Air-Cooled Engine vs. Summer

I own a 2021 Ducati Desert X Scrambler Fasthaus edition. This particular motorcycle has an air-cooled engine. When temperatures average in the high 80s to low 90s daily, the air that’s supposedly cooling my engine isn’t all that cool. On this Saturday we had pleasant low 80s for our ride, a real treat at the end of July, but it still wasn’t enough to keep my thighs cool.

As we set off on our ride, I actually was chilled by the wind blowing against me through my partially zipped gear. I took that as an encouraging sign that I wouldn’t get as overheated on this ride as I did last week. We cruised along our twisties and I was wishing for another sight of the bald eagle—no luck. I had an odd sense as we rode our slow circles in the first court. The whole ride my circles felt off for some reason that I still don’t understand. I could do them, but I felt like I was working at them harder.

I did get to see a falcon zipping along the tops of the pine trees as we headed over to the fancy neighborhood. And I was happy when we cruised straight down the long road to the end. The end is a small court, and I again had that off sensation as we circled about. I almost felt as though I was riding too slowly, but I did not have the fear of dropping the bike. I wonder if I am getting a better feel for the speed of the motorcycle and that is why our slow circles felt slow.

We continued our ride amongst the crepe myrtles, brown-eyed susans, and begonias. The dragonflies flitted about, and I was very lucky to spot a Monarch butterfly dancing close to the tarmac. We rode through a gaggle of Canadian geese crossing the church parking lot. As we practiced our standing stops, a Japanese beetle found itself on a collision course with me and veered off at the last second.

All through our ride, I would have been completely cool and comfortable if it weren’t for the air-cooled engine. When I see riders in shorts, I think they must be riding water or oil cooled engines because they would have burn marks on their thighs from the heat. I find myself pushing my knees outward to try and get cool air flow over my hot legs. Every week it becomes clearer to me that the air-cooled Ducati is a cold weather bike.

Because we had strong storms the night before, I had resigned myself to no ride on the R Nine T. So it was a pleasant surprise when Bill headed over to the field. I asked about the ride on still wet grass, and he suggested I just circle the two trees nearby. It was another mixed week. The start was great, and the circles on the bike felt good; I was more worried about the spongy ground. I was determined to get the feel for the dry clutch, not having had much luck with my research. I thought if I let the clutch out most of the way and then rolled on the throttle, I would have it. But I kept stalling. As I worked at it, I thought maybe my problem was as I let out the clutch and rolled on the throttle and started moving, I pulled the clutch back in. Doing this would cut power to the rear wheel and, you guessed it, cause stalling. Bill suggested my difficulty may also have been due to the wetter terrain. In any case I’m due for a good ride next week, and I have a plan to work with for that dry clutch.

Now the BMW R Nine T is an air/oil-cooled engine. Plus, the cylinder heads are down low, so there’s no thigh roasting when I get the chance to ride it. I need to improve on that dry clutch; maybe there’ll be an R Nine T for me down the road.

Ducati Desert X Scrambler Fasthaus engine — The Ducat’s air-cooled engine.

Racing the Rain

At 6:00 AM the roads were wet and it seemed our ride wouldn’t happen. But three hours later, the roads were drying off and the sun was peeking here and there through the large storm clouds. We decided to race the rain and work our ride in before the storm arrived.

The temperatures were in the mid 80s but, with the gathering storm, the humidity was way up making for a sticky ride. Some of the neighborhood construction had been completed, so we headed off into a small neighborhood that we hadn’t ridden in for over a month. The road was newly paved and nice and twisty. One of the skills I was working on this week was counter steering or, as Jerry Palladino of Ride Like a Pro calls it, pushing.

With counter steering the concept is more confusing than the action. Counter steering is how a rider leans the bike into curves on the road. In a car the driver turns the steering wheel along the path of the curve. On a motorcycle the rider counter steers the bike into a lean because turning the handlebars at speed would cause the bike to fall (and, most likely, the rider too). The reason it is called counter steering is because as I push forward on either the left or right side of the handlebars, the front wheel seems to steer (just slightly) to the opposite side. This counter steer guides the motorcycle into a lean to follow the curve of the road. As I said, the application is easier than the concept because counter steering and leaning the bike, to a non-rider, might seem likely to lead to a crash. But in reality, the counter steering allows the rider to follow the curves of the road and is quite enjoyable.

