Go here for track pics:
http://darrenbeattyphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/5452747_HAvXc#333345929_yDKov
Thursday, July 31, 2008
working on a couple of mods
not performance mods (I'm not using the bike to anywhere near it's fullest yet anyway). These are all appearance style mods.
I bought a rear seat cowl. It came with little plastic pieces to fill the holes created when I removed the grab bar. So, I removed the grab bar, put those little plastics in, and popped the cowl on. All I can say is, DAMN, that's a huge improvement.
I'm also painting my radiator guard with some "rustoleum" brand paint. It was starting to rust, and I wasn't going to have that, so I took it off and brushed the rust off and put some primer on it last night.
My camera mount also came off and is getting a coat of paint.
Both items are going flat black because it's the coolest color evar.
My passenger pegs are coming off because I won't have a passenger seat, so why have pegs!? But the exhaust hangs from the passenger peg on the right side. So, I bought another bracket ans shaved it. Hacksaw and dremel did pretty good, but I broke down and bought a grinder so I would be able to finish it nicely without spending many hours on it.
This is also going flat black.
My other flat black mod has nothing to do with painting, but rather something that came flat black: my tires. I recommend keeping proper air pressure in them. Holy crap. I was running about 5lbs low and it was only affecting my parking lot/intersection speed left turns, or so I thought. Bike feels MUCH better now at all speeds (that I have tried since) and all turning radii.
So, on Sunday, I went on a ride with some friends down to Tacoma to visit another friend's house. We spent some time riding highway 7, which is a nice road, with some lovely curves, and an Acura that thinks he's fast, among tons of other traffic. Me being mostly slow, and scared of illegal passes (I wait until there is about twice as much room as I need before attempting to pass anyone because I'm a chicken.....this is a logic induced fright, so I'm ok with it), I ended up chilling in the back and they waited for me at the end and had a good nap before I got there (ok, it was only a couple minutes). But, it was fun. Those guys have both been riding much longer than I have, and are smaller guys on bigger bikes...I couldn't have kept up with them if there was no traffic.
But, we got back to Tacoma and spent some time BS'ing with people, made a trip to Cycle Gear, and Taco Bell, and then did some work on one of the guy's bikes.
As we were leaving, I picked up a front stand to carry home, and we all jumped on our bikes and only 2 of the 4 of us actually left. The other 2 stayed and talked for a few minutes. Grant and I left and jumped on the freeway and may or may not have obeyed the posted speed (10-20 over the entire time....as was the rest of traffic....we weren't being assholes). We were in the express lanes just chillin when out of no where, the other 2 guys, who had stopped for gas, and left 5 minutes later than us, BLEW past us. It was all I could do to keep it on the road, I was laughing so hard.
But, it was a good day, and I just thought I should share.
Tuesday, Bike Night, at the Deluxe. I recommend going there! They serve comfort type food, and gave us an entire room (probably 40 people). I had meatloaf, Jessica had a sandwich, and they were excellent, but the Mac and Cheese looked DELICIOUS too. That was good times. Good people there, and I got to meet more people from the forum and put more faces to names. It was great.
That's all for now.
see you on the flip side!
I bought a rear seat cowl. It came with little plastic pieces to fill the holes created when I removed the grab bar. So, I removed the grab bar, put those little plastics in, and popped the cowl on. All I can say is, DAMN, that's a huge improvement.
I'm also painting my radiator guard with some "rustoleum" brand paint. It was starting to rust, and I wasn't going to have that, so I took it off and brushed the rust off and put some primer on it last night.
My camera mount also came off and is getting a coat of paint.
Both items are going flat black because it's the coolest color evar.
My passenger pegs are coming off because I won't have a passenger seat, so why have pegs!? But the exhaust hangs from the passenger peg on the right side. So, I bought another bracket ans shaved it. Hacksaw and dremel did pretty good, but I broke down and bought a grinder so I would be able to finish it nicely without spending many hours on it.
This is also going flat black.
