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R. DeanMay 28, 2018TranscriptCommentShare

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Real World Riding

Listen in as we discuss the Husqvarna Vitpilen, a pre-tour shakedown and overextended weekends. Music by Otis McDonald. Download our feed here.

Transcript

As legible as we are intelligible ...

Travis: Oh, um, I mean, it might come up in the thing, but a friend, or rather an acquaintance, I guess, of mine just like Dove in to motorcycling like headfirst Was like I'm gonna ride motorcycles and took the class and bought a motorcycle Good friend She's cool. We've only hung out like once or twice By girl power. This is good. I asked her if she wanted to do an interview for the podcast and she said yes As a brand-new writer as a brand-new writer as a I got my license last week and I bought a motorcycle yesterday rider Oh my god, that sounds fantastic.

Robin: So do you want to do it? Can we put Margaret on it? What should we do it?

Travis: I mean, I'll probably if she's in Madison, so I'll probably interview her you do it.

Robin: All right I like this Okay, we've been through pre-recording notes it's time for the introduction

Travis: Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum Hello everybody, I'm Travis Burleson, I'm Tim Clark and I'm Robert Dean

Robin: Oops and this is the writing obsession podcast

Travis: Today we'll be talking about overbooked weekends tire repairs and a pre-tour shakedown

Tim: This episode of the riding obsession podcast is sponsored by the ugly Apple Cafe of Madison, Wisconsin Where they use local overstock produce to offer a quick tasty breakfast

Robin: The writing obsession comm is always seeking sponsors for this podcast Sponsors are given the three focus mentions toward the start middle and end of their designated episode their contributions are put towards bettering the program's content and recording equipment, but What really matters? I'll take this opportunity to promote our next group riding tour Which is scheduled for late summer of this year dubbed the trip sevens tour Seven riders will cover seven states in seven days starting September 1st of 2018 It's a twisty sport touring getaway of epic proportions And we hope you'll sign up more information about that tour is available via the writing obsession comm Visit the group tours link, which is anchored under events in our navigation menu And now under recent happenings and feature segments Travis. How's your month going good?

Travis: Why we'd mentioned the trip seven story you and I did the trip seven advanced tour I don't know if we're gonna do a separate thing all about that noise once we get our poop in a group Because we recorded little podcast segments at the end of each day or sometimes at the beginning of the next day as well as images and video so much video like 170 gigabytes of data for the whole thing that we need to go through and put all that together That's gonna take a little bit of production time Just So briefly on that it was awesome. It was like eating ice cream for every meal every day To the point where I remember when we were rolling in the Warm Springs, Virginia I'm just waiting to get to the inn where we're staying and it's like oh, there's more twisty Mountain Road There's there's 60 more miles of switchbacks and mountain vistas Was that that was day two?

Tim: Yeah?

Robin: Oh that sounds delightful You know, it's just it was just non-stop all day and it was it was a lot but it was fun Yeah, dude, I prefer the advanced version But the mere mention of it as you started it just makes you tired Gives me it gives me the giggles. Yeah gives me the freaking giggles.

Travis: I'm just like Yeah, it was it was so I mean you want to talk about getting your Getting your groove back and getting your feel back for the bike at the beginning of the season. That'll do it It's just like seven days of switchbacks It was it was fun Along that tour, which we'll cover. I think it might have been on the Instagram. I posted it outside of the Daniel Boone National Forest I picked up a 4-inch socket extension in my back tire Impressive they were pictures of it, which I think happened right before we got to the hotel. It must have there's no way I would have gotten far with that in my tire And I just put a regular roadside, you know Rope plug in it and it made it through the next day of Down for all the way across Kentucky and the next day Doing highway speeds all the way up the state of Illinois and that was fine. But when I got home I did a plug patch kit So I ordered a set On Amazon and just kind of and got some vulcanizing rubber compound and pulled pulled the tire off pulled the rope plug out and then clean cleaned up the hole and roughed up the surface and put the vulcanizing rubber cement on it and Add the plug patch in and patched it up

Robin: Really so what I remember it to be it's like a mushroom shape that compresses again you the air pressure compresses it against the internal

Travis: Yeah, so it's it's Yeah, it's kind of like a mushroom. So it's like you have a patch they've around, you know Inch and a half two inch circle of flat material and in the center of it is a four inch long rubber You know quarter inch thick like rubber plug And then it tapers down at the end and has a steel rod at the end so you can feed it through the hole and so you just you put the rubber compound on it and you let it dry and then the the plug patch s has like a softer sort of adhesive rubber on the outside of it and you plug it in and you You grab the metal part and you pull it and you stretch it through the hole and it stretches out and snaps back and then you take a pressure wheel and you work the patch in and then you snip it off and let the glue dry and it's It's fixed and it hasn't lost any air since so I mean it didn't lose any air with the rope plug in it But this is this is way more stable

Robin: And a lot more affordable than what another hundred and thirty dollar tire.

Travis: Yeah, and I went on Amazon and I got like a 20 pack of them For like 10 bucks. I got like the smallest box of them I could find and then I went to just like Autozone or O'Reilly's and got got a can of the vulcanizing rubber cement Which was like six bucks and now I know I can fix like anybody's tire.

Robin: It's like I have so much of it Both of us had tire issues I don't know if I've ever been on a tour with a Tim Tim knows remember Tom Burns from the first iteration of the 777 tour. He had to get a new tire. That's right I had to get a new tire mid-trip this time and Travis picked up a tool in his wheel Yeah, which we there are photos and and Drinks next to it.

Tim: I still have a hard time understanding how you managed to push that through the damn tire It's not a sharp thing. Is it no one it's blunt, right?

Travis: it's cuz yeah, cuz I mean, it's not even really like It's like it's almost looks like it's homemade almost so it's it's a it's like four inches long Like a quarter inch shaft in like the and it's not actually like a socket extension The end is a socket like it's just like a really weird driver socket Oh, the other end is square and it almost looks like someone shaved it down to fit it into it was sharp at the edge Well, yeah, like the edges of the square was sharp, but it wasn't like pointy. It was square It was it was like it was like a socket driver, but like as someone's ghetto homemade socket driver Um, yeah, it was it was weird that you just reminded me that I should upload the picture of it next to the beer Yeah This guy Stainless steel handlebar bolts. Yeah, so when I so in preparation for the tour I I put I adjusted the handlebars. I mean with there's I think we talked about in the last podcast I put I'd put a set of pro tapers on that were actually weren't as tall as the stock Honda's I Ended up taking those out and playing the stock ones back on but still using all of the spacers and the bike master Bar riser kit, which I don't think you're supposed to use all of them at once That's what I did but the bolts were so little shorter than I wanted in the beam So before the trip, I got a set of bolts that would go in that were long enough from Fastenal But they were just hardened steel. They were they weren't and when we did that whole day across, Kentucky in the rain They just started rusting and like yeah and weeping rust all over my handlebars.

Robin: They're black painted steel weren't they? Yeah That's what did it. I've got those on the Hawk GT and they just rust like nothing.

Travis: Yeah, they rush super fast so the I got a set of I ordered from one of this Packer fastener here in Madison a set of The replacements that are stainless and put those in and as well as this I custom ordered a set remember when my was in North Carolina, maybe when my handguard like that the bar end bolt fell off or it loosened up and fell out and The the handguard and the bar end and the bolt swung down because the handguard was still attached further in on the handlebar But somehow they stuck around but somehow the bolt and the bar end weight stayed in place even though there was nothing holding them there Other than like their own friction. I wasn't threaded together or anything.

Robin: I'm saying they hung out.

Travis: They were chillin surprising Yeah, it's a dice roll Because with the bar end or with the handguards in and I was using the stock screw They was only maybe getting a quarter inch of purchase on the threads, maybe So I custom ordered a set of those that were like 15 mil longer that are really screwed in now So that's done.

Robin: Those things are in place now. They're like solid. Yeah.

Travis: Yeah, they're not gonna come out. So So that's a little bit of modification had to do post tour I mean, I say the only thing about doing the the patch plug is you need to you need to pull the tire off It's not something. Yeah, not something you can do side of the road.

