Robin: Hello everybody, I'm Robin Dean.

Travis: I'm Travis Burrellson.

Robin: And I'm Tim Clark. And this is the Riding Obsession podcast. Today we'll be talking about winter's opportunity for motorbike mods, two-step maintenance somehow always requiring one step back, and crashing a borrowed bike.

Travis: TheRidingObsession.com is seeking sponsors for this podcast. Sponsors are giving three focus mentions toward the start, middle, and end of their designated episode. The contributions are put towards bettering the program's content and recording equipment.

Robin: I'll take this opportunity to promote our next group riding tour, which is scheduled for spring of next year. Dubbed the Trip Sevens Tour, seven riders will cover seven states in seven days, starting in late April of 2018. It's a twisty sport touring getaway of epic proportions, and we hope you'll sign up. More information about the tour is available via TheRidingObsession.com. Visit the group tours link, which is anchored under travel in our navigation menu. And as my notes tell me, I'm supposed to say, so Travis, what is new with you?

Travis: Uh, first off, hopefully that gets picked up. What you drinking? Uh, this is, um, Oktober from, uh, Carbon 4 here in Madison. Oktober? Yeah, it is a, uh, Oktoberfest, uh, Oktoberfest, like, Marsden style. Um, a little hoppy in the parlance of our times, but it's pretty good. And it's got a bitchin' label of, like, this old, uh, like, uh, C10 pickup truck in the sunset. Nice. And it looks good on, it looks good on my garage wall of, uh, beer labels. Yeah. How's that collection going? Uh, it's coming along. I'm, I almost got a well, I'm probably, like, 60% on one of the walls. So, but I just put up some new, uh, some new shelving and, uh, a new workbench in the garage. So that's kind of taking up some wall space. Um, kind of reorganizing it because my workbench is constantly covered in crap. Um, so I figured if I have a second workbench, I can probably manage to keep at least one of them clear.

Robin: What was your exact quote you said? Because your workbench always becomes storage.

Travis: Yeah.

Robin: So now you've got a smaller workbench that is at least empty, but it's what, it's to the southeast wall, right?

Travis: Yes.

Robin: Hey, I guessed, I guessed it right. You like that?

Travis: Southeast. Yeah. Yeah. And I have a south-facing driveway, which, quick, uh, home buying tip, if you have a south-facing driveway, it's way better in the winter for shoveling snow. Um, the, uh, yeah, and I put up, like, shelves too, like, so there's two shelves above that. I put two shelves on the other wall so I can, like, move a lot of the crap on these other shelves. Um, so hopefully that, uh, that's good. So good, uh, garage, uh, reorganization is, is key. The, uh, the workbench actually came, uh, one of my neighbors, so when I walk the dog around the block, one of my neighbors is moving maybe, I don't know, but there's like this, this workbench on the curb, garbage. Um, and I had to kind of had to take it. It was built dumb. I had, like, screws from, like, both sides, like, inside, like, inside screws that you can't get to, crap, you know, and, like, four-inch screws that only do two by fours together. Um, but it was, uh, uh, you know, I kind of, I was, like, free lumber because, like, every time I built a workbench, I always forget how expensive, like, two by fours and plywood are. Yeah, it's pretty crazy.

Robin: I mean, it's cheap.

Travis: You buy one. I spent, like, 50 bucks on lumber to build this thing and you gotta cut it all. It's, like, this is basically all cut. I had to re-modify it to make it fit in my garage, but now it's, like, bolted to the wall and it's, it's nice and free lumber. So there we go. That's nothing wrong with a little trash picking.

Robin: Is that one gonna have, like, a particular designation? Like, that's where I do my electrical or that's where I do my machining or, you know, grinder. You gonna get a grinder?

Travis: I have a grinder.

Robin: Oh, that's right.

Travis: So I might put a vise on this workbench because I have a vise in my basement workbench, but not in the garage right now.

Robin: Yeah, yeah.

Travis: Um, and the right now, so I put tools on the wall there and that's, uh, mostly my kind of general, um, homemaker hardware tools. So it's, like, my hammers and utility knife and stuff like that as opposed to, like, my, uh, gearhead tools, like the ratchets and stuff like, stuff like that. So.

Robin: Nice. Well, Tim Clark is highlighting some stuff here and that, that's good because that'll put you on track. I got your notes here. You wanted to talk about your tires.

Travis: Yeah, so I've, I've been running the, the Shinko, uh, 705s on the NC700X and they're fine. They're, they're good on gravel. They're good on dry roads, but they suck when it's cold and wet.

Robin: Right. We talked about this. Have you decided on which direction you want to go in?

Travis: I'm torn between the TKC80s and the, uh, Avon Trail Riders. Okay. Doing Pilot Road 4s, um, which I think we're going to talk about Pilot Road 5s that just came out.

Robin: Oh, yeah.

Travis: Hot gas, but, um, yeah, the Avon Trail Riders look good. They're like a 9010 tire, but I feel like at least on the rear they would, they would do pretty good grip because they're kind of a chevron shape. Yeah. So for, they may be loose on the front in gravel, um, but for the rear they'd be okay. Um, and the TKC80s look pretty good and they have a nice, like, solid center line. So I feel like they'd wear really well and, um, Continental's version of a dual compound, which isn't a dual compound. It's like a dual curing process thing.

Tim: Oh, that's the, that's not the 80s. That's the 70.

Travis: 70. Yeah.

Tim: Yeah. Yeah.

Travis: Yeah, I meant, uh, type 70s here, but, uh, yeah, the TKC70s, um, not the 80s. The 80s are like our big block knobbies. Um, but yeah, the TKC70s, which are a little more of a road tire.

Robin: But that's the thing, a guy like Tim, he's just like, yeah, yeah. I got, yeah, I hear you, man. I've got these eraser heads on my bike and I'm riding through the dirt better than anybody. The Tim Clark machine.

Tim: Oh, well, that didn't work out so well the last time out.

Robin: Oh, yeah. Uh, yeah. Yeah, we'll get there.

