So, if you look back a couple of posts you'll notice that I have this gigantic grey seat that is great for touring but isn't very "cool". I want to keep it intact for long rides but want something a bit more sporty for commuting and around town so now I was looking at having two seats. Having two seats is expensive...
Here's why:
1. I could make a new seat pan... great idea, lots of diy seat pan how-to's but not a lot of how to mount the seat... this means I'm looking at buying the hinges and post which starts at $45 (not too bad). Then I'd need to go cut foam, sew leather and so on...
2. I could buy a used seat... I really like this idea, but it will be at least $160...
3. I could buy a new seat, like one of those fancy corbin ones... but this would be upwards of $300...
4. Buy a new seat pan (fiberglass), runs around $130... still requires me to paint, foam and leather it...
So it looks like I'm going to do some saving. I like the idea of rolling my own, that sounds like a fun project but mounting seems challenging and worries me slightly. I still might head this direction though particularly since I found this: Converting a /5 seat from hinged to lift off. This looks promising as I would still need a post, but no longer need hinges (maybe a bit of a break?).
Anyway... I'm good with what I have so far, but this is on the near horizon.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Catching up...
So I wanted to catch up on some other stuff...
Took an amazing mid-summer trip from So Cal to Vegas and back (600 miles over two days). On the way there, I started at 6AM and made it to Vegas at noon. The temp went from 78 to over 100 on the ride, but temp never became too much of an issue. The venting on my pants and jacket were sufficient, my Camelbak kept me hydrated and when the temp was over 100, I found that wetting my shirt was not only sexy but great at regulating my core temp.
The ride back from Vegas started at 11:30 so we were going into the hottest parts of the day. The approach I took on the ride out (wetting the shirt, stops to hydrate) applied on the way back too. I made sure that stops included some sort of electrolyte replenishing fluids and stops in the shade. I didn't use a cooling vest, though I thought about buying one - I found it was good enough to wet the shirt, drink a lot and stop when you were dry - it might be different with humidity though.
On the ride, I learned a couple of important things:
First, if you are buying your first jacket in Southern California, I want to suggest you get a jacket that has either a zipper or Velcro on the cuff of the sleeves. I found that my Bilt jacket, as good as the venting it has on the upper sleeves, front, sides and back, would've been better if I could've opened the cuffs. When I rode through the Mojave desert, I found that I was dripping sweat from my sleeves on each stop; I thought, perhaps, that if I had openings on the cuffs, the airflow would've been better and I would've had a little less perspiration ;).
My pants, on the other hand, were great, at stops, unzipping the bottom allowed enough air in to keep my legs cool (and I kept a little spot by my knees unzipped during the ride for some venting too).
Next, getting air in the jacket on the ride was sometimes a challenge. I found it necessary, due to my windshield, to do this strange arm flapping thing, where I sat up straight and brought my elbows out like flying. This action allowed air to pour in the front of the jacket and in through the vents on the sleeves.
Third, if you are using a Camelbak (and I love mine - I had a heat injury in the Army years ago and since the adoption of a Camelbak, haven't had another one since - knock on wood), you are going to want to invest in or create a cover for the hose. Riding through the desert, I found that I was drinking warm tea within five minutes of riding with no cover on the drink tube. During a stop, I took a bandanna and wrapped and zip tied it to the tube. At each stop, I would soak the bandanna and found that the air cooled wet bandanna kept the water in the tube cool. The other thing about the Camelbak is that it fit in my helmet uncomfortably... the bite valve was off to the side and didn't fit right in front of my mouth. It would be interesting to see how this is with other helmets (I don't have an issue with it on my dirt helmet). Funny thing, I accidently spit water in my helmet - this resulted in cool relief for my dry face in the desert but water spots on my glasses and face shield - I did this two more times just because I found it so comfortable.
Finally, my helmet, while having decent venting, I found was just a little more comfortable if I popped the face shield up by a click. I also found that, though my glasses (Fox "The Meeting") don't have any foam around them, the wrap around lenses keep much of the air and dust out of my eyes.
I don't know if anyone would find this helpful, but I figured that I'd share.
Took an amazing mid-summer trip from So Cal to Vegas and back (600 miles over two days). On the way there, I started at 6AM and made it to Vegas at noon. The temp went from 78 to over 100 on the ride, but temp never became too much of an issue. The venting on my pants and jacket were sufficient, my Camelbak kept me hydrated and when the temp was over 100, I found that wetting my shirt was not only sexy but great at regulating my core temp.
The ride back from Vegas started at 11:30 so we were going into the hottest parts of the day. The approach I took on the ride out (wetting the shirt, stops to hydrate) applied on the way back too. I made sure that stops included some sort of electrolyte replenishing fluids and stops in the shade. I didn't use a cooling vest, though I thought about buying one - I found it was good enough to wet the shirt, drink a lot and stop when you were dry - it might be different with humidity though.
