New Motorcycle–2008 DL650A

I’ve been wanting a Suzuki VStrom DL650 for a couple years now. Since I sold my Ural earlier this year, I finally had the funds to make it a reality.

I got very lucky with craigslist and found a DL650 very near my house and for a great price. I was really excited once I saw it had ABS. It was covered in dust and cobwebs. The front tire was very sketchy and cupped, but I rode it home safely. The previous owner didn’t ride it at all.

I’ve had it for over a month now, and I love it! I don’t know why I waited to get it! It is a lot like my SV650, but with better wind protection, ABS, and better luggage support (no more broken racks!). The fuel injection is a nice bonus, and I feel safer having ABS again.

I’ve changed the oil, lubed the chain, changed the brake fluid, new front tire, new rack to accept my givi bags, and a windshield adjuster from madstad. Next up are heated grips and hand guards to keep the rain off.

I look forward to many more fun miles to come!

 

PS: Thanks Steve for the photo!

Goodbye Ural

This past weekend I sold my Ural sidecar. I’ve had it for sale for a couple weeks now. It was something I have been wanting to do for many months. I’ve struggled to bring myself to sell it. It felt like it was part of my identity even though I only rode it a few times in the last year.

I originally bought it because I loved the look of it and the idea of it. I wanted to experience the challenge and adventure of riding a motorcycle in the winter. A sidecar seemed much safer than the scooter I was riding previously and it was.

Over the years, the challenge and adventure started to wane. I had “figured it out” if you will and it became routine and easy. After six years of riding in the winter, it became a chore. There wasn’t a break that I have now with the car. When I am too tired to ride, but could still drive. I previously had to stay home. There is more balance now.

I love riding in the snow and in the extreme cold! There aren’t that many days were those have been happening in MN lately. I also loved the impact I had on those around me. Being able to brighten someone’s day just by riding to work was a nice thrill.

I’m not sure what will replace the Ural yet. I’m eyeballing a vstrom. I’ve been looking at them for a few years now. An R6 sounds fun as does another sidecar. I’m also not sure what my winter riding future has in store for me. I am not done with winter riding; just done with Ural winter riding. Stay tuned to find out what’s next as I figure it out myself.

Above is the proud new owner of my Ural. I sold it with 17,000km on the odometer which was broken, so it was more likely 20,000km. I’ve had it since it came out of a crate in 2009. It’s been a fun bike, and I am glad to see it going to a good home.

Installing a Shockwave Horn on an SV650

Update: One of these caught fire. I have since removed them from all of my vehicles.

The shockwave is the newest horn from Screaming Banshee. It’s smaller, lighter, cheaper, and most importantly, louder!

I’ve had very loud horns on my motorcycles and cars before. They were kind of frustrating since they only had one sound: crazy loud. One of the things I like about the shockwave is how it has two loudness modes. The first with a quick tap is normal 100db, but with a long press it is the full 123db! Nice to say “hi” and another to say “look out!”.

It was easy to install this horn on my SV650 and it is MUCH louder than the stock. I ended up putting it on the left side of the engine since there isn’t room above the fender in the stock location.

These are the tools I used to install the horn on my SV650.

• Socket wrench with extension
• 4mm hex head
• 6mm hex head
• Philips screwdriver
• 14mm wrench
• pliers
• wire cutters
• blue loctite 
• 2 small zip ties and 2 large zip ties
• includes affiliate links to support the blog

The contents of the Shockwave box. The horn itself, connecting wires, connectors, and mounting hardware. My box included an extra mounting bracket shown on the left.

Here is a close-up of the back of the horn with the dipswitches for changing the function of the horn and the 25amp fuse.

1) Remove the side panels with the 4mm hex

2) Remove the two seat bolts with the 6mm hex

3) Disconnect the battery with the Philips screwdriver

4) With the 6mm hex, remove this bolt on the left side of the frame.

5) Crimp the round connector onto the black ground wire.

6) Put the ground wire on the inside of the bolt and horn mount, so it connects to the raw metal of the frame.

