Here are a bunch of pictures from wandering around the place...
... Found some old abandoned farm machinery while there... The pictures kinda demonstarte quite graphically how wet it is up here in the Pacific North West!!
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Abandoned Tractors
I went for a weekend trip down to Washington state a few weekends ago.
Here are a bunch of pictures from wandering around the place...
... Found some old abandoned farm machinery while there... The pictures kinda demonstarte quite graphically how wet it is up here in the Pacific North West!!
Here are a bunch of pictures from wandering around the place...
... Found some old abandoned farm machinery while there... The pictures kinda demonstarte quite graphically how wet it is up here in the Pacific North West!!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Fooling Around With My Fears
I couldn't help it... I got bored!
Its winter and its rainy and dark and cold in Vancouver. So I cant really work on the motorbikes, or do any exterior house work etc, and even my outdoor sport (ultimate) has stoped for the core winter months... Not much of anything to do really.
Now, if I were "normal" then Id probably be quite happy to curl up on the couch and watch TV for a few months, but I just cant seem bring my self to do that... But it also seems Im still not able to just "be still" yet either (not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing?), So, What to do?
Well, I decided to try "Skeleton".
Me on the finish straight. (my fastest speed for the session was 99.4Kmh)
Im sure most people know what it is but for those few who dont, its a "sliding" sport like Luge or Bobsled which all-in-all are just glorified variations on Tobogganing... which everyone that lives anywhere there is snowfall and a hill side does when they are a kid :))
Why Skeleton of all things?
Well, mostly because I thought it would scare me quite a lot, but it does allow personal control and skill (unlike say bungee-jumping), and it is in a situation where I cant really get hurt... Well thats what I was hoping anyway.
Hmmm, maybe I should explain that I do get scared by falling and speed and heights and drowning etc. like most people do :)
Even though I have and do participate in all sorts of "adventure" activities like rock climbing, mountaineering, paragliding motorbiking etc. etc., its not because I am not scared... I do these things despite my initial fears and while my fears do decrease with practice, they never disapear! They are always still there in the background. As an example, Ive climbed the "Nose" route on El Capitan in Yosemite, California which is over 1000m high vertical/overhanging rock face that took me over four days to climb up... Pretty brave huh? Well, despite that, if I have not climbed for about a year and I then go to an indoor rock climbing gym, and try to climb an easy (say grade 5.8 or so) route on "top-rope", where there is absolutely no "real" risk of any injury, I guarantee that I will be "shaking like a leaf" when Im 10 metres off the floor!... In that year off, Ive just forgotten how to over-ride my fear of falling with my conscious mind! And its the same for every one of those other activities too.
And so, why oh why do I want to scare my self?...
"Adrenaline junky" I expect you are all thinking, and while Im sure there is some of that (A bit of excitement can certainly make one feel "re-envigorated" about life, which would certainly help with the "winter doldrums"); But thats only a part of it... You see, I wanted to try to take a look at myself when I get scared and try to watch "whats going on" so to speak.
Ive certainly thought about this sort of stuff from time to time, and the thinking part is always easy to do when your not actively dealing with a situation that evokes lots of fear, but is sooo much harder to do when you are "in it" so to speak.
... And my thinking goes like this...
My fear is not an instant reaction to things (even though my reflexes may be)... It is a very fast reaction, but its definitely not "instant", and in fact it is a "choice" that I make!!
My fear is a result of "ideas" that I associate with the "situation"... A bit more explanation is that my fear does not come from the images Im seeing, sounds Im hearing or the physical sensations Im experiencing. As soon as I sense my surroundings, my "mind" starts making all sorts of "associations" (imagined or real) with past experiences (mine or others that Ive heard about), and its those recalled past experiences that my mind "projects" (and often amplifies/exagerates) as possible immediate future consequences, and I think thats what results in my "fear"... which in turn results in a big hit of adrenaline and my "fight or flight" instincts kick in to "do something about it".
And there-in lies the problem... Because when Im seriously scared, Im just "reacting", and not "responding" (the same for all of us no doubt)... There is little or no "rational" thinking going on with regard to anything but the instant... and that can easily result in making "bad choices". And actually, there is also a quite high likelihood that a persons "reaction" to fear is simply to "lock up" and do absolutely nothing too.
Now there are lots of good evolutionary reasons why we behave in these ways, but humans have also evolved the ability for "rational thought", and there are lots of "fear" situations that would be better "dealt with" by a rational response rather than an instinctual response... The trick is of course, how to over-ride the instincts with the rational mind...
And the answer to that is two fold:
1) Modify your instinctual reactions (our reactions can be somewhat "programed by repetition) to be in line with your rational analysis of a given situation by practicing it lots.
2) Reduce the fear level of a given situation by simulating the situation without the consequences, to make it easier for rational thought to over-ride the "fear reaction", again by practicing lots.
And both of these components work together to reinforce each-other; and of course thats what we all do when we learn to overcome any fear.
But, somewhere during that process, we "lose" (or at least diminish) our fear... because our "mind" learns to down-play the negative consequence thinking... We mentally "choose" to not be so scared!
But it takes will and self control, because in many cases, those "negative consequences" can be very very real!
... And I want to learn more about the process, and I want to try to "watch myself"...
So, back to skeleton which is a sport/activity that Im going to use to "experiment with my fear".
It just so-happens that with the 2010 Winter Olympic games having been held in Vancouver/Whistler, I now have easy acces to a world class "sliding facility"... One of only four in North America... And wouldn't you know it, its the "fastest" one in the world! :)))
There are three sports that are run at the sliding centre, they are Bobsled, Luge, and Skeleton.
Of these, I believe that Luge is the fastest and arguably requires the greatest skill... In fact, they start training olympic lugers at about age 10 and if you start after about 15 years old, you have basically no chance of being "olymic level"! But Im not necessarily after the hardest or fastest sport, and thats good too because I simply wouldnt get access to the track to do it - you have to be a potential contender to get invited to try that sport!
The track is however available to "tourist" experiences for both Bobsled and Skeleton, but the Bobsled option gives you absolutely no control at all... You sit in the back of the sled and a "professional driver" pilots the sled down the bottom 1/2 of the track. And you get one run and it costs nearly $200!
As for the Skeleton; for the same price, you get two runs, by your-self , face first,on a tiny sled, with your face about 10cm above the surface of the ice, down the bottom 1/3 of the track... That sounds like the option I want!! :)))
Oh, some more technical details... The Olympic Skeleton runs at whistler are the full length of the 1500m track (for Men), it takes them about 55 seconds to do the run, and their top speed is a bit less than 150Kmh, and they experience about 5G of acceleration in the fastest corner! ... Yeah, that sounds pretty scary!
The track map (starts top right, heads toward lower left, and ends with the long straight heading back up-hill after the biggest curve at bottom left).
So, I went and did the "tourist" two runs a couple of weekends ago (Ill describe the experience in a bit), but that was just two runs and I found it sufficiently fun for me to want to do some more... So this last weekend I attended a "training camp" session that is two more two hour sessions with fewer people and quite a few runs and quite a bit lower cost... And the result of having now done about a dozen runs is that Ive found a new sport/activity that Im going to try to pursue in the future :)))
And what was it like?
Well, it was indeed scary!... but I found it to be a lot of fun too.
As you would expect, the first run was the scariest, given that you dont really have any idea of what it will be like... just a lot of speculation based on some minimal but significant facts.... Like, it will take 30 seconds to do the run and your top speed will be about 90-100Kph...Face first down an Ice chute!!!
But then again, how dangerous can it be if they let any old tourist do it... It must be pretty safe... Right?
First of course, they give us all a sit down presentation with the basics of whats gonna happen.
Then we all get quickly fitted for helmets and with goggles and jaw protectors...Hmm I notice the helmets are all a bit scuffed up on the front there... people are not very carfull with the equipment it seems... And then we tromp out-side and up the side of the track to the lowest of the track entry points.
Then the instructor gives you a static demonstration of how to ride your sled (which they chose from a selection for you)... Basically, "be a sack of potatoes" but keep your legs together and held above the ice, and keep your arms tucked into your sides and hang on to the sled at all times... Emphasize "Dont Let Go"!
Instructor demonstrating how to "assume the position".
Then they call someone's name over the speaker system (Because the tourists who are "sliding" are entertainment for other tourists who are watching, and they try to make a bit of a show of it :) )
And that person moves forward to the entry ramp and "assumes the position" on the sled... Which by the way, is way heavier than you would think, each weighing in at about 20-30Kg or so!
