A New Blog Site

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Seasons Greetings!

Adam at IMS Long Beach.

It's winter time, that means it's Cycle World International Motorcycle Show time for us! It's been Dallas, San Mateo, and Long Beach, and we still got New York and Chicago to go! I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming winter break, a little time off and hopefully get some rides in.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a great 2010!

Vegas Baby, Vegas!

Vegas cops having fun on the job.

We have recently acquired a 2008 Suzuki GSX 650F (I call it a Gixxer Wanna Be) to test some of the new products that we'll be introducing in the near future. I've been spending a good amount of time on it and last week I took it out to SEMA in Las Vegas, my first long trip on it.

The bike is a fantastic bike for long distance rides. It is extremely comfortable with ample power; rides like a tourer with the feel of a sport bike.

I headed out the door on early Tuesday afternoon, hoping to avoid some of the rush hour traffic. I did for the most part, but still had to split lanes as I was riding through the downtown area. Once I got out of the LA city limits, it was time to fly. The bike cruises at 100 very comfortably, and I had to constantly remind myself to keep it below 100. Yes, I do have the TPX System protecting me, but my days of speeding excessively is way behind me. The ride went by in a hurry and aside from a couple of cops pulling people over on the side of the road, no threats whatsoever.

After a day of SEMA, I left Vegas on Thursday morning. On the way back, there were cops everywhere. So much so that I lost count. There were at least 12 encounters, and again, the TPX saved my butt. There were an instance of an almost definite save, two maybes, and one where I was just being alert.

The first maybe came shortly after I had just crossed the state line into California. Traffic was light in my direction and I was cruising at around 100. The TPX went off with a very weak Ka, and I instinctively let go of the throttle and started looking around to see if there were other sources that could have caused a false positive. No semi trucks around, doesn't look like any car around me is using a radar detector, no commercial buildings nearby (in the middle of nowhere, actually). Hmmm, high chance of a real signal. I continue to let my speed drop and kept an eye on the TPX. The signal stayed weak for a few more seconds, then it started to ramp up in a hurry. Yep, there is definitely something out there. Sure enough, a few more seconds later, a CHP going in the opposite direction zoomed right by me. I couldn't make out the CHP from a distance, but the TPX sure did. I've seen instances where CHP would make a quick U turn to catch speedsters going the opposite direction once they've locked an oncoming vehicle's speed on their radar gun, but not all the time, that's why I counted this one as a "maybe".

The next encounter was a sure save, at least in my mind. I was about 6 or 7 miles out of Baker, and at that point it's a long down hill to get into Baker. Again, I was zooming along at around 100 when the TPX went off. A weak Ka. I looked around and didn't find any potential false positive source. Since I'm on top of this long hill, I can see far ahead and I don't see any cop on my side of the road, and I thought to myself it's probably a cop in the opposite direction again. I've already let go of the throttle and continued to let my speed drop. The Ka signal then went away. Then came on again. Then away again. The weak Ka would come on and off sporadically for a while, and I'm baffled. I'm thinking to myself that if it's a cop coming from the opposite direction, the signal should increase, but it's not, and the fact that the signal is coming and going probably means that a cop is turning its radar gun on and off as vehicles pass. I'm very confused, but regardless, decided to keep my speed at around 75, just to be safe. A short while later, the TPX went off again, and the signal got a bit stronger, and now I'm really confused. If there is a cop up the road I would've surely seen it already. The TPX would continue to go on and off with increasing signal strength, and finally, as I was approaching probably the only tree/bush on my side of the road, the TPX went full tilt, and guess who was hiding right behind the tree/bush? That's right, a cop. I'm sure that had I been speeding I would've been toast. The cop was taking advantage of the perfect hiding spot on the road where any motorists would probably have missed and turning his radar gun on as vehicles pass. Good thing that I had my TPX with me!

The second maybe was a classic scenario. I was in Victorville, traffic was a bit heavier but still flowing pretty well. I was going just a tad faster than the flow of traffic. The TPX went off and I immediately slowed down to the flow of traffic, and sure enough, as I approached the next on/off ramp, a cop was sitting there. I wasn't going that fast when I detected the cop, so I don't think that the cop would've really pulled me over, but you never know.

And finally, the last save was because of my awareness, not the TPX. This was also in Victorville after my second maybe, and again, I was going just a bit faster than the flow of traffic. All of a sudden I noticed brake lights flashing from the vehicles ahead, and I immediately dropped my speed. Sure enough, at the next on/off ramp, a cop was sitting there. My TPX didn't go off at all, and I'm thinking to myself, the cop's got to be using laser, and I'm pretty sure that's what it was.

I'm very grateful that I escaped the ride back without any ticket and thoroughly enjoyed our new bike. Can't wait till the next trip!

Burnout Time!

What is the sensible thing to do when you have a worn out rear tire? Burnouts!

Clutch Control 09

Philly cops get to ride these awesome F650GS!

We were back in Philly again last weekend for Clutch Control. Again, great turn out for the event. This year, a lot more stunters participated in the various competitions held at the event, and throughout the day, you see stunters practicing their latest tricks in the parking lot.

We had great fun there, not to mention the great food as well... mmmmmm, philly cheese steaks... We'll be back again next year!

Boise and Back

The Duc in Yosemite.

Last week I rode up to Boise for WPS' National Sales Meeting. Since the shortest route to get there is around 850 miles, I decided to break the ride into two days instead of trying to cover that distance in a day. Then I figured, since 2 days is plenty of time to cover 850 miles, why not take the scenic route? So I did.

