Motorcycle Thoughts

Yes it happened! Yesterday, on the west end of Norwalk Ohio, my scoot the Softail Deluxe turned 2000 miles.  I was traveling along US20 from Monroeville Ohio east toward SR18 heading toward Medina.  Had to stop and at least snap a picture of the odometer.  I did this on the side of a split four lane road, not necessarily the smartest thing, surprisingly, somebody stopped to make sure everything was OK!

What has happened since the 1000 mile mark? Happily not much, and just as happily, a  lot, nothing really bad, and everything really good.  The Softail (which unfortunately remains unnamed) has used or leaked no oil, has not given me any trouble at all.  I still wonder about all the noises that the bike makes.  Under moderately hard acceleration there is a rapid metallic tinking coming from the engine.  That primary noise is constant and  still not something I am 100% used to. The other noises like the rocker arms etc, are starting to become expected.

Among the things I still wonder about are the transmission, steering and engine temperature.

The transmission is extremely clunky all the time, at times it is very clunky and other times it is considerably smoother.  Seems some of the clunkiness is partially due to temperature, obviously the oil has a LOT to do with it, the Bel-Ray that the dealer put in at 1000 miles makes a considerable difference. One thing that I am trying to determine is how my habits affect the clunkiness.  I have a bad habit of using the clutch too much.  I tend to pull the clutch in anytime I use the brakes, this causes a lot of coasting without the engine contributing.  I am working on changing that habit to allow the brakes and engine to do some braking, by leaving the clutch engaged until the engine speed gets closer to idle.  This is a bit tough because the scoot has no tachometer.

The steering is something I just noticed in the last few days, when I let go of the handlebars the bike starts drifting quickly to the left.  I know that bikes are imperfect, but I am considering talking to the dealer about this one, it shouldn’t do that. I used to align automobiles in a past life, this has caused me to be hyper sensitive about this type of thing on anything that I drive.

Every article that I have ever read about the TC96 engine (including the TC96B that is in my Softail) is that it runs very hot.  This is due to the increased horsepower that the motor develops, because of the increased piston speed that is attributed to the increased stroke of the piston (4 - 3/8 inch from 4 inch) and the increasingly lean mixture the engine is forced to deal with thanks to emissions.  I have recently purchased a dipstick for the oil tank that includes a thermometer. During a ride yesterday that included a lot of group riding the thermometer managed to get to 250° Fahrenheit. I have been told that this thermometer can be off by quite a bit, I think that I need to determine just how far off the thermometer is, and determine just how much the motor can handle.  I am used to water cooled machines that generally do not need to be worried about.

New goodies for the Softail have not been very plentiful, but then it doesn’t need much.  Besides the thermometer dipstick, I recently picked up the visor rings for the Headlight, spotlights and turn signals (front and rear).  Most of them were very easy to install, all except the spotlights, but I will write a  post for that.

I do enjoy the bike considerably, I have grown attached to the machine, and the lifestyle.  I am glad (so far) that I made the purchase.

Here we are in the middle of September in North East Ohio, the days are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler. Today is supposed to only get to 59°, a might nippy but it is supposed to warm up. Football season has begun and the Browns are looking awful. I have been on the Goldwing a lot lately driving her back and forth to work. I pick up my 9 year old son from school, and he seems to have a problem with the Harley-Davidson. It does not have a sissy bar and he does not want to ride on it. Seems that when I pick him up from school, he has a full bag of books and the Goldwing has no problem with it. It does seem that he is much more proud when Dad picks him up on the motorcycle than when I pick him up with cloe (my car).

