1894 Hildebrand and Wolfmuller, 1st Motorrad

It started on a dreary rainy day with a visit to the



Trev Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition which is located inside their large Harley-Davision dealership



It had been a few years since we have visited their museaum which used to be located in their Richmond warehouse and was not open on the weekends. Now that they have moved into their new building on Boundary Road they brought their bikes here and are now open on Saturdays.

From the moment you walk inside you cannot help but notice the older models of HD all restored and on display



Brand new models of HD and accessories are straight ahead, and the exhibit is on the left



This is the current exhibit which will be changed from time to time. When the complete collection was housed at their previous location bikes were scattered onto two floors.



The bikes are grouped in a sort of logical order by dates of manufacture or by type and there is a timeline of motorcycle development



They are grouped by type being; during the war, dirt track, racing and purpose built bikes for hill climbing



My camera was going nuts clicking away. I like to see old technology from the turn of the century. There were many rare bikes, more like bicyles with engines during the early development of motorized power.

and then I saw IT . . . a Hildebrand & Wolfmuller, 1894 model



I don't know what attracted me to it. Perhaps because it did not look like a bicycle like the others. It resembled something more related to a scooter in design with the step through frame

This was the first vehicle to be called a Motorcyle, Motorrad. Introduced in 1894 it had an unusual engine design





Water for cooling is in the fender, and the lubricating oil is inside the frame tubes



The rear wheels are driven on each side by connecting rods in locomotive style.

here is a closer view of the drive



That rod is the connecting rod and you can see the bottom of the piston which is more or less open to the atmosphere



This is the linkage system which enables the rider to pull to located TOC for starting. It is not an easy engine to start. First you have to light a flame, locate TDC then you need to run with the bike to get it started. hard to believe that the engine is a 1498cc 4-stroke, twin cyclinder water-cooled engine



That irregular do-nut ring is the camshaft, which pushes on the camshaft rod

I don't think you want to be going too fast on this particular machine as it only has friction block brakes on the front (only)



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There were also some sidecar rigs for Charlie6 and Chris





The left foot lever is for engaging/disengaging the clutch. You hit it on the back to disengage, the move the shift lever, then push the front pedal forward to engage. The left handlbar lever is for the front brake. The pedal on the right is for the rear brake



Another thing I learned today is that the shift lever is on the left for Harleys and on the right for Indians



This is one of the bikes that you are allowed to sit on for photos

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A few months ago back in August 2010 Bucky visited Vancouver and came to the Deeley Exposition. He is technically more adept than myself. He must have brought a voice recorder or a large pad of paper and lots of pens, or he has a photographic memory as his descriptions are so detailed. There is no use to reinvent the wheel so here is a link to his report (<-- click)

He had come such a long way and I really wished he had let me know he was coming. I hope there is a next time . . .

Demons in my helmet, go away Tenere

While most of North American is in the deep freeze and enjoying PMS: parked motorcycle dyndrome we are enjoying spring-like weather up to a very warm 10+c . No PMS for us. As usual I roll my bike out before sunrise



and enjoy the solitude of my commute without any distractions. With no radio or other electronic devices flashing electrons at me I can concentrate on twisting my throttle with syncronized clutch action and wind my way across the city without a care in the world. I find that often I am able to find a solution to things . . . but for some reason today I could only think of the Yamaha Super Tenere that I was so hesitant to dismount whilst at the recent motorcycle show.



Yamaha is not new to producing reliable Dual Sports. My friend owns a TDM800, the last model Yamaha imported into Canada and he rode it to Alaska a couple of years ago, a trip which I was invited to accompany but could not arrange the time off.



I did not find the bike large at all. Actually, it seemed very easy to swing my leg over as compared to my V-strom and it was actually not as tall. The Tenere (nicknamed S10, for short "super ten") was on the side stand and when I mounted and shifted my weight over to bring it to vertical I nearly tossed it over to the right. It was so easy to balance.



The seating position felt familiar to me, sort of V-strom like. Also from what I have read on various forums, like ADVrider.com and a good review vs the GS1200 on motorcycle.com it appears to be a good alternative to the BMW, and also has corrected all the problems which plague the V-strom, most notably wind buffeting

"so all the while, while I make my commute heading towards work, the red devil is saying to buy the Tenere, and the white devil on the other shoulder says NO. Yes, No, Yes , No and so it goes while I make my way to the Lougheed Highway heading towards Coquitlam. It is 4c so I turn on my heated grips and tuck in behind some other traffic so as to keep my speed down. Often I rush hurriedly without regard to the speedometer, but today I am more conscious and aware of my surroundings. Yesterday I was beside a police cruiser and he was giving me the eye."