My other flat black mod has nothing to do with painting, but rather something that came flat black: my tires. I recommend keeping proper air pressure in them. Holy crap. I was running about 5lbs low and it was only affecting my parking lot/intersection speed left turns, or so I thought. Bike feels MUCH better now at all speeds (that I have tried since) and all turning radii.
So, on Sunday, I went on a ride with some friends down to Tacoma to visit another friend's house. We spent some time riding highway 7, which is a nice road, with some lovely curves, and an Acura that thinks he's fast, among tons of other traffic. Me being mostly slow, and scared of illegal passes (I wait until there is about twice as much room as I need before attempting to pass anyone because I'm a chicken.....this is a logic induced fright, so I'm ok with it), I ended up chilling in the back and they waited for me at the end and had a good nap before I got there (ok, it was only a couple minutes). But, it was fun. Those guys have both been riding much longer than I have, and are smaller guys on bigger bikes...I couldn't have kept up with them if there was no traffic.
But, we got back to Tacoma and spent some time BS'ing with people, made a trip to Cycle Gear, and Taco Bell, and then did some work on one of the guy's bikes.
As we were leaving, I picked up a front stand to carry home, and we all jumped on our bikes and only 2 of the 4 of us actually left. The other 2 stayed and talked for a few minutes. Grant and I left and jumped on the freeway and may or may not have obeyed the posted speed (10-20 over the entire time....as was the rest of traffic....we weren't being assholes). We were in the express lanes just chillin when out of no where, the other 2 guys, who had stopped for gas, and left 5 minutes later than us, BLEW past us. It was all I could do to keep it on the road, I was laughing so hard.
But, it was a good day, and I just thought I should share.
Tuesday, Bike Night, at the Deluxe. I recommend going there! They serve comfort type food, and gave us an entire room (probably 40 people). I had meatloaf, Jessica had a sandwich, and they were excellent, but the Mac and Cheese looked DELICIOUS too. That was good times. Good people there, and I got to meet more people from the forum and put more faces to names. It was great.
That's all for now.
see you on the flip side!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Holy crap, where's my summer?
It's going away.
This weekend, next weekend, and the next one before we are gone to southern Idaho for a week and a half for weddings.
So, it's going away fast, but it seems as though this fall might hold some good fishing, since the salmon run is mainly mid-Aug to late Sept. I've got my fingers crossed....
But, I'm building a work bench. it's not quite my original plan, but it will cost me materials I had already, plus another couple of dollars for bolts to hold my vise down!
I found a small counter top and I'm going to use that as one of my legs. I have a shelf I picked up at a store closing that I"m using for the top, and I'm making another leg out of some scrap wood I had laying around.
Dark Knight, is a good movie, and Blue C Sushi is pretty good, but not the best, apparently. We went out to dinner and a movie with Mike and Grace last night. It was good times. I'm glad to be living near them again.
That's about it....gonna go help Jessica with dinner now...
This weekend, next weekend, and the next one before we are gone to southern Idaho for a week and a half for weddings.
So, it's going away fast, but it seems as though this fall might hold some good fishing, since the salmon run is mainly mid-Aug to late Sept. I've got my fingers crossed....
But, I'm building a work bench. it's not quite my original plan, but it will cost me materials I had already, plus another couple of dollars for bolts to hold my vise down!
I found a small counter top and I'm going to use that as one of my legs. I have a shelf I picked up at a store closing that I"m using for the top, and I'm making another leg out of some scrap wood I had laying around.
Dark Knight, is a good movie, and Blue C Sushi is pretty good, but not the best, apparently. We went out to dinner and a movie with Mike and Grace last night. It was good times. I'm glad to be living near them again.
That's about it....gonna go help Jessica with dinner now...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
quick note
I'm at work, waiting on a compile....so.....quick update:
I'm getting very close to having my WA fishing license. Part of that was getting my WA driver's license, which was less painful than I expected.
