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Motorcycles

Nader393

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Looks awesome. Also: need more pics of the car!

Bike and car are contemporaries.
IMG_5848.jpeg


It's a '69 Alfa Spider. Hot rodded, carbed, 2L engine. Veering off topic, but I liked it so much, I found another junked one to build into a race car. When I'm done working on the bike, I need to move on to the race car. Have a fresh head and pistons waiting for it.
IMG_2468.jpg
 

VaderDave

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Very nice. I thought I recognized that boattail but wanted to be sure.
 

Bromley

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I use these handlebar muffs to keep my hands warm and dry in cold weather/rain. They work pretty well, they don't feel very restrictive or annoying, they're really easy to remove or strap back on, they store flat, and they're pretty cheap.
 

VaderDave

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I took the F800GS on an adventure bike training day. We started at the local OHV park and then headed out into the Sierra Foothills. Lots of rough dirt roads and windy pavement. It was a great day.

When I got home I discovered that both of my front calipers were covered in some sort of oil. The brake fluid reservoir is still full so I'm assuming that I managed to blow both of my fork seals. Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Everything still seems to be fine but the front of my bike has some oily crap that appears to have been thrown onto it while riding. I'm going to give everything a good cleaning and then see what's up.
 

Bromley

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Does the front suspension feel any different? If it was a small amount of fork oil, you might be ok just cleaning the seals. If it was a lot of oil you'll probably need to do some more serious work.
 

VaderDave

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Does the front suspension feel any different? If it was a small amount of fork oil, you might be ok just cleaning the seals. If it was a lot of oil you'll probably need to do some more serious work.
Not really. I will clean the whole thing up and see if it continues to leak. Maybe it will be fine? Thanks for the info. :) It looked like a mess but I put some cardboard under the wheel and the drips were only about the size of a quarter. Hopefully that doesn't mean that all the oil is gone, LOL.
 

Bromley

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Maybe not a big deal, then. There are a lot of things you can use as a tool to clean the fork seals, too. 35mm film, if you happen to have some around. Any thin, sturdy plastic is good. That usually fixes a light leak right away. Glad you're out there having fun. Any big trips planned for the summer?
 

VaderDave

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Maybe not a big deal, then. There are a lot of things you can use as a tool to clean the fork seals, too. 35mm film, if you happen to have some around. Any thin, sturdy plastic is good. That usually fixes a light leak right away. Glad you're out there having fun. Any big trips planned for the summer?
Thanks! I just ordered some cleaner and a fork seal cleaner tool off Amazon--should be here tomorrow. Right now I think the plan for the summer is mostly a bunch of day rides around the area. I live at the base of the Sierras in Northern CA so there are hundreds of miles of dirt roads to explore. I've only been riding for about a year so I'm still just getting my feet wet.

What about you? Where are you located? What kind of riding do you do?
 

Bromley

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Sounds amazing. I'd love to ride in Northern California some day. A version of the Continental Divide route, then over to the west coast is my fantasy trip right now.

I've been in Tennessee since about 2010 and got really into dual-sport motorcycle stuff while living here. I started with a bigger bike (DR650) and have gone smaller over the years (WR250R at the moment) as I found I prefer trails and tiny backroads.

I've done a lot of longish camping trips off the motorcycle, and I've had a lot of fun refining my setup with a backpacker mentality toward minimalism. Carrying very little means you can travel on trails that are smaller, rougher, and more fun. I'm about to move back home to New England, and I can't wait to get to riding there. So many incredible 3-day trips in such a small region.

I'm selling my WR250 right now and about to get a GPX 450 (Chinese!) dual sport. I've been reading about them for a few years and I'm really excited about what they're doing.

I spend a lot of time on the ADVrider forum vicariously enjoying other peoples' incredible motorcycle adventures. If you haven't checked it out, it's a lot of fun, and also a great technical resource. They've got a section called "Tent Space" or something like that, which is pretty much an international network of members offering some kind of place to stay to fellow motorcycle travelers, searchable on a map. I've hosted a bunch of people and it's always been amazing.

-Kyle

Prentice Cooper 4.jpeg
 

emptym

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^I like ADVrider too but haven't checked it much since having kids 8 yrs ago. I pretty much gave up long trips then, but would love to do some off-roading with a smaller bike someday. New England does have a lot of beautiful rides, especially in the fall or spring.

Back in 2008, when on a cross country trip, I briefly went off-road in the mountains south of Tahoe (not sure if that's still the Sierras), but it didn't turn out so well:
168tg5.jpg

The longer story is here, but the short story is that I had to get CHiPs to help me out.
 

VaderDave

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@Bromley: pretty cool. I started off with a smaller bike (BMW 310GS) but moved up to the 800 in fairly short order, so I guess I'm headed in the opposite direction, bike-wise. We also have a Ducati Scrambler that my wife rides most of the time (she's a bit intimidated by the F800GS). I have actually spent quite a bit of time on ADVRider, but I don't post much at all. I use the same username there (and across all forums I'm on, actually) so if I ever pop up in a thread, be sure to say hello!

@emptym: yeah, that's definitely still the Sierras. I haven't read the full story yet, but anytime a bike's on its side (downhill, no less!) and the CHP get involved, that sounds like a bad day. :(

Here's a pic of me working on wrecking my fork seals. It was a fun day.

1615397751799.png
 
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VaderDave

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@emptym: just read your story: was the In N Out the one in Placerville off Highway 50? Looks like you drove right through my town that night (El Dorado Hills). Glad you got to your destination safely--I'm a little ticked off on your behalf about the 911 operator giving you the cold shoulder (seriously: WTF?).
 

emptym

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^Yeah, it must have been that In n Out. That's funny that I'd have driven through your town. I didn't mind too much about 911. I may have downplayed the situation. When they called me back, I spoke with both NV and CA police. They weren't sure which side of the border I was on, but eventually the CA operator decided to send someone. I walked up a quarter mile or so to the highway to make it as easy as possible to be found. Was a memorable trip, as @Gus said it would be.
 

Gus

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If you want a beautiful ride, leave from Santa Fe and head north along the High Road to Taos, spend the night, then come down the Eastern side through Las Vegas, NM (where the jail and parade scene were filmed for Easy Rider) and then back to Santa Fe. Or continue south on the Turquoise Trail to ABQ. It's two lanes most of the way and the scenery is remarkable - mountains, desert, ranches, ancient adobes, small towns, with minimal car traffic and lots of riders on weekends.
 

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