A good day's ride and other random stuff.

Since I basically finished the Ninja race bike, I haven't spent much time in the garage. Between work and the new baby, the house keeps me pretty busy. I hadn't been able to ride more than putting around town lately. I got the 'ok' to take a long ride last weekend and set out to make the most of it.

I went north from Ventura County and rode up the coast. I wanted to explore some of the roads around Lompoc that looked promising on my Butler Maps SoCal Map. I was also craving Alfie's Fish and Chips. I had eaten here on my last big solo trip and knew I that it was worth a second trip. The weather was perfect and the bike was running like a top so I set out early in the morning for what turned out to be a 6 hour ride.

A two piece complete meal of traditional English Fish and Chips really hits the spot after a couple of hours on the bike. I explored one new road, made a mental note of another that I will hit on a separate ride and pulled in for lunch. Unfortunately in my desire for good grub, I was a wee bit early. I made do with some exploration of the town. I returned to Alfie's right on time. In the pic you can see that I was the first through the door. I wasn't alone for very long as Alfie's is a popular joint.

The V-Strom was responding very well to the low '70s temps we have been blessed with lately. The new Continental Trail Attack tires have been heat cycled for a couple of hundred miles and were gripping very well. The roads I hit were more 4th and 5th gear sweepers than 2nd gear twisties, but I felt confident that the tires could handle more than I was throwing at them.

While I have been away from the blog, I haven't been totally out of the garage. I de-stickered the Ninja and while I was at it, I did the V-Strom too. I also polished the right front cowl panel and the Ninja's tank. They were test sections and I plan on polishing more of the panels from both bikes soon. I will be replacing the V-Strom's stock decals with some nice aftermarket ones once I get the left side cowl painted. It is still in patch and primer from my get off in Julian, CA in December of 2014.

I removed the Ninja's stock gauge cluster during my race preps in anticipation of getting a nice replacement tach for racing. I only wanted an analog tach with some idiot lights for neutral and coolant temp. I couldn't find anything that was cheap enough or that I could trust quality wise to buy. I toyed with the idea of removing the stock tach and making a new housing for it. After trying just about every plastic cup in the local dollar store for fit, I just remounted the stock gauge pod. I am of the school that thinks analog tachs are the only way to go. Digital tachs are eyesores and tough to read in my opinion. I don't have to worry about the speedo distracting me during a race. It isn't connected to anything as I removed the drive cable from the front wheel.

I am trying to find a track day event that I can attend so that I can op test the Ninja, but finding dates that work around work, family and travel (work and family related) is proving to be tough. A lot of the tracks around here don't have summer events as the desert heat doesn't attract many riders. The V-Strom is overdue for its 11,000 mile valve check as I mis-read the service manual and though I had until 14,500 miles before I had to do it. I have some video to edit so swing back soon for more content.

In the meantime, ride. I know I will.

Blue