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That’s not “Chinese New Year,” it is Chinese Goodyear, as in tires.

On our trip to Florida I loaded the bikes (the BMW and the Kawasaki) in the trailer for the trip. The trailer shook my back teeth loose all the way down. I had the tires balanced about 6 months before and they should have been good for the trip. Before we left I checked the air pressure in all 4 of the trailer tires and set them to 45 PSI.

When we arrived and got unloaded I checked out the tires on the trailer. The air pressure was still good, so I jacked the trailer up and spun the tires. One of them, the left front, had a large separation and a pretty good sized lump on the tread. I needed a new tire.

So, off to the Goodyear store I go. I put the Kawasaki back in the trailer and grabbed my helmet, so I could drop the trailer and truck and still be able to get around while they worked on the trailer tire.

At the Goodyear store I explained that I needed a 205/75-15 trailer tire. They had them in stock, and for only $102! “One hundred and two dollars?” That made me inquire on the total cost out the door. That came to about 130 bucks with mounting, balancing, valve stems, taxes, disposal fees, new tire fees, and on and on….CRAP!

So, as not to kill the whole day shopping for a tire, I go with this fee. The guy writes me up and I told him that the left front tire had a separation in it. I told him that several times, I suggested that he write it on the work order so the tech could change the correct tire. He just ignored me….said that “we’ll check it out.” So, I pull the ZRX out of the trailer and head for the Condo to get some lunch.

About 45 minutes later, after having a sandwich and a Coke for lunch, Goodyear calls me on my cell phone and advises me that the trailer is ready that there was nothing wrong with the tires. I explained again that the right front had a separation and that tire needed to be replaced.

Another hour goes by and they call back and say that the trailer is ready. They had replaced the right front tire. I ride back over there and sure enough, the right front tire has been replaced. I go in to pay, and the girl that was in the office writing up service orders makes the comment, “We changed that tire but there was nothing wrong with it.” I told her to go get the tire they took off the trailer. She replied that she couldn’t bring it into the office, so I said let’s go back to the shop and look at it. They dug it out of the bin where they had the old tires piled, and I rolled it across the floor. Every rotation, when it hit the separation, the tire would make about a 45 degree right turn. It would almost make a complete circle, every time it hit the separation it would bump up and turn right. She said, “that doesn’t prove anything.”

So we went back to the office. Now there are about six people standing there waiting, because I had two of the service writers in the shop rolling tires around. I paid the bill, got my receipt, and as I started to walk away from the counter, I told them, “I’m not ever coming back here, because not only are you people expensive, you’re stupid!”  At that point I had everyone’s attention that was standing in line waiting!

I loaded up the ZRX and headed for the Condo. The trailer is nice and smooth. When I get back to the Condo, I looked at the new tire and the freaking thing is made in CHINA! 102 bucks for a Chinese Goodyear! WTF! Man, am I pissed of about that. Don’t you know I’ve kept my receipt, and if anything at all goes wrong with that tire, I’ll be visiting Goodyear for an adjustment!

After riding the BMW K1200LT for almost 4 weeks now, the final decision is in!  The judges, Barbara and I came to a unanimous decision.  There was no disagreement between us.  It was an interesting comparison.  The BMW K1200LT is a fine motorcycle.  Some of the things we liked about the bike were:

Power – I liked power and performance of the BMW.  At about 4000 RPM the motor would really wake up and the bike would pull strong to the red line.  Low speed performance was OK, but you really need to keep the revs up on the BMW.

Color – Barbara liked the color of the BMW. (This is the only thing that Barb liked about the BMW! )

Reverse – The reverse gear is a great feature when you exercise poor planning in your parking.
Heated seats and grips – On a cool day the seats would keep your buns warm and happy.

OMG Handles – The bags have a combination opening handle that doubles as an OMG handle for the passenger.  Several times I noticed Barb with a death grip on them.

Things I didn’t like about the BMW were:

Flaky computer – The intermittent no start problem made me very distrustful of the BMW.

Brakes – The brakes are a double edged sword on the BMW, in some ways they are great and in other ways they aren’t that great!  They are powerful and stop the bike very well, however, at low speed they could be quite abrupt and jerky.  The BMW has “Servo Assisted” brakes (power brakes) and at low speed the brakes are very powerful.  Also, the front and rear brake systems are linked.  Meaning, that applying either the front or rear brake singularly would actually apply both brakes.   I was apprehensive about this part of the braking system on this heavy bike.  One thing that will put your butt on the ground quickly on a big, heavy bike is using too much front brake with the front wheel turned.  Long ago I learned the hard way that in low speed maneuvering on a large bike to only use the rear brake.   I don’t like the idea of linking the brakes on a motorcycle.  I love the anti-lock brake system, that is a huge safety feature on a motorcycle.  The squeaking rear brake drove me nuts.

Weight and Height – I probably could come to grips with the weight, but it made me nervous, and Barbara too.

Seats and seating position – The standard seats were just too soft and gave me a pain in the butt after an hour or so.  The highway pegs were totally useless, therefore giving me no way to change position while riding.

Engine/drive train noise – For a shaft drive, 4 cylinder, liquid cooled motorcycle the BMW has a very noisy engine and drive train.  The primary drive gears whine at road speed.  At low speed the drive line “chugs” and sounds a lot like a Ford 8N tractor.  And even with all the tupperware covering the engine it is quite noisy especially when run at the higher RPM that it likes to run at!!  Plus, there was a surprising amount of vibration transmitted to the mirrors on the Bimmer.  Now, a Harley Electra Glide shakes like a coon dog crapping a peach seed at idle, but once you get it up over about 2000 RPM the rubber engine mounts do a pretty good job of isolating the vibrations and you can see out of the rear view mirrors.  On the Bimmer, at 60 miles per hour the mirrors were just a fuzzy blur.

