Ok, so the title of this blog is a bad pun...just like the very worst pun I've ever seen used for a hair or nail shop. Are you ready?

Mi-NAIL-i-um. Single worst punned business name in the history of time, and it's right near my place. Yes, I thought you'd be horried...now see, my title isn't so bad now, eh? Or not. :D But I digress (and you love it).

Really, I want to write a bit aboot mods. It's not aboot stock or aboot new bikes...just mods.

Well you see, when I had my last bike, an SV650S, it was the lure of modding which got me to upgrade in the first place. As I've written about already in my last blog, I was torn betwixt upgrading a budget sportbike with top shelf parts, or starting with a 'fancier' platform with some top shelf parts already on it. I elected for the latter....but I'm still modding.

It all started innocently enough, of course. Hey, I have an R1, what more could I need? But you see, the factory can make a killer bike, but they can't go giving away amazing parts for the asking price, even if Yamaha does own Ohlins. ;)

When I started riding my Yam, I noticed how fast it was....the acceleration, the surge of adrenaline...the WIND. Yes, this thing needed a new windscreen if I was to have any hope of keeping my head on my shoulders...at least, without looking like I'm in full tuck trying to draft past Duhamel at the Daytona 200 finish. So, I bought a slick Puig Race screen which has this double bubble design to deflect more wind off my head. The red color I picked was bold, daring, cool....putting it on the bike was easy! I thought the red would set off the red accents of the R1 nicely (pictured above). Unfortunately, once I had the Red Puig on the bike, I hated it. It did the job but was too bling for my tastes. So, with the magic of EBAY I offloaded the offending color and went a bit more stealth, more subdued.

Now that's better.

I tell you what...if windblast is a problem for you, the double bubble windscreens out there are a must. Now I have a nice calm pocket of air even at sub-sonic speeds, and the black isn't too shabby either for those who like the stealth look. Plus, the Puig screens in particular are strong and sturdy...they're not gonna break on you so easily like some *other* screens....and another benefit of the tint (I got dark smoke) is that you won't fry your gauges as light gets focused through a clear screen...not that this is a huge epidemic, but I've heard stories on the Internet(s).

Another mod most people do about a UPS delivery too late is the frame-slider/saver mod. You know, those plastic doohickeys that stick out to save your frame/clutch/bodywork in the event of a drop? Most of you kooky people wait till *after* you drop your bike to order some frame sliders. The real morons wait till they drop their bike twice! Sadly, I get an M for Moron.

Yes, I dropped my bike the first time (nothing like the sound of 12K on pavement) because I was trying to put a short leg down in tall airspace. Bad idea, hmmkay. Kerplunk...soft drop, not a big deal, but any drop is a freefall from a cliff when it's your baby. Second drop wasn't really my fault...it was a known TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) issue which caused stalling at low speed....well stalling in very tight turn means the engine shuts off mid turn and the bike goes down....very embarrassing drop too coz I had just given the drive through clerk an earful of goodness about my bike, and evangelized the sport right before I unceremoniously dropped my bike after a clicking, too-cool-for-school Fonzie wave and exit...DUH.

But anyhoo...yes, so now I have Frame Savers and a Clutch Saver from Graves. Incidentally, is it just me or is 'Graves' a scary name for a motorcycle parts shop? Sure, Chuck didn't choose his name but I wince every time I think about it, for some crazy reason...but I'm not the superstitious sort so I don't lose too much sleep over it.

At least his last name isn't DIEBIKERSCUM, or some such.

Another mod I made to my hawtness of R1 is to throw some reflective stickers on there in place of the non-reflective stockers. You know, I am all about the reflectives. People have a hard enough time looking, I mean, SEEING riders in the daytime...so nighttime will only be worse. That is, unless you're decked out like a Christmas Tree, Jacky. Check it:

Don't mind my left leg in that pic, it's not really 2 feet long like it looks there with foreshortening. But check out those 'flectives. The helmet has reflective tape-graphics from http://www.streetglo.net/. I love these guys...they have everything reflective. Of course, I thought of this before I knew people were making money off my idea..LOL, I mean, this idea. With my first Arai, I ordered some SOLAS

(Safety of Life at Sea) 3M reflective tape, cut it into 1" squares and taped them all around in a checkerboard pattern, a la the Read Rep helmet, only reflective. Then, I discovered that not only are people selling checkers but all kinds of other cool designs for helmets and bikes. Making yourself visible is key...and these reflectives work in the daytime too. Note that my Z-Custom leathers are full of reflectives which I designed in, including the Z logo itself (black reflective material). I just hope someone doesn't think my speedway stripes are an empty, newly paved road heh.