Tim: Totally different story.

Travis: But, uh, yeah, I posed on a couple of the forums, um, and see if anyone was running TKC70s and what they thought about it. But I haven't gotten any real good responses.

Robin: Looks like you got some plans for the NC700X.

Travis: Yeah, and then winter plans. I definitely want to do, um, gold valves in the forks because they're just straight damper rods. And you always have that crux with damper rods with like the super basic suspension of you're always under, under rebound damped and over compression damped. Sure. Yes. And the only thing you can do to change it is change the oil and whichever way you change the oil makes the other one worse. Like if you make it thicker, then you make the one that's over damped worse. You make it thin, you make the one that's under damped worse.

Robin: Yeah, fluid versus outlet.

Travis: Yeah, so, um, so I want to do a set of gold valves in it. I think the stock springs are pretty, pretty decent for my weight. I don't think I need to pre-spring it.

Robin: Yeah, and they'll at least last a couple of years before you want to go, you know.

Travis: But I was looking at, uh, and Tim can probably chime in here at the Rally Raid, uh, from the UK, some of their parts. They do have an NC700 section and a lot of the CB500X stuff will fit because it's all like kind of generic Honda.

Tim: Okay, that doesn't surprise me too much. Just looking at the comparison between the two bikes. Yeah, I mean look, they're like same.

Travis: Yeah, they look so similar. So they do have, uh, replacement fork caps, uh, that let you do, I think, like 15 millimeters of preload adjustment. That'll be nice. Um, which the stock shocks have no preload adjustment. Um, but then there's like, there's this like part of my brain that like I know the, and I don't have the money or the time or the need to do it, but you can do the level three, um, the level three adventure kit for the CB500X, which gives you two more inches of fork, two more inches of rear suspension, and a 19 inch front wheel. Yes.

Robin: I mean that sounds right up your alley. I've watched you ride over curves like, you know, that's, that's your gig. That's your, that's your, that's your game.

Travis: Yeah, I, I don't know if it'd be worth the investment or not right now with, especially with like the very minimal amount of gravel that I end up actually riding on that bike. I think the 17 I'll probably, um, fit me just fine, but those, uh, preload adjusters seemed interesting and they do have a, uh, an upgraded rear shock that they list that's not terribly priced.

Robin: Is it fully adjustable?

Travis: Uh, well, there's a, they have a couple different levels. If you just get the basic one, the preload only, um, it's pretty cheap and then you can go with like a more adjustable one and then you're talking about a grand for a shock.

Robin: Yeah. See, uh, I've got that going on right now and you have that Penske shock on the bandit. Right. And I guess the reason I'm bringing up is I, I guess that I, I feel bad because I got it for such a deal and then any, Hey man, are you going to do yours too? It's like, yeah. Hey, can you spot me 15? No, 1500.

Travis: Right.

Robin: That's sorry.

Travis: Yeah. Yeah. Well, Tim, you have a rally rate shock on the CB, right?

Tim: I do. I, I went with the budget sale item on it. I went with their level one kit, which was basically, it's the full rebuild of the front suspension without doing the extra travel distance. So stock travel, but with a smaller spacer and a longer spring. So you get a little bit better response from your spring and I do have the, uh, adjustable preload caps on it.

Travis: Oh, did you do the rear shock too? Right?

Tim: Yes. Yeah. With their, it was, it's adjustable compression on mine. I don't have adjustable rebound on it, which is that the rebounds important, man.

Robin: The rebounds, the good stuff, in my opinion, when you drop it, it just floats you back into position.

Travis: I need to get the, you don't get, you don't get the buck.

Tim: Yeah. And I have been getting a little bit of that bounce and buck out of it.

Travis: Does that have a remote preload adjuster on it or is it the hammer and screwdriver?

Tim: Yeah, it's, it's the old school PC one. Oh man. You will never adjust this once it's on kind of shock.

Robin: Man, that's, I was so envious of, uh, Mike Dunn, our friend Mike Dunn, who's, his VFR, the adjustment for the preload is a socket that goes into the side of the cowling. You just pop a rubber cap and then put a socket in and then turn it to where you want it and then you're done.

Travis: That's cool. Yeah. Kudos to Honda in the late 90s for doing stuff that way. Right. The, um, and then the other thing, so I saw this thing on, I think the Facebook group. Um, so there's, so in, in Honda's infinite wisdom of making everything out of the same parts, at least with the same tooling, um, minus the CB360, minus the CB360 and various other things. Um, but, uh, so a lot of the, a lot of the fork diameters and the threading are the same on the fork caps and stuff like that. Okay. Which, um, and apparently you can get like, you go online and you can get these fork extenders for like a VTX Cruiser, like the Magna Cruiser or the Interstate or whatever. And what they are is they're these like machined, uh, fork caps that are like two inches long, right? So it's like a fork cap, but it's two inches of preload. No, no, no, not two inches of preload. It just, it screws into like your fork cap threads like normal, but it sticks out of the top of your fork by two inches. All right. And it essentially extends your fork two inches. Um, and so like you would put this on a cruiser to kind of, to kind of rake the cruiser and do kind of a chopper vibe. Yeah. But there's guys on the forum doing this with their CB500s and their CB700Xs to get higher ground clearance on the front of the bike for trail riding.

Robin: That's crazy. So could you, is there any chance that you could get the, uh, the already extended front forks and then put those on top of it? So you'd have, I said, Just ride on stilts, man.

Travis: Ride on stilts. You have tons of, you have KTM level ground clearance out of your P-Ponda then. I could see everything! As long as they know how to put your foot down, you're fine.

Robin: Oh, yeah.

Travis: Um, yeah, I mean the only thing with that is, um, then extending the rear end is tricky. But I saw a couple things where, um, someone, some guy makes, uh, adjustable, uh, dog bones for lowering. Um, which you can like just buy from his website or whatever, but if you shoot him a message and ask for it, he'll make one that you can actually raise the rear end with. Oh, okay. Without having to do, just with the linkage, without having to put a new shock on.

Robin: Well, how's your footing on that bike right now?