Robin: You're right. I thought it'd be great Tim What do you think about this? There's got to be a way like to invent a product where you can actually insert the mushroom From outside the tire and then have it come back like like those things the wall anchors, you know, I'm talking about Yeah, I'm imagining something like you blow it up like a balloon or something Yeah, and then seal against its own glue or something.

Travis: Yeah, I mean there are There are products out there that are more robust than your standard rope plug stuff But Other than that, I mean, I don't know if there's anything that is that's gonna be as As robust as just putting it in from the inside the tire.

Robin: Sure.

Travis: Yes There are but there are there are better products out there. I mean, I've seen them I think might be my BMW had some that were kind of mushroom shaped that were all rubber not the fibrous rope stuff They seemed like they're a little more a little more robust They were like a mushroom shaped Oh That makes sense.

Robin: I don't I don't know if your Beamer has that tire kit in it or not Not built in I've got I've got just a basic Torx toolkit of sorts.

Travis: Okay, so it doesn't come it didn't come with a Repair a tire repair No, no.

Robin: No, I've got my own tire plugs.

Tim: Okay It would be nice if I could Get away with just a plug kit for my bike, but I've got tubed tires Mm-hmm. So I have Carrying both a front and back tube.

Robin: Yes and a two-patch kit Not many people know this Tim You're gonna have to explain to the world that basically the Africa twin comes with a second bike built into your bike It's the Gemini twin Gemini twin What else is news?

Travis: Oh, I got I ordered a set of gold Gold valves race tech gold valves.

Robin: So you haven't installed them yet.

Travis: They're still I have not another here. I have them They just haven't put them in yet Okay, I can help you with that.

Tim: Are you gonna be changing the springs while you're in there?

Travis: I think it's fine I don't like the spring load. I think the spring I mean we can check the sag on it But I think the spring weights fine Seems to be to me not that I know there's adjustable about no They're not adjustable. No apparently apparently you can either get the caps from the CB 1100 or Cheap Chinese knockoffs that give you a preload adjuster Okay Some guys on the forum have done that But the yeah, I think the spring rates fine For me, um, it's just a you know, it's damper rod.

Robin: So there's like not There's too much fast compression damping and not enough rebound damping Yeah I'm not gonna challenge you on that because if there's anything I ever wanted to do is either lose you when you were behind me or Keep up with you when you were in front of me. It didn't seem like you were having any trouble with that bike whatsoever

Travis: Yeah It could just be smoother on like those it's things it's those fast square bumps Where there's there's too much compression damping so it jars the bike because the forks can't actually move fast enough So that's what I'm hoping the remedy with the the race tech valves Is that when you hit that fast bump the valve opens up and it lets the oil through faster and it lets your spring compress Let's your fork compress faster And then you just and then yeah, and then it'll you can help with the Valving and the holes help mitigate Slow down the rebound a little bit because that's the other thing is like it there's not enough rebound damping With the the damper rod, so you get that kind of springy Like it comes back a little too fast and the last thing is like I went on the the face balls there and I got found some moped riders in Madison and Trying to get a Moped gang going so there's a couple of guys that I've met that I've only met a handful of them one guy I knew from before There's a couple but like some of the guys have like collections They like this guy this one guy Chris has Like like 15 bikes in his apartment and various states of assembly and running and some of these like well, he said like someone will do 60 and These are like these are pedal mopeds and some of them have like race clutches and like CVT pulley system And stuff on them and crazy. He's got one. That's like French and like Belgian and Dutch it's like weird stuff So it should be I like it should be a fun group to hang out with and buzz around like a little swarm of angry bees doing 30 miles an hour But that should be that should be good time yeah

Robin: Are you gonna are you gonna try to earn your colors and what is this gang called we haven't I don't know

Travis: Though um Laurel not today, but we were driving past the big arena here in town and they have a carnival set up for brat fest this weekend mm-hmm, and you know they have the The slide, you know the super slide we go down on the burlap sacks. Yeah, three bumps And we were saying it would be fun to make some like some vests out of burlap sacks or some Michael jackets And then make a gang called the burlap riders And you're like just hang around the super slide all day like yeah, we're the you think you got what it takes to ride the super slide We're the burlap riders.

Jason: Oh, you got a rub burn.

Travis: We got some ointment for that you know We don't care we get the ointment you know it's your butt your back to the knees Make you know the burlap riders, so maybe Burlap riders, maybe I'll try incorporate that to the moped gang. We'll see well. It's been a good time What you're making model are we focused on today, so I'm talking I'm gonna talk about what every other motorcycle For publication outlet is talking about and that's the new 2018 Husqvarna Vitpilen and Svartpilen What a bike is this am I looking at the right bike here the 701 and the 401 Yes, it's a 701 or 401 and they're like these weird. It's like IKEA made a motorcycle. It's just weird like Danish Scandinavian design Seriously, who makes the motor? KTM, so it's the the underpinnings are all KTM Duke, it's the exact same. I love it It's basically a Duke 390 and a Duke 690 with like IKEA or like Danish furniture slapped on top of it And the motors like it's it's like trellis and suspended motor at the same time. Yeah Yeah, so it's a trellis frame with a stressed motor member.

Robin: I mean, it's it's it's exactly like the Duke 390 and 690 Wow, I Like you so is it what's the entry-level price? I mean, is it like a cheapo bike? No I think they're 12,000 they're okay like that. So IKEA sure as hell didn't make that.

Travis: Yeah, they're they're designer bikes It comes with a lot of cookies, right?

Tim: So if you're looking for a pure performance like you're gonna get more bang for your buck out of like the FCE 07 or 09 Yeah, I mean Yeah, the FCO 709 are definitely bang for your buck of value This is the coffee shop I want a really pretty bike.

Travis: Yeah, and to it's like the 701 Yeah, so the 701 is $12,000 And especially let's see. What's the the KTM? 690 Let's see.

Tim: It's pretty close. I think I think that was around Something I was drooling over that bike for a while 690 yeah the Duke 690 No, I was looking at the the enduro.

Travis: Oh the 690 enduro. Yes There is a guy that does that Works over here by the the streets department Near me and has a 690 enduro, which again is the same motor. I think it's a different frame and everything though for the enduro I think so Let's see if I can find a Price here on this. Well, yeah, there's so like the the Vitpilen 701 is $12,000 which is a lot like it's you buy it because it's pretty it's it's like the Swedish Harley-Davidson Like it reminds me of my hawk because it's a naked sport bike. It's a forward profile posture But that's that's a pretty everything it's got that funky tank and like the chopped-off tail with the little rear hugger guy Yeah, so Here we go. See so the Duke this is maybe last year's Duke 690 is $9,000 so it's a pretty big premium I think this year's is a little more expensive because the Duke also has the has a TFT dash on it now Which the Vitpilen does not have the TFT dash which is one of those things where it's like It's $12,000.

Tim: It doesn't have a full color dash Was like a gold with black backdrop, yeah, that's funny. Yeah, it's just like your regular, you know LCD kind of thing John well, if the advantage is that you can get a KTM that is not orange Yeah, that's true I mean, it looks super grand extra, right? You can they do do Cheaper than that.

Travis: There's also have someone strip it down to the frame and repaint the orange frame Yeah for the other strip $2,000 there's also they do is the smart pill in which is black and Has it's kind of a scrambler version of it. So it's got like not the low clip-on bars It's got kind of riser bars and like a tank rack on it, which seems like it was pretty cool But there's like other obviously you can get spoked wheels and a bunch of options and stuff for these But they come in the 401 and the 701 I've read the 401 is cheaper, but I still I'm not sure exactly what the MSRP is on that But yeah, what do you guys think is it like worth is it like a cool styling exercise or is it

Tim: I think it's not worth 12 grand. I like the way it looks and It's a lightweight Around town bike that I think would be fantastic.

