Ear Plug Lubrication
Thanks to the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), this weekend I learned that one should lubricate one’s earplugs prior to inserting in the ear.
My Guest Post on Hell for Leather
A couple of weeks ago I had a tremendous opportunity to have a ride of a lifetime thanks to the guys at RideApart.com (formerly Hell for Leather). I was able to write a travelogue of the trip and also a few reviews of the new-to-me kit. Go read it and enjoy: A California Road Trip…
Tradeoffs and Relatives
Life is full of relatives and tradeoffs. This became apparent to me for the hundredth time this morning while hopping on my 2006 Yamaha FZ1 for the first time in three months after having put 1100 miles on a 2013 Suzuki GSX-R750 a little over a week prior. What was immediately obvious was that relative…
Preparing for California
I cannot divulge all details now, but I am scheduled for an amazing trip to California in a couple weeks. In preparation for this trip I have been planning my routes and loading them into Garmin GPS. I will review my experience with both this GPS and with Garmin’s Basecamp software after my trip. This…
Retrofitting Alpinestars Bionic Armor into my Fieldsheer Jacket
I’ve been wanting some chest protection for a while and used this opportunity to get some. Once I received them, I just needed to figure out how to ‘install’ them in my Fieldsheer mesh jacket.
Winterizing the Yamaha FZ1 and Shed
Today is the official start of Winter, according to the Jeremy Blanchard Motorcycling Calendar. Why is it today, you ask? Today, I have put away my 2006 Yamaha FZ1 for the winter and have winterized my shed to bring the snow blower to the forward and ready position. To my FZ1, I say “Sleep tight,…
Motorcycle Commuting: Snow Flurries
On my way home from work tonight there were the lightest of light snow flurries. It didn’t even feel that cold but I think up higher in the air it was cold. There was some light rain the other day that rinsed some of the salt away and the weather has cleared somewhat so I…
Yamaha FZ1 with larger rear sprocket
At the 30,000 mile service the chain needed to be replaced. To my knowledge it had never been replaced. The stock FZ1 is geared quite high which makes it very subdued even when doing 80 MPH on the highway. This behavior is great for MPG and long highway trips but is not very engaging for…