Bandit tear-down

I finally started on the Bandit 1200S tear-down. Going down to the frame and rebuilding it from there.

December Riding

No comments needed - December riding is "interesting" in the NorthEast.

Winter down time

Winter is upon us here in the Northeast, so I'll be tackling some maintenance projects on the bikes. The WR250R will receive the annual refresher (bearings, et cetera), and the Bandit 1200 will get some new brake lines, handlebars, bearings, oil cooler lines, and a complete check. Since, after I bought it, I only looked through what was important, I will be taking all the plastics off and going through the bike bolt by bolt.

Posts will take place as it happens.

New England Pie-O-Rama, revisited

This morning the mercury decided to hover just under the freezing mark, but the roads were still clear of snow and salt. What better way to spent the day than to revisit the New England Pie-O-Rama.

Although this was my third or fourth time playing, I don't seem to tire of the game. Ride, eat a pie, ride some more - lovely, isn't it?

Granted, the temperature could have been a tad warmer, but then the warm pies and coffee wouldn't have tasted as good as it did.

Well, the sun never did peek out from behind the clouds today, but as soon as I was done with my chores, I geared up and push the bike out. Five minutes on choke, and the machine was ready for an adventure. :)

I left the house and took the long way to Keene, NH in search of some pie. Along the way I spotted a few patches of black ice, snow on the sides of the road aplenty, and more hunters' trucks than I cared to count. Upon my arrival in Keene, I quickly discovered that there was no exciting pie to be had, so I got on the bike and headed east on rte 101. This is where I found my first pie for the day.

Audrey's Cafe in Marlborough, NH

This is a cozy little place that makes awesome breakfast and lunch meals. It's very casual and country at the same time, with dark exposed beams standing solid against the white ceiling. While I haven't been there in about a year, I did remember the friendly service and good food I have encountered there in the past, and today was no exception.

The pie choices were many, but feeling rather cold, I chose a freshly baked (still warm) Pecan Maple Pie. It hit the spot!

The crust was solid and crumbled in the mouth. This pie was made using NH real maple syrup, and the Pecans were in abundance. With a steaming mug of coffee, this pie made me feeling all warm and happy on the inside. It was probably the second best pie I have found on my Pie-O-Rama travels, being rivaled only by the personal Pie-ette at Sunflowers Cafe. I would rate it 9/10

Next, I decided to continue east, and I found myself on Temple Mountain. It was rather cold, and there was ice all over the dirt parking lot. Heading down from the mountain towards Wilton, I started feeling pretty chilly, especially above the 60MPH mark.

Thus, it was a welcomed sight when I saw the sign for Gary's Harvest Restaurant.

This was my first time there, and I will likely return to sample their offerings. A small, clean, no-frills kind of a place with pleasant service. I was immediately branded as the "brave guy on a motorcycle" by several elderly patrons.

The pie choices were Chocolate Cream, Blueberry, Lemon Meringue, and Pumpkin. Still feeling full from the Pecan Maple at Audrey's, I chose the pumpkin pie.

The pie was actually larger and thicker than what I had anticipated (which did not prevent me from finishing it - for research purposes, of course). The crust was buttery and the pie had just the right spiciness to it. Not too bland, and not too spicy. It was rather good. I would rate it 7/10.

Stuffed and loaded with caffeine, I decided to head home on some backroads. Ended up riding through Temple to Greenville to New Ipswich and then 123/124 homeward. Again, some patches of black ice, but nothing too crazy.

All in all,a good day, a good ride, and some delicious research.

New England Pie-O-Rama

If you are ever looking for an excuse to ride (like there are not enough of them), you can always trust the brilliant minds on ADVRider to come up with something specific, enticing, and just plain entertaining. Like this example: New England Pie-O-Rama

Simple, eh? Ride, stop someplace, eat a pie, post a review, and it will be added to the ADV pie map :)

Well, since I like riding, and I also like eating pie, I could not resist.

Here are my three recent contributions:

Entry 1 - Ray's Seafood Restaurant at Rye Beach, NH:

When you say beach, this is what usually comes to mind:

But alas, it is October in NH, and this is a family-friendly site, so the only pie I'll be reviewing is the cool Keylime Pie served at Ray's in Rye.




The day started cold, but turned out to be rather nice by mid-day. I rode a total of 367 miles for that pie. But I was in good company, the pavement was dry, and the leaves in color provided some spectacular views.

So, what can be said about this pie?