Travis: Yeah

Tim: If you are using it as a commuter, that'd be a great bike

Robin: Sure, I'd actually weekend it between my place and your guys's houses I would ride that up there and like cruise around I'd Bosco Bella

Travis: Yeah, so this here's a link to the the smart pill in as well

Robin: It is spell that smart

Travis: A submission means black black arrow as opposed to white arrow But it's got like knobby tires and spoke wheels and handle it's kind of like the scrambler version of it Which you just link me in chat. I got on that's linked in the one in the in the live doc. Yeah, the That's mean and that has pictures of the original smart pill in in it too in the article But it's like when you start comparing it so the vit pill in the 401 is 63 for the 401 Okay, which is almost half the price of the $12,000 701 All right. So actually for like six three compared to like the KTM That's the o7 That's that's fairly reasonable. That's pretty that's pretty The 401 is pretty reasonable and makes reasonable I mean the 701 it's gonna make more power that that co7 is gonna make more power the mt Oh seven gonna make more power, but it's not gonna look as pretty and that's what this these are all about looking pretty I'd rather have the 1959 silver pill in all the classic one the old one.

Robin: Yeah, I'd rather have that. Oh sure 9.5 horsepower. I'll take it. That's that that's the one for me Yeah

Travis: Mm-hmm, but those are those are like the the new hot ticket and there's I mean they're expensive but they're pretty so if that's your if that's your thing if you're a if you live in Portland and you Own a tech company and you make too much money for some reason and you want to look good on your way to the organic free trade coffee Artisanal denim store then There you go. That's the bike for you. Oh My goodness, that's hilarious. So on that note Tim, what are you been up to?

Tim: Oh It has been a busy busy month I Put the crash bars on the Africa twin and that went pretty smoothly The interesting thing they're beefy. There's crazy beefy They are the most rugged ones that I could find say if I am going to fall over and drop this damn bike I don't want it to You know punch a hole in the engine case or something silly or you know what?

Robin: I hope you do many times and that you don't get hurt and the bike doesn't get hurt and that you do it with a Smile.

Tim: Yes, you know I'm saying. Oh, yes The interesting thing about is when I got the thing bolted up and went for a ride. I noticed the harmonics of the engine change a little bit I Made the front end of that bike so rigid I think that now it's picking up a little higher vibration at about 4,000 rpm It's absorbing it or is it like conveying it conveying? Yeah, I'm feeling it more in the pegs more in the handlebars so I tried to I took them back off and I managed to cut up a Inner tube. Yes and took little strips and put them in between some of the mounting places yeah, like rubber washers exactly and that definitely damped it down and It is Within comfort now. It is still a little bit more Still a little bit more vibration than I had before and I haven't put the big Way rugged skid plate on yet that that's gonna happen in the next couple nights here Once you put that on it's gonna turn into like a vibrating bed Magic fingers, yeah Sounds great for the first couple hours All right, I sold the 500 X Congratulations, my friend. Thank you very much. My crazy overblown Craigslist ad actually worked Mm-hmm. Wait, what? I don't think I read.

Travis: I don't know who's your Craigslist dad.

Tim: You didn't see my Craigslist dad No, I had like these what? Probably Magazine quality photos. Oh, you're to it as I never seen photos Yeah, you know this beautiful sunset. There's one where it's on this dirt road With dappled sunlight next to a cliff That's all that's over the top. It was it was crazy over the top. It was great and the lady that bought it said that the photos were part of What sold her on the bike This it was some it was clearly she was buying it from someone who loved the bike and rode the hell out of it and when Her boyfriend showed up to test-drive it a couple nights before she showed up as she lives down in Chicago He showed up on the street version of the 500.

Travis: Well, they're all kind of street versions, but the yeah The CBR 500 are the CB.

Tim: Yeah, that's a different animal man. Yes the fared one So he knew what the bike was. I Let him ride it. I actually let him through a guided tour of my neighborhood and He loved it But he was worried about the super stiff rear shock Mm-hmm. I said no problem.

Robin: I can swap that out if you are really serious about this and You know, it's only gonna take an hour or so now a lot of people said that that is few and far between I Disagree unless did you do that so that they would test ride it? Like did you swap it out for the stock shock for the test ride? More did you say it did he buy it already and then you swapped it out?

Tim: They had pretty much committed to buy it with me saying I will swap it for you because no big deal No But the interesting thing that happened was that they came over and did the wrenching with me. That's pretty cool so I got a chance to like tear the bike apart explain it to him because I knew the lady didn't have a place to Work on the bike and hadn't had This was her first bike. Yeah, so she's ridden his 500. She's taking the motorcycle safety class and Yeah, so I got a chance to Walk them through like every little fine point on the bike tell them exactly what's good. What's bad? Basically Not that bad. It was it was really nice to see them excited about it. That's cool. And I Did the oil change for them as well now you're getting a little bit more like Like buy me a freaking sandwich, you know, right It was a little over-the-top, but I was enjoying myself.

Robin: I enjoy wrenching on the bikes Anyways, I love wrenching and I think that the people that I've heard respond to the fact that you've done that I think that they are people that don't necessarily like to wrench But me personally I asked you if you ever heard it all because I'm gonna you know Eventually, I'm gonna have to do the same thing with the bandit, right? And honestly, I think I'll just be like, you know, it makes sure she gets water at the right hours You know and make sure you know, she really likes to have you know, cough suppressant in your food at like 7, you know Doesn't matter what it is. I'm gonna be crying about my baby going out the door, but I'm also gonna that's a heavy That's a heavy stupid pig that I'm done with You know and you're looking at yours like that's a lightweight thing that I could ask a lot more of and I it's got to go Yeah, it was a bike that if I was to hold on to it and throw another three thousand dollars of parts at it Problematically, would you like right?

Travis: Do the full rally raid? Absolute version on it.

Tim: Yes that Speaking of rally move on Tim moving on moving on Yes, we went to the BMW rally I was using this as the shakedown for my big trip coming up next month so it was me showing up with three weeks worth of gear to an overnighter basically and Everything worked pretty well. I added a couple things to my shopping list. I I Had the my nice. I caught was too high for my tent so it was up at a level that it hit the walls on be there either side so I could take the Extension legs off of the cot to lower it down. So it was only six inches up Did that work? I never really did ask you it did it worked just fine comfortably and when I got home I cut the Elastic cords that are holding the legs on And they will not be coming with me on the trip Weight saved you're gonna win the race. Yes Yes This weekend is going to be a trip to Michigan with my girlfriend We are gonna go around the north side of the lake up through the you I missed that part I didn't know you were going like yes Yes, we are going to a family event for her That is on Monday afternoon that Gives us two and a half days of riding.

Robin: Well, you're fine.

Tim: Oh, yes This will give us a chance to see how she does multiple days in a row on the back of the bike and Gives us a chance to figure out Where we're putting all the stuff for the both of us How many miles in one day? Are you covering with her? I think 300 is going to be about the limit Will you be constantly at speed 60 ish for most of it, yes There are a couple Gravel roads, of course that I'm going to want to explore in the up Some things that I remember being really fun When I was on a smaller bike, it couldn't go as fast when you're on that What the dr 650 you bought from a guy after your TTR blew up? That's right That is right Yes The one with the blown suspension.

Travis: Mm-hmm Well riding a DR is running a dr. 60 with a blown suspension is probably kind of like an africa twin to up with luggage Exactly speaking of which I Ordered a new shock for the twin.

Tim: I showed up Friday night to the rally So on the way to the the rally The back end just felt like crap It was wallowin It was wallowing around in the corners. I knew I was just sitting on the bike with my luggage. I'm through Probably 70% of the travel on that bike. So now I've got a hafrica twin with the suspension travel of a Harley Get africa twin chopper, right Not what I was looking for. And when I put the girlfriend on is gonna be Unreasonable and I will veil Verify that this weekend. I know So I ordered that shock I think at about 615 the next morning before I had gotten out of the tent and gotten my morning morning coffee 10 with a 615 in the morning. Yes. What time did I wake up again?