Travis: It's fine. Like I can, I can, I don't know if I can flat, I can't flat foot both feet on it as, as it sits with the, um, with the, uh, seat concept seat on it. That's a good start. I can't quite get both feet flat on the ground. But it's like, you know, dirt bikes, like you don't, you don't put your feet down when you're on a dirt bike. Like that's just the way it works, you know. If you go and ride a proper dirt bike, they're so tall. Um, but then there's like the part where it's like, man, I like, I kind of like that it's sort of in the middle because I don't really trail ride this bike. And I feel like if, uh, if we ever get to where I want to do trail riding, I'll just buy a dirt bike, like a proper, not a dual sport, just go buy a proper dirt bike because they're cheap. Yeah, and you know, and I buy a bat and a trailer and you're fine.

Robin: A lightweight piece of cheap whoop-ass.

Travis: Yeah. Yeah, buy like a, a CRF or a KDX or a YZ or whatever.

Robin: TW 250? Yeah, the TW 200. The farm tractor of motorcycles, man. Balloon tires and all. Yes.

Travis: Balloon tires. Yeah, go anywhere. You know, it'll take you anywhere you want to go eventually.

Robin: I always joke that when we're doing the MSF course, that when we do the U-turn box on that thing, the bike doesn't actually turn around. The rider just turns around and faces backwards and then you've done your U-turn. I think it's just all knobbies and blurb. It's like a flubber bike.

Travis: Yeah, it's, uh, the, um, that was the thing. So the Bucky, I don't know if, uh, Tim remembers the email that went out about the Bucky this year. Um, they, uh, which we've talked about the Bucky, I think before, it's a big dual sport ride, about a hundred miles, mostly single track on farmland here by Madison, that the Madison Motorcycle Club puts on. And, um, well, they sent an email this year that they had all the trails groomed and tested and ready to go. And they said they, they tested them on everything from like a KTM, like their bike, EXC or whatever, to TW 200. Like you, you could do them on a TW 200. Wow. Um, and I remember, I remember at least last year when I did it, there was a guy there on a, um, the guy on the super Sherpa, the guy who only has one arm. What? Yeah. Go on. I'm listening. Wow. He passes and he'll like pass you. Like it's stupid. And he's like, he's out there in like his like Carhartt and like jeans and a three quarter helmet with one arm on the super Sherpa and just like passing people.

Robin: He's an amazing rider. Dude, that is wicked. Just a concept. So how's he, how's he shifting? Does he have like a quick shifter?

Travis: I'm not sure how he's going to set up.

Robin: Yeah, I don't remember. I don't remember how that one's set up.

Travis: Or if he's got like a centrifugal clutch or something, maybe. That's deep, man.

Robin: That's, that's fucking crazy deep.

Travis: But, uh, yeah, so that's, um, so I'm just saying don't knock the TW 200, those little dual sport bikes. They're pretty. We'll talk, we'll talk a little bit later about little dual sport bikes.

Robin: I like this plan.

Travis: With Tim. But, uh, that's my stuff. I'm just trying to figure out what kind of stuff I want to do this to the NC 700 X. What kind of money I can afford to put into it over the winter for to keep myself busy. Oh, this isn't on the outline. But, um, I might call a guy or Craig's list a guy tomorrow about buying a 70s JC Penney Pinto 2 moped.

Robin: Oh, come on. Is this, so is this like, it doesn't look like a Tomos?

Travis: Yeah, it's like with pedals, like pedals, Frank classic, like he's asking like 275 and it might be, it doesn't run random park. I'm doing air quotes, random park. Um, but I think it'd be a fun project and if nothing else, if I get it running nice, I can sell it in Madison for at least double that.

Robin: Oh, yeah. Quick, fast college campus alone.

Travis: Yeah, because it's up like a couple hours north of here. So by Steven's point, so, but uh, yeah, that's, that's my winter project plans. What about you Robin? What are you up to in the garage these days?

Robin: Uh, that's not what the notes here say. Read it exactly as you see it, please.

Travis: What about you comma Robin? Question mark.

Robin: Yeah, all my notes are scattered. I just got back from Arkansas, uh, which was a really good time. Uh, day one of that trip was a little touch and go because we were gambling with the route, but day two was phenomenal. We got to ride Push Mountain Road three times and it was, it was just outstanding. Um, great riding. Uh, and when I say my notes are scattered here because I dumped the bandits doing a slow maneuver. Uh, it seemed like all my friends on Facebook were like, hey man, don't feel bad. I want, my ego didn't take, my ego was untouched. It was mostly that I just really liked that bike and it hit at zero miles per hour. It still managed to hit hard enough to break the mirror, the turn signal, but the, it scraped up the front right quarter panel, which is probably going to be impossible to find and You know, do I leave this as a, do I make this character or not? But the worst is silver, silver Sharpie marker, silver Sharpie marker, you know, or, or, you know, paint. Um, but the worst that I got hit hardest when it, it got my new exhaust. So I have this brand new vicious exhaust I've been bragging about. I already ordered a new one. So don't even try, don't even bother convincing me. Otherwise, I want that thing shiny and perfect. I want my bike happy.

Travis: So I got the brand new, you should've got the carbon one because that won't dent. It'll just crack.

Robin: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Then, but I have a plan. So I got a new exhaust on the way. I'm going to pull this one and I'm going to hack it and make it a shorty. So it'll lose four inches and I'll re-rivet it and then seal it up and just have it as an extra exhaust. It's a shorty, you know, it didn't even, but you know what? We kept riding. This happened in the middle of day two. I picked up the bike. One of my buddies rode by and he gave me the thumbs up. Hey, good job, man. You know, it's like, all right, let's get gas. Got right back on the bike and we just murdered roads for the rest of the day. And I didn't know that I had duct tape on.

Travis: I mean, I remember when I dumped the BMW in a parking lot. So like I think I went and I got groceries. Yeah, I was in the Culver's. So I went and I did a grocery run on the bike. So I had the top case all loaded up with stuff and I went to go to Culver's to get a burger.

