Cult of Dualsport

Zongshen Sierra 200

Another example of motorcycle spam, or is it Web 2.0 advertising? The Zongshen showed up on one of my regular Google blog searches, so I looked a bit deeper. I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you! There was only one example of an actual Zongshen rider that I could find -- at Thumpertalk, of course. The rest of the results were for classified ads.

No matter. Motorcycle porn is motorcycle porn, so here's a pic. Just don't blame me if you get an STD.

Update: I should have said "DSTD" -- Dual Sport Transmitted Disease. If you get this, I give you permission to blame me. But I doubt you'd get that disease from this bike.

1956 Triumph TR5

Motorcycle USA has an article on the Triumph TR5. Oh, to ride one of these! As a rider, I need all the flattering I can get, and the Triumph sounds like a dream.

The Trophy fed a near insatiable demand from the critical American market for off-road sports bikes. In modern terms, these were dual sport machines which could be used for serious off-road racing, trail riding or road use. With the TR5 Trophy, Triumph quite simply had the best bike in the world - and by a huge margin too.

... The power is completely linear and this made the TR5 the best machine of its day for dual sport use. On the road, and in the woods, the TR5 is a sweet, reliable, willing motorcycle which flatters the rider’s ability.

XR's up in flames

OK, you can't really tell if it's the XR's in flames or not, but it's clear that the Iranian dudes on the bikes aren't outrunning the crowd. I do think I saw some red and white plastic melting on the street. Word is that Iran's regime is teetering. If only ...

Roost: Instapundit.

The $60,000 DIY flying motorcycle

Forget dual sport, multi-mode vehicles are here. I could see myself abandoning motorcycles for this -- if I had a pilot's license, which I don't. Samson Motorworks and DAR Corporation are collaborating on the project.

The photo below is the Switchblade, a 3-wheel, 2-seat, 150 MPH vehicle with retractable scissor wings. According to the web site, it can use the included 150 HP engine, or an "applicable motorcycle engine."

Roost: Instapundit and Scientific American.

Saw a couple KTM 950's at Big Sur

Saw a couple KTM 950 Adventures on Hwy 1 near Big Sur today. They took off up a dirt road, and around sunset I saw them again at Bixby Bridge. I'll have to look up the route they took.

Update: I posted the original item from my iPhone near Monterey, and now that I'm home I looked up the route on Google Maps. Here's a link.

For some reason, TypePad isn't allowing me to insert an iFrame with the actual map. The link will have to do.

Sounds like a Republican to me

Just ran across the Geezer's blog, and the first post I read seemed to indicate that he's not a Republican.

There are more things that I don't know than things that I do by such a large number that I consider it a divide-by-zero calculation. For example, I don't know why people like country music or why working class people vote Republican or why anyone listens to economists.

Then I read this:

We live in a victim-based, entitlement-sheltered, litigious culture where everyone is not only "created equal" but where many believe the legal system can overrule the laws of physics and common sense. My home state once attempted to legislate pi to 3.00 (actually, 3 without decimal places to keep the concept simple), for convenience and orderly-ness sake. Pi, however, remained its unruly self and the universe remained inconveniently hostile to simple minds.

Now, I don't know about you -- and lately I don't know about me, either -- but this sounds suspiciously Republican. At the very least, it's Libertarian. If it's indicative of a left-of-center point of view, I'll consider buying him a set of V-Strom tires. If anyone wants to go in with me on a bulk purchase, the Geezer says:

... 110/80 19 front and 150/70 17 rear.

But what do I know? I ride Honda and Kawasaki.

Six inch drop

I'm getting ready to ride again, but I have a solution in search of a problem.

• The Ford Expedition I just bought needs a new ball mount for the hitch.
• The trailer requires a 6-inch drop.
• I have a hitch-mounted cargo carrier.

So, I was looking at this item, but it only has a 3.25-inch drop. I can't find anything similar with a 6-inch drop.

I could buy a ball mount with a 6-inch drop, and weld something like this to it:

But, as the first paragraph explains, this really isn't a problem. The obvious solution is just to buy a frickin' ball mount for $50 or less and call it good. Why am I obsessing about the cargo carrier AND the trailer when 99% of the time I'll just be using one or the other?

Please don't answer that.

A motorcycle, a sidecar and a dog

Midnight at the oasis? Not quite, and obviously not as sultry as Maria Muldaur, but a dog and a motorcycle can be an attractive combination. I found this site linked over at Rugged Rider -- which I've been meaning to mention ever since reading about her ride to the Grand Canyon.

But, back to the oasis. For me, three words describe it: poetic, photographic, cathartic. There's something special about a guy when one of his favorite eating establishments is called Food Shark and the place serves its customers out of an old panel truck.

I'm reminded of my friend John, who has a similar truck; but he makes decals and window signs in the back of his, not Mediterranean-by-West-of-Texas food.

Blogging has been slow

As regular readers will notice, this blog has been sorely neglected of late. The reason is two-fold: 1) I'm getting married in February, and there is much to do before the day arrives. 2) Christmas and its lovely related travails, shopping, eating and partying. The parties are not the kind I used to attend when younger; thank Heaven for that. These parties include lots of kids and no adults vomiting or having sex in the foyer.

One of the marriage-related events was the purchase of a new-to-me 2005 Ford Expedition and the sale of my 2001 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab (after the sad but necessary removal of the Motherlode Dual Sport sticker from the rear window of the pickup shell).

The Expedition seats 9 maximum, the Frontier only 5. I'm kind of inheriting two new kids (and their friends, of course) so whenever the family goes somewhere we need 5 seats minimum. When we go camping, the girls MUST bring friends, and the seat requirement rises to 7. With a Thule Rooftop Cargo Box my fiancee already has, and the new Valley 90590 Deluxe Hitch Mounted Basket Cargo Carrier (free shipping from Amazon), we should be ready to roll.

Here's the obligatory shot of the new SUV.

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas! And may the new year bring parts for my XR650R and a new resolve to begin riding again. Happy New Year to you!

IJMS

IJMS. Some of their stuff:

M. Shelly Conner, First-Wave Feminist Struggles in Black Motorcycle Clubs

David Lancaster, Another One Bites the Dust

Sushil Chandra and Sudhir Atreya, Lyricism in Design: A History of Motorcycles in India