Robin: 730 maybe and I walked up to get coffee and you were talking very quickly and he said hey, by the way By the way, I spent how much was it eleven hundred and fifty bucks Did you get Nolan's I Did you got the Olin's man? Yes, and like that's it that by the way That's the exact same price as my Penske on the bandit.

Tim: Okay, I Don't feel too bad about that There was a little bit of a hang-up on the ordering process the one that I ordered when they did the stock check It wasn't on the shelf So I ordered the next spring rate up and they do their spring rates in like 20-pound capacities increments so the one that I chose was Enough for me plus 20 pounds to accommodate me riding by myself with the bike back down mid racks and Yes, so the racks the crash guards plus me About two to seventy well guys

Robin: Let me step in here because you both know that I'm bad at a lot Robin can be bad at a lot. But if there are two things I'm good with suspension and I'm good with tires so Next time I'm up there. I would like to get up there before you have your tour Let me see if I can tune it for you with you both on it in a way where you are both Extremely happy about it. Oh, yes Not just the calculator that we have on the site We have a really good calculator on the site that will help you calculate your sag But I like the the actual rebound and compression damping that would be really nice I would really like to help with that I would like to at least have a chance to get it wrong and then we can adjust it as you need.

Tim: Yes Now what's this social media testing? Well, this was me getting the Access to the Instagram.

Robin: Oh god, they're the writing obsession yes, I must I'm also gonna give you the login for the YouTube because For the for the listeners out there Tim isn't Tim's an eloquent human being who's perfectly capable of writing But the man don't have time So he doesn't he doesn't write articles for the site. He's busy with other things. Not that he couldn't he just can't he couldn't He could but he can't so the point is that he's always posted the videos and the photos and all that Stuff plus you got an eye for photography. So I think I'm gonna get you a login for the the YouTube as well So we'll give you your own playlist since we are a sport touring site.

Tim: Not an ADV site Tim Okay, whatever The the funny thing is that I have such a small amount of patience for post-production that most of my photos are Posted straight from the camera. I'm not fussing with them at all So or if you do see an edit it is It is probably just a couple clicks run through a couple processes and then done so The video edit for this morning was along the same thing that took five minutes to put together It was a good there was a good video though Oh, but it was five minutes of work right which feels might feel like a lot when you're doing it. Yeah Yeah, it was it took more time to look to look at all the videos and say and Highlight the little segments that I wanted to take So, yes The plan is to be able to do all that stuff on the fly on the trip with just my phone Yeah, and yeah, that's simple as better, right? Right and then rather than having this big mass of media like you guys had and Being a week a couple weeks before it gets out I'm not trying to I'm not trying to criticize that same thing.

Robin: It happened to me Travis has a web server of information Right. It's hard to write right now Yeah, it's like welcome to Google Drive of video for one event.

Travis: Welcome to 40 hours of Yes Shaky video shaky video. Oh That's good. Okay, cut out and did you four hours of the day?

Robin: Did you find 80 is 80 on there?

Travis: Yeah, I don't know where we found.

Tim: I don't know All right some so my hope is to Get the video Spend it and spend a couple minutes at the end of the night throw some clips together upload it whenever I get a signal and Keep you guys informed as the thing happens We'll be watching or as close as I can. We're gonna be we're gonna be playing bird's-eye trap Yeah, we may need to sit. We may need to problem-solve for Tim yes, and this thing is really happening the Airplane tickets have been purchased. You getting freaked out.

Travis: Oh Yes, just quite a bit. Just don't break your leg in the next two weeks No, I don't knock on wood.

Tim: Oh, please.

Robin: No knock on wood.

Tim: No, no, no So yes, and there are two hotels booked and a ferry It is gonna don't mess. Yeah This is awesome, yes this last weekend at the rally I was Trying to restrain myself as much as possible and stay safe, and I still ended up seeing Mostly on the ride there and the ride back so many critters including three goats Three goats, that's right. Go Yeah, that was within ten miles of each other There was the kid on the ATV in my lane coming over a blind crest that swerved out of the way and nearly flipped the thing a Squirrel that I really came close to hitting a cow on the wrong side of the fence just Four feet off the road. It's great grazing. He looked up as I went by him stay

Travis: And

Tim: Then like you're looking for yeah, so then three goats walking across the road the fourth one just kind of looking at him going So told you that was a bad idea to cross about looking Told you Yes, it was a good reminder that I was in southwest, Wisconsin and I needed to be on my toes

Robin: Yeah, yeah, yeah you were riding mellow I noticed it because Yeah, you know you laid back behind our friend Neil Yeah You didn't aggress anything which normally we wouldn't say that word aggress. We usually say assert. Yes But you weren't there was no Travis had a term from our tour of the 777 tour You'll hear it a lot. The term is red mist Every now and then he and I would see blood in in the air and we would just attack earth with motorcycles Yeah, you're like you're like I've seen Tim do that There was just have we did the afternoon and you're just like I'm tired.

Travis: I'm gonna take it easy curve

Robin: What Tim did not do that he did I will do that

Tim: There will be a little bit of video posted that shows me right up Neil's butt It was when I finally decided I was going to stop trying to ride the twin like a Sport bike and start riding it like a dirt bike

Robin: But you do kind of situated yourself for that that scenario because you know riding behind Neil He's he's fast when he's when he if he sees the red mist he's gone.

Tim: Yeah, and with that bike He certainly could outrun me Yeah, that thing's kind of a monster of engine.

Robin: It's a beast, but I don't know Oh the 1600 Yeah, all right. I was I was two up on the r1200 RS. Yeah, I was I was up there just like Dehypnotized I was eight feet off his rear tire and you were a dot in the distance for all those videos Yeah, probably better for legal purposes and contractual truths Well, so, okay. You've been holding the fort here Tim the new kit what you got?

Tim: All right, the new kit today is looking at the climb fuel pack is a hydrated hydration pack That is as bare-bones as it gets. It's a backpack that holds water and That's it. Hold on. Can I do it?

Robin: Can I do the commercial do it do it do it? Climbs fuel pack was born from off-road and cross-country races looking for a large capacity hydration system in a minimal pack With three liters of fluid capacity on board and multiple hydration port routing options The fuel delivers maximum hydration versatility in a low-profile pack low-profile hydration pack Main compartment accommodates up to three liter hydration bladders three liter climb hydro pack hydration reservoir included internal zippered pocket for accessories for hydration hose exit ports to top and to bottom Minimal soul straps with mesh padding adjustable sternum strap with rescue whistle buckle fuel gauge clear view Act shows hydration level Fluid level reflective hits for increased visibility YKK heavy-duty zipper size 3 inches by 7 inches by 17 inches, you know, I just thought of that right off the cuff, you know

Travis: It's the rescue whistle that really sells it.

Tim: I Am such a climb fanboy. I know it I admit it they make good stuff, but this was really a surprise because it was exactly what I wanted and It was 50 bucks, yeah, I mean that that's that's how much like a camelback costs exactly That is your baseline camelback. So this has a lot of features not it's got a rescue whistle Come on now But this is because you know, I've got I'm going to be on the bike for a long time. I'm not going to be carrying anything but water on my back Because you don't want Anything on there to fatigue you Your bike is gonna hate you.

Robin: Yeah right Sorry Beer, yes Yes, anyone who's ridden all day with a heavy backpack knows.

Tim: It's a bad idea Yeah.

Travis: Yeah. Well, I mean if you're carrying all that that water on your back You might want to think about that guy Hold on what stretch house is linking us more is in the content of the chair.

Robin: I'm afraid to click on your It's in the it's in the document the live doc.

Travis: Oh, yeah the urine device External catheter. Well, you know the nice thing on a bike is you don't need to have a bag you can Yeah, you just leave that on the road just have a little tube that runs down to down under the bottom of you're at the end of your pants and yeah, just kind of relax, you know, I Started trying to laugh for the listener, but as the writer I think fuck.