Robin: Well, that's your, there's your problem.

Travis: There's no problem. And I wanted to go put it on the center stand and like hit a bump or crack in the parking lot weird. Yeah, and so like standing to the side of the bike putting it on the center stand and then it like hit something and it came down off the center stand and then went away.

Robin: Yeah, what's your equilibrium's gone? It's all over.

Travis: I'm standing next to it and I'm just like uh There you go Like what are you gonna do? Like I'm not I'm not on top of it. I'm right on the side of it.

Tim: Yeah You got no leverage to do anything.

Robin: Once you lose your equilibrium. It's just that's the end of it. The bike's going down All you can do is try to make it as graceful as possible So I think that's the only thing that really would touch my ego If I if that were the case was that um, I was way ahead of everybody else I came to a hovering point where I was like, look, is this the gas station we need it is okay So i'm doing a fraction of a mile per hour and slowly hovering to make this left turn and like that's right Oh, yeah, mr Technique got this super low lean angle going because i'm just using gyroscopics And then there's a divot in the pavement and the tire just sinks into it It just goes And i'm like, oh, oh, oh and There it goes. That's the end of it. And so That's what I mean by two steps forward one step back and our introduction is that Yeah Even this like before all of this happened. I had removed the entire front fairing and installed, uh braided braided like braided brake lines, uh And then split speed bleeders. I added a gopro mount and bought a ram ball adapter So if i'm not using the gopro and it starts to rain really hard I can put my phone under the windscreen and while it was off. I was like, okay Let's uh reapply silicone sealer where it kind of got dried out and disappeared because I was getting vibration noise And I put everything back together and after it was all sealed up said and done takes an hour to do this I realized that there were two miniscule bolts That hold one section of the fairing in place that really do they need to be there They gotta be there

Travis: so I had to take you didn't you didn't just like stream you and you didn't do that like oh, uh, Why didn't put these back because uh, you know Clearly there are parts left over that was designed wrong and they're not necessary.

Robin: Right?

Tim: Of course we overbuilt Yeah You gotta shave some weight.

Robin: Yeah go faster. I'm not gonna win I gotta I gotta be able to you know, like zip ties are way lighter if I can find the outlet that i'm dealing with Yeah, two steps forward one step back and you know for me this was this was two exhausts forward and one exhaust back Um, I uh, I got my notes here. Also. I did install deer whistles We had this conversation before right why it's worth it to install deer whistles. Here's why Uh question rhetorical do they work probably not the odds are about 99.999 To one that these things don't do anything, but they cost six bucks and you can put them anywhere So if there's any inkling of a chance that they're going to do anything mind you i've hit i've hit a deer before Why not have them I figure so put those on there my last update

Travis: Yeah, you can get the little angel bell too in the uh, you can get some lucky underwear One of those like one of those like magnetic necklaces that like baseball pitchers wear that might help yeah

Tim: i'm just If you're what i'm thinking If they do one thing if they even turn the deer's head to look at you and you can see their eyes reflecting Then you're winning. Yeah, right if they do that tiny little bit.

Robin: Yeah, because that bit me just this last weekend Oh god, see that's oh, yeah, see you actually Yeah, so now you're in your truck not Yeah, right well, you don't have a leg so you're in the truck four-wheel four-wheel motorcycle. Mm-hmm.

Travis: Uh, i'm considering You're going back from up north or something, right?

Tim: Or in sheboygan. Yeah, so north of milwaukee an hour or so. Jeez. It just was in the road and Yeah So as i'm coming over a hill, there's a car coming at me. So I dropped my rights So i'm not shining, you know, i'm not being an asshole and as I do that I see him hit his brakes You know, you see that headlight dip down like why is he doing that? So I you know, I start backing off I cover up the brakes and it isn't until i'm almost on top of him I see two deer in my lane nose to tail strolling across.

Robin: Oh, yeah dumb as hell Yeah, not even looking at me.

Tim: So I don't see their eyes I don't see anything until I see brown on black in the dark misty night. They're not smart animals No, and I had nowhere to go no other choice control stop as much as I can and hit him Well, plus a guy's got to eat.

Travis: That's not If it was one of my cousins they would land right in the back of the truck.

Tim: Oh, yeah Yeah, I wasn't about uh with a broken leg. I wasn't gonna be wrestling a deer carcass into the back of the truck And I certainly wasn't going to explain to the officer why I was driving with my left foot

Robin: But you will at a moment for sure You know, Travis you were talking about some mods for your bike and I know that that uh, we both know that tim He's he's up for the winner and I you know, i'm thinking about the mods I want to do you can say what you're not sure you're gonna do but You know, i'm i'm thinking about these adjustable risers for the bandit and even or for the hawk gt I don't even care anymore. I'm gonna switch it to unis put on a y-pipe stage two jetting, you know Hopefully stage two jetting is enough. I'm gonna have you guys watching me We're gonna podcast while I swap the jets on my car on my carburetors and see if it's possible to get instruction over the net but um But the thing is is that you just laugh at you a lot. That's all probably i'll be well follow your instructions, you know But two thirds into winter you watch two thirds into winter We're all going to be chomping at the bit for anything to keep us sane. Your bike's going to be completely modded out It's going to be Absolutely maxed out you're gonna put a v8 on it.

Travis: It's gonna be a v8 bike It's gonna be uh, it's gonna be a modus by the time we're done, right?

Robin: This is the honda modus. Anyhow Tim it's your turn man. Hold on. Let me read this right tim. It's your turn first off Welcome, what's the good word everybody? I want to announce I got tired of dealing with travis by myself now We're a trio and I thought this would be a good things to mix up, you know, you know get three people discussing motorbikes Yeah, because tim's way too nice to part of the fact that you totally use the wrong version of your in that line That's it.

Travis: You said it is you are turn Tim it is you are turned first off.

Robin: Welcome. What's the word good good word.

Tim: Um This last month there's only been a handful of those there's been a whole lot of cursing and a turn of bad luck This is how you do.

