WTR: Weak Throttle Response

It seems that a few of us are exploring the slow route.  (link1)  and (link2)  which prompted others to take action  (link3)  and  (link4)

So what to do except to rush home after work and pump up my tires

I bought this bike new many years ago but stopped riding because my friend had a mishap when we were going too fast on the False Creek Seawall where we rode every Saturday morning after breakfast.  The tires still have the fuzz on them.    This is a mountain bike with a hybrid street tire

This model has the front shocks

The trip computer still works after all these years of just sitting there.   Even the batteries in my handle bar mounted headlight works.  I have the integrated shifters on each side.   My helmet is old but it was Snell

certified.   The foam padding is disintegrating .  It has been a while since I have flexed my muscles

but I decided to ride around the neighbourhood to make sure everything works

At least I don't have to wear riding boots

I don't remember what they are called but I also have bar ends for more leverage when going uphill .   I could feel great lack of power so after I made it to my Bank I stopped

I wasn't tired but I thought that I would just sit and enjoy the warmth of the sun .   Soon it was time to

move along,  ride up and down a few more streets and head for home

Phew !   Made it home safe and sound . . .

Car Show Season, summer is around the corner

So far I have been to three car shows this month

I admire Hot Rods and the work that has gone into them

This is the interior of a Camaro, but I used to own a 1st Gen Pontiac Firebird Convertible and the interior is nearly the same.  I also had white seats

This is a very low, Rat Rod

I also gravitate to the gull wing hood of old fords

My first car was a  '56 Chevy 210.    This is a 1955.  Hard to tell from this photo but the Bel Aire treatment has been Painted ON.  This is not chrome, and that is not a fender vent.   This car can be driven anywhere.  It has disk brakes,  vintage Air, electronic dash and a Fuel injected LT1  engine

When I was a teenager I had always dreamed of owning a 1957 Olds

Look at the dash.  You would be blinded by all that chrome.  I also like the matching pink accents

Even the low rider club was there

and who wouldn't love to own this old Cadillac convertible, with continental kit

This has nothing to do with cars, but look how most cameras would handle a high contrast scene.

You would expose for the shadows and the view out the windshield would be overexposed and "blown" out,  or you would expose for the outside and see no detail in the dark areas.   Here is a bracked HDR

Three images taken at different exposures and blending using HDR software.  I am using  Photomatix Pro 5.0    Lots of info   HERE    and a link to a discount coupon.    (Disclaimer:  I am only a satisfied customer.  I have nothing to do with this company,  blah, blah,  etc)

Notice that I am in Summer mode . . . ?

The box from MotorcycleHouse dot com

When I was on my cross country tour last year, how I wished that I had a couple of items that would have made me more comfortable in the 100°F heat which I had to endure for weeks.  It is not easy to wear full riding gear while all the other riders that you notice are in T-shirts and shorts.

I had wanted to buy an evaporative cooling vest before I left but there was no where in town to buy this item and I didn't notice any dealers while I was on the road so I did without.   I never even considered buying this on-line but thanks to  Motorcyclehouse.com  and their quick shipping,  I now have one to review before I head out on another tour.   I also took the opportunity to buy another farkle

EDITED:  here is the link to this Formotion Thermometer       LINK HERE

which is a nice Thermometer which I can mount on my bike.   I brought along a cheap, plastic thermometer but it wasn't waterproof and water got inside.   This one is Stainless steel and is water sealed to 5ATM, is vibration resistant and liquid filled so it is very well made.   I can purchase one locally for much more money, but this one from MotorcycleHouse.com was very reasonably priced.

