January 20, 2012 0

Riding the Ténéré in Mali

By Barron in ADV

I love this video! Jealous of these motorcyclists on their amazing journeys.

January 10, 2012 0

Saturday Morning Ride

By Barron in BMW F650 GS, Riding

On Saturday I had the morning to myself so I decided to head out for a ride. It was a bit chilly at 49°F and I made the mistake of putting on my mesh jacket instead of the warmer non-mesh textile one. I did have a few layers on underneath, but it was a mistake I was regretting about 15 minutes into the ride. I did decide to look for the slower backroads that I enjoy so much so the wind wouldn’t totally freeze me and since the morning sun was getting higher in the sky, I figured I would warm up quickly.

The ride itself was enjoyable and I did see several interesting animals, such as roadrunners, horses, cows, and goats. I stopped to take a photo of these goats but as soon as I shut off the motor, the ran away from me! I could only snap a picture of their butts…

Riding the smaller county roads is pretty fun to me. You pretty much only see locals on these roads, since there wouldn’t be any reason to take these roads unless you were going to or from your house/ranch. It’s cool because the locals are very friendly, waving from their yards, or as they pass by in their vehicles. On this morning, I passed a couple of cowboys riding their horses and they gave me a big wave. Yep, this is Texas!

Odometer: 82.15 Miles
Moving Time: 2H 4M

January 6, 2012 0

2011 Motorbiking

By Barron in Uncategorized

Well, 2011 is over and it seems like many of the motorcycle bloggers are posting their mileage and other year-end thoughts. I figured I’d do the same. First off, some of the things I’ve bought:

Also in 2011, I did my first Saddlesore 1000. That was a lot of fun and although I said I’d never do it again, never say never! But I realize that I do love long-distance riding. I’m hoping to do another long ride, probably not for any kind of certificate, but I’d love to take a few days and ride to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. I also rode a bit on the dirt. Not a whole lot, but it was still fun. This year I’d like to take an off-road class and get some experience. Hopefully in the summer when it warms up to a nice 110 degrees.

My final odometer reading for 2012 was 10,325 miles for a total of 3,174 miles for the year. And I am going to need new tires soon!

December 14, 2011 0

Touratech Mexiko Trailer

By Barron in ADV

Very cool, relaxing video of a motorbike trip in Mexico. Some narration by Bruce Brown would be perfect for this!

December 13, 2011 0

GS Attitude Video

By Barron in ADV

A little too serious and artsy, but some nice footage.

December 10, 2011 1

Barkbusters VPS Handguards

By Barron in BMW F650 GS, Gear

One of the fun things about owning a bike, and a dual-sport in particular, is adding farkles to it. If I remember correctly, the word “Farkle” is a combination of “Function” and “Sparkle”. I’ve added a few of them (RAM mount, GPS) but the latest and greatest are some newly installed handgrips. I’ve wanted some for my bike for a while now, maybe they were on my wishlist even before I had my BMW! There are a number of brands to choose from and I settled on a pair of Barkbusters with VPS covers. They have a good reputation and I liked that the installation video looked really simple. It was pretty much bolt-on.

The handguards serve two purposes. First and most importantly, they protect the levers from being bent/broken in case the bike goes down. Some handguards are simply plastic covers, but these Barkbusters have a strong metal backbone which is securely connected to the bar-ends and inner handlebar and should offer some really good protection. The second useful feature of the handguards is that they offer wind/rain protection for your hands. Riding in cold weather, my knuckles would get cold really fast because of the constant wind on them. With the handguards, they still get cold, but not nearly as quickly. One final benefit is the “sparkle” part of farkle: the looks. I think they look cool! Barkbusters VPS handguards come in a varietly of colors but I went for the plain black. They were very shiny plastic when I unwrapped them but I prefer a flat-black color so I took some fine sandpaper to them and now they match the flat black of the headlight cowl and mirrors better. The next step is to get some black reflective tape to cover the white logo to complete the stealth look.

I think pretty soon I want to do some more light dirt roads around the Hill Country. Should be pretty fun and I’ll have a little bit more insurance with these handguards. But with my luck, I’ll probably brake the clutch lever when I drop the bike next time!

December 7, 2011 0

Enduro Himalaya

By Barron in ADV

Something to put on my To-do List.

December 6, 2011 0

Freezing Night

By Barron in Riding

The temperature dropped below freezing this evening so I said (half-jokingly) to my wife that I was going for a ride. She replied, “I don’t know if you have the guts to go ride when it’s so cold out.” Well, because of this dare I just had to go, so I bundled up and headed out for a ride around the neighborhood. Temperature was about 30°F and I had the heated grips on high. I don’t have a winter jacket, just my Firstgear Textile jacket, but with a few layers underneath it wasn’t too bad. What was really painful however, was my neck. I had nothing covering it, so it froze! The ride only lasted 20 minutes/8.9 miles but was still quite a bit of fun. When I triumphantly returned and said hi to my wife, she just looked at me and said, “Back already?”

November 5, 2011 0