Bubba

Chad: Weather is looking primo for most of this week and into the weekend. I'm retired so I can be available on just about anyone's schedule with a little advance warning. Shoot me a PM with your preference of days/times and how long you want to ride (hours/miles) and I can work up some kind of route that will keep you entertained. Lemeno.

AZH: So from reading the link, it sounds like there's a proportioning valve in-line with both the front and rear master cylinders that determines the force on one or more selected pistons in either caliper. Again, I've never been a fan of linked brakes. I prefer to use my accumulated skills to do my own F:R proportioning in an aggressive braking maneuver, but it would certainly be a benefit to newer riders.

OB: Hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but…. Hillsboro is a 90 minute/70+ mile roll for me one way, and the roads between here and there--for the most part--suck!!! It's difficult for me to convince myself to do 3+ hour RT just to get to the good roads in eastern OH when I can be across the river in 20 minutes and in the middle of NKY goodness. As the days get longer, our best bet to meet up and ride together is prolly gonna be for you to head south and for me to head east and we meet in NKY and ride for a few hours there. If we meet in Maysville, it's still an hour and a half for me and an hour for you, but at least I can take some sweet KY roads to our meet-up. Let's keep each other in the loop, tho.

So, ND or some other informed party...question: I've never been a big fan of linked braking systems, although I think my '07 FJR had them. Does the 'link' mean partial front brake application (1caliper? 1 piston each caliper?) with rear brake application? And does this VFR model have ABS?

ND: Wow! That is a gorgeous bike. And nicely farkeled as well. I would council you to think about selling that beauty--you'll prolly regret it in a couple of years….or less. GLWS.

NDSpd: The RT gold valves won't really change the problem of an overly soft fork. The valves are simply a 2-stage valve to fine tune your compression setting. They come with several valve springs for soft/medium/hard compression and of course you can fine tune the feel by varying the oil viscosity as well. The valves sit at the bottom of the fork legs and allow the valving to work on small hits and then open up at the pre-set spring rate for the big hits. Essentially, it lets you fine tune your small-hit response with a pre-set bypass for big hits. You'll still need to upgrade the fork springs to a heavier rate. If you're in the 200+ lbs with gear on, it's likely you'll need springs in the 0.90 - 1.0 kg/mm (your stock spring rate is 0.77 kg/mm).

Pretty sure the primary benefit to wrapping headers in a car is to minimize the under-hood heat….less heat = better cooling and less likelihood of fuel vaporization in the fuel pump/lines/carb. Doubt that it has much utility in the newer FI set-ups other than cooling.

Absolutely! It looks like there's gonna be some seriously good riding weather coming up this week. Lemeno.

You forgot to mention more egomaniacal and corrupt, too. The truth is both will continue to take your hard-earned money….

NDspd: I understand Fairborn>KY>Fairborn is a pretty good roll for a day ride, but I'd be happy to show you some of the great twisties in NKY right across the river if you're interested in riding down here for a few hours. There's miles of great rural roads with light to non-existent traffic within an hour of Cincinnati. I'm retired (or as my wife refers to me...useless as teats on a boar hog) so anytime weekday or weekend works. Either PM me here on Ohio Riders or shoot me an email at icantdrive55atfusedotnet. There's some good roads that are interesting in SE Indiana that are prolly a bit closer to you. Check 'em out on Googlemap.

Quantitative? Quaint? No elitists at the Comet. Just a bunch of middle-age guys to old farts--all riders--hanging out drinking and BSing. Definitely not THE PLACE to be seen or do the Facebook post thing. Tonight, There was a BMW 1200C, several old BMW airheads, quite a few Jap bikes, some scooters, a custom H-D bagger, some vintage Hondas, and a brand new Katoom 390 Duke. Not the same thing as Saturday morning Fuel Coffee. Definitely not the same thing as QSL. A guy with your sense of humor might just like it….

Hole-in-the-wall hipster bar with a crappy location and insufficient parking in a marginal neighborhood, a decent beer selection and huge, great tasting burritos but with a short-handed and surly waitstaff that'll keep you standing for 10 minutes to get a cold beer. Somebody tell me why I end up going most weeks?!?