Robin: Yeah The gee whiz condom catheter design gives freedom and confidence to men with urinary incontinence if there's anything a motorcyclist has its post-pucker urinary and

Travis: Well, just so you don't to stop you don't to stop on the side

Tim: You can just kill you can let it go and keep it and I don't ride or but I agree on a hot day It makes such a difference to be able to sip a little bit of water every couple minutes You're gonna sweat that out most of the day. It's surprising how much Water gets pulled out of you Even if you're not don't feel like you're sweating. You're losing a lot of water on the bike my new catcher hit segment and I am already having trouble speaking. So let's pass this on to you Robin What are you up to this week month? What? Articles, are you publishing on the site? What's going on?

Robin: First off ruckus nine-day ride with Travis We will document it. It will be a separate podcast I think that we've got some some like it's like when kiss made all of our own independent records You know, I mean like Travis and I got a document in our own podcast of that route And then I'm telling you right now that Tim may need to do his own podcast solo And just recite from a personal prerogative everything you saw while he was on his ride But the the nine-day tour it's a seven-day tour But you got it. You got a factor in a day to get there and a factor in a good day to get home Travis who is you know, technically he's a he is a a Veteran writer for the site kept on calling it. Well now we're on day three. No, dude, we haven't even started the route yet And Even before we got to this before we even got to the start of the route I went through my hometown. I was like, let's gangster roll through my hometown I'm gonna ride my r1200rs through Canal Winchester, Ohio Peace Canal Winchester and I went to my I it's a rural town I grew up in a rural house outside of a rural town And I was like, let's go by the old let's say the country roads, right I ended up dirt biking the r1200rs on accident when I went over a hill into a 10 like a 15 mile an hour turn That because I was 10 to 13 year old 13 years old when I originally wrote it. I was like, well, I'm BMX bikes. That's one thing but now I'm going 40 on a 600 pound motorcycle I Ended up riding into it like a ditch and riding up over the site catching some gravel picking up the bike got air and landed It back on the freakin pavement That was still that was still before we got to the start of the route I mean we had begun, you know, so that that's the first thing we'll get into that. It was it was as spiritually Inspiring and exhausting simultaneously as our trip to the Pacific Northwest was Travis man, it was a pleasure.

Travis: I can't thank you enough for being with me for that trip It was it was it was so much fun It was definitely not that there weren't high points of the Pacific Northwest trip But this was just like the roads were amazing every day.

Robin: This was different. I've learned a thing or two

Travis: It wasn't it wasn't driving across, Nebraska

Robin: Go to the next green silo All right, so it did that That this is how get ready cuz that's that was just the start My wife and I bought My wife and I bought a 33 foot toy hauler a carbon 337 it's being built for us right now It's a 19 that is not yet constructed with a few customizations in the name of our next step in life we also bought a 2015 Ford f-350 to tow it These are big changes that are terrifying for me I don't know if I'm gonna succeed in this noise, but that's the next step on the list and then You know the trucks in my driveway today for the first time I a little bit more newsy. I attended before that BMW rally with Tim I attended a moto vid track skills 101 course to review it For an article I'm writing about their curriculum they're sort of Developing for the better. They've been growing in very positive directions. So I I'm I would consider based on their numeric structure I would consider myself a 201 writer as with the person that I was writing with in my review But I took the 101 course as a quote-unquote customer to Sort of process what they're delivering and Express in their favor What it is they have to offer. It was a real pleasure. I had a good time for starters Just to begin with they are one coach to three riders That's unheard of I'd never get that. I've never seen that anywhere else one coach to three riders That's the most personal track day experience I've ever seen.

Tim: Yeah, that's very intimate That's a lot of individual attention Yeah, Jason here.

Robin: I'm I'll give him do mention that guy not messing around Not messing around. He is uh, he's quick. I kept up with him. It didn't you know, it was cool I didn't it was a good time. I was not I was always right on him sometimes mistakenly Like when you're not supposed to pass an entire group of riders, so you pass all four of them. That was not Yeah I didn't get yelled at it was a no-no, but I was told that it was a miscommunication between the person who invited me to be there and and and myself but he was humorously impressed with the consistent The consistency of where I was in terms of hey, man, follow my line. Okay That's what I did it was a good time, you know, he is a formidable and impressive rider It was a good time. He's actually started up a new curriculum called a real world speed street skills And we're gonna be documenting some some text on that it's an amazing structure if you go to motovid.com and Sign up for any of their events. Be sure to use the coupon code or discount code It's MSF 2018 one word lowercase MSF 2018 to sign up for any of their stuff today You'll get a discount on on signing up After that, so, okay immediately after this event. I am fried. I have probably a little bit dehydrated I've had too much Sun and I immediately Jason convinced me to stick around for the duration of the event I was like ready to go earlier and he was like why don't you why don't you take a break and then do the next run which by the way my next run my vacuum petcock disconnected and I ran out of gas halfway into my first lap and had to get trucked out. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was awesome I I was height. I was just exhausted and was immediately Packing up to head to Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin from by was it? basically South Beloit to head to Soldiers Grove and meet up with Tim and Friends for a BMW rally. I was not well, I was not well I did it but now I know how much is too much for me personally. Yeah a track day followed by a rally. Nope And you we could tell that you were exhausted It was over. It was just there was I you know, I was angry I when you find yourself walking away from situations because you know, you're about to set the planet on fire With your friend with your friends and of course we had to tease you yes. Yes Although you know like I don't think I really got over the Exhaustion until days after I got back because you had posted some photos like man Can you find some photos that make me look like a little bit more respectable and you're like sure guy that posts Dumb noise every minute who makes a dumb face every time a camera's pointed at him I did catch a couple.

Tim: I got a couple of you looking normal Looking like a human being but the part of the problem was that I selected those photos on my phone in the unique cafe in Bosco Bell, so I can't tell if they're entirely in focus Said oh, here's my friends having fun. Click that picture and post it up. They're pretty good.

Robin: You knocked it out of park Nice. Thank you. And the only thing that's missing Because it is a that Instagram account in the YouTube account It belongs to all of us I think it's missing is those at least one nice shot of you with the Africa twin You got to include yourself in these events man, because you are there.

Tim: Okay. All right Yeah, I will have to I did hand the camera to you and you took a picture of me So I'll have to post that up.

Robin: Yeah now this this month's podcast. We have an interview So I'm gonna skip out on the whole article a month three through

Tim: Now on to our guest interview with field correspondent Margaret Dean aka magster Our latest interview features Jason Herrheim a moto vid instructor and head MSF rider coach for the Madison, Wisconsin area Jason's real-world speed street skills training curriculum incorporates some information provided at moto vid track events We highly recommend you sign up for the July 27th iteration of it by visiting moto vid comm slash product slash street dash skills

Jason: Hello How are you?

Maggie: Good? How are you?

Jason: Fantastic now that I figured out what machine is gonna turn on and ring and all that kind of stuff Okay Happy Friday Yeah. Oh my god on Memorial Day weekend. It's gonna three day everybody or at least normal people normal people So do you have do you have?

Maggie: Motorcycle II stuff going on for this weekend.

Jason: Oh, yeah, we have a What do you call it professional development workshop going on for the Wisconsin motorcycle safety program that I'm hosting at our Columbus location for the college so lots and lots and lots going on That's my Saturday and we'll see how Sunday and Monday go cool. So hopefully you'll get some writing in maybe I'm on the fence about riding at Road America on Monday So maybe go out and have a big smile on my face. That should be good.

Maggie: Yeah Let's start this. I'm here with Jason. Say your last name Herrheim Jason Herrheim that that'll work out just great Jason tell tell the folks a little bit about yourself what you do and Why you do it?