Robin: That's exactly how you get into this podcast. That's welcome Definitely you are this is why I invited you this guy this guy's perfect for this.

Tim: Yeah, the turn of bad luck is the podcast There were a couple really good things going on the big thing is that I bought the house With the big fucking garage. Yeah that garage is bigger in your house, which I love No close close. Well, it's got more usable space on the ground floor than my house It's a big it's a bigger footprint, but the house is a basement and an attic Yeah, the house is 24 by 30 and the garage 24 by 24, oh my god, that's That's beautiful. And just as of tonight it now has two full-size couches And four motorcycles in it with my truck travis.

Robin: I will no longer be needing your room anymore I've got new plans.

Travis: He's gonna sleep in tim's garage on the couch.

Robin: Yeah Tell laurel I will not be bothering your household anymore. No, that's great, man. I'm so happy for you. Uh, It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. It's freaking rocking.

Tim: Thank you. I was excited about it I was fast tracking everything because I was planning on going to this big epic trip that didn't happen.

Travis: Yeah to Uruguay or Ecuador Ecuador.

Tim: Yep. Yeah. So yeah, it would have been amazing I was fly down there rent motorcycles go for a tour of the andes the avenue of volcanoes and then dropping down into the Amazon basin for a couple days before coming back up into the mountains.

Robin: You're just going to happen Yeah, you're gonna have to make this up to yourself Not for me.

Tim: Yeah, my my good friend aaron who had I talked into doing this whole thing with me he is there right now posting up pictures on instagram of just Amazing things. Oh And the reason i'm not there is because of the bucky Oh, man, it was the bucky that did this. I did this on the bucky Tell everybody we're dead to him.

Robin: Tell everybody what you're right. I I wait.

Tim: I'm tim clark and i'm a crashaholic Sorry, okay, so this is only the second broken bone in two years riding off road This is not this is not a pattern there are no lessons to be learned here Mind what you say i've got evidence on video Tim is a formidable.

Robin: He's a force to be reckoned with on anything gravel or dirt in my opinion, uh, just Yeah, you're the guy I would ask anything about that.

Tim: Even though I don't do that yet You were you were saying so, okay, maybe back this up a little bit more. I I was going to buy a bike I wanted to buy a bike. I really wanted to buy this bike. So I started selling shit off. I sold my drz I sold the trailer. I sold all sorts of used gear and I was getting ready to buy this bike and I looked at the bank account balance and said I might be able to Do this house purchase a year earlier than I planned. Okay, so I started doing that So when the bucky came along, I didn't have an off-road bike So I started asking around and my good friend offered to let me borrow an xt250 This tiny little like three-quarter size yamaha And i'm a big guy I Sit on this bike and I almost crushed the suspension

Travis: Um, yeah, I remember when I remember when you said on the crf250 at the bike show last year and it just like It was like you're on one of those like one of those like bouncy bikes on the playground

Tim: Yes. Yes Yeah, so i'm i'm riding this and i'm really just wanting to refresh the muscle memory get ready for this big trip Because ecuador thing was going to be on road off road From what I heard no road in some places. So I didn't want to go in totally cold. Yeah, so i'm behaving myself I'm taking it easy doing really good, but i'm super cramped on this little bike Like normally I want to be riding on the balls my foot on the foot peg instead I'm sitting there I can barely get my heels on the damn pegs because i'm so folded up on this little bike And when you think about your legs tucked under you with your heels on the pegs, oh, it's pointing down Yeah, and this is what caught me a little bit of lazy body position. I clipped a rock with my left or my right leg My so the rock ripped my foot off of the foot peg twisting it down and out And the rotation of the ankle was enough to break the fibula.

Travis: Oh It's too bad.

Robin: This is a podcast and you can't see robin's face right now Well, I know ankle sprains I know I know ankle pain i've uh, i've rolled my ankle three times uh My first leg break was when I was two years old two years old broken leg And then I got chicken pox under the calf. So i'm definitely i'm definitely familiar with bone the you know bone pain, um But when you when you when you break the bone by way of flexing the joint that's when I just ah That's like combining any amount of pain into both rolling the joint and breaking the bone as a result That's too much to think about.

Tim: Oh, that's rough.

Robin: Sorry.

Tim: It's the funny thing. It's the pain level was extremely low Really? It was a really big surprise. So when this happened, I felt the bone break right away Like felt a pop felt a snap and then I crashed. Um, no damage from the crash I think I got one bruise on my knee because I was armored up and I was going 20 miles an hour on on On dirt.

Travis: Yeah.

Tim: Yeah. Um, so yeah, so crash get up or just start rolling around a little bit trying to figure out What what happened to me? Like where's the bike? Where am I? Where the other bikes coming at me because there were about 250 people on this ride And uh, yeah, I wasn't in a lot of pain. My head was pretty clear All the people around me were kind of freaking out.

Robin: Well, how are they going to get you out of there? I mean, how were you deep rural? I mean, were you deep in the dirt? Did you have a way out?

Tim: I was maybe three quarter mile into this property just kind of up up on a hill off Uh, it was like a two track access for a field We weren't even on a single track yet. Sure and because we worked on the signal track, you know, my my guard was down I wasn't really focusing on what I was doing, but it was a really rocky trail just the same Um, but you know the guys that stopped to help me out They were very nice, but they totally couldn't figure out what to do with themselves For me now, there's your problem

Robin: If you're going to do something like this, you got to expect somebody could get hurt. Um, yeah, there's no harm You can learn basic first aid and cpr for free Online, you know, it's a it's a free course.

Tim: They make us take it to coach the msf course Yeah, so it it was an interesting thing because most of them were saying do you have someone we can call? You know, who are you riding with these sort of things and the guy I was riding with he bailed out early So I know enough people at this event that i'm just like a bump into people. I know it's no big deal So I just kept riding by myself compound fracture.

Robin: No kidding.

Tim: No, it wasn't a compound fracture not compound complicated Yes, that's what the doctor told me is uh multiple planes of fracture. It's an ugly mess I joke now because I get to talk to my friend.