Motorcyclehouse.com sells lots of products but it wasn't easy to find these gauges as it was put under electrical, even though this requires no power.   The needle indicator glows in the dark so you can read it at night and it also has a backlight which can be turned on by pushing the little button on the top.  It must have an internal battery but I can't see how it would be replaced

Here is another photo to show you the scale.  It looks larger than what it is in the previous ones

It can be mounted on my bike using the screw on the back and the supplied bracket

EDITED:  here is the link to the Evaporative Cooling Vest         LINK HERE

If you go to their website you will find that MotorcycleHouse.com carries much more than Viking Bags and Riding Jackets.  As soon as the weather improves I'm going to be reviewing this evaporative cooling vest but not this weekend as the forecast is for showers with cloudy periods but summer should be here soon

What's in the Box ?

Before we get to the box, this is a continuation of a previous post     HERE

On Thursdays, Mrs Skoot usually gets home late around 8:45pm so after work I went to visit a friend.  When I got home she was already there waiting, wondering where I was and why I was late as it was previously decided that we would go somewhere for a sit down dinner.

Ever since her operation last year she has been taking Waterworks, which is a water fitness program  (info here)  .   She goes twice a week and she gets home late so I try to get our meals ready.

We didn't know where to go so we headed over to Main Street which is an up and coming neighbourhood, not unlike Robson Street in the 1960's .   We like to get value for our hard earned money so we walk up and down the street looking for a suitable place.   (more info here2)  or  (here3)

Nothing struck our fancy so we headed to our old standby for a mediocre meal,  memorable for different reasons.   Now we have to go out again somewhere nice to negate this less than pleasing experience .  I was late, then this poor excuse of a meal, no wonder I was in the doghouse

BUT,  before we left the area we passed by this store and noticed these typewriters in the window

I took typing in high school and it was the best thing I ever did.  I can touch type and had a respectable number of words per minute.  I remember using an IBM selectric typewriter at the office and it was cutting edge at the time.   I still have a portable typewriter packed away somewhere . . .

We heard all the clicking away so we went inside

The place was packed with everyone typing away.  There was hardly any elbow room

It seems that this store has a sort of open house,  one day per month for people to come and use these typewriters to type on greeting cards or do their own letters.   They also sell rubber stamps and they have a wall full of greeting cards and supplies for typists

Oh,  back to the box which I received today.  It was a nice surprise and I was anxious to open it.  I mean others have received boxes lately.   Take a look at  BeemerGirl,   Trobairitz   or   Canajun , so I suppose it's my turn

I grabbed my pocket knive and slit the box open before I noticed the warning label.

I should have stepped back a bit more to show you how big this box was.   I could have used this for my trip last year .  .  .

Testing my Sony PZ16-50 E mount lens

I'm tired, it's been a busy action packed weekend.   Thursday was our Anniversary Dinner and I got myself in hot water again but we did eventually have a not so satifactory meal and I've been accused of not listening again, or perhaps it's because I have no more functioning memory cells due to my advanced age.

I've been scanning Craiglist and I bought a preowned, new to me Sony PZ16-50mm lens for my

Sony NEX-5n .    I like wide angle and the original 18-55mm was not quite wide enough.   16mm is more like 24mm on an APS-c crop sensor camera

I rode my bike to Steveston and after breakfast with the guys, I ended up at the Britannia Shipyards National Historic site.   All photos today are using this lens at different focal lengths

This is the Fraser River and the river levels seemed very low today

Here's the same scene at 24mm

I thought that this fish net made a nice pattern

and this scene is at full zoom, which was 50mm ( 75mm equivalent ).   Those pilings are what's left of the previous pier

The majority of the fishermen were Japanese so this is one of their bunkhouses which is furnished with period furniture so you can see how they lived decades ago

I like to come to Finn Slough so you may remember seeing some of these scenes before

This is a surge channel and there is very little water this time of year

and this is looking the other direction.   Yes, people live here

I have no particular place to go.  I am just killing time before I head south to Surrey/White Rock to pick up my Corvette which has been sick for the past two weeks.  I am getting it ready for a long trip this summer and everything that needs to be done is being done, until work came to a halt because of a failure of the HB so it had to be taken to a proper repair place to have it fixed