7) Use the short mounting bracket and the blue loctite.

8) Put the mounting bolt and washers on the other end using loctite again. Tighten the bolt in the frame.

9) Mount the horn on the bolt and make sure there is a gap between the horn and the engine. Tighten with the 14mm wrench.

10) Attach the wiring harness to the back of the horn.

11) Crimp the flat connectors onto the end of the blue wires.

12) Route the blue wires around the frame and radiator to the front of the bike where the stock horn is plugged in. Detach the wires from the stock horn and connect to the new blue wires.

13) Crimp the other round connector onto the red wire. Route the red wire along the frame back to the battery.

14) Connect the red wire to the battery and tighten. Reconnect the negative side of the battery.

15) Reattach the seat and side panels.

16) Use the zip ties to secure the cables to the bike. I attached mine to the frame.

17) Test your new horn and use it wisely!

The total install time was less than 20 minutes. It was one of the easiest mods to my SV yet.

While I received this horn as a demo unit in exchange for this post, I liked it so much I bought another one.

Get your horn at: https://screaming-banshee.com/ 

Until July 20, 2016, there is also a Kickstarter going at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/846667950/shockwave-the-first-smart-motorcycle-warning-syste

Friends, Fun, and Food aka Oregon

I’ve been traveling a lot for fun this year. My goal for 2016 is one trip a month. This last weekend’s trip to Oregon was easily the best trip of 2016. The competition so far includes Miami, Thunder Bay, Costa Rica, Austin, and Colorado. Oregon was filled with friends, lots of fun, and tasty food.

I flew out to Oregon and took a shuttle down to Corvallis to meet up with Trobairitz and Troubadour. It has been too many years since we last had fun together. I first met them on my Everyday for 7 Weeks trip and we have been friends ever since.

Of course, before I left Portland, I had to grab some delicious food. This is the southwest bowl which went perfect with a marionberry cider.

Trobairitz was gracious enough to let me ride her Gladius, so Troubadour and I took off into the Oregon mountains for some two-wheeled fun. After trying on a combination of their gear, her helmet, my gloves, his boots, my buff, and his spare roadcrafter, I was ready to go. The flowers and butterflies on the helmet were cute; too bad they didn’t show up in photos.

The riding was magnificent despite the minor rain here and there. It is Oregon after all; rain is expected. The Gladius is very similar to my SV650 which made me feel very comfortable riding it.

Troubadour took me on a tour around the area stopping at Alsea falls and then we had a spirited ride up Mary’s Peak. So fun

On my last trip out, we ran out of daylight before we could ride up. It was great. The wildflowers blooming made it even better.

The top of Marys Peak ~4900 feet.

Afterwards, the three of us had a great lunch and then hung out at the local ciderhouse: 2 Towns. We played games and drank some low priced, delicious ciders. My favorite was the gingja ninja.

Troubadour about to win at corn hole.

On Saturday we attempted to eat all the food in Portland. It was a valiant effort, but we didn’t succeed. Did I mention it was delicious? We stopped to look at a few motorcycle shops in between stuffing ourselves. We had fun being silly.

Troubadour trying on a new helmet at the Vespa shop. What do you think?

We took turns drooling on the Ducati Scrambler down the street at Moto Corsa. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to ride it.

Vespas also make great wheelbarrows and flower pots. Who knew?

My last full day we met up with another friend who had just moved into the area from MN. It was nice to see her again and introduce her to T&T. After an enjoyable brunch, we headed to the coast for some more eye candy interspersed with some brief hiking.

I was gushing a bit on the drive out there. The mountains vistas and ocean views were beautiful. My camera hardly does them justice.

Me taking a picture of Trobairitz who is taking a picture of Troubadour who might have been taking a picture of me. More tasty food was had in Eugene on the way back from the coast. Yes, those are whole cloves of garlic. Yum!

It was a great trip! I ate entirely too much food; my scale must be lying as it said I gained six pounds?! I got to ride a motorcycle in the mountains and gawk at the ocean. The best part was being able to visit three awesome people. I can’t wait to go back to Oregon!