The pie was served cold, as it should be. The crust was deliciously light and pillowy with the right amount of crumble when I bit into it. The lime was not overwhelming, and despite eating this pie after consuming some crabcakes and fried shrimp, it did not make me feel stuffed, or uncomfortable. All the textures were right, and I would vote for this pie as a refreshment during the hot summer months.





 Entry 2 - The Foothills of Warner, Warner NH

Blueberry Pie:
 

This pie was served warm but not hot. Just right to warm you on a cool autumn day. The pie had a traditional pie crust (home made) and was baked in-house. The pie was full of blueberries and blueberry juice, which just tickled as it dripped down my chin. There was a hint of cinnamon in there, but not overwhelming the taste of blueberries. Not too sweet, not tart - this pie was just right.

Entry 3 - The Sunflower Cafe, Jaffrey, NH

I must admit that I'm a long-time fan of this establishment. There is something special about a small town cafe which has life jazz music and lobster/asparagus crepes on their Sunday brunch menu. And while I usually take their other deserts (a thin sliced caramelized pear with a Crème brûlée crust is one of my favorites), I took one for the team and ordered a pie.

The four berry pie-ette (or a small, personal size pie filled with four different berries) was simply the best of the three samples taken for this post. Served warm without any cremes to distract from the experience, it was bursting with tender berries mixed together in a wonderful melange of savory flavors bringing to mind images of autumn days and berry picking. The crust itself was flaking on the sides, firm on the bottom, and sprinkled with sugar/flour crumbs at the top. Baked to perfection, it was neither too dry nor too juicy. This pie reminded me of European pies, as it had just the right amount of sweetness and all the flavors worked together like a symphony for my taste buds.  Recommended.

A shoutout to Generation Cycle in Perris, CA

Last weekend, I did one of those guilty pleasure rides. Well, what I mean is a ride to an awesome breakfast place - Parker's Maple Barn in Mason, NH, followed by a ride to Ray's Seafood restaurant in Rye, NH. It was a nice day, the miles kept coming, and the old belly was happy. 367 miles of smooth, twisty New Hampshire roads.

On my way back home, my neutral light started flickering when in gear. I pulled over, could not see anything wrong, and cautiously proceeded home.

When I got home, I took the sprocket cover off and discovered that my neutral switch was toast. The wires were literary coming out of the RTV/Epoxy housing. Lucky I made it home, as the bike needs the neutral switch to start.

I checked online and with my local dealer, but all the usual places had the switch on 5-7 days backorder, plus shipping. Not happening - New Hampshire is about to get covered in snow any time now, and I did not want to miss even a single day of riding.

I found a used switch listed at Generation Cycle on Wednesday. http://www.generationcycle.com/
Not particularly fond of eBay, I called the shop and spoke with Jerry.

Despite having thousands of parts in stock, Jerry pulled the switch off the shelves as we spoke, packaged it, and shipped it to me via USPS priority mail. This was Wednesday afternoon, EST.

I got my switch today, Friday, at noon. It's already installed and the bike runs again.

For the price of less than a half of a new unit, I got a used replacement part delivered faster than a dealer could have done.

So, if you are looking for used parts, give these guys a try: http://www.generationcycle.com/

I couldn't be happier. 

Installing V-Strom handguards on Bandit 1200S

Once again it is the time of year when the weather starts getting colder, especially on the early morning rides. Maybe I got spoiled with heated grips and handguards on my BMW bike, but riding the Bandit 1200 on a chilly morning made my hands feel numb. Time to get some handguards.

Like many before me, I decided to go with the V-Strom factory handguards. Why? well, they do look "factory", are large, and can be had fairly cheap.

Here is my very simple install - a few minutes once you have it all gathered together:

First, you will need some longer lever studs, as the stock ones are too short once you install the handguards. The handguards mount with the lever studs themselves. You can either order them from Suzuki, or, like I did, grab some 8mm bolts and have the turned down on a lathe . . .

To this:

Then thread the lower part with a 6mm die. Notice, the stud part is longer by 0.150", or the thickness of the handguard plastic:

The right side mounts without any modifications, but the left side is slightly larger. Drill a new 8mm mounting hole here:

And cut off the stock hole, plus a tiny bit of plastic to clear the clutch master cylinder:

I also have custom made bar-ends, so I needed to slightly enlarge the bar-end hole in the handguards. This is just a few thousands of an inch, and I made sure the handguard would not pull off the bar-end. Here is one of my ends:

Then, all you need is a couple of minutes to install the guards on the lever studs, push the bar-ends through the ends, and tighten everything together. I pushed the handguards slightly out toward the bar ends. The plastic is flexible enough to just bend slightly.

