy in making noise...one last turn into the parking lot and its over...I'm at work and ready for the day... | ||
| Ezblast |
Thank you Tony! - Definitely enjoying the ride, and thats what it is all about! GT - JBOTDS! EZ | ||
| Ezblast |
LOL - today on the way to work I'm enjoying the Red bike and this guy on a really built Dyna pulls up to me and does his reving - etc. - so for laughs I smile and nod - rev the motor -we take off - I forgot you can launch these puppies in the air - foot and a half later in the air - I smile bring her down, catch up to the Dyna and pass him in the corners. Launches after that he would still pull away first just a bit, however, by the time we'd get to corners I'm passing him - just good fun being had by both of us - but yeah - memo to self - neither bike is that stock any more - lol Got Thump?! Just Blasting on the Dark side! EZ | ||
| Flrider7 |
Right on brother!!  That must have sounded beautiful! | ||
| Nytrashman |
this will be my first time posting in this section. i went out yesterday for a nice little ride to check out my new fairing. i took rt. 129 in West. Co. from Croton NY to the very end, which is approx 15 miles of nice twisty roads winding around the NYC reservoir. upon reaching the traffic light at the end of 129 and 133 an older BSA pulls up along side me. we exchange admirering looks at each others bikes and then the light turns and were off. i accellerate hard through the gears and have about 10/12 bikes lengths on him. scrapped the pegs around a tight right hand turn and looked in the mirrors when i entered the straight and didn't see the BSA anyware. slowed down all through the straight and by the time i reached the next corner still no BSA. thinking he might have dropped it i doubled back to where i last saw him but he was gone. he must have turned around prior to the hard right and headed off in the opposite direction as we had not come to any turn offs yet. i made a quick u-turn and head off towards Millwood NY. once in Millwood i stopped at Hudson Valley Motorcycles to BS for a bit and while i was there i picked up a kidney belt. took rt. 9 home and ran at 65-70 the whole way without feeling the wind blast as my new Givi fairing was doing it's job. once i got back home my wife told me a couple of my buddies stopped by to see if i wanted to go dirt riding with them. i hope on my suzuki and head off to meet them. we blast around our local track for approx 1/2 hr before i drop my bike in a slow but tight section. i jammed the throttle somehow so now it sticks wide open. i wrestle with it for a short while trying to get it to work properly before coming to the conclusion i best bring it home as it is pretty much unridable the way it is. i parked it in the garage and since it was such a nice day i hoped back on the blast. after a quick ride through the back roads of furnace woods i head home to work on the dirt bike before supper. so that how i spent my sat afternoon. | ||
| Ezblast |
Riding is a beautiful thing! GT - JBOTDS! EZ | ||
| Nytrashman |
that it is EZ. i have today off and of course it's raining here so no riding today, unless it lets up a bit then on goes the rain gear and out i go. | ||
| Ezblast |
Thats why folks with real weather have it nice though - they have times like that to clean and detail their bikes and do winter projects - lol - it took me 6 plus years to make my bikes the way they are now due to being too busy riding and even now though mostly done as projects there are little maintenance things I put off because I'd rather be riding - lol - yeah - its raining here but I rode to work - good safety skills work out. GT - JBOTDS! EZ | ||
| Vortec57 |
So yesterday I decided to take the buell to work, my day starts at 330 pm and ends at midnight. The bike is a little lean in warm weather, so of course even more lean now. It didn't run the best, but good enough to get to work. At dinner went with a co-worker, so I didn't ride then. Came out at just before 12 to head home. Nice layer of FROST on everything, including the bike. Cranked it for a while before finally firing (Guess it doesn't like the cold). Get about 3 blocks from here and it dies, I coast over to the side, check things out and decide to try switching to reserve (still about 10-15 miles till normally need to switch). It ran all the way home no problems. Had one hairry moment when i took a corner a little fast for the cold pavement, felt the rear slide a little, but came out of it no problem (dirt riding background says it just getting fun when it starts sliding) Parked in the driveway and left it running while I went into the house to open the garage. Came out of the garage and it had died, ran out of gas on the reserve tank! So that was cutting it pretty close. Guess the good thing though. Don't have to worry about the gas going bad while it sits for a while. | ||