Skeleton sleds (bottom side)... The top has a sort of saddl/ frame/cage that you lay your chest in (so you cant slide sideways off the sled.
And then after a bit of communication with the track control people, the instructor, holding your ankles, gently slides you forward off the flat ice and onto the sloping entry ramp of the track... and just "lets you go".. and now there is no turning back!
The track is of course "rock hard" water ice.
Just after the "gentle release".
And you slowly slide away into the first seemingly very gentle curve...
And the speed is still pretty low at about 20Kmh as you come out of that ...
And building to 30 into the shallow second curve and thats not too bad...
And out at about 50 and building...
And into the third at quite a clip, And this time you are feeling some G-forces.
And by the time you come out Im guessing its about 70Kmh ... And thats quite fast enough thankyou!..
But there are no brakes of any sort! and it keeps getting faster and the fourth turn just rushes up at you in a couple of seconds (while you are having a good sized dose of adrenaline!) But its still getting faster and everything is just flashing past with a blur and the noise of the sled runners on the ice.. But you can see another corner...And the fifth corner just screems straight at you with the roar of the runners on the ice and the G-forces just slam you "down" on the sled and your head is pushed down so hard and fast that your helmet jaw piece is dragging on the ice, and then the Gs let up for just a second so you can lift your head a little.. Just in time to see yet another corner that wrenches you into its grip and slams your face back into the ice again for a good three seconds or so and then the sled is wrenched back the other way and gravity returns to normal as you enter the up-hill deceleration straight at the finish... Your still zooming along though the speed is dropping quickly... but you,ve come out of the curve headed diagonally into a straight... The sled glances firmly off one of the track ice walls giving your shoulder a real whack and reflects to the other wall at a steeper angle which slams your other shoulder and repeats the cycle with reducing speed but pretty similar impact... and again... and again... and again!
Till you finally come to a stop about half way up the run-out, and one of the staff sticks their boot behind the sled to stop you sliding back down the track...pheeeew!
And then you kinda gingerly get your-self up off the sled and grabbing hold of the low ice side-wall you haul your dazed and confused and adrenalin effused self over onto the adjacent metal walkway while trying not to flounder too badly on the glass smooth ice of the track with your super slippery runners.... and your done the first run!
"pinned to the wall".
The "ping-pong" finnish.
And then you can enjoy the experience in retrospect for a minute or two till you hear the next tourist "potato sledder" coming down the track (no, not screeming...there's no time to scream, just the sound of the sled in the track :) ).
And they too do the "ping pong" finish to the ride... And they too look all dazed and confuzed and unsteady on their feet with those wide eyes... And you watch them slowly morph from that state into the post-adrenaline high with eyes still a bit wide and breathing hard but soon a smile replaces the blank look and then they start talking with the rest of you, and then laughing at the next sliders ping-pong finish... and then the next slider arrives in the same way etc.
And then they march you all back to the top of the run again with everyone chatting animatedly amongst themselves. And then you do it again.
And the second run is just a bit less scary and everyone is less dazed and the smiles are bigger etc...
But I have to say, there is also an aspect to it that you dont get from my description above and that I wasnt really expecting, but that in retrospect makes perfect sense...
I was kind of expecting the ride to be like riding a bike fast through curves with lots of leaning and banking... But its not really!... though of course you are in fact doing lots of curving and banking...
It turns out that because you are down inside a three-sided ice tube, that you dont have any "real" horizon to take refernce from, and so when you are on a straight, it looks straight and flat and you feel the usual gravity. And when you see a curve coming, you know which way its going to go, but what you "feel" as you do it is not the curve to the side like you expect but rather, the sled does a "wrenching" rolling transition into the curve and then the G-forces pin you "down" on the side of the track; so that what you feel is the wrench-roll of the start of the curve but while you are in the steady curve, it feels like you are just going straight but with stronger gravity and it looks like you are going up a hill in a straight line!... and at the end of the curve (which you can see if your face isnt grinding along the ice because of the G-forces), there is another wrenching roll the other way and gravity returns to normal. So from a mathematical/engineering perspective, its kinda like you are riding the "first derivative" of the tracks curves (Im an engineer thats the best way for me to describe it :) )
And what about the "fear" stuff?
Well, yeah, its "in progress"...
It doesnt scare me now nearly as much as that first run, but its still definitely a rush each time, and the fear is definitely still there, and Im sure it will come out strongly again when I have a "bad" run!...
On this last weekend, there were nine people sliding... Of those, three were more experienced and were starting at the entry above the one that the other six of us were at. Out of the six of us at the lower start, one was advanced enough to progress up to the higher start after the first day and the rest of us were very happy to just stay at the lower start... because...
But, by the end of the second session there was only one person left using the high start...and he had a baddly bruised elbow/forearm. Another one stopped after a concussion on the first day. Another had a really big lump/bruise on the forehead (through the helmet!) and the guy that moved up had two really bumpy difficult runs and went staright back to using the lower start. At the lower start, most people were still bouncing randomly of the walls at the end of the run (not yet in control of steering the sled), and one guy even managed to get completely rolled upside down on the second last turn and came to a stop on his back, but thankfully was uninjured!
The higher start only gets you about a 15Kmh higher top speed but it adds about 4 turns and takes an added 17 seconds... And its those four more turns at high speed that were bringing people to grief...
Sooo, while it seems to be safe enough if you use the lowest start and act like "a sack of potatos", As soon as you start trying to control the ride (which is done mostly with subtle and very carefully timed weight shift at "just the right places") and/or move to the higher start with more cornering, you can get your self into real trouble very quickly.
For my part, Im gonna do it some more and see what happens :)
A couple more pic's:
... actually its pretty hard to take good pictures of this high speed sport with a little point and shoot camera that has a trigger delay... You often get a result like this:
Just missed a bobsled :)
Got it this time but its too small in the picture :)
Up close with a Bob.
Two more Skeletons "pinned to the wall" in the last, biggest, and fastest turn on the track...
"Thunderbird turn".
Its winter and its rainy and dark and cold in Vancouver. So I cant really work on the motorbikes, or do any exterior house work etc, and even my outdoor sport (ultimate) has stoped for the core winter months... Not much of anything to do really.
Now, if I were "normal" then Id probably be quite happy to curl up on the couch and watch TV for a few months, but I just cant seem bring my self to do that... But it also seems Im still not able to just "be still" yet either (not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing?), So, What to do?
Well, I decided to try "Skeleton".
Me on the finish straight. (my fastest speed for the session was 99.4Kmh)
Im sure most people know what it is but for those few who dont, its a "sliding" sport like Luge or Bobsled which all-in-all are just glorified variations on Tobogganing... which everyone that lives anywhere there is snowfall and a hill side does when they are a kid :))
Why Skeleton of all things?
Well, mostly because I thought it would scare me quite a lot, but it does allow personal control and skill (unlike say bungee-jumping), and it is in a situation where I cant really get hurt... Well thats what I was hoping anyway.
Hmmm, maybe I should explain that I do get scared by falling and speed and heights and drowning etc. like most people do :)
Even though I have and do participate in all sorts of "adventure" activities like rock climbing, mountaineering, paragliding motorbiking etc. etc., its not because I am not scared... I do these things despite my initial fears and while my fears do decrease with practice, they never disapear! They are always still there in the background. As an example, Ive climbed the "Nose" route on El Capitan in Yosemite, California which is over 1000m high vertical/overhanging rock face that took me over four days to climb up... Pretty brave huh? Well, despite that, if I have not climbed for about a year and I then go to an indoor rock climbing gym, and try to climb an easy (say grade 5.8 or so) route on "top-rope", where there is absolutely no "real" risk of any injury, I guarantee that I will be "shaking like a leaf" when Im 10 metres off the floor!... In that year off, Ive just forgotten how to over-ride my fear of falling with my conscious mind! And its the same for every one of those other activities too.
And so, why oh why do I want to scare my self?...
"Adrenaline junky" I expect you are all thinking, and while Im sure there is some of that (A bit of excitement can certainly make one feel "re-envigorated" about life, which would certainly help with the "winter doldrums"); But thats only a part of it... You see, I wanted to try to take a look at myself when I get scared and try to watch "whats going on" so to speak.