So I had success and fun with that skill practice. Another skill we were working on this week is turning from a stop. In the case of turning right or left from a complete stop, the rider should turn the handlebars. By turning the handlebars first and then heading into the turn, I can maximize the available roadway for the turn and avoid going into the opposite lane (right turns especially). The challenge here is once the motorcycle starts moving, the front wheel tries to straighten out. I was better able to keep the handlebars turned when going to the right and found myself straightening the handlebars on left turns. It wasn’t until the second to last left turn that I was able to keep the handlebars turned.

This week I again had trouble remembering to watch my mirrors when stopping. Not until we were halfway through the ride did I begin to incorporate the mirror checks. I did better at checking them as I approached the stop rather than as I stopped, but I need to development my stop awareness at the get go. Then all of my stopping skills will be going well.

I had a few moments riding the Ducati where the heat nearly overwhelmed me. I think the bike’s heat coupled with the humidity makes for a challenging ride. This unpleasant warmth made our slow circles and S-turn practices a challenge. I found myself almost target fixating in the gravel lot and narrowly avoided the wooden beams laid down to form the parking lot. But I managed to squeak by and opened up my visor fully to allow more cool air inside.

Not too many animals about as they were probably already sheltering from the impending storm. I did have a dragonfly zoom into my path flying straight at me before lifting himself up and over my helmet.

When we went to our stand up and stop practice lot, we felt the first drops of rain. I could hear the rain hitting my helmet and saw the drops on the gas tank. It was an early warning as the skies did not open up, but we proceeded to the school field so I could practice on the R Nine T some. I seem to be in an on/off pattern with the R Nine T. Last week went smoothly, so this week I stalled constantly. And this week was when I added coming to a stop and restarting. I did not have one successful restart from the stop. On the bright side, next week’s practice should be another on week.

We returned the motorcycles to my parents’ garage and headed home. The storm began just as we pulled into the driveway, so the motorcycles let us outride the rain. Next Saturday is showing clear skies, so let’s hope it stays that way.

Storm clouds — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

A Day Worth Waiting For

Finally! Despite rain late into last night, the roads dried off, the sun came out, and we had a day to ride. It’s been three weeks since I rode and a month for Bill, so we were extra happy that the weather forecast was right and the day was nice. There was some wind keeping it cold, but with the bright sunshine everywhere, it felt warmer.

And we weren’t the only ones out enjoying the prettier weather. We passed a small group of Canadian geese (6) driving into the neighborhood. And once I was out on the Scrambler, I passed another smaller group of 4. It felt great to be back on the motorcycle, though it was a bit like my first-time riding. I realized that my last ride was on my G310 and on different roads, so I was relearning the feel of my Ducati and relearning my practice routes.

The roads were fairly quiet which made my practice easier. The gravel parking lot at the neighborhood park was free of cars, allowing me to loop through it several times. I even rode my little dirt track, though carefully as there was a lot of mud from last night’s rain. My focus was on the feel of the bike, shifting the gears in my thick Rev’It winter gloves and keeping my left foot up. So I only did a few U-turns and only one fast stop as the gloves are stiff. I’m hoping that with some more winter rides, the gloves will wear in and loosen up some.

I slalomed through the bus lanes at the elementary school, riding by the house often as I expected Bill to be waiting so he could ride too. After about 20 minutes, there he was, geared up and ready to go. So we went and picked up the R NineT and headed out on our neighborhood cruise. Since we hadn’t ridden these roads in a month, we found some road work in the neighborhood—more gravel. I was watching the road and watching Bill as I always do when I caught sight of the bald eagle soaring above us. So not only was I thrilled to be back riding my motorcycle, but I had the added excitement of seeing the bald eagle coasting through the bright blue sky. As I watched the beautiful eagle, I realized that my sensation riding the motorcycle is as close as I will get to an eagle soaring aloft in the sky. I rode with a smile plastered on my face.

The smile turned to a laugh when we cruised by the first group of geese. Several of them were crossing the road, so we had slowed to a crawl as the stragglers made it across. As they cleared the road and we rode by, the big goose in charge chased after the stragglers, honking a reprimand for their slow progress.

The birds continued to entertain us on our ride. We passed more geese playing in a puddle. A mockingbird flew right in front of Bill. And, as we paused for our chat on the gravel lot, we watched four turkey vultures flitting about in the tall pine trees. I had some issues shifting from second to third during the ride. I would pull in the clutch and lift the shifter, only to look down and see I was still in second. I believe that is part of getting used to the gloves and the feel of the clutch. I was able to easily find neutral two out of three tries, which was a pleasant surprise as I was sure, after not riding the Scrambler for a month, I would lose the progress I had made in finding neutral.