Robin: So yeah.

Tim: Yeah Yep, so it was really funny. They're freaking out. What do you want to do? Of course my first answer is i'm gonna sit here in the dirt Let me breathe let me think through this i'm gonna have a va Hey kool-aid, yeah, they've handed out these information sheets to everybody So everybody's got you know contact for sweep crew support crew. I'm like you got that paper. Give me that So i'm going to give them a call, you know So i'm sitting there in the dirt I give them a phone call and of course They are out and about we're in rural wisconsin and they don't have cell phone reception and i'm leaving messages So it's not like they're gonna chopper you out. Yeah. Yeah, that's not an even Option to find some way to you know, get me out So probably the best case scenario is I would have to wait until they could get a four-wheeler on site to drag me out And i'm like no we'll find a way to get me out. You guys want to turn my bike around? I think I can ride out so they you know So i'm handling all the emergency decisions, even though i'm the one broken. Wow Um, it was just funny I'm like i've been on rides like this where things go wrong and you got to figure out what to do and Loosen your head is always the worst thing It's always best to just kind of take a breath work through the problem one thing at a time. But yeah, I Got that bike turned around rolled down the hill in first gear just kind of feathering it hovering the foot off You know just hanging it hanging it off the side of the bike And I get to the bottom of the hill and I run into the sweep crew, huh I just go. Hey guys, how do I get a ride out of here? What do you mean I broke my leg their response was who did I did And they're on my left hand side. So they're seeing me just like standing up on this, you know Put my foot down and hold the bike up. I'm like, no, no, no that leg Uh You're not kidding. No, no, i'm not kidding. I'm i'm fucked up Like are you sure it's broken? Oh, yeah, no doubts Do they have to cut the pieces moving around cut the boots?

Robin: Do they like hack into your gear?

Tim: No, no, I took it. I took the boot off.

Robin: Wow. Okay. Wow, man this is why you said something before about how you were making the decisions coming up with the proper order thinking your way through the process of remedying the situation The remedy being get me to a hospital room so I get this fixed up and I thought about a recent uh a recent accident that a friend of mine experienced who is one of my more responsible riding buddies for sure and the Steps he went through were fine in that he knew what to do and he thought he was okay Consciously, he believed he did the self-check and he processed his situation and said. Oh, yeah, it feels like uh Yeah, I think this is all right This is I can work out I can work this situation out there were emts there to check him out They checked his pupils dilate that kind of thing went through the motions of are you really? All right Well, he continued about his way after he threw up and the truth is that his organs were concussed Yeah, it was really rough. He finished a multi-day ride Starting, you know starting out in shock and not realizing it was a situation waking up a little bit sore thinking Maybe he had cracked ribs and continuing on only to find out when he got home that And this may this may be a real problem and having to get some stuff taken care of, you know, concussed organs is no joke fortunately, he's all right, and he's still as responsible and wholeheartedly solid in all forms of simple just

Travis: Didn't uh, didn't he just post about maybe buying a harley or something?

Robin: Yeah, this they're they're looking more attractive We make we we poke fun at the generality of it, but the truth is they you know, they make a good bike Well, okay. So let's move along here though because it says right here Did you throw money down on a c you were looking at the africa twin, right?

Tim: That is indeed Is that the crf 1000?

Robin: Is that what that is? So the crf 1000 l is the africa twin and did you put you put the cash down?

Tim: I did. Yep I was I was uh, I was snooping around and one of my good friends who has one Surprised me by reaching out and saying that he wanted to sell it What year 2016 the first year and it is the dct version the dual clutch transmission. So it's the automatic bike Which I I got a chance to ride one earlier this august when I went up to Northern wisconsin to a rally had my cb500 on the back of the truck Never took it off the truck because my friend let me spend the whole day on his africa twin. Oh, wow And I started out chasing a friend on some sporty Twisty roads on he was on his fjo9. It's a pretty sporty bike He's not the most aggressive rider, but I was on knobby tires and I was on his butt the whole time Okay, you know feeling good on an unfamiliar bike. That sounds like a challenge to me unfamiliar transmission So I adjusted to it very quickly and then by the time we started heading back towards camp I spotted a dirt road that I knew and I said see Uh I'm gonna go play

Robin: That reminds me of one instance that I brought up at the last tour Was the moment when you were going dirt crazy and you and I arrived at the same stop sign at the same time Out of nowhere, and you just kind of gave me the wave the elbow to the chest wave. Hey, how you doing? And then you just wrote off. It was a great great moment in sports right there.

Travis: Oh, that was funny As I said does riding the dct bring you back to your grand tour via vespa days a little bit A little bit nice.

Tim: Um, it is fun It's uh, it really does just kind of lower the overhead in your brain like how much is going on You're not thinking about what gear you're in And if you've got the experience of being in the right gear you can and if the bike is not choosing the one you want It's really easy to override it Nudge it into the spot where you want it to be nice

Travis: yeah, come on come out of you coming out of the corner hit the downshift button and just

Tim: Go ahead and punch out and when I first got on it Like the standard drive mode is like grand bond driving down the road It's it shifts into sixth gear by the time you're doing 40 miles an hour. It just it's all pure economy sweet You switch it over to those sport mode stuff and it starts getting a lot more entertaining Now do you do that with the uh signal the signal button?

Robin: Um it's got its own button for the for the Yeah for the most important there was a guy that we were talking about this There was a guy who who if you double click the signal button to turn it off It would switch modes and he was neurotic about making sure his signal was off. So he kept Like mid-ride just changing modes Rain this and that all right. All right. Look we i'm looking at our format. We got to get moving.

Tim: Okay, so so Yep, the money's down and as a guy I trust I didn't even get a receipt for the money It's like I know this guy. This is good. Sweet.

Robin: So your bike's as good as bought.

Tim: Yeah, so by the Probably first second week of january. It should be in that kick-ass garage I love it.

Robin: I love it. We got to build that garage out.

Travis: Yeah pinups everywhere and now it's time for Updated safe meters and developments.