Ive certainly thought about this sort of stuff from time to time, and the thinking part is always easy to do when your not actively dealing with a situation that evokes lots of fear, but is sooo much harder to do when you are "in it" so to speak.
... And my thinking goes like this...
My fear is not an instant reaction to things (even though my reflexes may be)... It is a very fast reaction, but its definitely not "instant", and in fact it is a "choice" that I make!!
My fear is a result of "ideas" that I associate with the "situation"... A bit more explanation is that my fear does not come from the images Im seeing, sounds Im hearing or the physical sensations Im experiencing. As soon as I sense my surroundings, my "mind" starts making all sorts of "associations" (imagined or real) with past experiences (mine or others that Ive heard about), and its those recalled past experiences that my mind "projects" (and often amplifies/exagerates) as possible immediate future consequences, and I think thats what results in my "fear"... which in turn results in a big hit of adrenaline and my "fight or flight" instincts kick in to "do something about it".
And there-in lies the problem... Because when Im seriously scared, Im just "reacting", and not "responding" (the same for all of us no doubt)... There is little or no "rational" thinking going on with regard to anything but the instant... and that can easily result in making "bad choices". And actually, there is also a quite high likelihood that a persons "reaction" to fear is simply to "lock up" and do absolutely nothing too.
Now there are lots of good evolutionary reasons why we behave in these ways, but humans have also evolved the ability for "rational thought", and there are lots of "fear" situations that would be better "dealt with" by a rational response rather than an instinctual response... The trick is of course, how to over-ride the instincts with the rational mind...
And the answer to that is two fold:
1) Modify your instinctual reactions (our reactions can be somewhat "programed by repetition) to be in line with your rational analysis of a given situation by practicing it lots.
2) Reduce the fear level of a given situation by simulating the situation without the consequences, to make it easier for rational thought to over-ride the "fear reaction", again by practicing lots.
And both of these components work together to reinforce each-other; and of course thats what we all do when we learn to overcome any fear.
But, somewhere during that process, we "lose" (or at least diminish) our fear... because our "mind" learns to down-play the negative consequence thinking... We mentally "choose" to not be so scared!
But it takes will and self control, because in many cases, those "negative consequences" can be very very real!
... And I want to learn more about the process, and I want to try to "watch myself"...
So, back to skeleton which is a sport/activity that Im going to use to "experiment with my fear".
It just so-happens that with the 2010 Winter Olympic games having been held in Vancouver/Whistler, I now have easy acces to a world class "sliding facility"... One of only four in North America... And wouldn't you know it, its the "fastest" one in the world! :)))
There are three sports that are run at the sliding centre, they are Bobsled, Luge, and Skeleton.
Of these, I believe that Luge is the fastest and arguably requires the greatest skill... In fact, they start training olympic lugers at about age 10 and if you start after about 15 years old, you have basically no chance of being "olymic level"! But Im not necessarily after the hardest or fastest sport, and thats good too because I simply wouldnt get access to the track to do it - you have to be a potential contender to get invited to try that sport!
The track is however available to "tourist" experiences for both Bobsled and Skeleton, but the Bobsled option gives you absolutely no control at all... You sit in the back of the sled and a "professional driver" pilots the sled down the bottom 1/2 of the track. And you get one run and it costs nearly $200!
As for the Skeleton; for the same price, you get two runs, by your-self , face first,on a tiny sled, with your face about 10cm above the surface of the ice, down the bottom 1/3 of the track... That sounds like the option I want!! :)))
Oh, some more technical details... The Olympic Skeleton runs at whistler are the full length of the 1500m track (for Men), it takes them about 55 seconds to do the run, and their top speed is a bit less than 150Kmh, and they experience about 5G of acceleration in the fastest corner! ... Yeah, that sounds pretty scary!
The track map (starts top right, heads toward lower left, and ends with the long straight heading back up-hill after the biggest curve at bottom left).
So, I went and did the "tourist" two runs a couple of weekends ago (Ill describe the experience in a bit), but that was just two runs and I found it sufficiently fun for me to want to do some more... So this last weekend I attended a "training camp" session that is two more two hour sessions with fewer people and quite a few runs and quite a bit lower cost... And the result of having now done about a dozen runs is that Ive found a new sport/activity that Im going to try to pursue in the future :)))
And what was it like?
Well, it was indeed scary!... but I found it to be a lot of fun too.
As you would expect, the first run was the scariest, given that you dont really have any idea of what it will be like... just a lot of speculation based on some minimal but significant facts.... Like, it will take 30 seconds to do the run and your top speed will be about 90-100Kph...Face first down an Ice chute!!!
But then again, how dangerous can it be if they let any old tourist do it... It must be pretty safe... Right?
First of course, they give us all a sit down presentation with the basics of whats gonna happen.
Then we all get quickly fitted for helmets and with goggles and jaw protectors...Hmm I notice the helmets are all a bit scuffed up on the front there... people are not very carfull with the equipment it seems... And then we tromp out-side and up the side of the track to the lowest of the track entry points.
Then the instructor gives you a static demonstration of how to ride your sled (which they chose from a selection for you)... Basically, "be a sack of potatoes" but keep your legs together and held above the ice, and keep your arms tucked into your sides and hang on to the sled at all times... Emphasize "Dont Let Go"!
Instructor demonstrating how to "assume the position".
Then they call someone's name over the speaker system (Because the tourists who are "sliding" are entertainment for other tourists who are watching, and they try to make a bit of a show of it :) )
And that person moves forward to the entry ramp and "assumes the position" on the sled... Which by the way, is way heavier than you would think, each weighing in at about 20-30Kg or so!
Skeleton sleds (bottom side)... The top has a sort of saddl/ frame/cage that you lay your chest in (so you cant slide sideways off the sled.
And then after a bit of communication with the track control people, the instructor, holding your ankles, gently slides you forward off the flat ice and onto the sloping entry ramp of the track... and just "lets you go".. and now there is no turning back!
The track is of course "rock hard" water ice.
Just after the "gentle release".
And you slowly slide away into the first seemingly very gentle curve...
And the speed is still pretty low at about 20Kmh as you come out of that ...
And building to 30 into the shallow second curve and thats not too bad...
And out at about 50 and building...
And into the third at quite a clip, And this time you are feeling some G-forces.
And by the time you come out Im guessing its about 70Kmh ... And thats quite fast enough thankyou!..
But there are no brakes of any sort! and it keeps getting faster and the fourth turn just rushes up at you in a couple of seconds (while you are having a good sized dose of adrenaline!) But its still getting faster and everything is just flashing past with a blur and the noise of the sled runners on the ice.. But you can see another corner...And the fifth corner just screems straight at you with the roar of the runners on the ice and the G-forces just slam you "down" on the sled and your head is pushed down so hard and fast that your helmet jaw piece is dragging on the ice, and then the Gs let up for just a second so you can lift your head a little.. Just in time to see yet another corner that wrenches you into its grip and slams your face back into the ice again for a good three seconds or so and then the sled is wrenched back the other way and gravity returns to normal as you enter the up-hill deceleration straight at the finish... Your still zooming along though the speed is dropping quickly... but you,ve come out of the curve headed diagonally into a straight... The sled glances firmly off one of the track ice walls giving your shoulder a real whack and reflects to the other wall at a steeper angle which slams your other shoulder and repeats the cycle with reducing speed but pretty similar impact... and again... and again... and again!
Till you finally come to a stop about half way up the run-out, and one of the staff sticks their boot behind the sled to stop you sliding back down the track...pheeeew!
And then you kinda gingerly get your-self up off the sled and grabbing hold of the low ice side-wall you haul your dazed and confused and adrenalin effused self over onto the adjacent metal walkway while trying not to flounder too badly on the glass smooth ice of the track with your super slippery runners.... and your done the first run!
"pinned to the wall".
The "ping-pong" finnish.
And then you can enjoy the experience in retrospect for a minute or two till you hear the next tourist "potato sledder" coming down the track (no, not screeming...there's no time to scream, just the sound of the sled in the track :) ).
And they too do the "ping pong" finish to the ride... And they too look all dazed and confuzed and unsteady on their feet with those wide eyes... And you watch them slowly morph from that state into the post-adrenaline high with eyes still a bit wide and breathing hard but soon a smile replaces the blank look and then they start talking with the rest of you, and then laughing at the next sliders ping-pong finish... and then the next slider arrives in the same way etc.
And then they march you all back to the top of the run again with everyone chatting animatedly amongst themselves. And then you do it again.
