I was on vacation in Lake Tahoe this last weekend, snowboarding and hanging out with a bunch of old high school friends, and on the way back I happened to notice a group of folks who looked like riders: Alpinstars backpacks, Ducati hats, and various gear of the sort. We chatted a bit in the airport, I mentioned something about track days, and one of them suggested I look into the Northeast Sportbike Association. Turns out NESBA has a number of upcoming track days in the Seattle area, and better than that, has an intro program that's free!

I, of course, signed up for the first session I could make, which will be July 15th. Apparently what you get for your hard-earned $0 is a classroom/lecture session, and two 20-minute sessions on the track. The paying customers get all day, but the first two sessions ought to be a hint as to whether this is the sort of thing I'd be interested in doing, and it's generally possible to "upgrade" after those two sessions if it seems like fun. I'll wager it will be, but there's never anything wrong with free.

Reading more about this and chatting with others, I'm really looking forward to it very much. I think it'll be a great opportunity to push my skills a little bit, and to maybe get some advice from more experienced riders. I kinda wish I could get a chance to do this before the Massive West Coast May Ride, but my schedule is pretty tight before that point. If I do end up enjoying the track day and joining NESBA, there are a bunch of track times every year that I might want to take advantage of.

In other news, I've been planning and scheming for some time about a long ride this spring, and the majority of the planning has now been completed. I have arranged for just under three weeks off work to ride down the coast this May, visit friends, and check out some of the more interesting roads I can find. I've so far been planning mostly the southbound leg of the trip, which will involve catching the Sport-Touring.net West Coast Regional Meet in Fortuna, hanging out with an ex-girlfriend in Oregon, dropping by Santa Barbara to see my parents and friends, three or four days in San Diego with a long-lost elementary school buddy that I'm dying to see, and the exciting roads down the left edge of the country. There's a lot to see and a lot of very exciting roads, along which the route is still very much in flux, but I've picked up a lot of good suggestions from ST-n and other sites scattered across the web.

The trip back is something I've barely considered. I'm on the fence as to whether I should come back along the same (or at least a similar) path, or whether I should branch out a bit and return up through Nevada and Idaho. The desert's got some beautiful scenery (and some nice, long, straight roads to play with the top end a bit) but it'll be hotter than hell in late May, and I've always been a forests-and-oceans kind of guy. Honestly I may not even decide until I'm on the road, but we'll wait and see.

I may be able to get a riding cam setup by then, depending on finances, and I think it'd be extremely cool to put together a little video of the trip... In my head, I've already got a lot of the music picked out.

Today Zoë got a long-awaited washing. Not much worth describing here, except that I bought one of those spray-on-and-rinse-off Wundercleaners, and it's crap. She's really not that much cleaner than she was beforehand. Next time, something that requires some scrubbing will be tried. Anyway, I'm not much of a neatfreak; I just want a bit of the road dust off, and the hose may be enough for that.

Cleaning included cleaning the chain. Since all instructions on chain care say that it should be "warmed up" with a ride after cleaning but before re-lubing, I broke out my Destination Highways book and found a quick little run nearby; more of what the book calls "Twisted Edges," which are shorter than the titular Highways but kind of fun. For those following around at home, the route shown below is what the book refers to as SEA TE-G and SEA TE-H.

Some nice curves here, the occasional surprise where the suggested 15mph limit really meant it, but mostly an easy meander along the Snohomish River, through farmland and very rural surroundings. I noticed an interesting dichotomy between sprawling new houses, built no doubt for folks from Seattle looking to run to the exurbs and buy a nice big place, and the small and run-down places that no doubt stood there long before dot-coms and Redmond money, when the farms were still the moneymaker in the area.

Not much traffic at all, and not a single police sighting, for which I'm grateful. I still ride rather slowly and conservatively for fear of tickets, and even 10 over feels creeping on these roads, where I know I could be comfortable quite a bit higher. I spent the time instead focusing on smooth braking technique, and smooth throttle-to-brake transitions. Zoë is a little choppy in the low end of the rev range, but I find it a lot easier to be smooth up around 5500-6500 RPM and try to hold her in that band. That's not really the "powerband" per se, as the juice keeps coming on up to about 11k, but it's a comfortable place to ride.

I tried to retrace my steps on the way back without looking at my maps, and so managed to get lost in a warren of rural roads. I eventually guessed my way back to Hwy 2, which drops back into I5, and followed that home. All in all, a nice 50-mile ride on a lazy grey Sunday.

These rides always leave me hungry for longer trips. Soon...

Coming in to work on I-5 this morning, winds were gusting across the freeway in a pretty big way. The sailor in me longed to see some waves so I could estimate wind strength; the motorcyclist in me just despaired as the gusts pushed me about. I spent the ride crouched down over the tank, just like a Real Sportbiker(tm), trying to lessen the exposed area of my body which was serving as a sail, and dealing with the interesting lean brought on by the gusts.