Also, I suck at writing/editing/debugging vertex and fragment shaders, which is what I'm working on now.
And I've ordered 1 of the 2 parts I need to make my bike a pure single seat bike :D
Lastly, Aug 9-10. Jessica will be gone, and I'm dedicating the entire weekend to motorcycles. Either hanging out in the pits helping out, or going on a big epic ride to.....destinations unknown (yet).
DING! Compile is done!
I'm getting very close to having my WA fishing license. Part of that was getting my WA driver's license, which was less painful than I expected.
Also, I suck at writing/editing/debugging vertex and fragment shaders, which is what I'm working on now.
And I've ordered 1 of the 2 parts I need to make my bike a pure single seat bike :D
Lastly, Aug 9-10. Jessica will be gone, and I'm dedicating the entire weekend to motorcycles. Either hanging out in the pits helping out, or going on a big epic ride to.....destinations unknown (yet).
DING! Compile is done!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Playing Catch-Up
So, it's been a while. I'm working on a list of topics that will be written about. Topics might overlap, topics might lead into other topics......I have almost a month and a half to catch up on....bear with me
Getting Settled
So, we've been working on getting settled into our new place. We are "settled" except for the garage, which may never get fully setup the way I want. I guess until I have a reason to set it up, it will continue to evolve as it goes. I've got a big set of shelves built that holds tons of stuff and makes life easier and I've got my tool box setup with a wooden top that I can use as a work bench. It works, like I said, until I have a big project to do, then, maybe I'll build a work bench...we'll see.
Anyway, my office is in a walk-in closet, and it works way too well. There is plenty of room in that place for me to sit down and pay bills, however, I just don't use it much other than that. It works pretty good for storage of some of my stuff that shouldn't be out in the garage.
We bought a new queen sized bed for the guest room. Don't get too excited, we don't have a frame for it, so it sits on the floor for now. But...there's more room! Our guest room has been getting plenty of exercise since we moved (more later).
My Parents
My parents came up for a few days after we moved up. They had both been up here before so we didn't have to do the Space Needle. We did Pike's Market, and some downtown shopping on one of the days, and on the other day we went and watched one of my cousin's soccer games and then went up to Granite Falls to have dinner with them. It was a really good visit. Too short though...
Oh, and lesson learned: double check flight times before rearranging your schedule! Also, AM and PM are different. For some reason I saw 7am and read 7pm....no problem, I'll just run down after work... Oooooooops. Yeah, before work. Oh well. You gotta book flights when you can get them!
But, we found out when I was making this first video that my mom doesn't know how to use a video camera (second video)
Corders
Jessica's parents have come to visit as well. Jessica's mom came and spent some time just before she had to go back to school. Jessica's parents both came during the 4th of July break from school and spent the week.
Jessica and them spent some time playing on beaches and playing around in town during the week, and then yesterday we did more of the same. It was a bunch of fun. Plus, we went to the Crab Pot and did their big 1 pot dinner of crab, mussels, and potatoes and stuff. Man is that good stuff.
Their big news is that they have a new car. Laura has been saying she wanted a red convertible for a long time now, and so Nathan planned out a surprise to get one for her for graduation. So, he ordered it, but wasn't able to have them hold it until graduation, so they had to pick it up early. We've all been in on this for a while, knowing she'll be getting this car for graduation, and she had no idea at all. The ploy was that they had to go pickup a seized evidence car and she was pissed that she had to waste her time to do this. They get to the dealership and she still didn't get it. Once she finally understood, she was speechless. So, they drove over in their brand new 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible in red. It was a fun car to drive around in.
New Bike
So, I got a new motorbike. 2008 Suzuki SV650. I am pushing close to 900 miles now and I've had it for just over a month. It's a great bike, and I'm glad I finally broke down and bought one. I ride it to and from work so that I can take advantage of the HOV lane and I ride it around trying to learn to actually ride, which is going pretty well. I'm getting better. I've done a couple rides with some friends and some rides alone. I'm also going out tomorrow for a good long ride...longest ride I've ever done...we'll see how that goes....