Next weekend is looking to be a warmer ride, so I will get more practice in shifting and finding neutral and, hopefully, another chance to see the bald eagle in flight.

Me in my warm riding gear with the stiff Rev’It gloves; I love my Schott’s leather jacket.

Now an Official Motorcycle Bad A**

Let’s face it. The ubiquitous image of a motorcycle rider is a large, multi-tattooed, leather clad bad ass. Even if you take away the size and body ink aspects, you’ve got the leather-jacketed image of James Dean on a motorcycle in Rebel Without a Cause as the epitome of both coolness and juvenile delinquent, and the motorcycle is a huge part of that image. And as of Saturday, I have joined the ranks of MC BAs!

I didn’t plan to become a BA. We got up on a pleasantly cool Saturday—again the week had been in the 90s, but we were blessed with a Saturday that would be in the low 80s, so our morning ride was a pleasant 75 degrees. I spotted the monarch butterfly even before I took off on the bike, again a seeming good omen for a great day of riding.

I did my warm up laps around the parking lot, working a little on swerves and on my U-turns. I was struggling on my right side today, a little frustrating after last week, but I know I’m a rank beginner and will have negative progress periods as well as leaps forward. Bill set up cones for the off-set slalom, and I ran through it twice then came to a stop. A white truck had pulled into the parking lot. I have a rule for myself to pull over and stop when another vehicle is in motion anywhere in my practice lot. I was stopped over near the school dumpsters. Bill was across the lot sitting in his chair in the shade. The white truck did not turn off and park but drove straight up to Bill. I saw a public schools sign on the side of the truck and had a sinking feeling. The gentleman got out of the truck, a clear VBPS badge swinging from his neck.

I was too far away to hear any of the conversation, but I knew what it was. He was there to tell us we could not use the parking lot for practice. Someone had made a complaint.

Let me take this moment to remind you that I ride a BMW G310 GS, a 313 cc motorcycle. Bill even asked the gentleman if, standing there conversing, he could hear my bike idling as I waited in limbo across the lot. And the gentleman answered honestly, “No.” But he was just the messenger. So I rode one more time through the off-set slalom, and we relocated to the dead end street in front of Bill’s house. Not before a general bitch session first about obnoxious neighbor busybodies, and then a switch to petty bureaucratic brown nosers in the school district trying to earn brownie points by telling the administrator they saw hooligans riding motorcycles in the school parking lot on Saturday.

Whoever made the complaint, we were compliant and relocated. As we were leaving the parking lot, Bill on the bike, me in the car, I saw the swallowtail at the edge of the parking lot, as though saying farewell which was a little bittersweet for me as I don’t know if I will be back in the parking lot practicing.

Some background on this parking lot. This school is the neighborhood elementary school. I was enrolled in Catholic school, so I did not attend this school, but both my little brother and sister attended several years later. I did use this parking lot to practice driving skills before getting my license, including the painful shifting with the clutch (my poor parents!). Adjacent to the school is a huge field with a baseball diamond, basketball courts, and playground equipment. At the back is a small woodland, all of which I played on for years as I child and which my boyfriend still uses when riding his bicycle and running (the field and woodland). Every Sunday a group of men play cricket in the field. Any given day of the week you can see kids playing on the playground and teens and young adults shooting hoops. And I am not the only neighborhood child who learned basic driving skills in that parking lot.

All of this background is just so you know how absolutely absurd the complaint is. This is also bad press Virginia Beach Public Schools. Part of what makes a neighborhood school is the sense of ownership the residents of the neighborhood feel toward that school. Now some might say I no longer live in the neighborhood—which I don’t—but my parents and two of my brothers own houses in the neighborhood, and my boyfriend’s house is right there next to the school. And we have never seen anyone else trying to come into the parking lot to use it for driving practice during our riding time.

Anyway, I am trying to make lemonade out of this gigantic lemon, so I’m using the complaint against as my official entry into motorcycle badassery. It’s a stretch I know, but I LOVE riding my motorcycle, and I don’t want a negative experience to impact that. So I am turning it into a positive. Sorry Mom, but your greatest fear about the motorcycle has come true—I am a delinquent (I left juvenile behind decades ago).