By the time I got into work my arms were rather tired. I think it's safe to say that I definitely prefer riding on calm days.

Not the best week for my riding, folks. No, nobody got hurt, but I've been off the bike since Saturday and it looks like that's going to continue at least through this weekend.

Saturday, it was time to replace my aging (and ailing) chain and sprockets, as the chain could be easily pulled aft to expose most of a tooth on the rear sprocket. That's generally the sign that the chain has stretched too much for healthy use, and I've heard enough horror stories about what happens when a chain fails that I wasn't going to take any chances. Stopped by a dealer in Seattle who sold me a pair of shiny sprockets, a nice new X-ring chain, and a Motion Pro riveting/chain breaking tool, and I was off home to wrench.

First thing I noticed was that my rear tire was a lot further along in the wear department than I'd thought. Surprised I hadn't noticed it before, I resolved not to ride on it until it was replaced. I immediately got an order out for a new set of tires: Metzler Z6s which are pretty well thought of among Bandit riders. I won't be able to mount these myself, but the mounting cost at my local dealers isn't bad.

First, breaking the front sprocket loose. The service manuals suggest putting the bike in gear, having an assistant stand on the rear brake, and going to work with a breaker bar, as the torque on the countershaft sprocket nut is huge. I learned on assorted Bandit forums that a better way to do it is to leave the transmission in neutral and slip a 2x4 through the rear wheel above the swingarm; this way there's no stress on the gears, and the 2x4 holds the wheel and chain very securely. I popped the countershaft sprocket off, removed the rear wheel to change the rear sprocket, then broke the chain and removed it. Breaking the chain was very simple: using a heavyduty cut-off wheel and my handy Dremel, I ground the head off one of the rivets, and then pushed it out using the Motion Pro tool. Easy.

Installing the new sprockets was likewise simple. Installing the chain went smoothly until it was time to rivet the master link into place; I assembled everything, set up the tool, and went to work. It took a surprising amount of torque on the tool to get the rivets properly set; I twisted, and suddenly, with a muted "whump" sound, the tool split in two right along the center. That disturbed me; it was a hundred-dollar tool, and I wasn't particularly cranking on it. It's going back to the dealer as soon as I have time, assuming I still have the reciept, which I'm pretty sure I don't... As it is, though, the tool is useless, and I'm not even certain the chain is fully seated.

Then it was time to tighten everything down and go for a ride to warm the new chain. Chain tensioners adjusted, everything in place, I bolted the rear caliper to its mounting bracket and went to attach the torque arm to it. For some reason, the torque arm was offset from the caliper by about a quarter inch. Uh-oh.

I removed the rear wheel again, verified that every part was there, in order, and in place, and reassembled. Still offset. I was able to get it into place with a bit of tension, but I don't believe there's supposed to be any tension. Now I was getting very worried, so I posted my problem to a couple of message boards in the hopes of getting some hints.

At this point, my only working hypotheses are that the torque arm is somehow bent, or that the problem is the deeply-worn status of my rear brake pad. Pad is going to get replaced anyway, and when that happens and the tires go on, we'll see if the problem's resolved. If not, I guess I'll have to take it to a shop and see what they make of it.

In other (unrelated) news, I've got a replacement rear shock on the way as well, parted out from an '05 Hayabusa. It's generally understood that the Bandit shocks are weak, and that replacing them is a quick and cheap way to improve your ride. Busa shocks are pretty much a drop-in replacement on second-generation Bandits, so this ought to be an easy mod. I haven't yet figured out what if anything I can do about the front suspension, but I'd like to get Zoë in the best order I can before my West Coast ride and the track day shortly thereafter.

Right now, though, I just want to ride. I've been driving all this week, and it looks like I won't get the tires on until early next week at the earliest. Very sad - it's been absolutely perfect, beautiful riding weather around here.

Turns out the Metzlers I ordered late on Monday didn't get processed until Tuesday, and then they were out of stock on one of them, and so they weren't shipped until yesterday. Soooooo, no tires until next Monday, which means no riding this weekend. Very sad for me. I ordered from Southwest Moto Tires, and yesterday I wrote them to inqure about the order. I guess my email was a little too formal and I must have sounded like I was complaining, because their reply was perhaps a bit too confrontational for my taste. That said, their prices are great, and the folks on the forums I read have been extremely satisfied with their service, so I'm not going to worry about it.

I've also got a ScottOiler in the mail. I've heard really good things about this particular automatic chain-lubing device in terms of prolonging chain life, and it looks relatively easy to install. Anything that will make my upcoming trip easier would be great, and not having to lube the chain after every day of riding will be nice.

I guess (if everything goes to plan) that I'll be able to ride again next Wednesday, at the earliest...