Next, I put some Pazzo levers on my bike.

These are called 'shorty' levers, and the brake and clutch both have these adjusters. That alone is worth the price of admission, but I love the look of the black anodized aluminum too...they're lightweight and the shorty levers means no broken levers should you have an incident. The bar extends past these things, and there's no loss of control or feel. In fact, I like them better than the longer stock levers, and they're quite easy to install...took about 10 minutes, and I'm no mechanic. One thing about the R1 is that these levers are available...they don't make these for other bikes, much to the chagrin of people who want these cool bits.

One of the most important mods you can make (besides software upgrades to your riding ability) is tires.....good quality, sticky tires which inspire confidence and provide plenty of wet/dry grip. Why have a great bike and crap tires? The only thing you're riding on is tires, so they may as well be top shelf. For my purpose, I use the Michelin Pilot Power, only I went from the stock 190 rear to a 180/55.

Why did I go to a 180? Well, Andy from Cycle Products West recommended them, and he mentioned that the 180 would have better turn-in, quicker steering. I was wondering if there was a downside because after all, Yamaha put a 190 on my bike. So, I did a little research and found that not only does the 180 offer better turning, it's perfectly ok for a 6" wide rim (like the R1 has) and offers more contact patch due to the taller side profile (the 55 in 180/55). Not only that, it's lighter (less unsprung weight) and cheaper!

Well that's all fine and good..but how did it ride? Fantastically. Of course, this could be the contrast we all feel from being SpongeRubber SquareTire (who commutes through car seas) to having new rubber...but I do think this 180 feels way better than even the 190...it feels planted, turns amazingly well. I notice only a little less stability in a straight line, and by that I mean, the bike is more willing to turn sooner, so you need more inputs to stay straight (or fewer turn inputs). Tires are one of the best mods you can make....I wouldn't bother trying to extract tons of mileage out of a stock tire just so it doesn't 'go to waste' coz you can always sell them...and if not having good tires means a lowside, is it worth it? I'd rather remove all doubt about my tires and know that if I went down, it was all me (course you could make that argument anyway, but you know what I am saying). ;)

Lastly, the mod I am always working on is software..my skillset. I do this with trackdays, canyon riding, group riding, solo riding, commuting every day to work...heck, I was even a messenger for a month or so...on an R1! It was both exhausting and fun....especially the longer runs.

Perhaps, the software mod is the best mod of all. Too bad I can't plug a Skill Commander into my head and download the Rossi map....but I can always improve the Dan map....and doing so is a blast.  ¶ 6:12 AM 0 comments  

Many people have asked me, 'Dan, what made you buy an R1?'

'Well, I didn't mean to!'

'What, you bought a 12,000 dollar bike on accident?'

'I bought it on purpose...but I intended to buy a 600...'

Here's the story of how I came to buy the R1

When I had an 02 SVS, I was thinking of mods I could throw on the bike to make it handle better in the suspension department, and hey, while I was at it, maybe I'd massage the engine for a bit more horsepower...and how much would it be to powdercoat the wheels and frame...and..and...

If you've ever priced top-shelf suspension, ya know it's not cheap. A single rear shock can cost over a grand, and forks, often much more than that. Powdercoating isn't all that expensive, but it takes time and effort (and know-how) to remove the wheels or the frame, if you're the daring type.

I thought about it and asked myself, 'You know, why don't I just upgrade the whole bike?'

I had me at 'you know'.

I set about renting or borrowing every 600 class supersport I'd consider buying. I rode an 03 R6 in CA which I rented from www.sportbikerental.com. Santiago from the rental place dropped the bike off at my door, no charge (before they started charging for that) and I had a great time riding all over Malibu. The bike was soooooo tall tho...my right foot felt like it was a foot off the ground at the stops.