Back to what I love, the riding. On the little dead-end street, I worked on stopping; I’m trying to find my braking threshold and I am in the beginning stages of that. Because it is a short dead-end street, I had to make U-turns at both ends to run my stopping drills. I was amazed to discover how nervous I was making U-turns with the curbs on either side of the street! I was also nervous because I felt Bill had set the stopping cone a little too close to the parked cars at the end of the street. Plus, there were cars parked on both sides of the street, adding more obstacles. And there was a road that intersected the street I was on with people turning right to get out of the neighborhood, so I had to up my awareness. All of this provided me excellent training, so the day was not a total wash.

But the excitement wasn’t over. We thought we lost one of the keys to the R NineT, and it created some stressful moments. I eventually found the key, after riding twice through the neighborhood to see if it had fallen out on the road, when I went to search the trunk of the car. It was wedged between the back end of the car and the hatch! I’m not sure where we will be riding on Saturday, but wherever we are, the weather gods are smiling on us again and giving us a beautiful morning—the high for the day is forecast to be 79!

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass: it’s about learning how to ride in the rain!”- Anonymous
https://motoringjunction.com/featured/top-32-motorcycle-riding-quotes/

Butterflies and Bikes

Do you ever watch the flight of a butterfly? How it seems to bounce along in the air in seeming randomness? Yet it flits between flowers and moves purposefully along the blossoms as it feeds. I have always enjoyed watching a butterfly bounce along especially from the car as the winds buffet it about. On my motorcycle the flight of the butterfly is magnified because on a motorcycle, you are out in the air with the butterfly. A part of me imagines a collision with the helmet, but the larger part of me enjoys the feeling of freedom I’m sharing with the butterfly, out moving in the wind.

A monarch butterfly breezed past me on my very first ride on my G310 GS. Today it was a swallowtail butterfly. I love seeing the butterflies flitting about as I circle around my parking lot. They’ve made such an impression on me, that I thought of naming this Butterflies and Bikes. They are a fitting symbol for how I picture my riding—a carefree adventure out in nature.

I’m not there yet, but today I felt a confidence on the bike greater than any I had felt before. I breezed through my “box turns” and my “S turns,” not once feeling a near loss of control of the bike. It was rather warm out especially with me wearing my jeans and Klim jacket, so I was cruising up to third gear and hitting 20 mph to stay cool. My boyfriend set out the slalom for me and I had near perfect runs sitting and standing. So we upped the ante and did the offset slalom.

This week we’ve been watching videos of the BMW GS trophy qualifying rounds, amazed at the challenges the bikers face and get through. Their balance and control of the bike is amazing. And watching them turn on the offset slaloms inspired me to give it a try this week. I started off OK turning through the first 3 cones well. But my downfall was the last 3 cones; I couldn’t set up my entry well. So I drove by them and circled back around to try again.

About my fifth attempt, I realized that I was not using my body in the turns and that I was using too much front brake. I told myself to relax, focus on using my body, and let the friction zone help. I made it through all 6 cones, set up again, did it again, and went for the third time which was the charm and I was successful. Bill even commented on how I shouldn’t use the front brake, just the clutch and rear brake.

What I especially enjoyed realizing was that even as I fought the bike to get through the offset, I did not have any fear of falling. As I moved through the offset, I was moving freely, just as the butterfly moves freely in the wind.

I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?
Zhuangzi
“Zhuangzi Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/zhuangzi_393083.

All Geared Out

July 4^th weekend and we had a day that started in the 60s! For those of you who know coastal Virginia summers, July is known for hazy, hot, and humid, not beautiful, spring-like weather. But thanks to a lovely cold front, we had a gorgeous day for riding. Which was a good thing as it was my first ride wearing our new Klim gear.

I say “our” gear as opposed to mine as we weren’t sure of the sizing, so my boyfriend ordered for himself with me being the back up if the sizes ran small. He got the Klim K Fifty 1 jeans, the Klim Induction gloves, the Gaerne SG12 Enduro boots, and the Klim Induction Pro jacket. He liked the jeans, gloves, and boots which all fit well. And the jacket was nice but a little snug. So I tried on the jacket which just happens to match my bike (the jacket is the Cool Gray color). Because of the cool front, there was some wind creating my coolest ride yet. I actually needed the jacket for some warmth. The air was so cool I rode with my helmet visor down for the first time as well.

As far as the ride itself, it was a little on the short side as we needed to get the bike back and parked by 11:00. I worked on cruising, slaloming, quick stopping, straightening up from a curve, and stopping in a curve. We used the KamelKones again for some slow speed slaloming most of which I stayed in second gear for. One new thing I worked on was a tip I heard in one of Fortnine’s videos we watched this week. The tip was when stopping, in order to help ensure the left leg goes down first, tilt your head to the left.

