Motorcycle :: Mike Wazowski
March 01, 2008 / Saturday
Mike Wazowski Wants To Play
It's been months since I've been on the motorcycle, but the recent nice weather prompted me to prep the battery for a ride. I (finally) bought a Battery Tender and hooked it up Friday morning. Today, while I was in the garage, I decided to see how the bike was doing. I flipped the switch and gave the ignition a quick tap, expecting to hear a single crank, which I heard... followed by the engine starting all the way up.
I think it wants me to ride it.
05:59 PM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (1)
June 19, 2007 / Tuesday
Mike Wazowski Goes To Berkeley
Headed to Berkeley this evening for Burninator trading card production night. I didn't want to sit in traffic, so I decided to take the motorcycle. In retrospect, I should have taken the car. The Monster, especially now that I've removed the little windscreen, is wind blastingly uncomfortable above 70 MPH. I'd forgotten my earplugs, so I was pretty worn down from wind noise after about 15 minutes. As expected, traffic slowed enough to require lane splitting several times, but while I was glad not to have to stop, I didn't exactly enjoy it; lane splitting on the freeway is a little nerve wracking.
In any case, I made it, and Lucinda very awesomely cleared out a space in the garage so I wouldn't have to worry about Mike Wazowski sitting there all alone on the streets of Berkeley. (Thank you Lucinda!) It got to ride on the garage lift; I think it had a good time.
The ride back was COLD. Cold, relative to the pampered daytime cushy temperatures I'm accustomed to. I hugged the tank as much as I could to reduce wind blast, which made me laugh because it reminded me of "Tits on tank!" It helped. I didn't freeze, and had enough go in me to hit the rev limiter (woops) whilst blasting through the yellow lights after the left turn at the bottom of the 237W off ramp at Mathilda. I always get caught at at least one of those lights in my car. That part of my ride home was great. :)
But still, no more 50 mile freeway commutes on the Duc. Yuck!
12:10 AM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (0)
April 17, 2007 / Tuesday
An Excuse, Not A Flaw
I've been thinking about the Monster's wobbly left pipe, and if I think really hard I don't think that it wobbled when I first installed it, which means that it probably cracked first and wobbled second.
If my latest thinking is correct, then the chances that the pipe will crack again are higher than I orginally thought, which I think means that I may have to replace them with Termignonis someday.
Oh, darn.
11:47 PM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (0)
April 12, 2007 / Thursday
Installer Error
Despite the title, this post has nothing to do with computers and software. Rather, it has to do with me, the Monster, and some aftermarket hardware.
As much as I loved the look and sound of my GPR pipes (though that's not to say I would mind a nice set of Termignonis), I was dissatisfied and puzzled over why the left pipe didn't mount as tightly as the right. Everything looked to be the same on both sides, so it didn't make any sense to me why the left bracket wobbled so darned much.
All that wobbling took its toll, and late last month I discovered a crack in the weld joint near the front of the left pipe. How cracked was it? From the look of the pavement through the pipe as I was taking it in for repairs earlier this week, I'd say it was all the way cracked.
I dropped off the bike Tuesday morning and got a call saying it was finished Wednesday afternoon. I picked it up this morning and everything looks great. Best of all, the troublesome wobble is gone.
I'm told the wobble was due to a backward installation of the left mounting bracket. It's this really long symmetrical diamond shape, and I guess I didn't notice that the holes at either end are different sizes. The scientist in me wants to mount the right one backward to see if it ends up with the same wobble, but fortunately for my bike that's more work than I have time for these days. I do know why I installed it the way I did, though, and it's because of other details in the cut pattern of the two brackets, which, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't make a lick of difference, except to me.
The folks at Nichols Manufacturing lived up to their good name; they were friendly, professional, knowledgable, speedy, and charged me a lot less than I thought it would cost. The best Ducati shop in the Bay Area? You betcha.
Time to go shuffle vehicles. Total effort required to get the Monster back today? Drive to Aaron's house to pick up my gear, drop off car at shop this morning, ride motorcycle to work, get ride to pick up car at lunchtime, drive back to work, ride motorcycle home, ride bicycle back to work, put bicycle in car, drive car home.