Next, I rented a CBR600RR in Hawaii for 10 days. The CBR ignition had a little issue, so I ended up riding another 03 R6 til the CBR was ready. The CBR was a lot of fun..butter smooth...little vibration on the brakes (this was an 04 with a known factory brake issue) but the Jardine exhaust sound coupled with the inline 4 was just loverly....and the power was nice...totally different from the lower-revving twin I was used to. Cornering was excellent...this bike got the wheels turning about owning one, tall as it was for me.


Too bad Oahu doesn't have a lot of turns....I took to using some of the nicer on and offramps off the H3...good times, and amazing scenery...just cruising on a sporbike in a different part of the world is a great experience. In fact, I've ridden a scooter all over Rome (even at night, in the rain, on cobblestone!) and I rode an R6 in Dubai....nothing like zooming past the Burj Al Arab, only seven start hotel in the world, on a sportbike. That hotel is insane..the colors change and in person, it's like a spacestation or something out of the movie, 'Contact'. Wow....it's one thing to experience another place...but being on a bike makes you the tour guide with legs to go as far as you want...and every sense is filled with as much info as you can process.

The next bike I rented from Sportbikerental.com was this 04 Gixxer 6. I rented it in 2004 and it had just come out, right after it was re-designed.

This bike has great power for a middleweight, but for me it was waaaay too stretched out, it was plain uncomfortable most of the time (and remember, this is a guy who uses an R1 as a daily ride). Then again, I'm on the short side (5'3"), so taller people will probably love this bike and find it to be roomy. The suspension was great..awesome in the canyons where I took it. The low speed fuel injection was a bit lurchy, and this wasn't just an issue of throttle control coz usually I have pretty good control at low speed..being a shortarse, this is a necessary skill! :D

Overall, it's a great bike if it fits you...but that's 2004...I'll post back when I ride the 06 model! Riding this Gixx only fed my curiosity about inline 4's...

The next bike I borrowed to ride was a cool blue ZX-6R. I looooooved this bike. Great power, great handling, great looks (nice and clean). I remember the suspension being so much more compliant than my SV, with more feel. This is the bike which sold me on getting an inline 4. All of this testing was simply out of curiosity...and finally my curiosity was satisfied....I was gonna buy one of these..I was so close..got the dealer cost reports and everything..but then...

THIS guy had something to say about that!

Yes, this reads, 'Slowmike', and he's a purveyor of a certain kind of 'speed' found within the recesses of the Yamaha R1. Ok, so the image on the left is a photoshop of a Valentine's pic he took of himself on his bike, but make no mistake, Slowmike is anything but slow.

After a little discussion about literbikes, we arranged for me to ride his for one day after I took care of the insurance. I had never ridden a literbike, and you can't exactly rent these at the local shops...probably an insurance liability issue.

So....I took a quick run on the R1 the night before the rental day and wow...within minutes I knew I had to have one. The power was insane..not insane as in 'crikey mate I'm gonna Diiiiiiiiee' but insane as in smooth, like buttah, electromagnetically smooth, and civilized too. No jerky fuel injection, the ergos fit me better than any 600 and I could touch the ground very well due to the R1's skinny waist. The look of course is amazing (in my opinion) and the handling was incredible too. Ok, I'm gushing, but wow, what a bike.

This is what the bike really looked like .
She's a beaut eh?

So, this is the story of my research...I intended to get a 600, I really really did...but ya know, there's nothing more crystal clear than riding every bike you're considering before you buy. To that end, I recommend renting or borrowing a bike if you possibly can, before you buy. The magazines can tout this or that as being the top dog for the current issue, but you won't know how a bike suits *you* till ya ride it.

Needless to say, I bought an R1 in black...er, Raven.

I've had it a little over a year and have put about 24,000 miles on it. I looooove it...and it's actually quite comfortable..I could probably tour on the thing if I wanted to, and the aftermarket support is very good. One of the first things I had to do was install a Puig Race windscreen (double bubble) because of the crazy windblast with the low stock windscreen. After that, I got some frame sliders (naturally, after the first drop) and some hot Pazzo levers, in black as well as a Yamaha rear seat cowl.