I like this lens.   It is half the length of the older 18-55mm as it retracts to about half size.   When you turn your camera on, the lens extends to full length ready for use, so the start up time is a bit delayed by another second or so.   There is a ring which you turn to control the zoom but is is electronic and controls an internal motor so the action is very smooth and seems more precise than the previous mechanical ring.  It would be much smoother when recording video

As the lens retracts when you turn your camera off, it is much smaller in your pocket.   This is Hwy 99 and these cars are going southbound into the Massey Tunnel which goes under the Fraser River.  It was a nice day slowly meandering my way home

Holy Cow ! Where did the time go ?

I have a hard time planning meals.  I am often home first so I have to get our meals started.  I have a limited recipe collection so my meals are repetitive.   In an effort to shed weight I resorted to chicken salads for the past few days.  I had just enough chicken for another meal so I asked Mrs Skoot if we should use up the last bit of chicken tonight, or perhaps we should save it for tomorrow

Then I got the "stink eye", so I hesitated for a moment and then I remembered . . .

    Near Newport, Oregon   (Yacquina Bridge)                             September, 2012

Tomorrow is our 45th Wedding Anniversary . . .  Whew,  at least I remembered in time

It starts with just a look

I was a little early for Saturday morning breakfast with the guys so I decided to just sit on the bench and enjoy the sun

when I notice some artwork on the road

This is a well traveled side street

but the designs are eye catching.   With all the cars rolling over these images I hope these last for a while

I rode over to my neighbourhood mechanic and there seemed like a lot was happening down there.   I got the idea to hang a ribbon on the tail of my bike for higher visibility.   I got this idea from another rider.

Often when drivers are following behind they cannot see you so the idea is that the ribbon is fluttering in the wind and it sort of, grabs the attention of those following.   If you are behind a large truck or other larger vehicle you would be lost in the background and possibly be rear ended

I am trying to tidy things up at home and I have already thrown out some stuff.   I bought this riding jacket a few years ago and because it was such a good price, I bought it,  even though it was one size too small.   Well, it fit for a few years and now it doesn't.   I couldn't bear to give it away, until now . . .

I wore this jacket to Oregon twice.  Once around 2008, and the last time was to our iMBC2010 International bloggers convention in Bend, OR.  It is virtually new and converts to a full mesh riding jacket by removing a few panels

Today I am donating it to EMS: essential motorcycle services

I know that a lot of riders donate their surplus riding gear to new riders and I hope that Ted finds this jacket a new owner who will enjoy it more than I am able

Inside the shop someone is doing a ground up restoration of a VFR750.  Here is the yellow frame

Here is a Pro photographer using a sliding rail to video the restoration of another bike.  I am not sure what this is as I didn't want to get into his way but there is a Buell lightning engine sitting on the lift

Outside another Harley pulls up and here is a view of his custom painted tank.  Notice how filthy

my bike is.  I am thinking I should wash it soon.   I did not go to our recent motorcycle show in January

but I was interested in sitting on the new Vstrom DL1000.   It is much lower than the old DL1000 as I can flat foot without difficulty.  It now comes with an adjustable windscreen and has traction control

and there is my older DL650 straight ahead

It seems like a very nice machine and while the tank is smaller even with the larger engine it is suppose to get much better fuel mileage than mine

and this year they offer the choice of 4 colours and here they are,  all in stock ready to ride away

I seem to be attracted to the Tan one, but I was told that it was NOT tan, but rather referred to as Khaki

The factory bags attach just like the ones on my Beemer.  Two anchor points up top and stabilized by the 3rd point near the passenger foot peg and keyed to the ignition.  I only wished that it were shaft drive but chain drive is easier to maintain should there be a failure

I couldn't help but keep staring at the Tan one.

I don't need a new bike this year as I have no plans to ride anywhere.  In fact I don't plan to ride past mid July.  This is not a bike touring year but I need to make some decisions for next year