Thanks to Rob for an awesome route today!!! I rode just under 300 miles and I didn't join up with the group until the lunch break in Williamstown. Weather was obviously primo and for the most part, traffic was pretty light and didn't take away from the fun too much. There were about 10-12 riders from both LocalRiders crew and the Junkies who rode the first leg from Alexandria to Williamstown, where we dropped a few but picked a couple more at the Red Carpet restaurant. 8-9 rolled west to run 1993 and 227 south to Stamping Ground, then back north on 368 and 607 and 22 back into Falmouth. While we were there fueling, 3 Junkies--Chainslack and a couple of others (sorry, old-timers disease)--rolled into the Shell and picked up with the group to make the run across 17 and 467 and 1492 and points north to the Hash. All in all, a great day with no casualties. Thanks to all the riders in the group for riding a great pace and staying safe!!! Lots of fun...

If anyone is interested in the meet-up at lunch in Williamstown, I'm heading out from the west side of Cinti (Green Twsp) and crossing into NKY at the ferry about 11ish. Hitting the backroads to the lunch meet-up--Disclaimer: There may some goat paths in the mix--and then riding the afternoon route with the group.

If the Battlax is a steel-belt radial construction, plugs can be difficult to get a perfect seal, and I've heard anecdotally that the belts MAY end up cutting the plug as the steel belts flex during riding. A plug works just fine in a poly belt tire, whether radial or bias. If it's steel belt construction, I'd recommend de-mounting the tire and having a vulcanizing patch installed.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/erik-buell-racing-closes-files-for-receivership-b99481936z1-299863281.html Damn shame. Last article I read was very positive about the future of the brand. 2nd time an orphan….

FYI, might want to check out the Assfault Junkies forum. Cinti based, pretty young crowd, more track-oriented, some forum drama…. Brandon, prez of AFJ, owns a shop on the east side of the city. For you Ducati service needs, might want to touch base with Chris Nicoloff. Pm me for his cell #.

Frank: Welcome to the seventh level of hell... If you've got the time, hook up with Rob (Dice) on his Spring Marathon Ride on the 18th. It'd be a great intro to just some of the great riding roads in the SW Ohio/NKY area. I'm on the west side of Cinti if you want to roll south with someone.

If you believe in the weather fairy, it's lookin' pretty good right now for a nice little romp in the backwoods….

2tt: What kind of street tire are riding that you run 42 and 43 psi in? Seems awfully high unless your doing high-speed slabbing loaded to the gun'ales....

Hmmm. Ghost in the Machine? Call the Police…. I got nothin'.

Sounds like you're describing a noise coming from the air box when the throttle plates open. If your bike is fresh out of winter storage in the garage, I'd pull the air box snorkel and check air filter/intake tract for a nice snug, little "mouse cabin" built over the winter. Or it could be owls….

Joe: Believe it or not, a local MC dealer here in Cinti made me an offer for nearly what I was asking. Dropped it off, picked up my check, and drove home. Didn't have to dick around with the mouth-breathers on CL trying to trade me for their first-gen Xbox system and 23 pirated Chinese knock-off Mortal Combat games. Whenever I sell a bike, I nearly always dread the obvious first question out of a potential buyer's mouth: "Hey man, can I take a test ride?" Ummm, no…. I was really hoping I'd be able to pass the bike along to someone, preferably a private buyer, at a righteous price since you did the same for me. I'm sure that whoever buys it will pay a much higher price for it than I was asking. I guess that's how capitalism works….

Couldn't find the 'EDIT' button so I guess I don't know how to change the first post. Bottom line….SOLD!!! Mods, can you change the title to reflect the change, thx.

Grab it and sell the Sportster. I've got a couple of local dealers that have offered close to or right at my asking price to relist for floor resale. I'd rather see it sell to a private buyer rather than having to go thru retail mark-up. I'll prolly pull the trigger on one of their offers in the next couple of days unless they're blowing smoke up my a$$. This is definitely one sweet bike and priced right!!!