I guess dropoff wasn't easy, either. That required driving my bicycle to Aaron's house, driving home, riding my motorcycle to the shop, getting a ride back to Aaron's house, riding my bicycle to work, then riding my bicycle home.
It's good exercise, that's for sure.
03:02 PM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (0)
November 07, 2006 / Tuesday
Yay, Vroom!
It's beautiful out, and probably one of the last warm days we'll have this year. I was going to take advantage of the weather and ride my bicycle into work.
But then I thought, "Oh, my legs are a little sore," and, "I haven't had anything to eat and I feel weak." Translation: I'm a lazy ass.
Fortunately, motorcycles are well suited for lazy asses. ;) Despite my ride into work being neither long nor twisty, I was happy to finally get some time on the Monster.
Mike Wazowski, I've missed you so!
10:57 AM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (0)
October 27, 2006 / Friday
Cleaner and Meaner
I've been wanting bar end mirrors for the Monster for a while now. The stock mirrors weren't that great, were a bit of a pain for lane splitting at stoplights, and were something of an eyesore because they sort of just popped up above everything else on the bike.
Earlier this week, I bought:
1. Carolyn's CRG Hindsight LSs from her multiple mirror experiment earlier this year
2. Bar end adapters for the CRGs
3. Leathers to match ;)
Tuesday night, I installed the new mirrors, removed the old ones, and took the mostly decorative dorky windscreen off while I was at it.
The end result? Everything low, nothing sticking up, and no more decorative dorkiness.
I likes.
11:17 AM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (3)
October 24, 2006 / Tuesday
Tuesday Haiku
bar end adapters
that's all i really needed
and, uh, leathers too
Oopsies.
02:59 PM | Haikus:Mike Wazowski:Motorcycle| Comments (1)
August 05, 2006 / Saturday
Hockey Ride
I took the Monster out for our first decent twisty roads ride today as part of Ice Oasis's annual Hockey Ride. The ride was fun, the company was nice, and by the end of the ride I had a much better feel for how the bike handles. I've been riding it plenty more than I rode Weeble, but it's hard to get to know a bike at stoplights and on freeways. Today was a big step toward getting-to-know-you for me and Mike Wazowski. We need to get out on them twisties more.
06:31 PM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (2)
June 22, 2006 / Thursday
Monster Toys
Finally, my first round of Monster enhancements are done! Here's a quick list of mods since this picture:
- installed factory front fairing
- removed bulky can o' charcoal
- installed Zero Gravity dark smoked windscreen
- installed Competition Motorwerkes chop kit (chopped subframe tail)
- installed GPR carbon fiber high-mount oval dual exhausts
- installed Speedy moto frame sliders
Here's a picture of the end result.
Since this post appears to be my grand list of Monster mods thus far (at least until I create a section on the site for it :), I bought it with the following:
- CRG clutch and brake levers
- factory seat cowl
- shaved stock seat (good for little-ish people like me!)
I hope this marks the end of my Monster-related spending for a while.
10:41 AM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (3)
June 10, 2006 / Saturday
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Charcoal
Removed some unnecessaryness from the Monster yesterday. It's now a little lighter and prettier, though perhaps a little less environmentally friendly.
Should I feel bad? Nah, I think we'll manage to destroy ourselves before the environment does anyway.
07:54 PM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (0)
June 08, 2006 / Thursday
Dual Purpose Toy
I have, in the past, joked about motorcycles being gigantic vibrators.
Well, the Monster really does feel like a gigantic vibrator.
Come to think of it, it's named like one, too.
In case you're wondering, the vibration is negligible on the handlebars, and yes, it's distracting.
12:31 AM | Mike Wazowski| Comments (6)
May 31, 2006 / Wednesday
Mike Wazowski!
I bought a Monster last night.
I picked it up today.
Yesh.
To do:
1. Dust it off. (The last owner didn't ride it much.)
2. Remove the remaining unnecessary stickers.
3. Install the high mount carbon fiber pipes.
4. Install the front fairing.
5. Take more pictures.
Woohoo, I own a Ducati!
Yesh again.