| Ezblast |
 43rd to 280 to 380 to 101 to 237 to 84 to 1 to 35 to 43rd. I have just given you a formula for a great 6hrs of riding, curves and scenery - and though police where passed, no hassles where given and a pack of Blasts played mostly alone! Scott and I met Tom for the first time at the Dennys at the beginning of Calaveras Rd/237 - comes cruising in on a stock yellow bike that he has very interesting plans for and the resources to have them implammented ;0) - Tom took the lead - I had never been on this road so that was good! The pressure off I really enjoyed the scenery - Tom kept the pace brisk and so I got to enjoy working on smoothness - lost Scott due to cars twice, however, he'd pop back just when we thought we may really have lost him - all was good! We left Tom at the beginning of 84 - the beginning of another great ride before us - Turning at San Gregorio onto 1 the fun curves behind us, the sweepers as the sunsets on the Ocean besides and before us - a great day of riding had by all and my bike got its usual questions by Dyna riders who noticed the bike as loud as theirs - lol - while stopping at San Gregorio to warm up. What a great day! Good to meet you Tom - that was fun! Got Thump?! Just Blasting on the Dark side! EZ (Message edited by ezblast on November 24, 2006) | ||
| Buellboy492 |
Unseasonably warm riding: Yesterday and today, I was able to get in a ride. Normally, the temps here in west Michigan should be around 30 degrees. There should be snow on the ground, and my bike should be resting peacefully in the garage. But instead- I was able to go to "motorcycle church" with at least 4 other true belivers. We meet at the Common Ground coffee shop on Fulton st near Fuller in Grand Rapids, Sunday mornings from about 9am to whenever. I have to leave early because I have a job, but still- I was thrilled to be riding and this feeling will keep me going for at least two or three weeks!!!! On another note: my 18 y.o. son just bought a 1978 Honda cb750. That's a lot of bike for a beginner- I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared to death for him. I now must go to my Dad and tell him I am sorry for scaring him to death 20 or so years ago when I started riding while still living at home! | ||
| Xgecko |
Warm day, will ride...OK heres the "Excuse"...every year since I started dating my wife 17 odd years ago I have bought a Christmas present for her from JH Breakell a quirky jewelry store/maker in my hometown. That store is an hour's ride from where I live now so, since my wife "needed" the car I had the perfect excuse to ride over and back. Meeting my dad for a ride through the back roads of Aquidneck island before I went xmas shopping was just icing on the cake. My dad bought his Dakar on halloween this year and is rapidly adding miles but we've only been able to ride together a handful of times. So a quick ride around the island was a very fun thing to do. It's strange to ride all the streets and roads you grew up on years later...they have a completely different feel on two wheels compared to four. After of 90 minutes of touring memories with my dad we split up and I went shopping for my wife...found just the thing and left it for engraving and a later pickup (gotta have an excuse for another ride) then left to make my way home. The ride home is different than the ride to my parents since there are roads that can only be accessed from either northbound or southbound lanes of the state roads. So further exploration is possible and this time I finally found the correct back road to get me to Westerly RI and not by way of Conneticut (don't ask please). | ||
| Ezblast |
You know - the reason I love this hobby is because I'm always learning something - long story short - I put in a new battery with out pre-charging it - mistake - first I tried jumping it - to dead -so then I swaped it out with old battery, took it home and am tricklecharging it, will finish the charge tommorrow - lol - the thing is I enjoy learning still and it amazes and actually gets me a bit uneasy with all that I don't know, praying I don't find out the hard way - ha! - but doing this is also inspiring me to retake up other hobbies as well - for health benifits - and I realize I have a lot more to learn in these fields as well - there will be times when I'll be totally stumped, however, if I take my time and persue asking the right questions - answers will be found and knowledge furthered - fun stuff - especially if its fun in the process! All because of riding! GT - JBOTDS! EZ | ||
| Ezblast |