I left Sunday afternoon, got onto Angeles Crest Highway and ended the day in North Las Vegas. In case you've never heard of Angeles Crest Highway, it's one of the better and longer intermediate-level twisties here in So Cal. I couldn't have as much fun as I wanted as traffic was relatively heavy, but I still enjoyed the beautiful ride.

The next day I took the scenic route up to Boise via eastern Nevada, going through US93, Nevada318, US6, back onto US93 before finally hitting Interstate 84 and arriving at Boise. Eastern Nevada is way more scenic than I had expected, and I thoroughly enjoyed the open roads.

After three days of meeting, I hit the road again on Thursday afternoon. I started the ride by cutting through southeastern Oregon on US95. While in Oregon, the TPX scored another save for me. The posted speed limit on all the highways in Oregon is 55. I was doing around 90-95 for the most part. At one point, I was riding on a long gradual incline, and I could see the road going into a decline ahead, but I couldn't see past the crest of the incline. As I got close to the crest, the TPX started going off with a weak K alert, then it really quickly ramped up. I knew something was up. I had already let go of the throttle at first warning so I've slowed down a bit, but I was still a good 15-20 or so over the posted speed limit, so I decided to apply the brakes. Good move on my part because as soon as I got to the top of the crest, the road goes into a pretty sharp decline for about a quarter of a mile and then shoots straight back up into a pretty steep incline, creating a mini-valley. And you guessed it, right at the bottom of the valley is a cop. It was a perfect spot for the cop. His radar signals are trapped by the valley and if you are a motorist not abiding the speed limit, it's easy to get caught. I was probably still a bit over 55 when I started the decline, but it wasn't fast enough to warrant the cop pulling me over. If it weren't for the TPX, I would've probably still be going at around 90 heading into the decline and probably would've gotten a ticket. I ended the day in Fallon, NV.

The next day I continued on US95, then cut over to California via Nevada359/CA167. I then made a pit stop at the world famous Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining before cutting through Yosemite on Tioga Pass, probably one of the most scenic rides in California. After getting out of Yosemite, I then cut over to Ben Hur Road.

Oh man, do I have a story to tell about my ride on Ben Hur Road. First of all, the road is awesome. Very light traffic, in fact, I only saw one vehicle the entire time I was on it. The road is very fun, with plenty of twisties. About the only down side is that part of the road is in not-so-good condition, pot holes, bad patch jobs, and loose gravels here and there. But overall, fun.

I got into it immediately and was having fun with the twisties. Then, about 10 minutes into it, I got into trouble. Now, I've been riding consistently for about 8 years now, and if you want to count messing around on friends' bikes as riding, about 15 years. In these past 8 years, I've never really made any gross mis-judgments while riding. I've never gotten myself into situations where I'm thinking to myself "oh shit, I'm f'd". I've always rode within my abilities, and when I'm on the twisties, I push my limits but always knew when to back off. So, back to Ben Hur. I was coming up on a right turn. The right side of the road is a hill so I couldn't see the other end of the turn, but I was slowing down going into the turn, getting ready for it. As soon as I got into the turn, I realized that I was going in too hot. The turn turned out to be an almost u-turn, and it was much tighter than I had expected. Immediately I leaned down even more, but realized I was still too hot. The next thought went through my mind was: "shit, I'm going down", and I can feel myself starting to low side. I then decided to apply my back brake. By now, I've already drifted into the oncoming lane and I can feel my right foot dragging on asphalt. I thought I was going down for sure. All of a sudden, I realized that my bike was aligned perfectly straight with the other side of the almost u-turn, and I must have hit my front brake a bit because I felt like my bike was a bit more upright then where it was just a fraction of a second ago, so I punched it on the throttle. I could feel the back wheel spinning out as it was on the loose-dirt shoulder, but it regained traction real quickly and somehow, miraculously, I got out of the low side and got back on the road.

I couldn't believed what had happened. I was certain that I was going down but somehow I got out of it. After gathering myself, I started to try to analyze what had happened, and realized that it was my instincts (and probably luck) that got me out of it. There is no way that I could've figured out what I needed to do to get out of that situation if we were to freeze frame each split second and ask me what I should do then and there. I knew that had I gone down, I probably wouldn't have killed myself as I knew that I wasn't going that fast, and worst case scenario would be the bike landing on me and dragging me down the ditch. Probably a broken foot (or two). It would've been a bitch to try to get the bike out of the ditch, and I'm out in the middle of nowhere. It took me another 20 minutes or so after the close call to see any sign of civilization; a house on the side of the road. It was a blessing that the road had almost no traffic, as I had drifted into oncoming lane, but it would've been a curse had I gone down.

Needless to say, I went easy on Ben Hur the rest of the way, and after getting out of the back roads, I took CA99 back to LA.

All and all, it was a memorable four days of riding for sure. 1,883 miles when it's all said and done, and overall moving average of 68 with top speed of 116 (trust me, the Duc wouldn't go any faster) according to the GPS. I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and gained new perspective on my riding abilities. I realized that I was probably a bit tired before I hit Ben Hur, and I'm almost certain that it had some effect on my judgment, and it was a good reminder to myself to always be alert with my riding, and never get careless with it.

BMW MOA Rally

We were at the BMW MOA Rally in Johnson City, TN a couple of weeks ago. The rally was great, with a good turn out and good weather for the most part.

At the rally, I met up with Shahram Shiva of BMWSuperBIkes.com again, and shot shot a couple of videos with or his website. One was an update on what's going on with us, and the other one was to show the speed-shift system on the new BMW K1300S. Check them out here!