And the second run is just a bit less scary and everyone is less dazed and the smiles are bigger etc...
But I have to say, there is also an aspect to it that you dont get from my description above and that I wasnt really expecting, but that in retrospect makes perfect sense...
I was kind of expecting the ride to be like riding a bike fast through curves with lots of leaning and banking... But its not really!... though of course you are in fact doing lots of curving and banking...
It turns out that because you are down inside a three-sided ice tube, that you dont have any "real" horizon to take refernce from, and so when you are on a straight, it looks straight and flat and you feel the usual gravity. And when you see a curve coming, you know which way its going to go, but what you "feel" as you do it is not the curve to the side like you expect but rather, the sled does a "wrenching" rolling transition into the curve and then the G-forces pin you "down" on the side of the track; so that what you feel is the wrench-roll of the start of the curve but while you are in the steady curve, it feels like you are just going straight but with stronger gravity and it looks like you are going up a hill in a straight line!... and at the end of the curve (which you can see if your face isnt grinding along the ice because of the G-forces), there is another wrenching roll the other way and gravity returns to normal. So from a mathematical/engineering perspective, its kinda like you are riding the "first derivative" of the tracks curves (Im an engineer thats the best way for me to describe it :) )
And what about the "fear" stuff?
Well, yeah, its "in progress"...
It doesnt scare me now nearly as much as that first run, but its still definitely a rush each time, and the fear is definitely still there, and Im sure it will come out strongly again when I have a "bad" run!...
On this last weekend, there were nine people sliding... Of those, three were more experienced and were starting at the entry above the one that the other six of us were at. Out of the six of us at the lower start, one was advanced enough to progress up to the higher start after the first day and the rest of us were very happy to just stay at the lower start... because...
But, by the end of the second session there was only one person left using the high start...and he had a baddly bruised elbow/forearm. Another one stopped after a concussion on the first day. Another had a really big lump/bruise on the forehead (through the helmet!) and the guy that moved up had two really bumpy difficult runs and went staright back to using the lower start. At the lower start, most people were still bouncing randomly of the walls at the end of the run (not yet in control of steering the sled), and one guy even managed to get completely rolled upside down on the second last turn and came to a stop on his back, but thankfully was uninjured!
The higher start only gets you about a 15Kmh higher top speed but it adds about 4 turns and takes an added 17 seconds... And its those four more turns at high speed that were bringing people to grief...
Sooo, while it seems to be safe enough if you use the lowest start and act like "a sack of potatos", As soon as you start trying to control the ride (which is done mostly with subtle and very carefully timed weight shift at "just the right places") and/or move to the higher start with more cornering, you can get your self into real trouble very quickly.
For my part, Im gonna do it some more and see what happens :)
A couple more pic's:
... actually its pretty hard to take good pictures of this high speed sport with a little point and shoot camera that has a trigger delay... You often get a result like this:
Just missed a bobsled :)
Got it this time but its too small in the picture :)
Up close with a Bob.
Two more Skeletons "pinned to the wall" in the last, biggest, and fastest turn on the track...
"Thunderbird turn".
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The XSTROM Project
I'll just add on to the last post here:
And now, a few more weeks of rain have gone by and the front end swap project is mostly done.
It only required machining a couple of "shim collars" in order to use the standard Suzuki head bearings with the standard KTM tripple-clamps. We had to do away with the Suzuki's two stage bearing tightening method (seperate adjustments for the upper and lower bearings) and use the single tension nut of the KTM system. That was because the KTM head shaft was about 15mm shorter than the Suzuki one and it would have been more unnecessary work to extend the KTM head shaft. There was a bit of work to get the "turn limit stop" set up right to maximise the limited turn radius, but other than that it was pretty much bolt-on... And the Suzuki ignition switch even screws right in to the KTK top tripple clamp (I guess its a standard format for most bikes).
And so now the bike has been largely reassembled again and can now be riden around to see what I think of the changes...First impressions are that it works really nicely....The single disk brake works fine with the old suzuki brake lever/master cylinder though unsurprisingly, it does have significantly less stopping power, and also unsurprisingly, the new forks "dive" quite a lot when brakes are suddenly applied.... Shouldnt be a problem though at the speeds I generally ride. I have not yet tried to hook up the speedo cable and that may or may not "talk" happily with the Suzuki speedo... Ill see about that soon enough.
Here are a couple of pictures to show what the bike lookes like now:
Im quite pleased with how it looks but the point is rather how it handles... and Ill have to ride it for a while to figure that out.
The bigest issue at the moment that I can see , is the more limited turning radius that the bike now has... Its a product of the larger diameter "upside-down" fork tubes and the shorter trailing distance from the fork centres to the headset pivot point (because the wheel is mounted on the front of the forks rather directly on the bottom like the old set-up)...
As it currently stands, I think the bike is very useable and I can do a U-turn in any small street, but Id like the tighter turns that it used to have, so Im figuring out what to do about that... The likely solution is to get "tripple-clamps" from the KTM950 (big brother to the KTM640 parts that I used for the mod')... I know the forks are the same size, but I think they are wider set to accomodate twin front discs and a wider front tire... If so, that should make for a "drop-in" replacement (as well as the longer front axle) and improved turn radius as hoped... I shall have to get some measurements and then I'll know.
After that, I think the next thing to think about changing will be to try to swap out the head-light assembly for something smaller and lighter (get rid of the weight and visual obstruction of those lights and the top fairing)...
But that will wait till the spring Im pretty sure, cos its about to get frosty here in the mornings and therefore dangerous and slippery. thats not gonna stop me riding of course, but Id hate to drop and damage my nice new black sport bike. So, in a week or two Ill put the sport bike "to bed" for the winter and transfer the registration/insurance back to this old touring bike, and Ill ride it through the winter :))
But the project is going pretty well so far :))
And now, a few more weeks of rain have gone by and the front end swap project is mostly done.
It only required machining a couple of "shim collars" in order to use the standard Suzuki head bearings with the standard KTM tripple-clamps. We had to do away with the Suzuki's two stage bearing tightening method (seperate adjustments for the upper and lower bearings) and use the single tension nut of the KTM system. That was because the KTM head shaft was about 15mm shorter than the Suzuki one and it would have been more unnecessary work to extend the KTM head shaft. There was a bit of work to get the "turn limit stop" set up right to maximise the limited turn radius, but other than that it was pretty much bolt-on... And the Suzuki ignition switch even screws right in to the KTK top tripple clamp (I guess its a standard format for most bikes).
And so now the bike has been largely reassembled again and can now be riden around to see what I think of the changes...First impressions are that it works really nicely....The single disk brake works fine with the old suzuki brake lever/master cylinder though unsurprisingly, it does have significantly less stopping power, and also unsurprisingly, the new forks "dive" quite a lot when brakes are suddenly applied.... Shouldnt be a problem though at the speeds I generally ride. I have not yet tried to hook up the speedo cable and that may or may not "talk" happily with the Suzuki speedo... Ill see about that soon enough.
Here are a couple of pictures to show what the bike lookes like now:
The bigest issue at the moment that I can see , is the more limited turning radius that the bike now has... Its a product of the larger diameter "upside-down" fork tubes and the shorter trailing distance from the fork centres to the headset pivot point (because the wheel is mounted on the front of the forks rather directly on the bottom like the old set-up)...
As it currently stands, I think the bike is very useable and I can do a U-turn in any small street, but Id like the tighter turns that it used to have, so Im figuring out what to do about that... The likely solution is to get "tripple-clamps" from the KTM950 (big brother to the KTM640 parts that I used for the mod')... I know the forks are the same size, but I think they are wider set to accomodate twin front discs and a wider front tire... If so, that should make for a "drop-in" replacement (as well as the longer front axle) and improved turn radius as hoped... I shall have to get some measurements and then I'll know.
After that, I think the next thing to think about changing will be to try to swap out the head-light assembly for something smaller and lighter (get rid of the weight and visual obstruction of those lights and the top fairing)...
But that will wait till the spring Im pretty sure, cos its about to get frosty here in the mornings and therefore dangerous and slippery. thats not gonna stop me riding of course, but Id hate to drop and damage my nice new black sport bike. So, in a week or two Ill put the sport bike "to bed" for the winter and transfer the registration/insurance back to this old touring bike, and Ill ride it through the winter :))
But the project is going pretty well so far :))
Like I said, Im "projecting" my beaten up old DL650 and am putting a more "off-road" friendly front end on it.