Soon I'll be looking for some Ohlins and possibly, Carbon Fiber wheels....looks like modding is yet another addiction I'll have to contend with....and I'm loving it.


Here's the R1 soon after I bought it.  ¶ 10:32 PM 0 comments  

When you're a rider, you represent the sport everywhere you go.

Most of us as riders know this firsthand. People will ask you questions in elevators about your gear, your bike, your H2 (if you're just about the safety as I've often joked). When I'm walking down the halls of work in my gear...I expect smooth female robot voices sounding system alerts and steam coming from vents on either side....but I digress...

Seriously, what could start out as a half-hearted query from a curious onlooker can turn into a sit-down with Barbara Walters.

Here's a typical conversation:

'Hey aren't you hot in all those leathers?''

Better to sweat than to bleed', I usually reply. (This is a great one-liner at a light too).

'Heh...good point. Road rash sucks huh? What kind of bike do you ride?'

'Yamaha R1'

This will often generate a look of simultaneous confusion and recognition....

'Is that one-a-dem crotch rockets/Ninjas/riceburners?'

'Heh...it's a sportbike...you have cruisers like Harleys, standards like an old Triumph or Norton (casting a wide net here) and sportbikes like mine'.

'Interesting...how long ya been riding?'

'Roughly 6 years or so...'

'My uncle/brother/sister/cousin-twice-removed rides and exploded into a million pieces (insert favorite horror story here)'.

'Yes, it can be dangerous, but if you start off with the right training you'll be fine, and you're not exactly guaranteed safety in a car anyway.'

This is where the conversation goes from idle questioning to some myth-busting and education. I usually go off about MSF, gearing up properly, dispeling myths about lane-sharing, inform about the use of the carpool lane (a surprise to many people) and everything else I can squeeze in.

By the end of the conversation, I've given the interested party some information about where to sign up for MSF and given them their fill of exciting info about learning to ride. I talk about having worked up from a small bike to a literbike, and the thrill and freedom that I experience on a daily basis....not to mention gas and time savings.

On my last bike, (2002 SV650S) I was lost and had pulled off the freeway to make a phone call. This older man (admittedly, not someone I'd peg as a rider straight away) practically ran at me to ask me questions. Why he waited till now is known only to him, but he had so many questions about the bike...where did I get it, how much, how could he learn, have I crashed, etc. etc. Even though I was lost and a little annoyed, hot and late, I was glad to answer his questions. It put me in a good mood to see how enthusiastic he was, and answering his questions gave him a sense of purpose and direction.

I remember how exciting it was when I was learning to ride my scooter. I gave it up for a bit, and I never stopped dreaming of bikes. When I got back into riding via MSF around 1999-2000, I felt like I was re-claiming a piece of myself. In a very real sense, I was. I remember the huge amount of questions I had...feeling as if I couldn't get them answered fast enough. Thankfully...I had Google and broadband...but not everyone is so info-savvy.

So...everywhere you go...remember, you're an ambassador for riders everywhere...that means, best not to be pulling 100 mph standups on the freeway or lane splitting at 90 mph blasting mirrors apart....and when noobs have questions...help them as much as you can. You'll not only feel good doing it, you'll help someone enter the sport in the safest way possible and better yet, you'll help to shape a new ambassador for the future. :D  ¶ 10:23 PM 0 comments  

Ok, so maybe you're here because you intend to start, or perhaps you've got some unanswered questions...perhaps you're trying to convince yourself not to ride...after all, many will be advising you never get on those death machines...those 'crotch rockets' as some call them, donor cycles, they cleverly quip. I see...well there's no guarantee I will donate any organs as a result of a motorcycle injury...but I can guarantee that if you're in a car you'll be donating lots of time to traffic.

Whose life is in question here? You guessed it...yours....so all the good advice in the world isn't going to change the fact that you have to live with your decisions. It's easy to be safe, but it's easy to be full of regret later on when that 'summer of 2006' is a distant memory.

If you want to ride, do it. Life comes but once....and sure, you'll be safer not riding, that's true. You'll be safer not driving...and you'll most certainly be safer not doing anything remotely risky.