Track Day
So, part of learning to ride was to break down and run on the track. This was *NOT* a race. This was a track day where they teach you how to ride on the track. Some people have goals of eventually racing, some people are just out there having fun, and some people are out there to learn to ride, which was me. I learned so much out there. Most of what I learned was to learn to trust the bike.
I almost didn't get to ride because I arranged rental leathers and their biggest didn't fit me. Luckily one of the control riders had an extra set that kinda fit so I was able to squeeze into those and ride for the day.
I had a couple people pass me a little close, but not too close, just closer than I was used to. Most of the passes were totally good passes. Having a slow bike on the track means you get passed a lot, and being a total noob on the track means that you get passed even more. No problem, the rule was you can't pass when the bike is leaned over in a turn, and this is to keep people safe in the beginner class.
It worked out great until a control rider (one of the guys out there to keep people safe) was evaluating someone for the intermediate group and basically forgot what group he was in... I was crusing comfortably around the corner...WHOOOOOOSH...pause...WHOOOSH..... They blew past me and took off around the track. My only thought was "hey, that's against the rules..." and on with life....Whatever, I thought it was 2 control riders. Knowing that they are experienced riders, no big deal.
Well, as we got close to the end of the session, they caught back up to me and the control rider waved at me to follow him so I follow him off track and head back to the pits. He was so worried he had scared me that he felt like he needed to apologize and all I could do was laugh about it. Apparently they were going a "good intermediate" pace...which is FAST, especially compared to me. Yeah, so apparently I can keep my cool while being blown past on the track, which is good.
But, it was 100 degrees on the pavement, in the shade, and so I was drinking water all day in an attempt to stay hydrated...and it worked for most of the day. I sat out the last session because I was just done. It was a total blast, and I'm totally going to do it again one day, but not this summer.
July 4th
So, I asked my good buddy Dane where to go to watch the fireworks in Lynnwood. He suggested that we sit on the top of the Alderwood Mall parking garage overlooking the highschool parking lot across the street where they would be launching the fireworks from. This is quite possibly the best place to watch from ever.
We decided it would be crowded later and so we loaded the lawn chairs into the pickup and drove it to the mall, up to the top of the parking garage and backed into a spot over looking the highschool and left it for the day.
Then, we took off for Picnic Point, a park just on the sound a few miles away from my house. It was a beautiful beach park and we were catching the low end of a rising tide...we were walking on a strip of beach between a retaining wall that the tide half buries and the rising tide. We walked out a while, and then looked at the water level. Oh, crap. We turned around and booked it. We were watching the waves go up, almost to this rock, then pull back, 1 person walks around the rock, another wave, back and forth, with someone going around the rock between the waves. We turned back a couple minutes later and that rock was in 6 inches of water.
Then, we went home and had halibut for dinner! WHOO HOO!
Then, we went to the mall to watch the fireworks and we were able to drive up to right next to the pickup (wasn't crowded yet) and played cards in the bed of the pickup while we waited for dark. We were 1 of 3 pickups backed up to this one section of wall. Tons of people swarmed around us, and we were sitting in lawn chairs in the bed of the pickup. They had to stand...we were comfy, wrapped in blankets just chillin.
Here's a video I took at Picnic Point:
Fishing
So, I suck at saltwater fishing... I tried hard. I bought 2 good saltwater rods and reels and all the stuff I needed. We went out and fished for hours. Nothing. No bites, no nothing. No one else was catching anything either, so I don't feel bad. I'm hoping to get out and try it again. But, before we do, we gotta figure out the salmon runs, or at least find someone to show us where/how to fish. But, it was a blast anyway. Fishing is always fun, no matter how bad the catching sucks
Mariners
The Seattle Mariners had lost the last 8 games they had played...and we had tickets to watch the 9th game, so you know it's going to be an empty stadium. Ok, so we went and watched. It was a total blast. They won too! My mom and Jessica and I had a total blast. The hotdogs were....stadium hot dogs....the beer was great, and the game was pretty good too. We got the tickets from my mom's newspaper convention that was in downtown Seattle, so we went with a bunch of newspaper people. I totally recommend going to a pro baseball game with friends or family even if you don't really like to watch baseball on TV. It was more fun than I expected, since I'm not a big sports fan.