Here are a couple of pictures from the bike at present... The old front forks have been removed and Mark (My machinist/mechanic friend) has put the new "tripple clamps" in the head tube (from an old KTM640 Adventurer)... Looks like it will work without too much machining and turning, and hopefully the turning radius is not too diminished...
Saturday, October 20, 2012
The New Girl
It seems there is a new girl in my life :)
She's German, and perhaps a little surprisingly (though I cant justify why it would be surprising in these "enlightened" times), she's Black!...
... and dare I say it, Shes also "A good ride!" :)))
Well of course she's a motorbike... The chances of me getting any girlfriend at all, let alone a German of African descent seem remote to me, and bordering on rediculous! :)))
So, Whats the story with me getting "yet another" motorbike?
Well, I have decided that the beaten-up grey touring bike (Suzuki DL650 VSTROM) that has served me well for 200,000Km is pretty much "worn out"... Not to the point where its ready to be "scrapped" (I truely believe that the bike still has at least another 100,000Km in it ), but to the point where there is virtually no resale value in it at all (Id guess less than $1000) and where it also needs another thousand dollars and several days of work put into it to get it back to good riding condition...
And Im not averse to doing that... But Im more inclined to try something a bit more radical... :)
I am finally going to do the modification to the front-end that Ive been threatening to do for about three years, and Im going to put the "big trail-bike" front wheel and suspension on it and hopefully redo the rear suspension somewhat too. And to do that, I need to take the bike off the road for a few months while the changes are being made (Its not something I want to try to rush)... (There will be a seperate post on that project in the near future)
And so, with winter comming up quickly here (first snow on the tops of the local mountains here last night), I was looking through the local "for sale" web-site when I noticed this bike for sale at what seemed like a very good price... and well, one thing led to another and pretty quickly, I had bought my-self another bike... That makes it four at the moment!!!
So, what are the details?
Well its a 2007 BMW R1200S... And that I expect sounds like a bunch of pretty meaningless letters and numbers to most non-motorbike people... Fair enough, Ill procede to explain:
First and obviously its made in 2007 (so its far from new but also far from "old"), and its a BMW (they make motorbikes as well as cars).
The R1200 is the name of the engine which is a 1200cc (though its actualy only 1170cc or so)... Thats a pretty big motorbike engine... not the biggest but certainly big, and certainly bigger than Ive ever owned before (750cc was my biggest I think). And the "R" is the BMW designation for their classic "Boxer" format two cylinder engines... In fact BMW have been making them for so long in their motorbikes that the name "boxer" is virtually synonimous with BMW in the motorbike world.
For the others, it means its a "horazontally opposed" twin cylinder engine. These engines also have a well earned reputation of being very reliable, long lasting, simple, and easy to repair... Again, these BMW "R series" motorbikes have been being used for "adventure touring" from long before that phrase was even invented... In short, great engines.
And finally, the "S" is simply for "sport" (well thats an acceptable english translation). Now, most people would probably think I would choose an "adventure touring" or at least a "touring" model... And BMW certainly make them, and there are plenty of them in the for-sale lists (Notably the GSA, RT, and K series bikes).
But it seems that Im a very "visually stimulated" person, and I have to say that I really didnt find that I liked the sizes and shapes of any of BMWs bikes (and Ive test ridden a few at various times in the past)... Until this one. Most BMW bikes I would characterize as being overly large and too heavy for me to enjoy... certainly for adventure touring but also for around town and comuting use.
But the "1200S" is a bit different... Its the penultimate development of the classic boxer engine (there is one more recent model that is more sophisticated with over-head camms and lots of expensive engineering tweaks to get the most out of it ), so its output power is significantly higher than past models while the weight is lower; and the bike was aimed at the "sporting" market, so its considerably "slimmer" and lighter than most BMW bikes too. So, power size and weight are all in the "OK" category for me, but the most critical aspect is that I actually like the look of the bike... and I do... quite a lot :))
In fact, in many regards, its very much in-line with the look of the little yellow sport bike that I "built" over the last few years (and jut got damaged in an accident a month or so back)...
Its nice and curvy without many harsh corners in body shape ... I definitely like curves :)
Its a twin cylinder ... I much prefer the tourque and sound of a twin over the higher pitched fernetic fours.
Its fairings are only on the top half of the bike, leaving the engine and drive-train exposed to view (again, I like to be able to "see" the "mechanics" :)
And its got a nice single-sided rear swing-arm and an "undertail" exhaust system that leaves the rear wheel visually clear and "uncluttered"... Although my little bike is a chain drive and this one is a shaft drive... Ive always wanted to try a shaft drive bike... So much cleaner and less maintenance :)
So, I like the look of the bike, and Id possibly have bought one years ago but for a couple of significant obstacles...
First challenge is that the "Sport" line of bikes from BMW has only "come into being" in the last few years (Well, actually they started the S line in the late 90s but the bikes were in reality much more "tourers" than sport bikes). In the past, BMW have mostly focussed on the touring type bikes and have only recently decided to try competing with the Japanese marques for the attention of the plentifull but younger and less "financially well heeled" sporting riders. And indeed, I can recall that a few years ago, while randomly checking out the new bikes at a bike dealer (I think when I was picking up some parts for my VSTROM back before I set off on my first big tour) I first saw the BMW "S"... And I said to my-self "mmmm I like the look of that one!".
But that was pretty much the end of that thought because it was brand new and far too expensive, and I was focussed on something else at the time. But I have not had the "trigger" to review the bike since then for the simple reason that the bikes are incredibly rare!
That may sound unlikely but it is in fact true (though Ive only found this out after Ive bought this one!). It seems that BMW "missed their mak" as it were, and the "S" model of the "R" series was quite a "marketing disaster!" Sales of the bike were so bad that they only produced them in North America for two or three years (2007 - 2009ish) before discontinuing them. And in that time they only managed to sell a total of less than 500... For a market (USA and Canada) with well over 330 million people that is a "staggeringly" bad sales performance! Im serious; there were less than 500 sold in total ( They did a bit better in Europe but are still very uncommon bikes there) making this bike one of only about a hundred (just over 90 in the USA) that were made in Black (there were only five colours made).
... So that no doubt prompts you to ask "If they were such a "flop" then surely its a bad idea to buy one... Lack of spare parts and poor performance or reliability etc". And my answer to that is actually "No, thats not the case"... The problem with the bikes was not that they were bad bikes. It was that they really just plain failed on the marketing!... The engine and drive train have a great deal of shared mechanical parts with many of the other BMW bikes so spares are not really that much of a problem (though they are still BMW expensive!), and as Ive already said, the engines and drive-trains of the bikes have a well deserved reputation of being reliable, long lasting, and easily maintained. The problem with the bikes was that they just did not "compete" in the "value for money" stakes with their competition... They were quite a bit more expensive and were not as powerfull as the ubiquitous "oriental multis". As an example, when the BMW was new it cost about $18,000 in the US, and the bike produced about 120 horsepower and weighed about 195Kg. In comparison, I think the figures for a Yamaha R1 were: cost about $12000 produced about 170hp and weighed about 180Kg... So like I said, BMW were just not in the game as far as the "young bucks" who buy sport bikes and just want more power and more speed and as cheap as they can get it.
... and that brings me to the other major barrier to me buying one of these bikes before now...
The second challenge is that its a BMW... which is not really a "bad" thing but rather just an "expensive" thing.
Back when I lived in Australia, bikes like this where simply way out of my financial reach... Even today in Australia, European bikes are significantly more expensive than their Japanese cousins, and while the European marques are certainly much cheaper here in North America, they are still more expensive both to buy and to maintain... The saying goes "Love that German engineering,... But hate those German maintenance costs"! :)
So, whats changed to make me buy one now???
Well I certainly didnt win the lottery, thats for sure.
But the fact is that this bike cost me less than my DL650 VSTROM did when I bought it five years ago!
That initially seems unlikely too, but there are a couple of things that make the difference. First off, while neither bike was new when I bought them, this one is five years old and the VSTROM was just less than two years old. Second is the mileage: the VSTROM only had 15,000Km on the clock, and this one has 48,000. Now both those numbers are in the right ballpark for anual usage of about 10,000Km which is what happens up hear in the Pacific North West... Bikes only get ridden for about half of the year so mileages are "low".