Point The First: The fine folks at Aurora Suzuki, where I picked up my chain and sprocket and chain riveting tool, were kind enough to take back the shattered tool and give me a shiny new one, despite my lack of any reciept or proof that I'd even bought it there. They told me "If this one breaks too, just bring it back here, we'll take care of you." Big kudos for the excellent service. To reward them for their kindness, I bought four quarts of ActEvo 10w40, and a filter, and a set of pads for the rear brake.

Point The Second: I have not been paying attention to the status of my rear brake pads. I thought maybe it was about time to replace them, thought they might be implicated somehow in the rear caliper problems I'd been having, so I bought and installed a new set. The originals were much further gone than I'd expected: the friction pad material was completely gone, and the rear pads were well into the metal-on-metal action. Maybe that's the reason I've been having some sensitivity problems with the rear brake; I expect metal-to-metal binds up much quicker. Anyway, the replacement was easy and quick, and I now have thick new pads. Luckily I got to it before the rear disc was heavily grooved; I think it's okay to keep. I recall that discs are a lot more expensive than pads.

Point The Third: Oil and oil filter change this weekend along with the new pads. Nothing to report. Oil changes have never been hard, and this was no exception.

Point The Fourth: Zoë is down at Lynnwood Cycle Barn, waiting for her new Metzlers to be installed. Riding her there tonight, the new pad on the rear brake felt completely different than the previous situation; very loose. I was able to brake properly, and modulate my pressure on the rear much more effectively. New pads are good. I know my front pads still have some life in them, but I've been watching those much more closely than the rear. New sprockets and chain seem to work wonderfully; no lash on deceleration, and nice smooth power when I roll on. Still, I've been off the bike for a long time, and I need to get out on a longer ride and get back into the swing of it.

I'm really looking forward to getting the Z6s on and seeing how differently the Zoë handles than she did on the Bridgestones she shipped with. I'm sure they were fine tires when they were installed (back in '00 or '01) but it is definitely time for a new set. When she comes back, I've got a Scottoiler to install, and then - this weekend - I need to get some miles under my belt.

The work is pretty much all done. Zoë is turning into an amazing amalgamation of parts, a Frankenbandit, but so far the net outcome seems to be very much a positive one.

First, a report on the Z6s: they are a night-and-day difference from the battered old stock Bridgestones that were on the bike before. They feel like they absorb a lot of the road chatter that I used to notice; they feel very solid. My braking distance is down, my corners feel tighter, and even in the rain they seem very stable and secure. Some folks get good life out of these, 10K miles or so, and others burn through them in 5; I'm waiting to see how long they last, but from a performance standpoint they are a definite upgrade.

Yesterday I installed the Hayabusa shock, helped by the fine folks at the Maximum-Suzuki forums. For a second-gen Bandit like mine, this is a very simple exchange; remove the stock shock and bolt the 'Busa shock in. The 'Busa shock is a bit larger, though, as seen in the picture below, and clearance is tight. In order to make room for the big reservoir (or whatever it is) at the top end of the shock, one of the two small plastic tabs needs to be ground off of the airbox cover. Not a big deal, though getting everything disassembled enough to reach the airbox with my Dremel was a bit of a task. Here are the two shocks, for comparison: the shiny 'Busa shock is on top, and the old stock shock is below.

On the upside, the ride with the new shock is significantly cleaner. The front end still bounces pretty hard for bumps in the road, but the rear feels a lot more planted, a lot smoother. I'm not an experienced enough rider that I can really explain the difference, but I feel more in control. Additionally, and somewhat strangely, it feels like the bike is easier to drop into a turn, and also a bit less stable in crosswind. I expect this is an artifact of the downside of this mod; the 'Busa shock is about an inch longer than the stock. That means the rear of the bike is now an inch higher; I would be willing to bet that this has changed the rake and trail geometry of the front end a bit. Also, the centerstand no longer lifts the rear wheel clear of the ground. When stopped, it's a bit more work to balance the bike, and walking it around is less convenient than it used to be. I can still stand flat-footed, but it's a close thing. I may need to investigate the possibility of getting some different dogbones to bring the rear back down to its pre-Busa shock level. I am not 100% positive that I like the new handling; I certainly like the plusher ride, but I intend to do some long tours, and the old pokey Bandit may be less tiring to ride for hours at a time than the new, more spirited one.

I also installed my Scottoiler. This was another simple project; the reservoir itself is in my tailsection, under the seat. I didn't bother with pictures of this, as I basically followed the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. There's nothing I can say about this product until I've got lots of miles on it, but I am looking forward to automating my chain maintenance - especially now that the centerstand won't get the rear wheel off the ground...

I took her out for a quick hundred-mile spin just to get a sense for how everything's working together, and everything seems right nice. My only concern is the ride height, and, of course, the lack of any adjustments for the stock front forks, but addressing that problem will be a very expensive thing to do. We'll have to wait and see.