Another Nice Day in the Santa Monica Mtns.

After last weeks ride, I was really starting to feel a lot more comfortable on the bike. Since I had some time to kill this morning, I went for another ride in the Santa Monica Mtns (my stomping grounds). I got to the Rock Store around 9:40 this morning and it was already packed.




Since I wanted to spend more time riding than hanging out, I walked around only for a bit to get some pictures of some nice bikes.




I had never seen an MV Agusta Brutale in person before. It's a very sweet looking bike. MV's styling crew, in my opinion, are amongst the best in the world. I'd seen a Ducati Monster before, but this one was nicely done. I also got to meet the owner of the '06 R1 LE that's pictured. Even he was impressed with Robyn

I had to get a picture of a fairly stock Raven R1 ('cause I've never seen Robyn stock) and a picture of a new '06 Raven R6. I must say that I like the Raven color scheme better than the Kenny Roberts livery. The owner seemed a bit too paranoid though (putting a Disc lock on your bike at the Rock Store on the weekend is completely unnecessary).

I chatted with the owner of the R1 LE for a bit before I headed out to do some actual canyon carving. I decided to head down Mulholland to Stunt Rd. Stunt Rd. is one of my favorite . . or was. It's still a fairly nice road, but seems to have deteriorated since the last time I was on it.

Despite the road not being as good as it was, I had a blast getting to the top for these pictures:





It was a fun ride. I just started reading Smooth Riding the Pridmore Way. He stresses riding smoothly in his book. That was my focus on this ride.

It's amazing how fast you can go when you're just trying to be smooth.
Stan on 01.29.06 @ 05:20 PM PST [link]

First Group Riding Experience

mood: pleased

RhymeSayer of SCS posted a thread to see if anyone want to carve up Angeles Crest Highway (ACH) today. Since it rained last weekend, and I was itching to ride ACH again . . but for the first time with Robyn so, I thought I'd join in. Turns out that CanyonBall was bringing out his brand new 2006 R6. Naturally, everyone wanted to see it, so there was a big group (16 of us in total).

I got there a bit early, feuled up, and hung out with some friendly, motorcycle loving/riding familiar and unfamiliar faces. The increasing popularity of the sport and being away from riding for 8 months can created many unfamiliar faces.

As you will see in some of these pictures, it was a little chilly this morning, but not too bad (nothing some thermal underwear under the leathers didn't fix)

Once CanyonBall arrived with his R6 everyone naturally wanted to see it up close. He let me throw a leg over it and I'll tell you, it almosts feels like I had a beach cruiser between my knees. Very tall seat height but also really light weight.

Once everyone stopped drolling over the R6, we decided to head up to Newcombs Ranch. I ended up being the reluctant lead rider to Newcombs. Since it had been a while, I was a bit apprehensive about being the lead. But, after I thought about it for a bit . . I figured that I would rather have the better/faster riders pass me, than be stuck behind a less skilled/slower rider and fear them losing it in front of me.

We hung out at Newcombs for a bit looking at the other bikes that arrived. Some of us decided to drink some coffee and/or have some breakfast. Once we were all ready to go again, we decided to take Big T to the tree on AFH. This time, I got James aka Shrewd to lead

We hung out at the Big Tree for a bit, bench racing, sharing riding tips, general 'biker' chat. Once we were ready to roll. We took Big T back to ACH down to the Shell station we started at.

It was a great day. The temps were a bit cool when we started, but then warmed up nicely (especially since it's winter time). No one got a ticket or wadded their bike. We all got to meet some cool new people, see some old friends and see some nice bikes.

What can get better than this.

To see even more pictures . . go here
Stan on 01.21.06 @ 07:08 PM PST [link]

Oldest Son's 1st ride to school

mood: pleased

After pleading with me for months for a new bike (which he got for Christmas) and begging his mom for weeks to actually let him, my oldest son rode his bike to school today. I got off work a bit early to capture the first ride home from school and "ride" along with him.

I can still remember my first ride to school like it was yesterday (although it wasn't).


Stan on 01.13.06 @ 08:32 PM PST [link]

First Bike Nite Experience

mood: disappointed

I went to SFV Bike Night tonight. It wasn't necessarily the best night to go for Robyn's first visit. As you can see from these photos taken with my camera phone . . it was pretty dead.





I did meet a cool guy named Ken. But with the tempuratures dipping below 50 degrees, it was time to ride home. I'm sure there will be plenty of more bike nights . . especially once the temps warm up again.
Stan on 01.12.06 @ 12:16 AM PST [link]

My 1st Commute w/ Robyn!!

mood: pleased

Tired of those boring commutes to work that involve a lot of stop and go . . Well, then I have a solution that will only work for the bravehearted, but can save you a lot of time and increase your excitement . . . ride a motorcycle to work.

Yes, I'm back to the grind . . work. Figures it would rain over the New Year's 3-day weekend.
So, I rod Robyn into work for the first time. It saved me a bunch of time and made the trip so much more enjoyable. No more waiting behind some idiot going 45mph in the fast lane that hasn't figured out that everyone else (except those unfortunate souls behind said idiot) is going 65-75 mph. No more stop and go on the freeway. It's all go . . with varying speeds of course.

I had forgotten why I didn't mind commuting over 30+ miles one way before, now I remember

Robyn is certainly more nimble through traffic than any other bike I've owned. I'm sure a great deal of that has to do with being the lightest bike I've ever owned AND the MAG wheels. I kept forgetting I had 5th AND 6th gear too. She literally feels like she's loafing along at semi-legal freeway speeds in 6th.

Her Ohlins continue to impress me, even on the Superslab.

No pictures today, the sites simply weren't worthy of it (you've seen a busy freeway and inner city before I'm sure).
Stan on 01.03.06 @ 07:17 PM PST [link]