Robin: All right, i'll be quick monthly posters now sent out automatically in a nice tidy newsletter Sign up for either our emailing list or the or a tro account to receive those That's the riding obsession account preparing to create a custom page for tour signups That provides access to the more exacting details and route changes as they happen I'm digging my heels in to modify a lot of features across the board based on how visitors are using the website These are solid changes that will we predict will make a lot of our readership pretty happy for example Multiple affiliate link purchase options such as revzilla bike bandit amazon, etc Preference based ride wear that's temperature dependent for your weather page It's set by the user automated author payments currently sent manually and one at a time That's a real pain in the butt on my end. I got other things i'd rather be doing so that'll be automated And that's that's pretty much it. So now on to our listener questions I Got this email the other day this guy had hammered me with emails A lot of people have been reaching out thinking that we are a motorcycle trailer selling company. We're not The most the absolute number one most popular article on the website right now is our five trailers worth considering and they are Worth considering but we get a lot of questions from people who maybe they're not so net savvy and they start asking me all Kinds of so, uh, what are you selling that one for and we don't sell them but jaybird180 asks From what i've found harbor freight sells a 40 by 48 inch trailer with optional motorcycle rails for 50 bucks But I can't seem to find either on their site. I think the brand is hall master Do you have any info on this little trailer?

Travis: My answer is no and we have a governing influence about harbor freight Yeah, so I I I do I am actually I I did do some research on this question before uh the podcast here really um, Yeah I I didn't think any of us would ever do that so So my question for jaybird180 is have you ever been to harbor freight? Do you know like? Do you know what their like deal is because it doesn't sound like you know what their deal is Do you have some coat hangers and paper clips? You might build a better piece of kit So like like harbor freight's good for some things. It's Cheap, it's it's cheap china junk, right? So if you like I bought like I bought uh earlier this summer. I bought a harbor freight electric power washer It lasted 10 minutes In my garage I have a harbor freight, uh electric impact driver works great I have a harbor freight, uh, like roto tool like a dremel type tool works great Um, so you just kind of roll the dice with with harbor freight there Yeah, and like if you want to go buy like a like a socket set or some spanner wrenches to like keep on your bike It's perfect Probably you don't want to go buy like nice snap-on stuff and like put it on your bike to rust for the Like you don't work on the side of the road It's fine Like if you're a mechanic like you'll wear them out but like your home garage like their hand tools, they're fine

Robin: Bottom line is do you want to trust your motorcycle? On this tin pogo stick without a suspension that is made out of recycled aluminum foil Well, so here's here's here's the thing.

Travis: Here's my research on the actual question. So all that being said regarding harbor freight's stuff, um There's a couple of moto vloggers out there So if you if you search her on youtube, so j bird 180 search her on youtube, you'll find reviews for this stuff so it's like Harbor freights website. Yeah, it's garbage. Like you won't find anything there That's useful at all except like the closest store next to you and what their hours are Um, but there are some moto vloggers out there, especially in the adv crowd. So they're only hauling You know, they're hauling like adv bikes. They're calling like xr 250s drz 400s so like Not hauling 600 pound harleys Mopeds man.

Tim: Yeah, so they're they're hauling, you know, 350 pound sub 400 pound bike, you know Actually, I bought one of those harbor freight trailers a couple years back where is it now tim where is it now?

Robin: This is going somewhere.

Tim: Oh my god. I don't even remember where that damn thing went Um, I I think I gave it away to somebody I didn't have this 40 by 48 when I had One of their larger folding ones and in order to give it any sort of structural rigidity I used three-eighths plywood for decking Okay, like such heavy-duty plywood that it wouldn't fold up properly anymore That is smart because these things are they are little bolt together angle iron frames That twist like crazy i've seen guys weld them up, you know in order to get some sort of strength out of it I've seen people use uh, the expanded metal the uh, like the mesh decking Yeah welded onto it that helps a little bit But even with the biggest bike I ever threw on this thing was a dr 650. Yeah, and it was A little bit terrifying to see that bike Sway and dance around every time you hit a bump. Yeah I've had some sketchy trailers, but that was probably that that was the worst that was far worse than the It had suspension, but it was just a simple leaf spring. No damping the Trailer in a bag that I had with no suspension made me feel more comfortable than this harbor freight thing With the night with like even my old ttr 250.

Robin: Wow, and they're not messing around with the pricing on the trailer in a bag That's that's some Expensive kit that oh, well, I got it.

Tim: Like, you know one that was five or ten years old for 500 bucks So that's pretty good.

Robin: They sell them new for what like 11 1100 or something like that Yeah, but yeah, you're right. No suspension. Nothing So I guess the the bottom line is I I can tell you that from what I remember He's mostly been hauling dirt bikes. So, okay, maybe But if it's going to be anything valuable something, you know, yeah, it depends like where you live, too

Travis: So what i've seen is a lot of the guys those motorbike guys who are like, hey, I bought this harbor freight They live in like arizona or nevada they live in the desert and do this adventure dirt riding where the roads are smooth But if you live in the midwest where the roads are crap And see that that trailer's gonna bounce and boing

Robin: And flex you might not lose just the bike and the trailer You might lose half of your car by the time you get to your destination

Travis: Yeah, but uh, I guess you have to kind of answer your question like Yeah, their website's terrible I couldn't find their trailers on their websites either i've seen them in the mailers I get I've seen them at the store You can go to the store you can make your own decision, but You get what you pay for most absolutely spend the cash get the right one like you're gonna are you gonna use it once twice a year to haul uh I mean a basket case home. Perfect You're gonna put your nice shiny new 2017 on there and haul it and haul it across the country Maybe not Yeah, they're they are also notorious for burning out bearings. Yes. Yeah, you have to inspect the bearings Again, you're you're hauling a 200 pound crf 230 To the trails in our way. Yeah, you're hauling to sturges from california

Robin: You've answered the question don't hurt the man's feelings travis

Travis: There's there's there's you know, there's a time and a place and you have to you have to weigh you have to weigh your You could the the possible consequences this could and very well might get into tires