Here is a closeup from the front:

And the finished look. It comes across as "factory" and that's okay. These guards are strictly for weather related discomfort. I run real handguards on my ADV bike, but the Bandit will never see off-roading. :)

From the front, you don't even see the bar-ends, but they are there to help with vibration.

That's it - told you it was simple.

Scorpion EXO 1100 - a review

Considering that my silver Scorpion EXO 1000 recently turned four years old, it was time to get a new lid. Since I was really happy with the way the EXO 1000 performed, I decided to get the newer, upgraded EXO 1100 as a replacement. My original choice of red was no available, so I ended up ordering a flat black EXO 1100 online.

First, let me say why Scorpion.

Over the past twenty plus years spent on two wheels, I have had many different helmets from all kinds of manufacturers from the cheap G-Max to the pricey Shoei. All of them had some issues that bothered me, and some benefits that I really liked. The Scorpion EXO 1000 was no exception, but both the quality of the helmet  and the features it offered outweighed the drawbacks. We spent many happy miles on the road together, from sunny days to downpours, from one hundred degrees Fahrenheit to the high teens in December. Over the past four years I had replaced exactly two shields, and that was it.

While the EXO 1000 was not light by any means, its weight never bothered me. I loved the internal visor, and I often found myself riding with the shield up and the sun visor down - fresh air galore. I loved the air pump system on longer, high-speed rides, as it effectively sealed the helmet around my head.  And the removable, washable liner ensured that the helmet never smelled.
  
Fast forward to the EXO 1100. The fit and finish seems even better than the EXO 1000 - kudos to Scorpion. There are some new metal screws where the EXO 1000 had plastic ones, but overall the helmets are very similar.

Except the material. The EXO 1100 carries the latest ECE label, and is (supposedly) design with crumple zones to transfer less energy to the head in the event of an impact. I hope to never test its abilities. 

Here they are, side to side:

 Where the EXO 1000 had a flip vent which was very noisy, the EXO 1100 has a vent that slides down, making the helmet much quieter. Of course, the top intake vents are still the same flip-up design, and are loud. Listen, Scorpion people, make the upper vents smooth so the helmet is quiter.

 The side vents are all new and improved, and trust me - there is a difference. The new is smooth, streamlined design.

 The old one sticks out too much, creating extra noise.

 The rear shows a huge improvement. Where the old design had soft material about 1/8 up the helmet . . .

 The new design offers quieter performance.

 The inside liner is about the same on both styles, but the older design left the back of the neck more exposed, allowing air to enter.

 The new design is much better, sealing the opening quite well. One huge improvement comes with the chin curtain, which used to attach via two snaps. The new one is made out of mesh, and is permanently attached. No more broken liners due to chin curtain opening and closing.

 One area where Scorpion seems to have skimped is right here. The new style is pictured below . . .

 . . . and the old style is here. Obviously, the old style had plastic lining in the air vents.

Overall, I find the new design pleasant, and the changes welcomed. I only took a short ride thus far, but the helmet is definitely quieter, and feels lighter.

Talking about weight - the old one clocked at 1860 grams on my scale, and the new one clocked at 1720 grams. Not a huge difference, yet noticeable.

Overall, the helmet is probably the best bag-for-the-buck out there. Comfortable, safe, quiet, and well-designed.

1977 Suzuki GS400 project

Well, I found myself a barn find - a fallen, dilapidated barn find.

A 1977 Suzuki GS400 that has not run since 2001, and was left neglected out in the open once the barn collapsed. Amazingly - the motor turns freely. Not amazingly, everything else is seized.

What to do with this old gal?

WR250R - a do it all machine

A little ride this weekend on the WR250R proved to me that this little bike is an amazing do-it-all machine.

Not many pics from the ride, but here is the bike all loaded for camping:

The camping never happened, as I returned home the same night. Beat, but in a good way.

Here she is a little dirty. By the way, the Brittania fairing works wonders at high speed:

It was an awesome day riding some fine Vermont roads and some interesting trails.

The Brittania fairing setup keeps all the instruments right at my sight without having to take the eyes off the terrain:

And, in case you are wondering what an awesome day on an awesome bike looks like, here is the closeup of the GPS:

Safe travels!

2002 bandit 1200S Saga, The end

Well, the Bandit is now done. Everything runs as it should, the motor purrs along nicely, and I'm ready to hit the road.

New tires, Michelin Pilot Road 2 should prove to be the right choice. Chain has been cleaned, lubed, and adjusted, all fasteners torqued, and a few finishing touches done.

Here are a few pics before it gets dirty. :)

Happy miles!