Tour of the Battenkill Video

The video guy was on the back of an Aprillia.
The race was 4.5 hours, here are 15 minutes of highlights.

Motorcycle Marshal - Carrying the Photographer

Tour of the Battenkill is promoted as America's toughest one day race.

Photo: © marcoquezada.com/nyvelocity/

I rode the 124 miles of pavement and dirt of Battenkill under horsepower, and I can attest that it is a tough route. I taxied two photographers during the elite men's race. How I was assigned two photographers is a mystery to me. They worked out a drop off and pick up schedule around the 62 mile circuit. It sort of worked out.



Pre Race Staging



This race operated with a rolling roadblock. If you are outside the official vehicles, you need to abide by road rules. Inside the enclosure and you can ride the left side of the road, pass police cruisers and blow your horn at the Sheriff's car. Any questions as to why I like to participate?



Moto Marshals and officials have different functions with the race. I was carrying a photographer, so I did not have marshal responsibilities.


Shortcuts outside of the route allowed us to get to a shoot area, park and set up in anticipation of the racers coming through. I had enough time to shoot the shooters.



I love my new Canon SX 230 with GPS. Now I just need to find the software to map the GPS locations for me. The picture quality is nice for a point and shoot.



It was my first time carrying a full sized adult who probably outweighed me. The most difficult aspect was the mounting and dismounting the bike, which was often parked in less than optimal road conditions.

The twisting and turning of a photographer did not prove to be a problem. Communication via shouting worked just fine. I had the race channel cranked up to hear instruction from the director. Frequently he would direct me to move along, away from the pack. Roll along side, get your shots, roll away. If you tried to hog the good position, you would hear the radio squawk.

Photo: © marcoquezada.com/nyvelocity/

Feathering the clutch for miles on end to pace a bicycle is challenging work. One guy liked to lean way out, with him on the back, I would lose visibility in my right mirror. For this I needed to compensate with more full head checks.

Tour de Dust

Photo: © Barry Koblenz/basetwelvephoto.com

These yellow line pictures can only come from being right in there with the riders.

Photo: © Barry Koblenz/basetwelvephoto.com

This picture, probably shot from a stationary position, shows good perspective of the aggressiveness of the course.

Photo: © Barry Koblenz/basetwelvephoto.com

Moto Marshal

Photo: © Barry Koblenz/basetwelvephoto.com

Barry & Marco did succeed in getting their shots. And I succeeded at my first outing as a photo biker.

For information about moto marshals: Motorcycle Marshal Handbook

Soul of an Old Machine

soul/sōl/
Noun:
1. The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
2. A person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity.

A friend of mine is shopping for a car. He commented that the SUV’s he is considering have no soul. I thought about that comment as I rode the K75 for the first time this year. Do machines have soul? Can a new machine have soul? Isn’t it our relationship with that machine - the time, the adventures & misadventures we share with it, isn’t that what forms the identity, giving the machine soul? I don’t think a new bike, or new car can have soul off the lot. I think it needs to develop soul, and some never will.

First Tag of the Year


The K75 has soul. It’s 25 years old this year. I have owned it for 13 years. I remember the day I picked it up. The gentleman that sold it shared his photo album, packed with pictures from the many trips he and his wife had gone on with “Gretchin”. (I never cared for the name, and within a year of owning it, the K75 was dubbed Spare) I wish I’d paid more attention to that album. As it was my first bike, I only glanced at those pictures, they where someone else’s memories of trip to faraway places, like Maine and Canada, I could not even fathom that the bike would ever travel so far with me. On that first day, I could not even envision getting out of my drive way.

Adventure: a key ingredient of soul


I had the GT for 5 years and it remained soulless.

Good looks...no depth?


Why was that? Perhaps we never bonded right, I knew in my heart it was not the bike for me. With the K75, I can’t part with it, it is an old family album, a family friend…it is family.

Scenic Vistas pictures, an important bonding ritual


If you are swapping out your ride every 2 years, how can you expect to bond with your machine? Why do people do that? Are they in search of some elusive quality in a bike? Or is it only important that they be seen on the latest machine? Perhaps they are missing the point. A new machine will remain soulless until you two have been though something together, and that takes time.

BMW R1200GS Oil Change Tutorial

As usual, when reading my mechanical advice…keep in mind I make my living in computers…not motorcycles.

My first oil change on the GS proved to be unexpectedly easy. (The bike’s oil had been changed this summer, at the dealer) As compared to BMW K bikes,the parts are easy to access. The only challenge was locating the right size tool to remove the aftermarket skid plate, why would the plate be secured with one 10mm bolt and 3 ½ inch bolts?

I marked the plate so that I’d remember how to put it back together.



I did need to purchase a new oil filter wrench, no doubt imported from Germany!


I ran the bike for about 10 minutes to warm things up. I’ve put on many unexpected miles this November, so I was a little bit overdue for a change.

Carefully remove the drain plug, try not to let it plop into the waste oil.


When the majority of the oil is drained, remove the oil filter. Take care to hand loosen it at the end so that you’ll have a good grip on it, and sweep it out of the way when the oil pours out.

Examine the old filter. If you look carefully, you’ll see the old filter is missing the ring.


This is an important point. You must now retrieve the old ring. Miss this step and you are in big trouble trying to get the new filter to seed.


Give the new filter a little drink before installing it.


Here is an undershot of the bike, this is where the new filter goes. Try not to get oily gloved hands on the camera! Oil changes are even quicker if you don’t take pictures of each step!


The oil filter and drain plug have been re-installed


Time to add the new oil, and pour the waste oil into a jug, waiting for a trip to the dump (transfer station round these parts)


Make note of your miles, and update your records. And you’re good to go for another…well you decide…I shoot for every 5,000. That way I’m not changing it 4 times a season.

1953 Motorcycle Tour

I ran across this link, I just love real people's history, especially interesting with the motorcycle twist. Enjoy.
1953 Motorcycle Touring Europe:

A Fine Day Out

It's been a while since I've done a plain and simple ride report.



And that's what it was today, plain and simple. After getting some things done in the morning, I headed out in the afternoon to play.

One last piece of business was to stop Concord DMV to renew my license. I was surprised with clerk asked me if I "wanted" to keep the MC on my license. "Why yes, that is how I got here." I wonder if women tend to drop their endorsement?


I then headed to Hopkington, NH to pick up the Northern New England tag which has been languishing since Sept 26th. I think there are too many TOR games going...

I stopped at the covered bridge first, there was already a photographer there! We tried to ignore each other. I was kind of blocking traffic.


Then down around the corner for the Tag.


Look at how incredible the weather is, it was in the low 60's, very nice for October. A real score for a day off!


Then I traveled 127N to catch 93 for the next tag. I can't recall taking this road before, not an easy thing to say when traveling in state. It was a very nice wooded back road, with gentle turns.

Today is the day that Garmin decided it would retire. It booted up, but is not taking screen commands. I had neither directions nor the name of the road I needed but I had a good idea where it was. And for once, I was right!

I found Tripoli Road in Thornton (Campton?) and followed it to Waterville Valley.

Here is the tag I was going for, but alas, I was Bruced.


No matter, it was my first time on the road, and I really enjoyed it!


May I say once again, it's great to have the right bike for the job


There you have it, just the right mix: a day off, good weather, good road and just a little sense of urgency for us here in New Hampshire as we know our days on two wheels are numbered