But the other BIG diference is that this bike is a "Rebuild" which means that at some point it was in an accident and the insurance company decided it was cheaper to just buy a new bike for the owner rather than pay for the repairs of the damaged bike... And so it could be a really bad thing to buy a "pre-broken" bike you might say... But, in this case, I dont think so.
And thats because the accident was very recently, and the former owner is an active participant in a internet "forum" that I have located and read... He has posted lots of description and pictures and details of what he did to/with the bike since he bought it a few years back, so I truely believe I have a very good idea of the bikes history
The accident was a "non-impact" one where he simply slid it down the road on its side... It did mostly cosmetic damage and also ground the valve cover off one side of the engine. So, I know there are no significant structural issues with the frame. I also know that the former owner liked to ride fast and "used" the bike engine quite heavily... This would normally be a bad thing too, but the bike was not raced on a track (which lots of "fast" focussed riders like to do with their bikes on the weekends and which really thrashes the engines) and the former owner happens also to be a very meticulous (his own word was "anal") fellow... Ive seen his house and his car and his other bike and the maintenance log book for this bike, and I am absolutely sure that he has done very carefull maintenance on the bike at about 1/2 to 1/3 of the specified time intervals... On the service front, the bike has been "babied" even if on the riding front it has been well used (though I dont think abused).
But again, why is the bike sooo cheap if its as good as I say it is?...
Well, fundamentally, because it didnt cost the previous owner so much to start with and he got good money from insurance so he is not being too greedy on the sale...
In a little more detail, I know the price that he paid for the bike new (I have a copy of the salse receipt), and it was well below the original sales floor price because like I said they just didnt sell, and he bought this one after it had been sitting on the sales floor for about three years. Then when he got paid out by the insurance (They do seem to have been rather cavalier about writing-off a very repairable bike, but that is explainable by the surprisingly high and seemingly constantly rising auto-insurance prices we pay here in BC!) after the "slide", he effectively ended up having spent very little for all the fun he had on the bike over the two years he owned it.
But then he also bought the "wreck" from the insurance company (which they allow you to do here in BC) for only about $1000!!, and I know more or less what he spent putting the bike back together because he wrote all about it in several posts on the forum that I mentioned.
But still the price advertised was too expensive for me to buy, and when I saw the advertisement for the bike, I sent an email to him saying I couldnt afford his price but that if it wasnt selling and he needed to "move" it, I was really interested and I could offer him just so much. Now I didnt really expect to hear back from him but it is the start of winter here and the riding season is now over and with that, the prices of moor bikes in the second-hand market take a sudden dive!, So I think the combination of that and my apparent enthusiasm for this particular bike (Which is real, and it seems the seller is very infatuated with this bike too) prompted the seller to respond to me saying that my offer was good enough if I was willing to take it with its original exhaust system rather than the fancy, expensive after-market one that he had put on (which by the way I would have loved to keep)... He could then sell the other exhaust seperately to make up a good amount of the price difference. (which he promptly did after I committed). So, that was an offer too tempting to not look into further and I went over and had a look at the bike and we chatted and we got on well etc. etc.
Oh, and while I was over there I found out why it is that he was selling this bike that he seemed so infatuated with... Two main reasons. First one is that he has "moved on" from this bike and has also bought a bike with that "final generation" of the R1200 engine called the HP2/S and the new bike now gets all his attention while the "S" mostly just sits there. But thats how it would likely have stayed had he not got himself a new girlfriend who does not drive bikes but is happy to ride on the back... But not on the "S"... You see, the bike is really not built for two... the pillion is perched up high with a very minimalist seat and Id have to say I agree with his girlfriend that its "no fun"... So, the guy has already found a bike that is far more suited to two-up riding and he's bought it.... and there is very little room in the garage (thats a familiar predicament I must say)... So, even though he really like the bike, he needs to get rid of it to make room for another (again I know this is true and not just a "sales" story because of his web postings.).
So, after I saw the bike and met the seller, I still wasnt sure I should buy the bike (its still a lot of money for me, and I already have three other bikes for heavens sake!) so I went home and thought about it for a while. But after a few hours I simply couldnt resist and I called the guy back and committed to the deal..
And so the bike has now come to me...
Its certainly not perfect, but I really like the look of it and I enjoy working on bikes so I will happily treat it as a project as well as my main two wheeled transportation in the summer months. The biggest job on the bike will be the paint work which I must admit has only been "patched up" (which is contributing to the lower price that I paid too) since the slide... No sleight intended against the former owner, but there is only so much you can do without stripping things down and a good paint job certainly requires a skilled and experienced profesional hand... And the bike deserves to have a nice paint job I think :)
But the consequence of this "impulse purchase" is that I will be "retiring" the old grey VSTROM from regular use for the time being, and I, like the guy Im buying this bike from will also now be selling another of my bikes... The little Blue one that Ive barely ever mentioned and have had in storage for years (which is the same SV650S model as the yellow one) ... Its been more or less my "back-up" bike, and Ive been riding it around recently since the yellow one got damaged. I will now sell it this coming Spring and use the yellow one in that role instead... "back-up", or "bike for the girl-friend to ride" (its light and small and plenty fun to ride) in the extremely unlikely event that I ever get a girlfriend that "rides" :)))
Here are a couple more pictures of " The new girl " :)
... Like I said, she's German, and Black... and she's a Great Ride :)))
She's German, and perhaps a little surprisingly (though I cant justify why it would be surprising in these "enlightened" times), she's Black!...
... and dare I say it, Shes also "A good ride!" :)))
Well of course she's a motorbike... The chances of me getting any girlfriend at all, let alone a German of African descent seem remote to me, and bordering on rediculous! :)))
So, Whats the story with me getting "yet another" motorbike?
Well, I have decided that the beaten-up grey touring bike (Suzuki DL650 VSTROM) that has served me well for 200,000Km is pretty much "worn out"... Not to the point where its ready to be "scrapped" (I truely believe that the bike still has at least another 100,000Km in it ), but to the point where there is virtually no resale value in it at all (Id guess less than $1000) and where it also needs another thousand dollars and several days of work put into it to get it back to good riding condition...
And Im not averse to doing that... But Im more inclined to try something a bit more radical... :)
I am finally going to do the modification to the front-end that Ive been threatening to do for about three years, and Im going to put the "big trail-bike" front wheel and suspension on it and hopefully redo the rear suspension somewhat too. And to do that, I need to take the bike off the road for a few months while the changes are being made (Its not something I want to try to rush)... (There will be a seperate post on that project in the near future)
And so, with winter comming up quickly here (first snow on the tops of the local mountains here last night), I was looking through the local "for sale" web-site when I noticed this bike for sale at what seemed like a very good price... and well, one thing led to another and pretty quickly, I had bought my-self another bike... That makes it four at the moment!!!
So, what are the details?
Well its a 2007 BMW R1200S... And that I expect sounds like a bunch of pretty meaningless letters and numbers to most non-motorbike people... Fair enough, Ill procede to explain:
First and obviously its made in 2007 (so its far from new but also far from "old"), and its a BMW (they make motorbikes as well as cars).
The R1200 is the name of the engine which is a 1200cc (though its actualy only 1170cc or so)... Thats a pretty big motorbike engine... not the biggest but certainly big, and certainly bigger than Ive ever owned before (750cc was my biggest I think). And the "R" is the BMW designation for their classic "Boxer" format two cylinder engines... In fact BMW have been making them for so long in their motorbikes that the name "boxer" is virtually synonimous with BMW in the motorbike world.
For the others, it means its a "horazontally opposed" twin cylinder engine. These engines also have a well earned reputation of being very reliable, long lasting, simple, and easy to repair... Again, these BMW "R series" motorbikes have been being used for "adventure touring" from long before that phrase was even invented... In short, great engines.
And finally, the "S" is simply for "sport" (well thats an acceptable english translation). Now, most people would probably think I would choose an "adventure touring" or at least a "touring" model... And BMW certainly make them, and there are plenty of them in the for-sale lists (Notably the GSA, RT, and K series bikes).
But it seems that Im a very "visually stimulated" person, and I have to say that I really didnt find that I liked the sizes and shapes of any of BMWs bikes (and Ive test ridden a few at various times in the past)... Until this one. Most BMW bikes I would characterize as being overly large and too heavy for me to enjoy... certainly for adventure touring but also for around town and comuting use.