Jason: Well, let's I guess we'll cut it to how it relates to writing So I've been involved with rider training for going on 11 years now With just locally, you know, I got myself into the hey I can ride. Maybe I should help other people ride kind of thing So I've been involved with our local MSF program for a little over 10 years I've been in charge of our local MSF program at our college for a little over six years and then because I like MSF, but they move at what I will call a slow speed as they're part of their proving process, which is awesome I got involved with this company called moto vid and that is really allowed me to Do a little bit more on my on my terms Okay, that's that's kind of where this real-world speed thing came about But prior to that it was just motivated track days and we do that really well But we learned that we need to elevate our customer skill set. So we started doing more clinic slash educational opportunities

Maggie: Okay, so that's where this real world speed street skills comes in

Jason: Yes, that whole thing that clearly needs a different name someday It it works I've been you know told multiple times Jason's kind of a tongue twister I'm like, well maybe but we're getting our point across The real-world speed thing came really because we've been doing other clinics for some time and they're really successful And then you know being at the track days I see our regular customers come in usually with a friend or significant other and You know, we talk to people in the pits see how they're doing I see these people and some of them ride in and they tell me about what they're riding and they have a smile on their Face. My question is why aren't you on track with us? Enjoy it and then they point at something that's going really fast and they say we're not ready for that So real-world speed came about part of its because MSF really leaves their riding skills in the realm of Fundamentals, even though they call their class advance. It's they're not gonna lie It's a fundamentals class, but you got to call it a different name. Yeah, and it leaves us at parking lot speeds The techniques are elevated But it's parking lot speeds and the truth is you add an extra five to ten miles an hour to your average rider on a given Turn and they freak out because they've never done it before Which could be everybody's first time experience at their first turn on motorcycling. So real-world speeds idea Behind that is it's it's for customers. It wouldn't typically come to a track day It's for customers that aren't really interested in let's say the typical going fast and dragging a knee Which of course becomes a humbling experience if that's what you're into at a track day anyways But for the people that know that they're not for the people that ride two up because they ride with a passenger with little exception there are no two up classes available nationally and certainly none that I can find that are in a Closed environment a safe environment and at speeds you actually travel on the highway So that was one of the big criterion for I want to do this The other thing was I want to have all motorcyclists be able to do it So if you've got a motorcycle license and a we'll call it street worthy motorcycle two or three wheels But traditional motorcycles, so unfortunately that slingshot business is out But I got a class for you. It's not too fast And at the same time we elevate skills past what most people are doing on the street And we're not advocating that they should leave our class and then do all these things on the street. It's more to prepare you because if you respond Generally in the way you've been trained and if you didn't train for a situation Chances are you're gonna lock up and you're gonna wish you did something different later. So That's what I got so far.

Maggie: Okay, so it's definitely what you said. It sounds like it's a bridge between the fundamentals and and track Is this a class worth repeating like I mean do you find people repeat this particular class or there's no need like what you learned in this class then prepares you just for street and

Jason: if you want to go advanced, I would love to say that this is a Stepping stone class, but the truth is aside from fact, we've had a couple customers that have used it that way That wasn't the design in Real world speed. There is no I don't tell them. Hey, you know, you ought to come back and do a track day It's this is for customers that don't so here's some of the reasons some of the barriers were cutting down The number one barrier had to track days is that students that have never done it before number one cost. What's it cost me? Well truth is a track day is cheap and in Wisconsin where I live I like to tell our potential students that a track day will cost you less money than a 10 over speeding ticket in this state That's for starters. Wow But the the second barrier is well, I don't have one of those leather suits They're expensive That could be true We have two things for that for real world speed. I'm gonna meet you the way you ride. So I'm expecting boots Over the ankle, you know solid sturdy boots some pants that you wear in of course, we'd love to see motorcycle specific stuff textile or whatever, but trying to meet people where they are The only thing that I can't bend on for your average motorcyclist And this is some barriers is our insurance company wants people to have full face helmets on so For some folks that are half helmet wearers. They cringe a little bit and for those that I've got to come on board They love it. They're like this was totally worthwhile But and the other thing is you can bring a passenger you got to find somebody crazy enough to ride with you though We don't supply those And there's no extra cost. It's basically cost per bike but we make Passengers an active part of the training and really an active part of the feedback loop So they're kind of a big deal So those are kind of the things that we're doing for real world speed and I have had a couple customers in the real world Speed program that have gone through the paces and have made it through other curriculum One of which I know raced last weekend and but and that's awesome for him But that was not part of the program. That was not a hey you ought to do this This is for street riders that want to stay street riders and we want to give them a safe place to explore That's not with traffic And we take out all the dangers or at least as many as possible Okay, so can you maybe touch on a couple of things that are covered in the class that aren't aren't covered anywhere else? Why take this class?

Maggie: What is it that I could expect if I were to take this class, you know

Jason: If you're gonna come to our street skills class number one, we want to meet you at your skill set This is everybody's got to have a motorcycle license and just in having that I'm sure that you have experienced people that you've ridden with that in the road where you're kind of questioning Okay, you got a license, but you need a little bit extra help. Oh Yes, that's those are kind of the people that I'm there for I did when we ran this program at the Milwaukee mile I did have one person that was disappointed that I was not working on tight low speed u-turns. I'm sorry. I don't do that That's a whole different program but what but when we're talking about at speed going through a corner at 55 miles an hour or Approaching a corner at 55 miles an hour and reducing your speed to something that's appropriate for you. That's what we do there That's something I can't do in a parking lot and I don't care how big the parking lot is it's Way easier done in our situation in a lead follow kind of setup Some of the benefits are a three to one student to instructor ratio Feedback every time we come off track. We also have some off track drills that we go through So you're gonna get feedback every time you go through the drill for instance You know, we take the traditional control and then the stopping drills a little bit farther than most people will we'll start off with You know stopping from 40 miles an hour on up and that the on up part relates to how comfortable you are with your motorcycle There's no force. There's no if you don't hit this bar, you're out We want people to be there as long as they're being safe and predictable and on the the control speed is kind of how we open up our day with a little bit of weaving around and loosening your shoulders up and your head up and kind of relax because a lot of people that have come to this Class have never been to a racetrack before and yes, we teach it at a racetrack, but this has nothing to do with racing It's all about closed course and safety We need them to relax a little bit and remember that they love riding before we go out on track So those are some of the major things that are different and you put somebody you practice something and then go Okay now we're gonna go to up and then the rider realizes oh my there is a difference and how can we Close that that safety gap right there

Maggie: Do you offer real-world speed just at Blackhawk or at several different tracks different tracks?

Jason: No Blackhawk Farms is it for this year previously? We've done it at the Milwaukee mile with help from you P neighborhood and that was spectacular however That's not gonna work out this year. So we're gonna keep ourselves at Blackhawk Farms So July 27th is gonna be our real-world speed date. And that is a Friday We'll bring people in and We'll see about getting a second date off this year But right now I'm gonna tell you where it's gonna be a one-hit wonder for 2018 But in saying that this is gonna be the sixth time. I believe that we've run this program So it is not brand new by any stretch Okay Do you want to talk about some other? Courses worth taking through motive it or even through MSF, you know what we how there's so many I don't even know where where I'd end but Let's let me start with hitting on some of the differences or just to reiterate as far as what real-world speed will get you that I can't find anywhere else nationally. Okay, so if this exists, I'd love somebody to send me an email go Well Jason they do this here that cool and then I'm gonna say well somebody's coming along with the program But I looked at it. So two up is probably the biggest deal even though it's a racetrack We're in any type of motorcycle if somebody shows up with a PX 125 Honda scooter I'm gonna say come on in and we're going to invite them to be part of our class and that can mix in just fine With the young person whose parents just signed off on a leader bike Safe and predictable is what we're really going for and for our three wheel customers our customers It might be what you'd call Well-seasoned riders or people that are coming back into the program those people that say there's nothing you're gonna teach me in a parking lot I will go along with it and say okay. It's cool to think that way I'm not teaching you anything in a parking lot. Come on on the track and we want to learn that real-world speed and when we Talked about passengers and take the passengers aside because we do kind of split them up just briefly and say, okay I'm gonna give them assessment points to look at and think about Being able to be critiqued by your passenger at the end of the day for some maybe a little bit humbling We do work some relationship building in there, but hopefully we make everybody Everybody smoother by the end of the day So what I'm looking for is always is gonna be safe predictable and smooth at every level

