A Day in the Life...

[desertclassic]

I want a road like this near my house!!!

Kevin

Emory Pass, New Mexico

Cloudcroft to Weed, Pinon, Sun Spot. NM. Good riding Jim

 

[DK Custom Products]

Mary asked if I wanted to borrow her truck this morning.

It was 75 degrees, but thunderstorms all around us.

I rode in, dodged several storm cells and made it to the shop pretty much dry, just rode thru a few sprinkles.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

There is one here, Bear Mtn Extention from rt9 to the Bmtn Bridge. All twisties for about 3 miles. Problem it's full of tree huggers and they jam up the road . :gah:

Tree Huggers?...in their cars, bicycles, walking?

Also just out of Port [Jervis NY] on 97 The Hawks Nest.....But you can't ride fast though there, The 3 hundred foot cliffs on one side, And a 3 hundred foot drop into the river [Delaware] on the other side, with only a 3 foot high stone wall stoping you from swimming with the Shad.. Will mentally slow you up.

Oh yeah! That looks like a ton of fun. Just gotta make sure you stay on the road, and that everyone else stays in their lane too. :laugh:

Rt. 6 across what is called the northern Tier in Pennsylvania is beautiful that is where we were last fall. :Coffee: travel safely Fred

Beautiful Fred! Hope to make it there one day.

Emory Pass, New Mexico

Cloudcroft to Weed, Pinon, Sun Spot. NM. Good riding Jim

That looks like a great road!!!!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

I dodged all the thunderstorms coming in...but it is pouring down rain right now. lol

Hope it stops in the next few hours... it has turned cold and all I have is my mesh jacket.

Kevin

 

[1dn5up]

Tree huggers

All of the above , all city folk that have never seen grass,weeds,trees,tics :gah:

 

[DK Custom Products]

All of the above , all city folk that have never seen grass,weeds,trees,tics :gah:

HAHAHA! :laugh:

Well that sucks that they are clogging up such a good riding road.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

By the time I headed home last night the rain had stopped, the roads had dried and I had a nice relaxing ride into the sunset.

Today I have some reports to do, some testing of a new product...today or tomorrow (gotta dodge some more storms), a couple of appointments... we'll see how it all works out, might have time for a longer ride.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

I've been meaning to share this for a few days...finally remembered today.

I have Never like linked brakes.

ABS is another matter...even though I initially resisted ABS technology on my motorcycles, it did not take much thought to realize that ABS is an asset, should the need for them arise.

HOWEVER, linked brakes have, in my opinion, the potential to be dangerous in certain situations.

I understand that HD linked the brakes because too many riders were using only their rear brakes, and by linking them it forces those riders to also use their front brakes...where Most of the stopping power is.

This is obviously better for all the riders that don't use their front brakes when they should...HD now makes them use their front brakes...just a hint of some self driving technology.

BUT, what about us riders that like to use trail braking in the curves, what about riding on wet grass or gravel...those are times you do not want the front brakes to go on.

There are times that I want to use Only my rear brakes, and I do NOT like it that HD has made that impossible on the linked brake bikes.

That said, I have nearly 80K miles riding on linked brake bikes and it has not been horrible, just irritating now and then.... UNTIL about a week ago-

I was riding in a heavy rain, that had come up rather suddenly. It was on a heavily traveled city street.

I was well under the speed limit when a signal turned red ahead of me. NOT being a dumbass, I did Not apply my front brakes on a wet oily road.

I applied my rear brakes, as one should in a situation like that.

Well, the dumbass linked brakes also applied my front brake.

Yes, the front tire locked up on the wet oily surface and started sliding sideways. (the back tires were not even close to locking up...it was not a panic stop, it was a gentle application of the rear brakes)

Fortunately I was on the Tri-Glide and all I lost was the ability to steer. Had I been on 2 wheels, the front tire would have washed out and Mary and I would have been kissing the asphalt.

Linked brakes are a compromise that serves the lazy/uneducated rider in most situations well, but is an irritant to other riders that results in a reduction of motorcycling fun, and in certain situations is flat-out dangerous.