But the "1200S" is a bit different... Its the penultimate development of the classic boxer engine (there is one more recent model that is more sophisticated with over-head camms and lots of expensive engineering tweaks to get the most out of it ), so its output power is significantly higher than past models while the weight is lower; and the bike was aimed at the "sporting" market, so its considerably "slimmer" and lighter than most BMW bikes too. So, power size and weight are all in the "OK" category for me, but the most critical aspect is that I actually like the look of the bike... and I do... quite a lot :))
In fact, in many regards, its very much in-line with the look of the little yellow sport bike that I "built" over the last few years (and jut got damaged in an accident a month or so back)...
Its nice and curvy without many harsh corners in body shape ... I definitely like curves :)
Its a twin cylinder ... I much prefer the tourque and sound of a twin over the higher pitched fernetic fours.
Its fairings are only on the top half of the bike, leaving the engine and drive-train exposed to view (again, I like to be able to "see" the "mechanics" :)
And its got a nice single-sided rear swing-arm and an "undertail" exhaust system that leaves the rear wheel visually clear and "uncluttered"... Although my little bike is a chain drive and this one is a shaft drive... Ive always wanted to try a shaft drive bike... So much cleaner and less maintenance :)
So, I like the look of the bike, and Id possibly have bought one years ago but for a couple of significant obstacles...
First challenge is that the "Sport" line of bikes from BMW has only "come into being" in the last few years (Well, actually they started the S line in the late 90s but the bikes were in reality much more "tourers" than sport bikes). In the past, BMW have mostly focussed on the touring type bikes and have only recently decided to try competing with the Japanese marques for the attention of the plentifull but younger and less "financially well heeled" sporting riders. And indeed, I can recall that a few years ago, while randomly checking out the new bikes at a bike dealer (I think when I was picking up some parts for my VSTROM back before I set off on my first big tour) I first saw the BMW "S"... And I said to my-self "mmmm I like the look of that one!".
But that was pretty much the end of that thought because it was brand new and far too expensive, and I was focussed on something else at the time. But I have not had the "trigger" to review the bike since then for the simple reason that the bikes are incredibly rare!
That may sound unlikely but it is in fact true (though Ive only found this out after Ive bought this one!). It seems that BMW "missed their mak" as it were, and the "S" model of the "R" series was quite a "marketing disaster!" Sales of the bike were so bad that they only produced them in North America for two or three years (2007 - 2009ish) before discontinuing them. And in that time they only managed to sell a total of less than 500... For a market (USA and Canada) with well over 330 million people that is a "staggeringly" bad sales performance! Im serious; there were less than 500 sold in total ( They did a bit better in Europe but are still very uncommon bikes there) making this bike one of only about a hundred (just over 90 in the USA) that were made in Black (there were only five colours made).
... So that no doubt prompts you to ask "If they were such a "flop" then surely its a bad idea to buy one... Lack of spare parts and poor performance or reliability etc". And my answer to that is actually "No, thats not the case"... The problem with the bikes was not that they were bad bikes. It was that they really just plain failed on the marketing!... The engine and drive train have a great deal of shared mechanical parts with many of the other BMW bikes so spares are not really that much of a problem (though they are still BMW expensive!), and as Ive already said, the engines and drive-trains of the bikes have a well deserved reputation of being reliable, long lasting, and easily maintained. The problem with the bikes was that they just did not "compete" in the "value for money" stakes with their competition... They were quite a bit more expensive and were not as powerfull as the ubiquitous "oriental multis". As an example, when the BMW was new it cost about $18,000 in the US, and the bike produced about 120 horsepower and weighed about 195Kg. In comparison, I think the figures for a Yamaha R1 were: cost about $12000 produced about 170hp and weighed about 180Kg... So like I said, BMW were just not in the game as far as the "young bucks" who buy sport bikes and just want more power and more speed and as cheap as they can get it.
... and that brings me to the other major barrier to me buying one of these bikes before now...
The second challenge is that its a BMW... which is not really a "bad" thing but rather just an "expensive" thing.
Back when I lived in Australia, bikes like this where simply way out of my financial reach... Even today in Australia, European bikes are significantly more expensive than their Japanese cousins, and while the European marques are certainly much cheaper here in North America, they are still more expensive both to buy and to maintain... The saying goes "Love that German engineering,... But hate those German maintenance costs"! :)
So, whats changed to make me buy one now???
Well I certainly didnt win the lottery, thats for sure.
But the fact is that this bike cost me less than my DL650 VSTROM did when I bought it five years ago!
That initially seems unlikely too, but there are a couple of things that make the difference. First off, while neither bike was new when I bought them, this one is five years old and the VSTROM was just less than two years old. Second is the mileage: the VSTROM only had 15,000Km on the clock, and this one has 48,000. Now both those numbers are in the right ballpark for anual usage of about 10,000Km which is what happens up hear in the Pacific North West... Bikes only get ridden for about half of the year so mileages are "low".
But the other BIG diference is that this bike is a "Rebuild" which means that at some point it was in an accident and the insurance company decided it was cheaper to just buy a new bike for the owner rather than pay for the repairs of the damaged bike... And so it could be a really bad thing to buy a "pre-broken" bike you might say... But, in this case, I dont think so.
And thats because the accident was very recently, and the former owner is an active participant in a internet "forum" that I have located and read... He has posted lots of description and pictures and details of what he did to/with the bike since he bought it a few years back, so I truely believe I have a very good idea of the bikes history
But again, why is the bike sooo cheap if its as good as I say it is?...
Well, fundamentally, because it didnt cost the previous owner so much to start with and he got good money from insurance so he is not being too greedy on the sale...
In a little more detail, I know the price that he paid for the bike new (I have a copy of the salse receipt), and it was well below the original sales floor price because like I said they just didnt sell, and he bought this one after it had been sitting on the sales floor for about three years. Then when he got paid out by the insurance (They do seem to have been rather cavalier about writing-off a very repairable bike, but that is explainable by the surprisingly high and seemingly constantly rising auto-insurance prices we pay here in BC!) after the "slide", he effectively ended up having spent very little for all the fun he had on the bike over the two years he owned it.
But then he also bought the "wreck" from the insurance company (which they allow you to do here in BC) for only about $1000!!, and I know more or less what he spent putting the bike back together because he wrote all about it in several posts on the forum that I mentioned.
But still the price advertised was too expensive for me to buy, and when I saw the advertisement for the bike, I sent an email to him saying I couldnt afford his price but that if it wasnt selling and he needed to "move" it, I was really interested and I could offer him just so much. Now I didnt really expect to hear back from him but it is the start of winter here and the riding season is now over and with that, the prices of moor bikes in the second-hand market take a sudden dive!, So I think the combination of that and my apparent enthusiasm for this particular bike (Which is real, and it seems the seller is very infatuated with this bike too) prompted the seller to respond to me saying that my offer was good enough if I was willing to take it with its original exhaust system rather than the fancy, expensive after-market one that he had put on (which by the way I would have loved to keep)... He could then sell the other exhaust seperately to make up a good amount of the price difference. (which he promptly did after I committed). So, that was an offer too tempting to not look into further and I went over and had a look at the bike and we chatted and we got on well etc. etc.
Oh, and while I was over there I found out why it is that he was selling this bike that he seemed so infatuated with... Two main reasons. First one is that he has "moved on" from this bike and has also bought a bike with that "final generation" of the R1200 engine called the HP2/S and the new bike now gets all his attention while the "S" mostly just sits there. But thats how it would likely have stayed had he not got himself a new girlfriend who does not drive bikes but is happy to ride on the back... But not on the "S"... You see, the bike is really not built for two... the pillion is perched up high with a very minimalist seat and Id have to say I agree with his girlfriend that its "no fun"... So, the guy has already found a bike that is far more suited to two-up riding and he's bought it.... and there is very little room in the garage (thats a familiar predicament I must say)... So, even though he really like the bike, he needs to get rid of it to make room for another (again I know this is true and not just a "sales" story because of his web postings.).
So, after I saw the bike and met the seller, I still wasnt sure I should buy the bike (its still a lot of money for me, and I already have three other bikes for heavens sake!) so I went home and thought about it for a while. But after a few hours I simply couldnt resist and I called the guy back and committed to the deal..
And so the bike has now come to me...