And that mostly catches up the blog with the big events of the last month and a half...it's been a crazy time, and hopefully it calms down soon....not too calm though!
City life is different...but it's a good different.
Getting Settled
So, we've been working on getting settled into our new place. We are "settled" except for the garage, which may never get fully setup the way I want. I guess until I have a reason to set it up, it will continue to evolve as it goes. I've got a big set of shelves built that holds tons of stuff and makes life easier and I've got my tool box setup with a wooden top that I can use as a work bench. It works, like I said, until I have a big project to do, then, maybe I'll build a work bench...we'll see.
Anyway, my office is in a walk-in closet, and it works way too well. There is plenty of room in that place for me to sit down and pay bills, however, I just don't use it much other than that. It works pretty good for storage of some of my stuff that shouldn't be out in the garage.
We bought a new queen sized bed for the guest room. Don't get too excited, we don't have a frame for it, so it sits on the floor for now. But...there's more room! Our guest room has been getting plenty of exercise since we moved (more later).
My Parents
My parents came up for a few days after we moved up. They had both been up here before so we didn't have to do the Space Needle. We did Pike's Market, and some downtown shopping on one of the days, and on the other day we went and watched one of my cousin's soccer games and then went up to Granite Falls to have dinner with them. It was a really good visit. Too short though...
Oh, and lesson learned: double check flight times before rearranging your schedule! Also, AM and PM are different. For some reason I saw 7am and read 7pm....no problem, I'll just run down after work... Oooooooops. Yeah, before work. Oh well. You gotta book flights when you can get them!
But, we found out when I was making this first video that my mom doesn't know how to use a video camera (second video)
Corders
Jessica's parents have come to visit as well. Jessica's mom came and spent some time just before she had to go back to school. Jessica's parents both came during the 4th of July break from school and spent the week.
Jessica and them spent some time playing on beaches and playing around in town during the week, and then yesterday we did more of the same. It was a bunch of fun. Plus, we went to the Crab Pot and did their big 1 pot dinner of crab, mussels, and potatoes and stuff. Man is that good stuff.
Their big news is that they have a new car. Laura has been saying she wanted a red convertible for a long time now, and so Nathan planned out a surprise to get one for her for graduation. So, he ordered it, but wasn't able to have them hold it until graduation, so they had to pick it up early. We've all been in on this for a while, knowing she'll be getting this car for graduation, and she had no idea at all. The ploy was that they had to go pickup a seized evidence car and she was pissed that she had to waste her time to do this. They get to the dealership and she still didn't get it. Once she finally understood, she was speechless. So, they drove over in their brand new 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible in red. It was a fun car to drive around in.
New Bike
So, I got a new motorbike. 2008 Suzuki SV650. I am pushing close to 900 miles now and I've had it for just over a month. It's a great bike, and I'm glad I finally broke down and bought one. I ride it to and from work so that I can take advantage of the HOV lane and I ride it around trying to learn to actually ride, which is going pretty well. I'm getting better. I've done a couple rides with some friends and some rides alone. I'm also going out tomorrow for a good long ride...longest ride I've ever done...we'll see how that goes....
Track Day
So, part of learning to ride was to break down and run on the track. This was *NOT* a race. This was a track day where they teach you how to ride on the track. Some people have goals of eventually racing, some people are just out there having fun, and some people are out there to learn to ride, which was me. I learned so much out there. Most of what I learned was to learn to trust the bike.
I almost didn't get to ride because I arranged rental leathers and their biggest didn't fit me. Luckily one of the control riders had an extra set that kinda fit so I was able to squeeze into those and ride for the day.