Maggie: I think that's a good goal smooth is a good goal

Jason: Yes, and smooth is the last one specifically because nobody is It's something we all work towards and there's different levels of smooth so to speak Much different from a basic rider course where you may go to get your license and what we're expecting at the end of our street Skills class so beyond that from the Motovit experience Beyond real-world speed street skills. We've had a successful sport riding 101 class that's been going on for longer than I've been with Motovit and has worked out tremendously and Last year, we really started cutting our teeth on a new program for a 201 program for those customers It accomplished our 101 and want something more and then as a very fledgling program getting Getting off the ground. The very first time was the Friday that The last Friday of May 18th that we're at Blackhawk farms. We have a 301 Performance fundamentals class and I know I use the word fundamental and talking about MSF curriculum, but this fundamentals is really aimed at racers To fine-tune stuff and some of our well, I'll call it my more talented track day regulars that want more. Oh Okay, that makes sense So that's that's really our upper level of what's going on and the people that we put in charge of that are guys that are You know right right there knocking on what I will call Inside of 10% of where our lap record holder is at that sort of people I'm not one of them. I wish I was some days, but you know, we got a job to do So that that's that's what we have for Motovit Training as well as our regular track days, which for somebody who's never been to a track day before We put education as part of our entry-level track day as well Probably the most important thing we're gonna show everybody Demonstrate to everybody and expect of everybody is just simply the on and off track procedure and that that starts on day one If you are a beginner, we put you in a class with beginners and some people might repeat that class possibly four plus times until they choose to be ready to move on and then some people we tell you're ready and we just move them on but We're there to work with people and make sure they have a smile and shiny side up at the end of the day That's what we're going for.

Maggie: Okay, and What you're saying about 301 That makes sense because I I saw three of your course instructors Observing the 301 class during their lap times and they were I mean very intensely discussing that particular Lesson, and if they were getting it, I mean every time a group of writers went by they were listening They were watching they were talking intently about whether they were getting it. I thought that was interesting

Jason: Yeah, the 301 level really Really starts to deal with the minutiae of breaking a lap down and all of the things you're doing and where you're doing it And even though we've only been able to do this at Blackhawk Farms all of these classes that we have They're not limited to just your experience at Blackhawk Farms of course, we expect these skills to in real world speed obviously go ride have fun be on the street, but 101 201 301 those should all be able to be Used If the customer were to come to us at Road America Or if they want to make a trip out to California and do one of those bucket list tracks Same stuff.

Maggie: We wanted to put those skills to use You've talked about real world Speed and why it's it's a good idea to to do it in a safe environment on the track and not in a parking lot Is there any thought to? Ever taking that into the street.

Jason: Is that something that's an actual street rider type course?

Maggie: Yeah, sort of, you know, maybe maybe a group ride

Jason: You know, it turns out that I am one of and I'll get this count wrong But I'll say less than 50 people the last time I looked That MSF says you're good to take people out and do what they call their street rider program So I went through the process of doing that tried to set it up And it was it was hard to do and to be honest with you It's a challenge. It is the biggest challenge I've ever had is taking three riders out on the street that I did not know their abilities I didn't know exactly how they were gonna handle it And basically that program locally, I will say it failed because of cost and everything else That was one of the things that got me to a real-world speed and talking with Michael and Kathleen Casey that own motovid and said hey, I got this idea. What do you think? And taking the traffic out of it makes such a big difference the little things like a car comes into the middle of your group and splits things up for the On the street riding programs. I would be willing to do that again, but only with a maximum of two people Okay They're for for those that do group tours and all that kind of stuff I got a ton of respect for those folks Especially when they have what I will call a blind audition send your money in and say you're coming and they just deal with what? shows up That scares the heck out of me. I don't think I'm ready to do that anytime soon. But Yeah, people need a little bit of we'll call it pat on the back on the street And if you have somebody that's out there leading that is not there to show off that is just there to set a good example And we're when we're on the street, I mean the MSF curriculum that anybody else it'll come out and teach a a quality class we're there to be good commuters and work well with others and beyond that the street skills and the things and Actually taught in a street environment would be too much and probably border on not legal So we can pull all that off at real-world speed In a confined area at a place like Blackhawk Farms or a place like the Milwaukee Mile It's safer for everybody we can bump. I don't know. I tell people in the advertisement We're gonna cap straightaway speeds at about interstate speed Makes everybody safe and happy. Okay, does it mean I'm gonna chase somebody down that's going 95 to go around somebody No, not unless they screw up going into the turn and then we're gonna have a conversation Well back and back down so we can work on fundamentals and if they want to work at higher speeds We have a track day operation for this. We have other classes if that's when they're ready So those are the kind of things that are out there Okay.

Maggie: So one more time Tell people how they can sign up when the next one is Where it is.

Jason: So with our real-world speed program at moto vid.com is Going to be the website so moto vid.com and in fact I tried in my Google browser today if you type in moto vid.com and then real-world speed right in your Google browser It'll bring you up the page that you should be able to get the information and to get signing up and our date is July 27th, which is a Friday and the class is an all-day class So if you're considering being there, there's the potential of camping out the night before there's some local hotels that are good We're on Blackhawk Farms in South Beloit, Illinois Class starts pretty much with tech inspection at 7 a.m. And you can expect to leave although you can leave whenever you choose 430 or later. So it is a long day. You will be mentally spent and have a smile on your face Guaranteed.

Maggie: All right, Jason final question for you. What is your riding obsession?

Jason: What is my riding obsession? Oh boy Right now my riding obsession is watching and is watching my 11 year old learn on his z125 Pro and watching my eight-year-old with sheer terror as she scrapes the pegs on the ground on her z50 and looks at me and says But dad they fold up. Don't worry Currently that's the obsession is watching my kids. I wish it could go back to Land speed racing because that was just plain fun for a number of years. So we'll get back there again and All kinds of motorcycles all kinds of motorcycles are just plain fun.

Maggie: Thank you. Jason. Thanks for your time.

Jason: And I really appreciate it.

Maggie: Yeah.

Tim: Yeah All right, thanks And that was our interview for the month Find out more about moto vid Especially the real-world speed street skills training course at moto vid comm slash product street dash skills Use the discount code MSF 2018 lowercase. No spaces and receive a signup discount Sign up for it at your own discretion.

Robin: You're free. You're a free American or maybe you're a free Scandinavian it doesn't matter Whoever's listening to this Make sure make sure you use the discount code MSF 2018 lowercase.

Tim: No spaces and receive a sign-out discount I'm pretty excited that they're doing this This is a really unusual class it's bad they are inviting you to take your bike street bike, whatever you're riding as your daily driver and Practice things not at like the MSF or the advanced riding class at lower speed parking lot This is full tilt. How are you reacting to different situations?

Robin: Yeah, actually I've written I'm starting to write the article about it and the first my my intro is that there is a there is a curriculum for every mentality and the MSF is an excellent excellent platform or a specific kind of rider and You know, I love total control myself, that's how I learned to really get into a good curve Yeah, that's an excellent platform for a different kind of rider. This is sort of a This sort of loosely fills holes I think that's that third component that the motorcycling world needs is that they they basically say okay These are both great, but we also all have critiques of both sides This kind of says alright, let's let's let's putty this in let's gel this all together

Tim: Yes, I like that and it will help you when you're out in southern, Wisconsin and you see goats three of them nose to tail all the way across the road Yeah

Robin: Sheep, that's sheep. So what do you do? Also, we'd love to hear your motorcycle story If you'd be if you'd like to be featured on this podcast record your thoughts to an app like golf on ik for Android or iPhone And upload the resulting file to SoundCloud Email us to the link will polish things up before featuring your tail in your voice and your words Which brings us on to updated site features and developments. We'll be quick about this I've been really busy if you couldn't tell I've not been able to get too much done with the site I confirmed the pricing on a few hotel motel changes for the upcoming triple sevens tour Published a few articles for some people. We got a good guest article about battery charge and such by a Greg Tiber Updated the service PHP version for better performance and it's really about it and we don't have any listener questions so we'll skip that which that pretty much That brings us on to this week's mess a la moto which is brought to you by

Travis: The super slick ultra badass motorcycle mega posse of incredible power

Robin: So much of it much of the power Is super slick ultra badass and as a side note, it also happens to be Incredibly powerful Now if you guys click on the preview link, you can see the entire mess and we can slop our way through this Mm-hmm. This first one is that CGI? You can't know he's not writing water. That's CG.