I will continue with more photos but will not attempt to describe the cutting edge technology. Currently the foremost authority on the S10 is George F who coincidently has rendered his pre-order down payment and has read every publication known to man to familiarize himself with the machine he will receive next May, 2011. Currently he has a severe case of migraine PMS and is buried under 3 feet of snow and is pacing back and forth waiting for May to arrive



From what I have read, it has the finest ABS braking system of any bike on the planet and surpasses the system on the BMW GS1200 . The shaft drive has been redesigned with smaller helicoils to provide better reliability, so NO drive line failures


(4 piston calipers)

"As I cruise down the highway I imagine that my V-strom has transformed into an S10. I slalom through the traffic and twist the throttle and soon I am in the lead."

The following photos may be of interest to George F


There was an S10 minimalistic bike also on display with panels removed



The electronics on this bike are enabled for demonstration purposes. It has self diagnostics, unlike the BMW which must be plugged into a BMW computer at the dealer. The rep showed us how this worked and how to put it into diagnostic mode, as simple as pushing two buttons for so many seconds. From pushing a couple of mode and set buttons on the panel you can test out all the critical circuits and also change your fuel/air mixture.

The S10 is drive by wire. In diagnostic mode you can check the throttle position sensor, when you twist the throttle the readout on the panel shows how many degrees the butterflies are open, and you can also see them open and close physically. You can also check all the fan relays which he did and the radiator fan went on.



There is a plate under the seat which can be installed in two positions to raise or lower the seat. At the low setting I could flat foot and still have a bend in my knee. For rough terrain you may wish to raise the seat to allow your legs for better peg position


(S10: Super Tenere, right case cover removed)

The shock adjustment can be done without tools



The Super Ten uses a special high capacity battery, mounted on the right side of the gas tank



All of the electronics are here and the panel is easily removed using 4 quick turn bolts

"All this thinking about the S10 and I hardly notice that I have made my final turn into our company's driveway and soon I am parked safely outside my office window"



Sunrise will arrive in a few moments, but for now the darkness of night is still in the air. I have posted photos of my bike at work before but Troubadour wanted another one as alluded in his recent post

Here is another shot through my office window



this is where I usually park. There is a handicapped parking spot right outside my window so I want to keep the space clear but in all the time I have worked here, no handicapped vehicle has ever parked here. Sometimes during the summer I park right against the window, like Troubadour does

After work today I took the long way home through Richmond and stopped for this red sunset along Westminster Highway



Sorry if you have PMS, but no PMS for us here on the Wet Coast of British Columbia

Vancouver Motorcycle Show 2011

This was the weekend of the Vancouver motorcycle show. I wasn't really planning on going but complimentary tickets fell into my hands so we were off to Abbotsford



From home it takes a little over one hour to get there through a convoluted route south and east taking backroads so as to avoid the freeway



I would say that from my experience visiting the Progressive International Motorcycle show down in Seattle the past two years that our show is many times larger with all the manufacturers in attendance. This includes: Triumph, BMW, Harley-Davidson, Aprilia, Motoguzzi, Ducati, Can-Am (among many others) and many accessories suppliers. I was interested to see two bikes which were just introduced and I knew would be there . . . the Triumph Tiger 800 and the Yamaha Tenere.



You all know the old saying, It just starts with a look and swinging your leg over . . . While my bike is too new to think about changing for another one I was really, really tempted to put a down payment on a bike today to hold incoming stock, if only Mrs Skoot wasn't with me. I must confess that many years ago I had a red Suzuki and within the span of only 6 months I had traded up 3 times until I ended up with the Suzuki GS1100. She never noticed and I never said anything. The trick was to make sure all the bikes were the same colour. So I was thinking that if I got a black one then all would be right with the world. One day about a year after I got the 3rd bike she finally came out to look at it and mentioned that it appeared to look larger than she thought. Whew, close call

I will say that in our household I have left in the morning only to come home with a different car many times. I have owned nearly 15 bikes since I started riding back in the early 60's and nearly that many cars.



With the exception of the Tiger, I will try not to duplicate what SonjaM has already posted .



