arjayes

Trying to pass a car at 80+ mph on an uphill curve. Suicidal. Nothing like going out in a blaze of glory.

A recruiting video for the meeting:

Saw a red one at Fun Bike Center yesterday. Awesome looking bike. Cockpit felt comfy sitting on it. Changed the oil in my Tenere yesterday and had to get help from my son and his friend to roll the front wheel into the chock on the lift. Damn that bike is HEAVY! The AT is no lightweight either. But it's about 70 lbs lighter than the Tenere on paper and looks and feels even more svelte than that. Felt KLRish to me in terms of size and weight. FBC is selling them at MSRP.

The more I read about the AT the more I want one. But I'll probably wait for those lightly used ones to come onto the market. Also looking forward to the supposed XTZ700 Tenere from Yamaha next year. I have the big pig Super Tenere now and hoping the 700cc version will be comparable but at least 100 lbs lighter.

They're almost giving away '14 DL1000 Stroms at Fun Bike Center: http://www.funbike.com/shop/land/2014-suzuki-dl1000-v-strom-abs/ Word is they bought a batch of bikes on the cheap from a failed dealer. Is the 1190 worth more than 2x one of these? Rationally, no way. Emotionally, different story. Hope you find something that satisfies at least one side of your brain!

Curious why the uber-negative review on El Cajon Gun Exchange? Never been there, but been to Turners in Kearney Mesa and have no problem recommending them.

Great idea. Never done one of these but always wanted to. Thanks for putting it on my radar.

If you have a KTM 690/950/990 they're almost giving these things away: http://www.aerostich.com/sale/garage-sale/wolfman-side-racks.html

Hmmm ... that link is dead now. They had three side racks for $35-$45 each (normally about $250) on this garage sale page: http://www.aerostich.com/sale/garage-sale Must have been a mistake.

I saw TrophyHunter's post looking for a window contractor and figured I'd give it a try. I bought one of those 8' x 10' vinyl storage sheds for the back yard and planned to build a base for it out of concrete pavers. I already have the pavers, and started to look at how to install them. Need to dig out the 8x10 area, pour gravel, then sand, etc. I quickly realized I'd rather pay somebody to do it. This is a pretty small job so big patio outfits may not be interested. My wife has already made a couple of calls and gotten no callbacks yet. Any recommendations appreciated. Thx, Bob

No pavers. I'm using 8"x16"x2" plain concrete blocks. They're actually top caps for cement block walls (ugly, but cheap). I went with blocks vs. a slab because I want to be able to remove the pad if necessary. I'm jamming this 8'x10' shed in an area that is about 9'x10' with the house on one side and perimeter fence on two side. Fits perfectly in there but will be right up against the fence between us and neighbor. I know I'm violating city code but the neighbor doesn't care. Back yard is tiny so have to make do. I'm jealous of you guys in Ramona, Alpine, Jamul with tons of space, but I like my commute! I found some guys on craigslist who are going to install the pad for $500, hopefully on Monday. Will be nice to get this done!!

Thanks for the references. I may have to reconsider my options on this one. My wife got a couple of calls back from contractors today and the going rate for paving an 8'x10' area, with me providing the stones, seems to be $1.5k to $2k. That's 2x what the shed cost so no way. Probably going to have to tackle this on my own, as unpleasant as that sounds! Will be a long messy job hauling sand, gravel and dirt, and after all that's done I'll still have to assemble the shed. Oh well, I'm sure I'll feel great after it's over - especially after I fill the shed and can actually move in my garage!

Nice to hear it worked out for you. Choosing contractors is a mine field. We used the Window Factory 6-7 years ago to replace all our windows, also with Simonton. Best investment we've ever made in our house by far. House is cooler, quieter, looks 100% better, and no more bone-chilling aluminum screech when sliding windows open or closed. 3-4 years after the installation there was a deluge kind of rain storm and we discovered that a window in the master bedroom had been leaking for quite a while and had destroyed the inside of one of the wood shutters on the window. The Window Factory came out and patched the leak and paid to have the shutter replaced. ---- happens, but they stepped up and took care of it.

This is how NOT to lane split:

Somebody posted this on the Tenere forum: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/allow-motorcycle-lane-sharing-all-public-roads/qP86QbjN I assume most people here ride street bikes as well as off-road. Would be nice to see the laws uniform across the country, and make lane splitting officially legal in CA (the only state where it's not illegal afaik).

Yeah, you were amazing, WW! I'm a '76 grad. Back then I used to fantasize about you while I ... ahem, never mind ...

More info available here: http://lanesplittingislegal.com/ Look under "Lane Splitting News". There have been attempts to regulate lane splitting (SB 350), but for now the bill is dead. So there are currently no laws in California that define or restrict lane splitting. It's a weird situation in CA to have lane splitting tolerated by law enforcement but not officially defined. The guidelines that were posted by the CHP (and then quickly removed for fear of liability) seemed totally reasonable. No more than 10 mph faster than traffic and not allowed when traffic is moving > 30 mph. Seems like it would be a good thing to pass a law that makes those guidelines official, but if the gov gets involved they'll probably f*** it up like most things they touch. Maybe the status quo is not so bad after all.

Sleep number mattresses are awesome. Adjustable from hammock (me) to slab of concrete (my wife). Somewhat pricey but last forever. Worth the investment.

Anybody tried the Leatt 3DF airfit stuff? Looks comfortable and gets good reviews: http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/leatt-3df-airfit-body-protector

How often do you guys do this? I'd join but we're camping this weekend.

Thanks for the welcome! Charlie - I'm in Rancho Penasquitos.

Hey everybody. Been a member here for almost a year but this is my first post. My main ride is a Yamaha Super Tenere and I spend most of my forum time on a Tenere owner's site and ADVrider. But I also have some orange in my garage - a 2013 500 EXC purchased used kind of on a whim earlier this year. I have almost zero dirt experience so this thing is way beyond my skills, but I have the itch and intend to change that. Riding the ~260 lb EXC could not be more different than riding the ~600 lb Tenere, but different machines for different missions. Look forward to tagging along on some local dirt rides on both bikes. Also want to give a shout-out to Spaugh for helping me out last week by swapping springs front and rear and tuning up the forks on my EXC. Great guy, knows what he's doing, has all the tools, and very "reasonable" (i.e., cheap). I also saw his property so I'm following his "Got logs?" thread on building an endurocross course on said property. It looked plenty rugged to me without dumping telephone poles and tractor tires all over it!! arjayes = RJS (my initials)