Saturday ride in the wind! now added, Thursday ride!

[don_vanecek]

Met a few guys from my Omaha VJMC group and we rode to Atlantic, IA, about 50 miles or so from our starting point in Council Bluffs, IA.  Rather small group, my Vision and a 1975 900 Kaw were the only vintage bikes. That day however not only had a continuous strong south wind but then you had gusts up to 40 mph or so, riding was not the fun it should have been.

We made it to Atlantic, troublesome but not too bad at State highway speeds of 55-60 with a lot of varied wind brakes from trees to the road dug into a hill. Went to a shop in Atlantic that had a small bike show, boy did he have a gorgeous 1971 750 Honda four, almost perfect original shape.

So on the way back I split off, no sense in my going all the way back to Omaha and head for I-80 west-WOW, what a mistake! Out on the interstate with nothing to break the wind and going 15 mph faster, it about scared the shit out of me. I was riding sideways, the front end felt light, it was hard to keep a straight line and as usual traffic was heavy-I got off of there at the next exit!

So, now I'm sort of lost, the road goes south, I knew I just had to find the State road going west, come to a town called Marne and what do you know, here's a MC shop. Well I had heard of this shop before it's called Baxter Cycle and they sale-out in the middle of no where-Triumphs'! Besides new bikes, they have a back room full of classic Triumphs, neat! I could have bought one for about $8000.00 or so! Looked at a map they had and went on my way, now understanding where I was. A few miles down the road I went though a large wind energy farm, man those wind mills are huge-and they were all turning that day! Good old progressive Iowa!

Well I eventually made it home, saw parts of Iowa I had only seen from the interstate, went about 200 miles, happy to say the Vision ran perfect. But, wow, not real fun riding most of the way in that 20-40 mph cross wind all day. Sort of neat the few times I had the wind to my back however, you can hear all your engine sounds that normally get lost in the wind.  

Well that was my ride on Saturday, nice to get out, would have been a great day if it had just been "breezy", not a day with high wind warnings!

[don_vanecek]

Well, just going to add last nights ride report (Thursday) to the one I already have going from Saturday.

Unlike Saturday, Thursday here in NE was wonderful. 80 degrees, soft wind, sunny.  Garden club meeting time at a town about 15 miles north of me (Tekamah). Asked the wife if we could go on the V and she agreed. Pumped the rear tire up to 40, me and the wife together are 400 lbs. The V along with that crouch rocket shock I put on this winter handled me and the wife just fine, we had a nice ride, the garden we went to was great, lots of iris and hosta plants, infact the lady has 100's of varieties and they are all marked. 

Then a nice ride home, great evening, nice company, neat garden, great bike!

[inanecathode]

Hows the shock workin out for ya?

[don_vanecek]

It seems to be doing just fine, I was sort of hoping for a softer ride with it and I do believe I have all the settings on their softest marks. I sort of think the back end of the bike is now better suspended then the front and I do feel abit more confident trying to go alittle deeper in a curve, there seems to be no tendency for the rear end to chatter or loose grip. I have a spot in my little windshield to carry a piece of 2x4 to park with. It sure handled the two up good.

So far I would say it is better then the old oil soaked factory shock I took off but as I'm not a very hard rider I may not notice the difference as much as some one who can really dip into the curves. But I sure don't think I went wrong to the small amount of money it cost me.

[inanecathode]

I have my dampening set i think at two clicks from the hardest, and i believe my preload is all the way down, i havent gotten the little can adjustment to do anything for me i might have it upside down ><

[don_vanecek]

I could tell a difference-albut slight-with the can adjustments. Don't have the bike today (due to the predicted storms to be in the area on my way home) but I know I was fooled as to what number was hardest (1 to 6)and what was more giving. While not real dramatic I did figure out that I had started at the hardest and now have the softest.

Now I need to adjust my headlight up abit. 

[fret not]

Inane, do you have a shock with a remote reservoir?  Usually they have a bladder in the reservoir separating the oil and gas so the position shouldn't make a difference.

I got a shock from a RF1000 or 900 and will make it fit nicely on one of my frames, but my main project is moving away from box stock and more toward custom/cafe/Mad Max.  I have been looking at some of the custom made bikes that show up on the "thekneeslider.com" site and get inspiration to make an effort toward utilizing that really nice motor and making the rest of the stuff and fittings of more or less equal functional value.  Since I have done some fabrication and fitting some many years ago when I was racing it is within the realm of my imagination.  Seriously thinking of going to a 2 shock swing arm like on the 650 Seca from '82 and contunue with the shaft drive.  Much easier to control damping with 2 shocks and lots of really good ones to choose from.  Could be good for spirited riding but John Clemens' chain drive is the answer for racing since it has less unsprung weight and the advantage of changing gearing.