Travis: Oh, no, that's real deal Yeah, I've seen guys do that dirt bikes skip skip a couple of times That far Yeah, it's like it's kind of like snowmobiles on water as long as you don't stop Yep, so this guy is riding across an entire pond. He's all it's like Lake Como is a super large lake in in Italy that's the one that Jeremy Clarkson rode the quad ski across and Less he's in the old new top gear.

Robin: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Got you guys and Then I don't Tom Burns and posted this about some laser system that I forget about I'll scroll down to where apparently you can turn a jet ski into a motorcycle, which is the reverse of our previous discussion Yeah, this guy On a group ride on a jet ski with apparently you can't see the wheels underneath it, but apparently they're there What do you think? What do you think's under it? What do you think he did?

Travis: What's the base with the base machine?

Tim: It's gotta be a little low I'm saying yeah, I think it's a scooter if so the scooter underneath it's probably like a ruckus or Yeah, I give it a ruckus.

Travis: I mean ruckus would be good because it's all that tube frame construction They have easy to weld to you have to hack a bunch of stuff off of it.

Robin: Mm-hmm Travis you like this guy. I think he's great.

Travis: I just want to promote him out of spite Yeah, Ryan Ryan f9 from fort nine.com Yeah Canadian We need more of that He did a videos a very self-aware pro air quotes promo video Hey, I'm trying where they sort of like show the sausage being made in a very bad way and it's hilarious and wonderful.

Tim: I Love the part around the campfire laugh like you're my friend or something or you're not eating Yes This one I posted for Tim specifically the Vespa cross That's the cross.

Robin: Yeah, it was strictly for you my friend That was I love it.

Travis: I love the noise. I'm super knobby's and the big two-stroke for expansion pipes on them Big big motocross flat checker bars.

Tim: It is so fun. They're landed and just Hitting so hard on the suspension stops that they bounce Like even as much as they beefed him up, it's doesn't even man the little tiny tires in the mud just washed out.

Robin: Oh, yep Next one down though. Okay, you can't really even play this video Don't even bother on the site that is but if you're a pangers require you to suspend yourself from the throttle controls You might be a dickhead.

Travis: Oh No, you are Well to this guy's got his his legs are like all the way by the front wheel his arms are as far up as they can Possibly go and then the exhaust comes up just this way Travis the tracer 900 you have a hard-on. Oh, yeah I would love a tracer 900 the tracer to the new tracer 900 GT Which I swear when I saw at the IMS had electronic suspension and it doesn't But I thought the prototype that they had at the bike show had electronic suspension and that was one of the things where it's like Maybe it should probably have electronic suspension. By the way, I didn't it's fully adjustable. Otherwise, which actually that's nice for me when I There's part of me is like if I really want electronic suspension because I don't quite trust the longevity of it. So Fully adjustable I think is because once you get it set it's kind of there But then it's like way if you're going from passenger and luggage and no passenger no luggage It's nice just be like preload adjust Anthony to just ride and I have to like get the tools and mess with it or crawl under the forks to hit that Adjuster on the bottom.

Robin: Yeah You want the electronic suspension because after the electronic suspension dies, there will be a suspension that's compatible It may not be ESA, but is at least compatible Maybe yeah, you know the screwdriver and turn it when instead of a servo turning it, right? Yes The Footage of the year what the guy that basically made the boat of three GP Joe. Yeah Amazing save You can tell I mean, he's a dirt contender though.

Travis: That guy's Like rides motocross and stuff. I mean all those guys do for training.

Robin: Yeah, I just dealt with it They're calling it the the greatest save of MotoGP history.

Travis: Yeah, Jakob Kornfeld. So yeah, it's a ride If you haven't seen it look up Jakob Kornfeld just look up moto 3 jump and it'll come up Because I'm not gonna say j-a-k-u-b-k-o-r-n-f-i-e-l.

Robin: It's like a hockey name.

Travis: It's just Chase check or something, but the a rider load So the big pack of moto 3 bikes going through a corner at Le Mans and a rider in front of them low side slides out He doesn't have anywhere to go He pins the throttle leans back uses the underbelly fair near the bike as a ramp jumps over The bike that's sliding across the pavement lands in the gravel keeps it up and rides out. It's amazing Absolutely.

Tim: Amazing. Yeah, he landed at an angle.

Robin: He does he lands and you swear he's gonna go down and he sticks it Yeah, this is also one of the guys who did like high side Hang on on his knees rides it out Yeah last year, yeah, yeah Okay, if you're okay awesome machines don't mess with a any kind of either it's Russian or Eastern European Don't mess with a crane operator in those areas. They they're driving a crane. You have a car they will bash up your car and then the last one on the list would be the VW Harley.

Travis: Oh Yeah, so my favorite thing about this so they put a heart I don't I can't tell if it's a twin cam or whatever whatever predated the twin cam motor It might even be a I don't think it's a sports tomorrow I can't have a hard time identifying Harley motors, but They put a Harley motor as the power plant in the back for classic Volkswagen But when he started well one is the starter only in the trunk because that seems like a bad idea He starts it from from behind like from over the motor in the back of the car and it's like you can't what if you Stall it. You're gonna get out of the car But it's like just how you look at that whole engine just go to town just shaking in the back of this Volkswagen it's like that's what the motor looks like on its own. It just shakes. It just shakes itself to pieces

Robin: Yes Half of that motor is in your wife's bike and it shakes every anyone who rides at the pieces

Travis: Yeah, like unless you're like right at like 3,300 rpm then it's butter smooth

Tim: No, not 3301 not $29.99 3000 yeah You want to lead us out Tim This episode of the riding obsession podcast is sponsored by the ugly Apple Cafe of Madison, Wisconsin Where they use local overstock produce to offer a quick tasty breakfast

Robin: The writing obsession comm is always seeking sponsors for this podcast Sponsors are given three focus mentions toward the start middle and end of their designated episode Their contributions are put towards bettering the program's content and recording equipment I'm gonna take this opportunity to promote our next group riding tour One that Travis and I mentioned above it's scheduled for late summer of this year It's dubbed the trip sevens tour as in triple sevens as in the lucky sevens seven riders will cover seven states in seven days starting September 1st of 2018 it's a twisty sport touring getaway of epic proportions and we hope you'll sign up More information about that tour is available via the riding obsession comm visit the group tours link Which is anchored under events in our navigation menu

Travis: And that's our episode for this round tune in next time for more discussion on all things specific to sport touring or universal motor Yes for touring or universal motorcycling as a whole For the riding obsession comm I'm Travis Burleson.

Robin: I'm Tim Clark And I'm Robin Dean safe travels everyone

The Gist

Travis enjoyed our 9-day iteration of a 7-day tour in overly-technical form. Somewhere along the way he picked up a bizarre hunk of metal in his tire. Said metal is since removed, replaced by a plug-patch and Race Tech gold valves (because gold valves).

Tim installed crash bars on his Honda Africa Twin. He then enjoyed a shakedown run at the Soldiers Grove BMW rally complete with camping gear and other long distance riding products. Stay tuned for details regarding his 7500+ mile west coast tour!

Robin bought a 33' toy hauler and a 2015 Ford F350 to tow it. He also attended a MotoVid track day and is writing a review of the experience. He then immediately packed up shop and headed to Soldiers Grove to meet up with Tim and friends.

Guest Interview

Jason Herheim

Our latest interview features Jason Herheim, a MotoVid instructor and head MSF RiderCoach for the Madison, Wisconsin area. Jason's Real World Speed Street Skills training curriculum expands on basic rider understanding for at-speed motorcycling. We highly recommend you sign up for the July 27 iteration of it by visiting MotoVid.com/product/street-skills.

Did We Miss Sump'm?

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