For the cold days of winter - Cold by Dave Karlotski There is cold, and there is cold on a motorcycle. Cold on a motorcycle is like being beaten with cold hammers while being kicked with cold boots, a bone bruising cold. The wind's big hands squeeze the heat out of my body and whisk it away; caught in a cold October rain, the drops don't even feel like water. They feel like shards of bone fallen from the skies of Hell to pock my face. I expect to arrive with my cheeks and forehead streaked with blood, but that's just an illusion, just the misery of nerves not designed for highway speeds. Despite this, it's hard to give up my motorcycle in the fall and I rush to get it on the road again in the spring; lapses of sanity like this are common among motorcyclists. When you let a motorcycle into your life you're changed forever. The letters "MC" are stamped on your driver's license right next to your sex and weight as if "motorcycle" was just another of your physical characteristics, or maybe a mental condition. But when warm weather finally does come around all those cold snaps and rainstorms are paid in full because a motorcycle summer is worth any price. A motorcycle is not just a two-wheeled car; the difference between driving a car and climbing onto a motorcycle is the difference between watching TV and actually living your life. We spend all our time sealed in boxes and cars are just the rolling boxes that shuffle us languidly from home-box to work-box to store-box and back, the whole time, entombed in stale air, temperature regulated, sound insulated, and smelling of carpets. On a motorcycle I know I'm alive. When I ride, even the familiar seems strange and glorious. The air has weight and substance as I push through it and its touch is as intimate as water to a swimmer. I feel the cool wells of air that pool under trees and the warm spokes of sunlight that fall through them. I can see everything in a sweeping 360 degrees, up, down and around, wider than Pana-Vision and higher than IMAX and unrestricted by ceiling or dashboard. Sometimes I even hear music. It's like hearing phantom telephones in the shower or false doorbells when vacuuming; the pattern-loving brain, seeking signals in the noise, raises acoustic ghosts out of the wind's roar. But on a motorcycle I hear whole songs: rock 'n roll, dark orchestras, women’s voices, all hidden in the air and released by speed. At 30 miles per hour and up, smells become uncannily vivid. All the individual tree-smells and flower-smells and grass-smells flit by like chemical notes in a great plant symphony. Sometimes the smells evoke memories so strongly that it's as though the past hangs invisible in the air around me, wanting only the most casual of rumbling time machines to unlock it. A ride on a summer afternoon can border on the rapturous. The sheer volume and variety of stimuli is like a bath for my nervous system, an electrical massage for my brain, a systems check for my soul. It tears smiles out of me: a minute ago I was dour, depressed, apathetic, numb, but now, on two wheels, big, ragged, windy smiles flap against the side of my face, billowing out of me like air from a decompressing plane. Transportation is only a secondary function. A motorcycle is a joy machine. It's a machine of wonders, a metal bird, a motorized prosthetic. It's light and dark and shiny and dirty and warm and cold lapping over each other; it's a conduit of grace, it's a catalyst for bonding the gritty and the holy. I still think of myself as a motorcycle amateur, but by now I've had a handful of bikes over half a dozen years and slept under my share of bridges. I wouldn't trade one second of either the good times or the misery. Learning to ride was one of the best things I've done. Cars lie to us and tell us we're safe, powerful, and in control. The air-conditioning fans murmur empty assurances and whisper, "Sleep, sleep." motorcycles tell us a more useful truth: we are small and exposed, and probably moving too fast for our own good, but that's no reason not to enjoy every minute of the ride. Beautiful GT - JBOTDS!~ EZ | ||
| Ezblast |
Friends moving, the wife is ill, my raise is late, the bills pile up, and the dog can't stand the heat. Too much on my mind lately and not enough time to deal with it all - so I feel the call - its time to go ride! Leave all the rest behind, gather up my mind, twist the throttle and go - to the coast and down then back up and around. My life will still be there when I get back, but for now my wheels will follow the shadow I chase on the cliff walls - the ocean at their base. The sun setting at the ocean's floor, my cue to hit the road and fly for home, sea breeze dancing in my wheels, bike and I fly. Most definitely - its time to go ride! Got Thump?! - Just Blasting on the Dark side! EZ | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Poetry EZ, Poetry! |