So which way did I go?  Well, after getting back from Florida we rode the Harley around for a couple of days and found it to again be much more comfortable and usable.  The local dealer, Killer Creek H-D was having a “thing” over the weekend, sale, music, beer, and BBQ.  We went down there on Sunday and after looking at the bikes for a while worked a deal on a ’08 Ultra Classic.  The Ultra has a few features that I wanted, particularly the cruise control, extra brake lights, (you can’t have too many or too bright a brake light on a motorcycle!!) lower fairings, and anti-lock brakes.  The anti-lock brake system on the H-D are not linked, they are independent systems front and rear.  Unlike the older anti-lock brake systems on Harleys, they have redesigned the brake controller to a very compact unit that fits under the right hand side cover.  The older system used a controller from an automobile that was mounted on the saddle bag rail and took up fully one quarter of the left saddlebag.  The ’08 also has a 96 CI engine with a re-designed cam drive system and the new six speed gearbox.

Driving the ’08 with the 96 Cubic Inch engine you can really feel the addition torque.  The BMW was very powerful, but the power was at a RPM range that made it not all that useful cruising around town or even at legal speeds on the highway.  The low RPM torque of the Harley is much better to me for a cruising/touring bike.

Apparently they wanted to sell some bikes Sunday, because after their initial offer on trade I made them a counter offer and they took it.  (don’t you hate when that happens, makes you think you were to easy!)  It was actually pretty quick and painless.

So that’s it, I’m staying with the Harley Davidson.

I have had an intermittent problem with the LT not starting from time to time.  Everything looks good, but I hit the starter button and nothing happens.  It is really a “nothing” happens.  No starter solenoid clicking, no change on the  many lights on the dashboard, nothing.

The first couple of times I experienced this problem, I found that I could turn the kill switch off and back on and the bike would start.  It did it two times in one day, one time the next day, then for over a week, it never did it again.

Today it did it big time.  We had gone for a ride, we went up A1A north of St. Augustine and across County Road 210 toward Green Cove Springs.  I guess we rode for about two hours or so.  We decided to go to downtown St. Augustine to Columbia for some salad and black bean soup for lunch.  When I came out the bike wouldn’t start again.  I tried my trick, turning the kill switch off then back on, and this time, nothing.  I shut the ignition completely off several times, nothing.  I tried it on the kick stand, not on the kick stand, in neutral, not in netural, you name it, nothing.  I was just about to call a cab to take me to the condo so I could get the truck and trailer, when I tried it one more time.  This time, against advice, I pulled the front brake handle and the bike started.  You are not supposed to pull the brake handles or let the bike move while the ABS is doing its self test.  But the bike started.

We brought it back to the condo and put it in the trailer.

The LT is losing the touring bike shootout.   These things don’t help it’s chances.

Judging from Barack Obama’s comments about people in Pennsylvania “clinging to guns or religion” at a San Francisco fund raiser, he didn’t get much of the gospel of Christ in the Trinity United Church of Christ.  Apparently, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. spent most of his time in the pulpit defaming the US, the Government, and white people in general instead of teaching about the love of Christ.  If he had gotten the message, and he was truly a Christian, would he have phrased the comment like this:

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

I guess if Barack Obama didn’t share the views of his pastor Rev. Wright, or had a shred of integrity, he would have walked out long ago.

I think this also goes to prove that the Presidential race is beauty contest.  The people that support this guy are going to support him no matter what he says.  To me, his statement is very telling of his underlying faith, or lack thereof, and his values.

What do  you think?

I saw you hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line. But you didn’t see me put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.

I saw you pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk. But you didn’t see me playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you change your mind about going into the restaurant when you saw my bike parked out front. But you didn’t see me attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you roll up your window and shake your head when I rode by. But you didn’t see me riding behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you frown at me when I smiled at your children. But you didn’t see me, when I took time off from work to do runtoys to the homeless.

I saw you stare at my long hair. But you didn’t see me and my friends cut ten inches off for ‘Locks of Love’.

I saw you roll your eyes at our leather jackets and gloves. But you didn’t see me and my brothers donate our old ones to those that had none.

I saw you look in fright at my tattoos. But you didn’t see me cry as my children where born or have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you race down the road in the rain. But you didn’t see me get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere. But you didn’t see me going home to be with my family.

I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be. But you didn’t see me when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you yelling at your kids in the car. But you didn’t see me pat my child’s hand knowing she was safe behind me.

I saw you reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road. But you didn’t see me squeeze my wife’s leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time. But you didn’t see me trying to turn right. I saw you cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in. But you didn’t see me leave the road. I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.

But you didn’t see me. I wasn’t there…..

I saw you go home to your family. But you didn’t see me. Because I died that day you cut me off. I was just a biker; A person with friends and a family.
But you didn’t see me…..

Pass this around in hopes that people will understand the biker community.

If you don’t repost this, it sucks to be you. I hope you never lose someone that rides.

EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIKE US, RESPECT OUR RIGHTS TO RIDE WHAT WE CHOOSE AND TAKE A FEW EXTRA SECONDS TO BE SURE WE ARE NOT IN ‘YOUR’ WAY –