Life isn't just a noun...there's a verb in there...you have to live it. Sure, any of us can muster basal metabolism...but that's a bit boring, isn't it?

I ride because I can, because it's exciting, because many are afraid to. I feel the most free when I ride, happier, at one with nature, more alive in general. You are literally more free when you ride.....free to squeeze around cars blocking that right turn, free to use the carpool lane in California even without a kid or passenger strapped to the pillion seat. You're free to get where you need to *right now*, without the ponderous acceleration of a car or its larger size getting in the way when you're stuck behind 3 cars lumbering side by side on a 3 lane road...in a car, you'd have to sit there and slowly go crazy. On a bike, it's a fleeting annoyance...you can laugh as you split between the rolling roadblock and move on with life. In fact, one of the best things about riding is being able to minimize rudeness and stupidity displayed on a daily basis by people in cages...and the rolling roadblock is just one way they'll torture you if you're in a car. Riding is a thrill, but better yet, it's a small dose of happiness that will carry throughout your day and your whole life.

When you ride, you're exposed to the environment, for better or for worse. You're not in a mobile living room they call a car, truck or SUV...nope, it's the joy of minimalist transportation (who said being green had to be boring?). You're one body and the motorcycle is about the most efficient and compact way to move you through space....and it's fun. The rush of the wind, the whine of the engine as the road comes at you faster than you've ever seen in a cage. Your senses come alive, even if you didn't expect it...suddenly, talking on the cell phone is a bothersome distraction. Kids wave at you, as if you're the missing Power Ranger. Applying makeup is supremely irrelevant (especially with that Icon Kitty helmet and dark visor you're wearing, right?). Who cares what's in the newspaper (it can wait) and hunger takes the pillion as adrenaline flushes your system. It's one thing to get to a destination, it's another to experience the journey...look at the birds without impediment from a-arms, smell the bakery or flowers or stank, note the changing cold and warm fronts and learn to appreciate not being cold or hot. Somehow, the trip is more meaninful to me when I have to work a little bit to get there....when I rode my 2002 SV650S to Yosemite, it was amazing. I could see the sites unimpeded...I got to ride with some other people who were headed the same way...the smells of the woods flooded my helmet. I've driven to many other locations in cars and can't remember much of the drive other than red...yes...seeing lots of red.

I gave up riding once. I used to ride scooters....first a wee Honda Spree 50....what liberation....the pure of exploration without being tired from pedaling was amazing. Then, my range increased with my next scooter after I graduated high school...the cool Honda Elite 150 Deluxe. Houston, we are clear for takeoff. I learned to ride in the do-it-yourself fashion of the day.

When a friend of mine had a bad accident on his motorcyle I gave up riding after some pressure from my mom....naturally, she didn't want me to get hurt in the same way. I relented and sold my beloved scooter...but the dreams I had of riding never went away. Fourteen years later, my brother had a wild hair to get an SV650, and I joined him in the MSF class. My bad habits had me barely passing the riding test while he got a perfect score. Too bad he gave up riding soon after. I kept riding and have decided that I won't be giving up riding again...even with my two crashes since 2000. Why do I ride, despite the obvious risk? Here's a thought experiement I like to answer that with:

'If you could fly, would you?'

Think about that. I know I would..without a second thought. I think most people want to fly...especially as kids when we tie the bathroom towel around our necks and do a few takeoff practice runs like Superman. Sadly, that dream dies with Santa Claus when we realize we can't fly...but if you *could*...wouldn't you? There would be risks, of course. You would get rained on, you'd shiver in the winter or bake in the summer depending where you were. You could hit a power line, a bird, another flying maniac, and there would be no shortage of people warning you of the dangers of flying.

Ya see, flying is like riding....and both are have risks....but the guarantee we have of picking safety over life is regret...and there's no way to fix regret, but you can start living now.

When people warn you about the risks of whatever you want to do, they're simply re-affirming that life has risks...it's part of being alive....and nobody gets of out this life alive so you may as well enjoy it...especially if you're still young.

That, my friends, is why you should ride. See you out there. :D  ¶ 11:46 PM 0 comments