Robin: And if it gets into tires that's going to get into a story about somebody that I don't really want to discuss but all right um, so, uh Yeah, so that concludes our question and answers there but if you have any questions for us We'd love to answer them. Just email your questions and concerns to podcast at tro dot email. That's podcast at tro.email or call 224-358-3010. We're glad to answer any questions on the podcast at any time

Travis: And now for this week's mess alamodo brought to you by the super slick ultra badass motorcycle mega posse of incredible power

Robin: Well, that's not rock radio station style i'm gonna i'm gonna put all kinds of effects and distortion and awesome, you know what I mean Okay, the super slick ultra badass motorcycle mega posse of incredible power That's gonna be distorted as hell one more time. No, that's fine So, all right Michelin is coming out with the road five. They're not going to give it the pr5. It's not going to be the pilot road five They're just calling it the road five. They're abandoning the pilot element, but the you know, I had the pilot powers What was it? Yeah, I hyperlinked them in there's like a press kit and Motorcycle.com made the announcement initially. Um, it's a beautiful gorgeous siping Uh, that is a good looking tire. Some people were wondering about the depth of the tread having effect on the Strength of the rubber itself. I I don't know. I I don't have a chance to test them I'd really like to get my hands on a set as soon as possible. I'm actually the tires on the bandit I've got an extra set of pr2s on another set of rims, but the current set that's on there. They're done They are finished finito time to swap them out. So what's the release date? Did they say anything about that?

Travis: Uh, yeah, I think january like 2018. They're coming out 2018 So january january 1st, I could have them for christmas.

Robin: Well after christmas you get my point for the year.

Travis: Yeah Um, yeah, no, so yeah, it's definitely it's a uh, it's funny They they looking at them So like looking at the evolution of the pilot road threes versus the road fours versus on the road fives Um, it's kind of neat to look at and see that they've got these Sort of deeper bigger pockets. Um, they almost remind me of the anarchy threes the dual sport tire Okay, um, especially since they have this sort of 3d they call the 3d tread pattern. So the um, One of the really neat things about the road five or interesting things I guess uh is the the 3d tread pattern so the um, the big the bigger cuts are uh, sort of um, Trapezoidal like they're where you have the the deeper cuts in the tire They're wider at the bottom than they are at the top. Well, so that as you wear the tire down you get More cut so it does better at displacing water.

Robin: That's what I was going to say. They don't ever in in the history of this particular model, they don't do They don't release a new version of this tire until the science proves them The to them that whoa, this has got to happen Every version of this tire in my opinion has been better than the previous now. I've got friends that say I don't know. I like the pr2s they last longer or I feel no difference between them But i'll honestly say that I felt like the pr3s were better than the twos the fours than the threes And so on and so forth. I would imagine that these are going to be excellent if not better I would I would assume that they're going to be better yet because they're they're just getting better and better at Steering and guiding rain away from your tire patch.

Travis: Yeah, I on i'd say on Arguably the best wet rip tire in my opinion in your opinion Yeah, and you can definitely get better dry weather tires. You can get sportier sport More sports aggressive soft.

Robin: Yeah Dry tires, but this is gonna be a three two compound with a hot center tread.

Travis: Yeah, so it's got the the more the more stable Harder center tread to for a better longevity um, what you mean is I mean, uh, you know metzler and continental have similar sort of technologies available, but Yeah, hands down the best wet weather tire and I think they've they just improved it with uh With the sort of 3d shred design i'm assuming that there was uh, looking at the they don't specifically mention it But i'm assuming that that they figured out some way to to do that sort of inside out Uh tread pattern. Yeah gets with a with a the the tread The tread cuts get wider as the tire wears down.

Robin: Yeah, it's inverted Oh, no, I see what you're saying. Sure.

Travis: So they actually become better Yeah, so like if you if you cut a tire in half And it's it's on that pdf the press release pdf you can see the the kind of upside down Pyramids like as you wear it down it gets wider to to displace more water

Tim: Wow, it almost looks like what they're doing It's like they're almost using like a routed a router type bit and doing machining after the tire is molded Is what it looks like to me?

Travis: Yeah, it looks like it's like a dovetail cut. So yeah Yeah, i'm not sure if that's like the casting they just figured out a way to make the casting mold and still release with that or if they um, if they don't go into the actual, uh Production process but yeah It's like it's like a dovetail cut into the tire so that as you wear the tire down the the the tread gets wider That is crazy.

Robin: It looks good, man. That's nuts.

Travis: But um, yeah, so that's a that's a uh, a very cool Uh, I mean we'll see I guess when they come out and uh, we get some review time in uh, but i'm sure Given their track record that these yeah, I think they said they they ditched the pilot name. Um To differentiate the sport touring tires from their more aggressive sport tires interesting

Robin: Well, it certainly it gives scrub them in a whole different meaning, you know, like Ride these things into the better

Travis: Yeah, I mean these you know these days too like modern sport touring tires don't have like a real scrubbing time because most most of the Major manufacturers aren't using any sort of releasing compound or even like uh Cotton animal has their cold chili design where like they come they come in the factory Ready to go.

Robin: Yeah, well i'd add more to the uh to the uh, messalamoto, but we're gonna run out of time here We've got a long podcast ahead of us in the production side

Travis: Yeah, exactly where the riding session.com Is always seeking sponsors for this podcast sponsors are given three focus mentions at the start middle and end of the designated episode And the contributions are put towards bettering the program's content and equipment

Robin: I'll take this opportunity once more to promote our next group riding tour, which is scheduled for spring of next year Dubbed the trip sevens tour seven riders will cover seven states in seven days starting in late april of 2018 It's a twisty sport touring getaway of epic proportions It really kind of is and we hope you'll sign up more information about that tour is available via the ridingobsession.com Visit the group tours link which is anchored under travel in our navigation menu. That's our episode for this month Tune in next time for more discussion on all things specific to sport touring or universal to motorcycling as a whole for the riding obsession I'm, robin dean. I'm travis burleson, and i'm tim clark safe travels everyone