On the ride, I learned a couple of important things:
First, if you are buying your first jacket in Southern California, I want to suggest you get a jacket that has either a zipper or Velcro on the cuff of the sleeves. I found that my Bilt jacket, as good as the venting it has on the upper sleeves, front, sides and back, would've been better if I could've opened the cuffs. When I rode through the Mojave desert, I found that I was dripping sweat from my sleeves on each stop; I thought, perhaps, that if I had openings on the cuffs, the airflow would've been better and I would've had a little less perspiration ;).
My pants, on the other hand, were great, at stops, unzipping the bottom allowed enough air in to keep my legs cool (and I kept a little spot by my knees unzipped during the ride for some venting too).
Next, getting air in the jacket on the ride was sometimes a challenge. I found it necessary, due to my windshield, to do this strange arm flapping thing, where I sat up straight and brought my elbows out like flying. This action allowed air to pour in the front of the jacket and in through the vents on the sleeves.
Third, if you are using a Camelbak (and I love mine - I had a heat injury in the Army years ago and since the adoption of a Camelbak, haven't had another one since - knock on wood), you are going to want to invest in or create a cover for the hose. Riding through the desert, I found that I was drinking warm tea within five minutes of riding with no cover on the drink tube. During a stop, I took a bandanna and wrapped and zip tied it to the tube. At each stop, I would soak the bandanna and found that the air cooled wet bandanna kept the water in the tube cool. The other thing about the Camelbak is that it fit in my helmet uncomfortably... the bite valve was off to the side and didn't fit right in front of my mouth. It would be interesting to see how this is with other helmets (I don't have an issue with it on my dirt helmet). Funny thing, I accidently spit water in my helmet - this resulted in cool relief for my dry face in the desert but water spots on my glasses and face shield - I did this two more times just because I found it so comfortable.
Finally, my helmet, while having decent venting, I found was just a little more comfortable if I popped the face shield up by a click. I also found that, though my glasses (Fox "The Meeting") don't have any foam around them, the wrap around lenses keep much of the air and dust out of my eyes.
I don't know if anyone would find this helpful, but I figured that I'd share.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Shaft Seal
Changed out the shaft seal... it was a bit nerve racking but not hard work at all.
Bought the seal from Irv Seaver for a whopping $7 (their parts prices are competitive with the prices online).
With a friend's help, we put the bike at a 45 degree angle (leaning the engine case on an ATV dirt tire and rim), unscrewed the shift lever and pulled it from the engine case. The next step was to pull the old seal from the bike, this was slightly more challenging as it requires some finesse and a dull screwdriver to carefully pull the very tight seal from the tranny cover (Note: pay attention to the way the seal is seated and facing so you can put it back the same way). The third step was to take the new seal, give it a light coat of oil and begin to seat it into the cover again - this part sucks. You have to be very careful, even though the seal is pretty solid, you have to make sure you push it in slowly and evenly. You'll probably find, as I did, that the seal doesn't want to go in... I found that by using a rubber mallet and a long socket that was almost as wide as the seal was good to work the seal in... I was worried at first but as long as I worked around the edges I was good.
The challenge is knowing how deep the seal goes before it seats. If you stick your finger in there, there is a bearing (I think) that moves back and forth a bit. If you paid attention to this part before you took out the original seal you'll be able to know the placement of the seal (how deep it goes) when you seat the new one. I didn't do this step and had to guess. My Haynes manual was useless for this work and I wonder of the Clymer manual is better (I'll have to get one). After about 5 minutes of light tapping and pushing, the seal was seated correctly and I put everything back together.
Good times!! It was fun drinking a beer and turning wrenches and is always fun hanging out with a friend.
Bought the seal from Irv Seaver for a whopping $7 (their parts prices are competitive with the prices online).
With a friend's help, we put the bike at a 45 degree angle (leaning the engine case on an ATV dirt tire and rim), unscrewed the shift lever and pulled it from the engine case. The next step was to pull the old seal from the bike, this was slightly more challenging as it requires some finesse and a dull screwdriver to carefully pull the very tight seal from the tranny cover (Note: pay attention to the way the seal is seated and facing so you can put it back the same way). The third step was to take the new seal, give it a light coat of oil and begin to seat it into the cover again - this part sucks. You have to be very careful, even though the seal is pretty solid, you have to make sure you push it in slowly and evenly. You'll probably find, as I did, that the seal doesn't want to go in... I found that by using a rubber mallet and a long socket that was almost as wide as the seal was good to work the seal in... I was worried at first but as long as I worked around the edges I was good.
The challenge is knowing how deep the seal goes before it seats. If you stick your finger in there, there is a bearing (I think) that moves back and forth a bit. If you paid attention to this part before you took out the original seal you'll be able to know the placement of the seal (how deep it goes) when you seat the new one. I didn't do this step and had to guess. My Haynes manual was useless for this work and I wonder of the Clymer manual is better (I'll have to get one). After about 5 minutes of light tapping and pushing, the seal was seated correctly and I put everything back together.
Good times!! It was fun drinking a beer and turning wrenches and is always fun hanging out with a friend.
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