I worked with this strategy on several sections of the parking lot that slope down to the right and where I have found myself at best putting both feet down simultaneously, but more often setting my right foot down first. I was successful 5 out of 6 tries, and the one unsuccessful try was both feet going down. It amazes me how a seemingly innocuous movement of the head can help with correct body position. But that is one of the fascinating aspects of training on a motorcycle—learning how subtle body movements influence your movement, control, and balance on the motorcycle. It makes me appreciate what a skill riding a motorcycle is, and it helps me understand why my boyfriend is so insistent on my practicing. Today, I realized how much more comfortable I am on my bike, how tight turning is a skill to continue improving, not the nightmare of the MSF test that I thought could fail me. So I realize I need to be careful of hubris, of feeling overly confident on the bike. I have not fallen yet, and I hope I don’t until I’m off-roading (and even then, I really don’t want to fall; I just accept it as an inevitability).

But even knowing there’s an inevitable fall in my future does nothing to diminish the exuberant joy riding brings me. And as I gather more safety equipment for riding, my concern in that looming fall becomes more and more about possible damage to the bike and less and less about possible damage to me.

Author wearing motorcycle helmet and gray Klim jacket. — Wearing my new Klim jacket.

Practice, Practice, Practice

A beautiful Saturday morning for learning to ride! The weather gods were kind and kept the temps at a cool 70 as I cruised around the neighborhood school’s parking lot. The first thing I noticed was the motorcycle didn’t feel as heavy as it had at the dealership, so I am already getting conditioned to the weight—yay! The second thing was the feathery light movement of the clutch in the friction zone; I could easily paddle around the entire parking lot at a breezy little speed within the friction zone on this bike.

My new Schuberth E1 helmet in Cut Blue fit beautifully and is nice, vivid, and visible. And the sun visor offered excellent protection against the super bright sunshine. Plus, my boyfriend , Bill, noticed that the white peak on the helmet matched beautifully with the white peaked fender on the front of the bike. And, in case you were wondering, my only other motorcycle specific equipment right now is the Rev’it Valley Tube necktube that does a fantastic job of keeping my neck from getting sunburned. I do have a pair of Klim XC Lite Women’s Gloves to wear for my summer practice on order and will have them in time for my next weekend practice. As far as clothing, I’m just in jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt while I let my boyfriend select and, more importantly, pay for some great warm weather riding gear.

As I rode, I stuck to what we had learned in the MSF course and worked on moving in the friction zone, shifting from first to second gear, turning, stopping quickly, and placing my left foot down first when stopping (not always easy when I feel my weight shifted to the right). Bill, who very patiently was watching my practice, pointed out that I needed to remember to look both ways when starting up out of the stop, to make that a habit when on the bike. Overall, the practice went very well, lasting about an hour. When we returned the bike to my parents’ garage, my Mom asked, “Are you done already?” So I explained that my hands and wrists get tired gripping the clutch and front break. Plus, we hadn’t had our delicious blueberry French toast brunch yet, and we were both very hungry. And, even though he tells me he doesn’t mind my practicing, I do feel bad that my boyfriend is stuck watching me and doesn’t get to ride himself—except when bringing the bike over to the school from the garage and returning it to my parents’ house.

The idea is for me to gain experience and develop my riding skills enough so that we can take bikes out into the country and cruise some back roads and quiet country lanes. But first I have to progress enough in the school’s parking lot to begin practicing in the neighborhood. And my boyfriend has to get himself a motorcycle.

One idea we have been tossing around is that he would get for himself my next bike, the bike I would graduate up to once I can more than handle the G310. We both love the Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE for this, though we’ve had some concern over heat from the exhaust. But yesterday, my boyfriend found a Youtube video from Tec Bike Parts, “Brand New Flank 2-1 Exhaust for Scrambler 1200” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQLIxjtHtc&scrlybrkr=eb9f2774) in which he installs the new exhaust with the heat shield in about 15 minutes. We liked it so much, we tried ordering the part which is out of stock in the US, available in the UK, but won’t ship from the UK to the US—frustrating! We also stumbled upon the fact that the new 2022 Triumphs are out (including the limited-edition Steve McQueen version). So I am hoping we will go look at those soon and my boyfriend will get one-even though it’s a little early for me to be out country cruising. But I am super excited to get there!