I had a couple people pass me a little close, but not too close, just closer than I was used to. Most of the passes were totally good passes. Having a slow bike on the track means you get passed a lot, and being a total noob on the track means that you get passed even more. No problem, the rule was you can't pass when the bike is leaned over in a turn, and this is to keep people safe in the beginner class.
It worked out great until a control rider (one of the guys out there to keep people safe) was evaluating someone for the intermediate group and basically forgot what group he was in... I was crusing comfortably around the corner...WHOOOOOOSH...pause...WHOOOSH..... They blew past me and took off around the track. My only thought was "hey, that's against the rules..." and on with life....Whatever, I thought it was 2 control riders. Knowing that they are experienced riders, no big deal.
Well, as we got close to the end of the session, they caught back up to me and the control rider waved at me to follow him so I follow him off track and head back to the pits. He was so worried he had scared me that he felt like he needed to apologize and all I could do was laugh about it. Apparently they were going a "good intermediate" pace...which is FAST, especially compared to me. Yeah, so apparently I can keep my cool while being blown past on the track, which is good.
But, it was 100 degrees on the pavement, in the shade, and so I was drinking water all day in an attempt to stay hydrated...and it worked for most of the day. I sat out the last session because I was just done. It was a total blast, and I'm totally going to do it again one day, but not this summer.
July 4th
So, I asked my good buddy Dane where to go to watch the fireworks in Lynnwood. He suggested that we sit on the top of the Alderwood Mall parking garage overlooking the highschool parking lot across the street where they would be launching the fireworks from. This is quite possibly the best place to watch from ever.
We decided it would be crowded later and so we loaded the lawn chairs into the pickup and drove it to the mall, up to the top of the parking garage and backed into a spot over looking the highschool and left it for the day.
Then, we took off for Picnic Point, a park just on the sound a few miles away from my house. It was a beautiful beach park and we were catching the low end of a rising tide...we were walking on a strip of beach between a retaining wall that the tide half buries and the rising tide. We walked out a while, and then looked at the water level. Oh, crap. We turned around and booked it. We were watching the waves go up, almost to this rock, then pull back, 1 person walks around the rock, another wave, back and forth, with someone going around the rock between the waves. We turned back a couple minutes later and that rock was in 6 inches of water.
Then, we went home and had halibut for dinner! WHOO HOO!
Then, we went to the mall to watch the fireworks and we were able to drive up to right next to the pickup (wasn't crowded yet) and played cards in the bed of the pickup while we waited for dark. We were 1 of 3 pickups backed up to this one section of wall. Tons of people swarmed around us, and we were sitting in lawn chairs in the bed of the pickup. They had to stand...we were comfy, wrapped in blankets just chillin.
Here's a video I took at Picnic Point:
Fishing
So, I suck at saltwater fishing... I tried hard. I bought 2 good saltwater rods and reels and all the stuff I needed. We went out and fished for hours. Nothing. No bites, no nothing. No one else was catching anything either, so I don't feel bad. I'm hoping to get out and try it again. But, before we do, we gotta figure out the salmon runs, or at least find someone to show us where/how to fish. But, it was a blast anyway. Fishing is always fun, no matter how bad the catching sucks
Mariners
The Seattle Mariners had lost the last 8 games they had played...and we had tickets to watch the 9th game, so you know it's going to be an empty stadium. Ok, so we went and watched. It was a total blast. They won too! My mom and Jessica and I had a total blast. The hotdogs were....stadium hot dogs....the beer was great, and the game was pretty good too. We got the tickets from my mom's newspaper convention that was in downtown Seattle, so we went with a bunch of newspaper people. I totally recommend going to a pro baseball game with friends or family even if you don't really like to watch baseball on TV. It was more fun than I expected, since I'm not a big sports fan.
And that mostly catches up the blog with the big events of the last month and a half...it's been a crazy time, and hopefully it calms down soon....not too calm though!
City life is different...but it's a good different.
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