Many times when I attend motorcycle shows I just stare and look at all the machines and hardly ever sit on them. In Seattle I never sat on any motorcycle. I have not taken any bikes on any demo rides even when dealers have open houses. I have an internal philosophy which prevents me from doing so unless I was actively looking for a bike and that particular model was under consideration. I also don't ride bikes belonging to others.

BUT this year was different and I came out of my mould and was trying them all out for size. I know many people looking at small dual sports as a second bike but I think that anything under 300cc is too small for occasional freeway use



but this one looked like it might fit the bill, or perhaps a Suzuki DR400, which I also sat on. I have a friend who has a Sherpa 250 and likes to take challenging forest service roads.

Honda had a neat display for their new 250R where you could lean the bike into corners



Notice anything missing here ? This is Honda's new . . .



Look MA, no clutch lever. It is fully automatic with paddle shifters . Here's a view of the cockpit



There are two modes: Fully automatic where the transmission will shift up and down the same as in a car, and manual mode where you use the paddles to shift up and down manually, but without a clutch to worry about.

The RCMP: Royal Canadian Mounted Police also had their usual display there. They use HD's and "R" type Beemers. Not those wimply K bikes with outdated cooling systems

I was making my way around the building sitting on many bikes along the way and my eyes finally spotted the Triumph Tiger, so naturally I had to try it out



I'm not really sure I like it, and it is very tall for my short legs. As SonjaM mentioned, Pacific Yamaha-BMW has been rebadged to PacificMotoSports and they will became the new Triumph Dealer, as well as also carrying the other famous Italian brands.

I am very attracted to both Yellow and Orange bikes so naturally I had to sit on this one



As I was perched on the seat making those motor sounds I was imagining the scenery of NZ flashing by. I am not sure I was riding on the left side of the road or not. Those KIWIs do everything backwards

The dash appears very spartan and there is not much bulk ahead of the handlebars like on the V-strom but you get a very good view of the blurred road ahead as I am sure that Geoff will attest




Here's a decked out Honda Veradero



I did manage to look at one before I purchased the V-strom but they seemed very heavy and overpriced . The Strom has a loyal following and there are many accessories available for it

I went down to the HD: Harley-Davison display and sat on a few down there. The new Nightster, and found this bike which sort of looked like the one Gary rode across the USA


When Gary was having problems shipping his bike back to the UK I was dreaming of riding it back to NY as a favour for him but I had never ridden a HD, or cruiser type bike before. It seemed very heavy for my frail, weak frame. I don't know how anyone could learn how to balance on it with its long wheelbase.

Right next to it was a custom HD single seater. I liked this one



There is no room for any storage but it would be good for going to Starbucks to have a coffee and pose with the other bikes

There was an Ace Cafe display with period British bikes, and period girls perched too, courtesy of the BMOC: British Motorcyle Owner's Club



This is a closer view for Geoff, who admires these machines of his youth. I had a hard time trying to crop the girl out



I don't know what this is but the V configuration of the engine was very attractive



and also, it is Yellow



There was a display of custom bikes, and I just had to snap a photo of this beautifully restored Ariel tucked in the corner, nearly hidden from view



I was specifically looking for a pair of gloves to replace my tattered ones which are falling apart when I noticed these very soft deer skin gloves. Not as good as the pair Jackie uses but they felt so very nice. I heard some one mention that they were $60. but I don't really know as i didn't want to wait for service.

I managed to get these cheapo leather ones, which also felt very soft



They were so cheap I had to purchase two pairs. One is short perforated leather on top for summer use, and the other are gauntlet type for cooler weather. Most other vendors were selling for over $50. but I snagged these two for only $20. each including Tax.

Other than that I only purchased a power cable for my heated gloves which I purchased two years ago. Heated gloves are warmer than heated grips as there are heated wires along each finger.

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I was also glad to bump into Mr Lee who is the distributor for IMC and had a booth for rider communication.

http://www.imc-motorcom.ca/

I already have helmet speakers and boom mic and use FRS/GMRS radios, but I wanted to delete having to connect the wires to my helmet everytime I got off the bike. He has a bluetooth receiver and with the BTA: BlueTooth Adapter I can stream from the GMRS, satellite radio and also pair with my BT phone and GPS.

Yes, I am making plans for 2011 and I want to be able to communicate with others "on the road". I think GMRS radios are the way to go with larger groups as BT is only limited to two riders.

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Nearly forgot, if I were purchasing a bike today it would be this



perhaps more impressions on a subsequent post. Just have to make sure it comes in Black