Hey! It's been just a little while hasn't it. Went a short time there with out any real riding getting done but took care of that last sunday morning. Met up with two other DSB members and headed out to Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, starting out on North Territorial Rd. looking for some curves. I really don't have a ride report, other than I now know that I could be much faster in the slow stuff. Gotta few things to work on like body positioning and trusting the bike. Haven't really got all my nerve back after going down last year, and I can't bring myself to trust these old tires on the bike. How do I know these things? Two ways. Following better riders and actually seeing myself on tape. I look really slow. And although alot of it is also a lack of familiarity with the roads, I'm just plain slow. Here is a link to the vid. Thanks Scot (Smokin on the forum) for leading us around that day, and bringing the camera along. And of course, for piecing together a pretty good production.

DSB N. Territorial Run

And here is another one of Scot's productions. Just a little bit of wheelie action. I think we can look forward to alot of future video from him.

DSB Wheelies

Time to do some maintenance. I got pretty lucky and was able to get some life out of the chain that was on my bike when I bought her. Even if she wasn't even an o-ring chain and was pretty weather beaten. But I was out of adjustment range and I needed a new chain and sprocket set.

First, to make things possible.....a rear stand. This is a must have, especially for routine maintenance like cleaning and lubing the chain. Well, a member of DSB runs Mid-Michigan Motorsports, and along with my chain and sprockets, hooked me up with a great deal on this DMP stainless rear stand.





Here are some pics of the job at hand, and how it went.

First, the new parts...



And for the front sprocket, you definitely want to use air tools if ya got 'em.






Ok, on to the back...












Word of advice. Before you get to this point, make sure you have all the parts that belong on the bike, actually on the bike and not sitting over to the side.



Well, that was just a quick little detour. Soon after all was together and the new chain was on.


All ready to go. So here are a couple pics of my bike now. Gotta a little 'Naked Fizz' going on. Last year, you guys saw me cutting my teeth on a Hawk GT, which is a naked bike. Well, that left a mark on my soul, and the little fizzer has a future in streetfighting. For now, this is how she sits.





Then the ugly factory mirrors came off and a simple bar-end takes over that job..


Some homemade mirror block-off plates coming soon to replace the gawdy mirror mounting brackets. Until then everyone.....Let's get naked!!!

I mentioned some rain before didn't I. Yes, I found myself in my worst riding conditions I have ever experienced this past July 26th. This is how it started.

Jen was having what should have been the time of her summer out at Cedar Point. Mom said she would keep the kids, even overnight, if I wanted to ride. Headliners was an option, but with rain in the forcast, It seems any available Detroit Sportbikes members were out for riding. So about 4:30, I jumped on the trusty little fizzer and headed out. Not having a specific destination, I did have an idea. I hadn't yet checked out M136 that leads from M19, just south of Yale in Brockway, all the way east to Port Huron and I wanted to see how curvy it is. The idea being that since it was wet out, I wouldn't be pushing the pace up any, which is always good for your first time on a road.

Heading out from Mom's, I already noticed a couple drops of rain within five minutes. Oh well. I headed up to Romeo Plank and cruised up to 32 mile rd. From there I headed east, knowing Armada Ridge Rd. was right there. I rode easy on to Armada, with no sign of anything but a sprinkle so far. A stop in Armada where I called Jen in Ohio and talked to her for a few, then back on the road. Followed Armada Ridge all the way into Richmond, and M19. Follow that north through Memphis, Emmett, to Brockway.

Along north on M19, the rain picked up. I was sitting at a stoplight in Emmett and it was a nice steady rain. Even refreshing. It was also a feeling in itself that I only saw one other rider out up to that point. The rain kept up on 136 for a little while, but it did stop for a while. No matter, the damage had been done and I wasn't going to take the chance of laying anything down on this ride, so I took it pretty easy, rarely hitting the curves more than 5mph over the posted "suggested" speeds, most of which were 25 and 30 mph curves. At that speed, you can see the potential for fun on that road. It is a nice curvy road, with some sweepers and some slower corners. Surface was fairly well kept, too. I'll be back, for sure.

The closer I got to Port Huron, the more the rain started to fall. Once in town, I stopped for a hit of Code Red and to let Mom know I was still alive. My clothes were wet, but not really soaked, too bad. No, I didn't wear my overpants. I am an idiot. After drinking half of the most expensive Code Red I've ever bought, I tossed the rest (yes, it hurt) and got back on the road. In Port Huron, I head back towards home on M25. Riding along and then BAM!! The rain just started coming hard. I was having a heck of a time seeing. Seemed like my glasses were giving me more of a problem then anything. It started getting bad enough that I pulled over. I found a spot to turn off, then head back into the rain to another gas station I just passed. Yup, good chance to get gas and let the hardest stuff pass over. I took my time getting the gas, and got back on the road. Much better. I could even see where I was going.

I made it south all the way to New Haven where it started to blast me again. I was following behind a mini-van, which was doing a good job showing me where the road went. But of course they had to turn off and leave me to find the road by myself. I tried for maybe half a mile, but could see absolutely nothing. I immediately decided to get off the road. Ok, I'm not a total idiot. I pulled over as easily as I could, . I spotted a drive up to some sort of religious school, so I eased up the pull off. I first turned up the drive only to realize it wasn't paved, and it was covered in 3 inches of water. Didn't matter too much, my boots and socks were soaked anyway. Then the road was just gone and I was in the grass. Motorcycle, wet grass, not a good combination. I eased across the lawn up to the sidewalk so I could find some cover. Made my way around the building and found a back entrance with a very good amount of coverage. Pulled the bike up and stripped out of my jacket, gloves and helmet. I was just drenched, but now I got to sit back and enjoy the rain. About 10 minutes later, I was back on the road. Still raining, still wet but definitely rideable.

The rest is pretty much what it was. A wet ride home to get some dry clothes, then to ride over to moms to change. Definitely an experience that I'm happy to say I had. Because other than about 20 minutes together, I had a 3 hour ride that was a blast.