Its certainly not perfect, but I really like the look of it and I enjoy working on bikes so I will happily treat it as a project as well as my main two wheeled transportation in the summer months. The biggest job on the bike will be the paint work which I must admit has only been "patched up" (which is contributing to the lower price that I paid too) since the slide... No sleight intended against the former owner, but there is only so much you can do without stripping things down and a good paint job certainly requires a skilled and experienced profesional hand... And the bike deserves to have a nice paint job I think :)
But the consequence of this "impulse purchase" is that I will be "retiring" the old grey VSTROM from regular use for the time being, and I, like the guy Im buying this bike from will also now be selling another of my bikes... The little Blue one that Ive barely ever mentioned and have had in storage for years (which is the same SV650S model as the yellow one) ... Its been more or less my "back-up" bike, and Ive been riding it around recently since the yellow one got damaged. I will now sell it this coming Spring and use the yellow one in that role instead... "back-up", or "bike for the girl-friend to ride" (its light and small and plenty fun to ride) in the extremely unlikely event that I ever get a girlfriend that "rides" :)))
Here are a couple more pictures of " The new girl " :)
... Like I said, she's German, and Black... and she's a Great Ride :)))
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
A Quick "Flit" into the Alpine
I have a friend here in Vancouver who owns and flies his own float plane... Well its actually just a little light aircraft of the sort that many people use for accessing the "back-country" Its a Piper Super-Cub and it started out with just a regular set of wheels, but Mike got tundra tires (big soft balloon tires for landing on soft and uneaven ground) and skis for landing on snow, and a set of pontoons for landing on water. And Mike says that it is this last option that he loves to do the most, so the little plane spends almost all of its time with its floats on and visits lots of the tiny little remote lakes in the Coast Mountains around Vancouver.
Its getting late in the summer here in Vancouver, and this last weekend was likely one of the last fine weather weekends we will have, but it was really nice weather and I got the chance to go for a half day flight with Mike to visit one of those little lakes...
First we got the plane out of its hanger on a specially made little trailer/dolly, and we fueled it up and then drove it down a wooden ramp into the river. Then we hopped in (its a very small plane and fits only two people seated one behind the other with a small space behind that for personal gear) and took off for about an hour flight to the North.
The little SuperCub doesnt fly very fast (or very queitly for that matter!) but it is far more scenic than a car and does go in a straight line (rather than having to follow windy roads). After about an hour we were really little further away than we could have driven in the same time, but we were right in amongst impressively large mountains still capped with plenty of snow and glaciers and lots of little hidden valleys and alpine lakes.
Mike had a couple of particular little lakes in mind so we flew toward them to see what conditions were like. The first one was still largely covered in ice, so there was no way we could land on that... On we flew.
But the second one was free of ice and had a light wind blowing over it from a good direction.
So, we circled around the mountain and Mike brought the little plane in for an almost unnoticable touch-down on the little lake.
We then taxied to the end of the lake, carefully nudged into the shore, got out and then spent a few minutes tethering the plane to rocks and trees to be sure it didnt drift off or get damaged if the wind got stronger.
Then we decided to go for a little hike up the nearest peak to see what we could see.
It was a lovely time of year with very few bugs around (getting too cold for them to survive at night) and the area was very pristine with no evidence of people having visited the site for many years (though I assume others had been there at some time). Then we sat about on the top of the hill and enjoyed the vew... I always find it amazing how quiet the world is without people in the area... It must have been very tranquil before humans learned to talk :)))
There were some logging cuts in sight and of course some logging roads but access to the area was very difficult by vehicle and the hike up to where we were would have taken the better part of a day... But for us it was just one hour of flying from the city!
You can just see the tiny little plane on the shore at the left hand end of the lake in the picture below.
And then after having contemplated the world for a while, it was time to hike back to the plane and head back to the city (I had a dinner appointment!).
Im really glad I have friends like Mike, and I feel so priveledged to be able to occasionally come along for a fly and visit places like this with minimal physical effort... I used to do lots of hiking and climbing and skiing in places like this, but these days my feet and knees really cant do heavy duty hiking much so access to such places is very difficult for me... But not this day :)
Thanks heaps Mike :))
Its getting late in the summer here in Vancouver, and this last weekend was likely one of the last fine weather weekends we will have, but it was really nice weather and I got the chance to go for a half day flight with Mike to visit one of those little lakes...
First we got the plane out of its hanger on a specially made little trailer/dolly, and we fueled it up and then drove it down a wooden ramp into the river. Then we hopped in (its a very small plane and fits only two people seated one behind the other with a small space behind that for personal gear) and took off for about an hour flight to the North.
Mike had a couple of particular little lakes in mind so we flew toward them to see what conditions were like. The first one was still largely covered in ice, so there was no way we could land on that... On we flew.
But the second one was free of ice and had a light wind blowing over it from a good direction.
So, we circled around the mountain and Mike brought the little plane in for an almost unnoticable touch-down on the little lake.
We then taxied to the end of the lake, carefully nudged into the shore, got out and then spent a few minutes tethering the plane to rocks and trees to be sure it didnt drift off or get damaged if the wind got stronger.
Then we decided to go for a little hike up the nearest peak to see what we could see.
It was a lovely time of year with very few bugs around (getting too cold for them to survive at night) and the area was very pristine with no evidence of people having visited the site for many years (though I assume others had been there at some time). Then we sat about on the top of the hill and enjoyed the vew... I always find it amazing how quiet the world is without people in the area... It must have been very tranquil before humans learned to talk :)))
There were some logging cuts in sight and of course some logging roads but access to the area was very difficult by vehicle and the hike up to where we were would have taken the better part of a day... But for us it was just one hour of flying from the city!
You can just see the tiny little plane on the shore at the left hand end of the lake in the picture below.
And then after having contemplated the world for a while, it was time to hike back to the plane and head back to the city (I had a dinner appointment!).
Im really glad I have friends like Mike, and I feel so priveledged to be able to occasionally come along for a fly and visit places like this with minimal physical effort... I used to do lots of hiking and climbing and skiing in places like this, but these days my feet and knees really cant do heavy duty hiking much so access to such places is very difficult for me... But not this day :)
Thanks heaps Mike :))
Finaly Ready for a Banquet
Its been all of three years in the making, but that dining room table that I have been working on (very occasionally) is finally completed :)
I bought the big slab of wood for the top about three years ago and it waited through a winter before I did anything with it. Then last year, I managed to level that slab of wood off and sand it smooth and cut it to size, and even to give it a mirror like epoxy coating before I brought it inside at the end of summer just as the rains started. And I also managed to buy the timber I would use to make the legs for the table, but, like the table top the year before, the leg wood had to wait in storage for a year before I could get to working on it.
This year, summer came late and Ive not really had much time to work on it but over the last few weeks I got the wood out and after looking at my decidedly old sketches, I set about cutting and sanding and then varnishing the legs... Actually, the hard part of the project was to locate a couple of large 1" diameter bolts to hold the pairs of legs together... It was hard to find the bolts that I liked because I particularly wanted "square headed" bolts to go with the rest of the table and chairs looks. But I eventually got those from a local bolt manufacturing company... They forge bolts upto 3" in diameter (and thats a big bolt I can tell you!).
Anyway, just this last weekend I managed to bolt the whole thing together:
And Im happy to say that over-all Im very pleased with the result indeed!
... and now all I need is an excuse for that proverbial "Banquet" :))
Given this result, I may even make some more furniture for my house... though Id hardly call it the "cheap" option! :)
I bought the big slab of wood for the top about three years ago and it waited through a winter before I did anything with it. Then last year, I managed to level that slab of wood off and sand it smooth and cut it to size, and even to give it a mirror like epoxy coating before I brought it inside at the end of summer just as the rains started. And I also managed to buy the timber I would use to make the legs for the table, but, like the table top the year before, the leg wood had to wait in storage for a year before I could get to working on it.
This year, summer came late and Ive not really had much time to work on it but over the last few weeks I got the wood out and after looking at my decidedly old sketches, I set about cutting and sanding and then varnishing the legs... Actually, the hard part of the project was to locate a couple of large 1" diameter bolts to hold the pairs of legs together... It was hard to find the bolts that I liked because I particularly wanted "square headed" bolts to go with the rest of the table and chairs looks. But I eventually got those from a local bolt manufacturing company... They forge bolts upto 3" in diameter (and thats a big bolt I can tell you!).
Anyway, just this last weekend I managed to bolt the whole thing together:
... and now all I need is an excuse for that proverbial "Banquet" :))
Given this result, I may even make some more furniture for my house... though Id hardly call it the "cheap" option! :)
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