Road dogs

The Progressive (TM) International Motorcycle Show offers an annual explosion of motorcycles in the otherwise dull winter riding season, an opportunity to shamelessly fondle the new bikes. For those of us whose dog drool has slowed to a skeptical drip, Progressive offers a ton of additional entertainment for folks of all ages; who doesn’t love motorcycle themed slot car tracks?

Small and mid-sized bikes really turn my wheels and the manufactures have been steadily improving their line ups. The progression myth dictates we start on something small and upgrade to bigger, because bigger is better. I rode this wave, to a point, but in the end a day on the Wing is not the same adventure as a day on a 500. And the 500 is way more accessible, in all aspects, than a 1500 (or whatever size they are now).  I’ll stop bagger bashing now, there are few things more pleasant than a Road King on a sunny day.

It’s interesting how the different brands handle their mid-sized models, Guzzi’s V7 Stone is unashamedly a stepping off point while Yamaha invited RSD to polish their gem into a precious stone. Honda’s CB500 lineup overflows with potential for the hard-code small bike enthusiast. And there’s no denying that Enfield’s Continental GT, at 75 MPG, is the shiniest toy in the toy box.

the GT is the real deal: Harris frame. Brembo brake.

The Africa Twin did not disappoint.
Honda can be sneaky with their new models,
did you know they have a V4 adventure bike?

The MV Agusta Dragster wins the most-beautiful-wheel-on-a-production-bike-ever award.

I wish I had more information on this BMW, every one-off piece
from the Weber carb to the shift lever is worthy of it's own rotating stand.
I'm sure it will turn up on that bike.exif site, if it hasn't already. 

Because Guzzi. (say it like "pizza")

Our crew was a little lighter than normal this year, the intrusion of responsibility being as it is, just a father-son duo. We hit up a few ethnic joints, the Dubliner on Friday night and Britt’s Pub for meat pies and a pint after the show. I’m very fortunate to share this “hobby” with my old man. The guiding hand of a fatherhood is always present, but when we get talking about bikes we often meet  on a level track. I think next year we’ll take the boys. 

(All the grand kids are boys. If they were girls, their motorcycling would be strictly restricted to the front seat.)

Prost!

-  -  Ride North

Fargo sun dogs.

Driftless Respect

Walls of ice churn up the landscape leaving in their wake gravel, sand, silt and clay;  filling in the valleys, grinding down the ridges and accumulating in piles. A steady flow of Canadian granite emigrating to what is now the Unites States. Massive lakes form behind these piles of rock and sand. Eventually their contents breach, leaving behind vast flats, wide river valleys and sand counties. These boulders, rocks, sand and clay are known a glacial drift.

There are pockets of the great white north that were spared from the most recent wall of ice. In these places the valleys and ridges remain. And roads, glorious roads! It's know by geologists as the driftless.

One of the best documentaries about the coulees and ridges we ride through was put together  by Untamed Science, an "extremely passionate group of scientists, teachers and film makers."  Mysteries of the Driftless is a 25 minute film that highlights some of the most unique aspects of this area.

Another short worth watching, put together by fellow blogger over at The Winona Fly Factory. 

Respect must be paid.
(queue the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack)

- Ride North

Happy New Year!

Crafting a story adds a new depth to the ride that could not have predicted. Often it's just a process of stringing together my poor grammar into paragraphs. (I've considered leaving the text out.) Many of these photos would not have happened had it not been for this blog. I would miss the stops not taken and the thoughts not thunk. Many morning commutes would be forgotten.

I'm very much looking forward to more of this in 2016. I can already taste the post-International Motorcycle Show beers and scotch eggs at Britt's Pub, a family tradition on it's seventh year.

An early spring ride, the first humidity of the year.
At the Kinnickinnic River walk in access near River Falls, WI

My first big ride with the little XS. Hwy 35, Lake Pepin, WI.

Early fall snow flakes enrich my morning commute.

The morning sun.

The Rooster rolls into St. Paul after completing the M2M run.

The Midway, St. Paul - Minneapolis 

University Ave, St. Paul , MN

Somewhere in central Minnesota.

Adding some touring ability.

Wildcat Mountain, WI

The St. Paul High Bridge on a dull November morning.

Someday I will take you to all these places too.

- Ride North

I'll have to get over my paparazzi phobia and more pictures of people.

The wayfaring button

My buttons are jumping ship and it's not just the Christmas cookies.

Heading home from work one day, I walked out to the bike only to find an empty hole where the starter button once lived. Just a sad little spring stuck out, which would have been a problem had Yamaha not installed a handy little lever for me prod.

One of the many joys of vintage bike ownership is pulling it apart and seeing how it works. With that in mind I set to work with one question: what's the difference between the horn button and the starter button? And can I steal it? In theory, they do the same thing, close a circuit and send power on its merry way. Did Yamaha use the same part and can I switch them up until I find a replacement?

There are many little parts hiding behind that plastic cover so go slow.

At first glance, the button assemblies seem to be mirror copies of each other. The only difference that I can see is that the starter button has a heavier gauge spring. However, moving the button from the left to right did not result in a functioning starter button. The horn button must sit on its lighter gauge spring if it's to complete the circuit. Reassembled with the spring and button swap, my starter is back in business.

So the button spins the starter once again but I'm left with a question and a problem. Why the beefier spring? The starter button is just a switch for a much more substantial switch, the starter relay, that takes the full force of the battery's cold cranking amps. I'll have to do some more digging into the manual and/or testing with the volt ohm meter.

But the much bigger problem, the one that became important during the first thirty minutes of operation, is the big empty hole where my horn button use to be. I ride in city traffic so that little button on the left sees it's share of use. In addition to that, the bike is a reliable kicker. One or two kicks is all it usually takes. So, it will be kick only for a while, until I can find a part. 

This leaves me wondering if all 78' Yamaha switch gear is the same. Did they make the button assemblies or are they from some Japanese electronics supplier that was used by a handful of manufactures?

Time to do some digging... www.mikesxs.net/  http://www.xs500forum.com/

- Ride North

The tools of the trade.

Update: success!

Mike's XS to the rescue. I put in the order for a button and a set of mirrors on Sunday, USPS had them on my doorstep on Wednesday. The seven dollar horn button works for both the horn and the starter on my 1978 XS500E.

Mike's part # 24-6525OEM # 27010-1009Fits: XS/TX650 switches 1974-84. 

https://www.mikesxs.net/parts/yamaha-xs650-button-with-spring-starter-horn-oem-27010-1009

New button is go. 

New mirrors replaces the old oxidized originals. 

Happy holidays!

Merry Christmas from the Ride North crew! I hope the seasons find you and yours in good health and good spirits. 

Down the tubes

I seem to have fallen down the rabbit hole that is YouTube, not that there's anything wrong with that. I found another gem from dockertrigger, Look at life - behind the ton up boys 1964. I've seen better, faster, stronger films about black leather and British iron, with all the hype and dramatization that we've come to expect. This one is of the period. It's a fun watch.

What was your 17 year old self doing?

- Ride North

Happy Thanksgiving!

At this very moment, I'm thankful for the snow in my yard, the first of the year, a happy and tired kid, nap time, Fullers London Porter, football and vintage scrambles footage on the tube. Three hours until the big chow down, it's the silence before the storm.

I hope the holidays find you and yours well,

- Ride North