With all the push in self-driving technology in cars, I am not looking forward to even more technology on motorcycles that makes them more "safe" and less fun...plus with the potential for being Less safe in certain situations.

***rant off***

Have fun riding, and ride smart!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Today I was going to be test riding a couple of new parts....gonna have to delay that now.

Tomorrow afternoon, Devin and I have some test riding scheduled, but they are calling for more of the same...we'll see, that may get delayed also.

Reckon I'll be doing some maintenance work and catching up on a few things today.

Kevin

 

[Fearless]

Same here

Today I was going to be test riding a couple of new parts....gonna have to delay that now.

Tomorrow afternoon, Devin and I have some test riding scheduled, but they are calling for more of the same...we'll see, that may get delayed also.

Reckon I'll be doing some maintenance work and catching up on a few things today.

Kevin

Seems like rain on weekends was going not now rain moving across from Lake Erie off and on same old same old...:gah: Rats!

 

[Larry Sobczak]

:badmood:We picked up almost an inch of rain Sunday here in southern Illinois.

Looks like it will stay south us today as it moves east.

Ride Safe

 

[DK Custom Products]

:badmood:We picked up almost an inch of rain Sunday here in southern Illinois.

Looks like it will stay south us today as it moves east.

Ride Safe

Seems like rain on weekends was going not now rain moving across from Lake Erie off and on same old same old...:gah: Rats!

Yep, we got dumped on yesterday. Got a bunch of little stuff done inside.

One thing was-

I've been testing an LED headlight bulb...brighter than the one I've been running in all my bikes for years.

Had to pull it out. It was definitely brighter, but the pattern was not good. I was regularly getting hi-beam flashes from oncoming traffic, even when I was on lo-beam.

Getting ready to put the tried & tested LED bulb back in.

I always use some dielectric grease on all electrical connections.

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Been a crazy few days, and more to come. But tonight is Beale Street again.

Gonna take a few hours of riding and relaxing before the insane schedule I have tomorrow thru Sunday!

Doing the post I just did on The Dragon, combined with this weeks hectic schedule....

...They remind me of this ride we took thru the Dragon-



Kevin

 

[gerald martin]

dragons ail

Been a crazy few days, and more to come. But tonight is Beale Street again.

Gonna take a few hours of riding and relaxing before the insane schedule I have tomorrow thru Sunday!

Doing the post I just did on The Dragon, combined with this weeks hectic schedule....

...They remind me of this ride we took thru the Dragon-



Kevin

what speed were you travelling through the tail

 

[frostbite51]

Went for a little 175 mile jaunt today - stopped for a pic of ND's latest crop that's popping up everywhere:

 

[Gone2Three]

Went for a little 175 mile jaunt today - stopped for a pic of ND's latest crop that's popping up everywhere:

View attachment 45759

Nice pick Ron! ThumbUp

 

[frostbite51]

Thanx. Shot that with my S3 cell phone. $10K worth of camera equipment and where is it when I need it? At home, of course...

 

[Larry Sobczak]

Heading for the Harley Davidson Museum tomorrow and spending Saturday at the Road America road track for the Vintage Motofest at Elkhart Lake WI.

Vintage motorcycles on display and racing on the track.

Should be an interesting weekend.

Ride Safe

 

[Dave59]

I took off of work at 9 a.m. my wife was ready to roll when I got there. We took a ride to Lake Michigan, was a beautiful day for a ride then we spent some time walking along the Lake. Perfect day!!! This is the Cordwalk that leads to the Lake from the parking area.

 

[DK Custom Products]

what speed were you travelling through the tail

I think I averaged 47 mph...maybe got up to 65 or 70 a few times. Most of the curves were at the speed limit x 1.5 to x 2. It can be done much faster on a TG or FW. It was the end of a long day and I thought it was a practice run for the next day...but the next day, there was a few LEO's scattered about, so I took it closer to the speed limit.