I do love that bike for exactly what it is. An excellent and very luxurious touring motorcycle, perfectly suited to eat the miles and get there in comfort and feeling good. I cannot even imagine riding the Shadow-Aero to North Carolina with no place to store anything, a motor that is really shakey (no balancing or other such smoothing technology, nor a windshield. The Softail has managed to strike a nice balance between the two, offering the windshield (yes I know I could put one on the Shadow, and did - it was aweful) relatively smooth ride, but mostly for me, the motorcycle element. I was looking at the Goldwing yesterday thinking how much like a two wheeled car the thing looked.
Morning Rides
Most mornings, because of my son, I have ridden the Goldwing to work, the experience outside the bike, is essentially the same. I ride East in the morning along US 30, some of the most amazing sun rises in this area, are seen as you ride up the hill toward the Apple Creek Rd. overpass. Just as the sun is starting to peak over the horizon. The weather is cool and crisp, this really helps to cut down on the amount of coffee needed in the morning. The colors, however, are rich and vibrant as the sun paints the sky and clouds in a way that man has yet to come close to duplicating.
As I continue to travel past the Apple Creek Rd. overpass, the highway turns south around a field on the right. Most mornings the field is covered with a layer of fog that is very unique from morning to morning. Sometimes smooth and creamy sometimes more rough edged like a cloud, sometimes completely obscuring the field, othertime in patches. Tried to get some photos yesterday of a particularly beautiful moment of the sunrise but could not do it safely.

In my mind the Greatest band in all of history.

First a bit about the Venue, Blossom Music Center, what a place. We parked in the grass lot, so the walk to and from the concert was LONG, no problem though, it was nice to wind up and wind down before and after the concert. This was my first show at this venue, situated in a beautiful setting north of Akron right in side the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Amphitheater style Venue fits nicely with its surroundings and features some architecture that is absolutely beautiful. Set into a downhill slope. Under the roof is some all weather seating that isn’t all that comfortable, but then you won’t be sitting long.

The sound quality for the venue is about on par with an amphitheater style setting. It isn’t bad but it isn’t what I would hope for. Seems there is a bit more reverb in an amphitheater, I imagine there is quite a bit of compromise with emphasis (at least in this case) on style rather than acoustics and sound deadening. In the great tradition of Rush, it was loud, and no, I am not getting old.

The traffic control is marginal at best. One would think that the designers and developers would have traffic control and speed of getting people into and out of a venue very high on their list of priorities for a public facility. The drive in along the twisty roads of W. Bath and Riverview was beautiful, however when you need to go to work the next day getting out quick at 12:00 midnight is priority.

On to Rush

Unless you are a Rush fan, you probably do not appreciate the greatness you are about to experience. No opening band, and except for a 20 minute intermission, the group played the entire three hour set. Why not, they have the material to cover the time, and then some. They are sporting 19 full on studio pieces, and a large assortment of collection albums as well as a selection of live recordings. All this not including Feedback which is Rush covering some greats.

Rush came out after a short video prelude which featured the band members and others in a rather lighthearted and quite humorous outake. The highlight for me included Neal Peart’s role of waking up in bed and scaring the other character, complete with the unique hat that Neal likes to wear. Following the prelude video, the band started the set off with the Great Limelight from the album Moving Pictures. I will pause here to tell you that there is not a single song that this band has done that I do not like, for me, a full ninety seven percent of their songs are absolutely great and wonderful pieces of work. Limelight (and the band appearing on stage) put the crowd into an absolute hysteria. I still love to go to concerts, that much is certain. Suprisingly, Rush played a quite varied mix of music before the intermission including several that I have not heard live. In the great tradition of Rush, they came out on stage with a minimal of showmanship, instead concentrating on the greatness of their music. When I refer to showmanship I can remember some of the concerts that I have attended including Kiss, and Sammy Hagar that were full of showmanship. Rush always known for the light show and other such pyrotechnics and laser show, relied on those to fullfill the need for showmanship. The band came out, tore the place apart (Musically) and fullfilled every expectation that a true Rush fan would have.

It is nice to see a band that seems so serious about their music, be so lighthearted about themselves. Geddy Lee started out wearing an Ohio State shirt. The entire band wore nothing more than casual t-shirts and jeans, as well as some interesting shoes. I point this out not to criticise but drive home my point about showmanship. Just come out, knock my socks off, that is the way I like it.

The second set concentrated on their new album Snakes & Arrows. It is so nice to see Rush coming back full circle to their roots. The band has evolved over the years incorporating various technologies into the mix including assorted effects and synthesizers. While playing the pieces from Snakes & Arrows, the band played their core instruments. Geddy his base, Alex his guitar, and Neil his drums. Except for the brief addition of some foot pedals from Alex it was pure, and great.

I would also like to add a link to wikipedia’s write up of Rush to this posting.