Two days of relaxation

We made it safely to Victoria on Tuesday evening. Today is the second day to rest. It's beachgoing and a little more sightseeing.



It's back to hard riding tomorrow.

- Posted on the go.

Trip status update

1205km done in 2 days. Most of that was in rain. The laptop is currently not functioning so a detailed report and quality pictures will have to wait.

Hardware failure is the theme as both of our Scala headsets are broken. Boo.



The best stretch has been Banff to Radium Hot Springs. Absolutely amazing. BC highway 3 is pretty everywhere so far. Kelowna is the next big stop. I'll try and take iPod pictures for teasers for the rest... Right now all the pictures are from the EOS 40D. And no laptop means no pictures!

- Posted on the road.

Tenative trip map

This weekend will start off with a road trip. It's going to take 3 or 4 days, but it promises to be scenic. That's the map of the way there (roughly). From the looks of it, most of the gorgeous roads will be there. Coverage of each portion of the trip will be broken up by day.

I am optimistic for fair weather, but considering how rough it has been here the last while, I am not holding my breath. It's probably a very good thing we just got rain gear.


View Larger Map

Protecting from more than theft

A serious concern of riders of all kind deals with the safety of their rides. Not just in terms of crashing--but in terms of theft, vandalism, or other manhandling. Protecting against theft can help you protect against the other issues.

One morning on a weekend not too long ago, we went out and grabbed some breakfast. The bikes were parked at the house. The Duke ALWAYS has its brake disc lock on with a highly visible cord draped from clutch lever to rear brake. It screams "don't play with me." The Ninja has a malfunctioning brake disc lock that had been taken off temporarily (it started doing weird alarm shrieking anytime it was locked, on or off the bike). For that morning I opted to keep the lock off.

When we returned maybe a half-hour later, I saw something bad. Ass-prints! Fresh on my seat. They stand out extremely well on a black, dusty seat. And there it was... someone sat on my bike. The cleft cheeky smudges did not lie. I couldn't believe it.

Nothing was wrong with my bike, it wasn't dropped, it wasn't gouged up... but I still felt a little defiled. Who DOES that? Nobody goes up to a car and just sprawls out on the hood, and they don't invite themselves into a convertible with the roof down. But that's what happens with a motorcycle. And quite often they'll get a little too vigorous and might tip the bike.

The Duke--which is by all accounts a much nicer, newer, and more exciting piece of machinery--was untouched. The bright cord does seem to deter people. It's worth considering, if only to prevent ass-prints. Cables across the seat keeps people off the seat, or at least more reluctant to start grabbing at your bike. My lock and cable cost about $100 CAD together, and a slightly nicer Xena lock and cable will run you $120 CAD or so.

On the nice side of things, some neighbor kids plucked flowers and put them on our gas tanks last summer. It was kind of sweet of them. Weird, but sweet.

Learn your reserve tank.

Originally this was going to be a post about people manhandling strange bikes, but after an evening of riding I have something else to write on. The reserve tank.

In a perfect world, you'd know exactly how much fuel you have remaining and would never be put in a situation where you're far from a known fueling point. If only this always happened.

Lots of older bikes (and even most of the newer ones) don't have any sort of a fuel meter. Unless you have a fuel-injected bike and don't have to make the switch yourself, you should learn where this switch is and how to use it in motion. You should also learn how much your bike holds, and how much fuel you burn through. This can help you establish a safe range of travel before you need to fuel up. The Ninja is pretty decent on gas and has a reasonably sized fuel tank. I don't worry about stopping to refill as often as some people.

My best tip for being on top of things is: determine your travel range, and always reset your trip meter when you've topped off your gas tank. If you know you can go 230km before you start getting the telltale sputter and needing to switch to reserves, try and find yourself a station at least 15km in advance of that. That way, should you come up short, you do at least have the bit in your reserve tank to go on. You can largely avoid issues this way.

Failing that, you should be able to easily handle your reserve switch, if you've got one. They're often kind of sticky and can be a little awkward to grope for when in motion. But it helps a lot to practice turning it on and off safely at slow speeds.


I totally failed to reset my trip meter the last time I filled. I then failed to remember what it was at when I had my tank full. What happened, in short, was me failing miserably up a hill and needing a time out. The reserve tank was unfortunately not very useful at such a steep incline. After a break (mental as much as anything) the gas managed to sort itself out and I made it the few kilometres to the nearest station.

After cooling off a bit, it was back to riding. Sunny days have been a rarity lately. Even when it's summer here it's not always nice. Gotta get it while you can. Make sure you've got the gas to get you around!

Introductions

This is the start of the Mo Cylinders, Mo Problems blog. The general idea for the blog is a place to have two differing riding perspectives to catalog the fun and mayhem that riding season can be--particularly here in Alberta where the season is frustratingly short.

I'm 24 and have been riding for just under a year at this point. My first and only bike so far is my 2004 Kawasaki Ninja 500. It has proven to be a very reliable and enjoyable bike to learn on. Maybe in a season or two I'll step things up. The Kawasaki Ninja is not only my first bike, but is my first vehicle as well. It has been trying but rewarding.

Justin is 26 and has been riding for about 8 years at this point. His previous bikes have been a 1982 Yamaha Maxim 400, and 2003 Suzuki SV1000S. He currently has a 2008 Buell 1125R, and the ride of choice: the 2009 KTM Duke 690.

Our travels might be ordinary or incredible--regular city driving to cross-country journeys. We hope to be able to document the good and the bad to give you an idea of what it can be like to enjoy travel on two wheels.

We'll be posting pictures, videos, and stories. We hope you'll enjoy our little adventure.