Went for a little 175 mile jaunt today - stopped for a pic of ND's latest crop that's popping up everywhere:

View attachment 45759

Very cool!

Heading for the Harley Davidson Museum tomorrow and spending Saturday at the Road America road track for the Vintage Motofest at Elkhart Lake WI.

Vintage motorcycles on display and racing on the track.

Should be an interesting weekend.

Ride Safe

That should be a lot of fun!

I took off of work at 9 a.m. my wife was ready to roll when I got there. We took a ride to Lake Michigan, was a beautiful day for a ride then we spent some time walking along the Lake. Perfect day!!! This is the Cordwalk that leads to the Lake from the parking area.

View attachment 45785

Making memories...priceless!

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

It's been a crazy busy week...and it's not over yet!

Here are a few pics from this last Wednesday night on Beale Street.

Parked the TG right across from our table.

A look up the street as it is beginning to fill up-

Saw a few Customers bikes. This Softail is putting out 121 ft. lbs. of torque, if I remember correctly. The gal that rides it has quite a helmet.

An old Triumph chop-

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

Yesterday was spent installing some parts for testing....

Then 4 hours of riding testing out the parts, and recording data.

Today I should clean the bikes...all 3 are dirty...but I can guarantee you I'm not going to be doing that. lol

Now if there were a bike wash going on nearby...

...all 3 of them might be clean today.

As it is, I will probably spend the rest of the day getting some work done so that next week is a tad less hectic.

Kevin

 

[Fearless]

Yesterday was spent installing some parts for testing....

Then 4 hours of riding testing out the parts, and recording data.

Today I should clean the bikes...all 3 are dirty...but I can guarantee you I'm not going to be doing that. lol

Now if there were a bike wash going on nearby...

...all 3 of them might be clean today.

As it is, I will probably spend the rest of the day getting some work done so that next week is a tad less hectic.

Kevin

It is what it is... tuff job but someone has to do it. fred

 

[DK Custom Products]

Wow! It was 83 and humid at 7:45 am when I rode in this morning.

Even more humid and in the 90's right now. Might cool down a bit before the ride home. :xzqxz:

It wasn't that long ago that I was feeling like this...hahaha

Kevin

 

[DK Custom Products]

First thing this morning Mary and I had to run into town for an annual physical and blood test. Not having eaten for 14 hours, Mary and I took her truck.

Very different seeing the road from a cage instead of a bike.

As is typical for Memphis rush hour traffic, we saw two different accidents where tailgaters had run into the car in front of them, slowing traffic to a crawl to get around them.

Here's what the doctor recommended...

Kevin

 

[Gone2Three]

First thing this morning Mary and I had to run into town for an annual physical and blood test. Not having eaten for 14 hours, Mary and I took her truck.

Very different seeing the road from a cage instead of a bike.

As is typical for Memphis rush hour traffic, we saw two different accidents where tailgaters had run into the car in front of them, slowing traffic to a crawl to get around them.

Here's what the doctor recommended...

Kevin

Well you heard him...doctor's orders saddle up!

 

[DK Custom Products]

Well you heard him...doctor's orders saddle up!

:laugh::laugh::laugh: Yeah, my comment was tongue in cheek.

The last doctor I spoke to about motorcycles (a couple of months ago) actually let me know that in his office they call them "donorcycles". :xzqxz:

Kevin

 

[nucseal]

Beartooth Pass last year about this time. Was a 5000mi ride that a couple of buddies and I were on. Went through Red Lodge, Mont, were told that if we had been a couple weeks earlier. We won't be able to go through because of the snow.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Well, I am cutting out early today. It is Mary's bday, and it is already raining, so I'll be getting wet, but I want to beat the lighting that is on the way thru!

Kevin

 

[Fearless]

Well, I am cutting out early today. It is Mary's bday, and it is already raining, so I'll be getting wet, but I want to beat the lighting that is on the way thru!

Kevin

Please give Mary my best wishes on her 24th Birthday :birthday_balloons:Happy Birthday... Fred