What did you do to your bike today?

[BA80]

I don't live so close to The Arctic Circle. I still ride mine now and then.

[Bonz]

You are thinking the right stuff!

[MarkD]

+1, Bonz. I had the same idea, winterize, put on center stand, and admire from a distance. My thought on the occasional start-up without getting it up to temp, is it will put moisture in your exhaust pipes, you will turn it off, and the accumulation of moisture will rust your pipes. Here in N. MI, a ride is a far off thing.

[Bonz]

You're better off not running it at all and winterizing it. Letting it idle for any amount of time and then just driving it up into the garage does not let the engine get hot enough to burn off accumulated moisture of combustion that accumulates in the oil.

It's fun to start them up and hear them run, etc but if it's not going to be run for a month or maybe more it's not advisable to just idle it.

[SteveO]

My last actual "ride" was just before Halloween. Since then, it has been very cool and/or windy or rainy.

LAST WEEKEND, I did take everything out of the garage for Fall Cleaning. I fired the XS11 up, and after a little smoke it ran smoothly an an idle. The only riding I did was up the driveway when it was time to put it away.

The Sad thing about that day, was that the bike and other spring/summer stuff are now in the back of the garage, so the Snow Blower can be in the front. I don't expect to ride again before the Spring time, but there is always insurance in case of an unexpected nice day.

I will try to run it from time-to-time and keep air in the tires, but it looks like its not going anywhere for a few months!

[dbbrian]

Moved Addie. Evicted from my son's parking space so had to bring her home. Sadly could not get it to start so had to rent a uhaul trailer and have a friend tow it for me. Addie in the garage meant the XJ 650 had to go out to the driveway which is not good with 3 inches of snow on the ground already.

Phil

Nice that Addie is close for tinking

[MaximPhil]

Moved Addie. Evicted from my son's parking space so had to bring her home. Sadly could not get it to start so had to rent a uhaul trailer and have a friend tow it for me. Addie in the garage meant the XJ 650 had to go out to the driveway which is not good with 3 inches of snow on the ground already.

Phil

[Bonz]

I really like the year-round weather you guys have for the most part.

My impression is the roads are fairly crowded but maybe that's just the main arteries and the two-lane roads are good riding.

As you know out here, back roads are relatively low traffic because people are only interested in getting from point A to point b on the main highways and interstate.

[JeffH]

Yeah, but it was warm and there are still leaves on some of the trees. Plus so many shrubs & bushes stay green. The Loblollies too. Green That's got to count for something.

I willingly acknowledge winter from Dec 21 to Jan 21 when spring begins. Some years that approach cooperates and some years it doesn't. Luckily there aren't too many days in Jan, Feb or March where we can't jump on the bike and head to Florida.

Like March 6-7-8 for our Suwannee Rally.

Jeff

[Bonz]

Okay it is December 7th, that is not a "fall ride"...

[JeffH]

Just to keep the thread going, I ran it. Nothing special. I keep the battery tender on it to keep it fresh, and after sitting in my warm garage for a month or so, I figured it was a good time to fire her up.

Then I listened to the sweet music of the pipes doing their cooling crinkle. It warmed up my garage a little too. All in all, a good time.

Anyone else?

Regards

Ditto .......... nothing special
Sunny 65° here so took out the naked E for a 65 mile ride. Quite an enjoyable fall ride ............
Good ride and scenery with some Twisties then got on i85 to head back to Atlanta. That was really rolling today. Four sport bikes went by at 130+ mph and traffic was pretty heavy where it goes from 3 to 5 lanes southbound. More than stupid and unsafe running up on cars going 85-90 on bike going 130+ in traffic. Got home just before dark to avoid mall and worst of shopping traffic.

I had ridden my Pacifico E on Friday about 30 miles.

As for what have I done to my bike?? Well I did finally pull out the Michigan 78E I got in 2016. According to the PO it hasn't been run in maybe 10-12 years and I've had it sitting for 3. After a bunch of monkeying and some Marvel I did get it to turn over as I checked the valves. Engine is free. Turned over aok
Valve clearances are fine Will check electrics (Connectors), put in some new Grounds then see if it runs. Only has 9,000 miles if that's true. Many things look like that's true but then gas tank and things like brakes are all nasty. By Feb should have it rideable I hope.

Jeff

[Bonz]

Had a day that hit 60 degrees, I took the ZRX 1200 out for a nice run, re-topped off the tank and put it back in the garage. Could be another month until I get a chance or whether to do that again.

[Dudenatz]

Just to keep the thread going, I ran it. Nothing special. I keep the battery tender on it to keep it fresh, and after sitting in my warm garage for a month or so, I figured it was a good time to fire her up. Gave her full choke, and 1/2 a second later she came to life. Idled it through the choke sequence, then at no choke for about ten minutes, then I put it into 1st and ran the rear, to keep the mid-gear and final drive wet all over. Got it back in neutral, then a quick brap on the throttle, ok maybe two, just to remind the neighbors I have a bike, then about 5 more minutes just so I could hear her purr, then off with the ignition switch. Then I listened to the sweet music of the pipes doing their cooling crinkle. It warmed up my garage a little too. All in all, a good time.

Anyone else?

Regards

[MPittma100]

Tires

I just bought a pair from Rocky Mountain ATV. I got free shipping. I saved considerably more than your link. Thanks for posting it. As a bonus, I got a few gallons of Yamalube at $18,95 per gallon shipped free.

I looked at that site along with several others. They did not have a better price at the time.

[dbbrian]

I bought the tires, said I would be willing to pay more...and I did, guess I set myself up for that

The ContiGo was out of stock, and I wanted to get this done. The old Shinko 230 rear tire went almost 12,000 km, but it had turned into a flat dragstrip slick when it came off the bike

Went with the Metzeler Roadtec 01. Paid the same price as offered by Fortnine. They are a newer tire (2016) that I read good reviews, came recommended by Wolfe Worxs (vintage bike shop former racing guy) and I think the bias ply version is new this year.

So far I like the way they feel going into corners, better than the Shinko 230's. Nice light turn-in, the bike feels like a smaller bike somehow. Maybe the extra $ spent is messing with my head, lol. So be it.

So I'm all set with round things that hold air for XSSE / VYR - last year was just over 4,000 km of awesome riding round trip for Phil and I, can't hardly wait to head out on these new tires with my XS11E.

Brian