GPZList Digest, Vol 128, Issue 2

William P. Zeller cherryriver at cherryriver.com
Sun Jan 28 15:30:40 PST 2018 

Well, we've been seeing some remarkably cooperative weather here in 
northeastern Illinois, USA this winter.

Combined with the Missus having taking up riding a motorcycle from the 
proper location, the front seat, there's been some good adventure.
The backstory is, she decided a large scooter and its simplicity of 
operation would be the best thing for a late-in-life learner with no 
affection for manual clutches.  So a somewhat battered Honda Reflex 250 
was purchased.  Yes, it got the ball in motion, but only about six weeks 
in, a windy day ride in rural country well southwest of Chicagoland was 
enough to start the search for a motorcycle.
The next answer was a barn-find-grade '81 Honda CM400A Hondamatic.  It 
took some doing on the mechanic's part (Yours Truly) to get the thing 
chugging along halfway decently, until a bit longer ride to the 
well-known Starved Rock State Park west of Ottawa, Illinois brought on 
enough fatigue that the search was once again ON.
She'd been becoming enamored of the adventure bike milieu and despite 
the relative tallness of these bikes, not always confidence-inspiring 
for the newer rider, the ideal solution of the Honda NC700X DCT was found.
A suitable used one, well-farkled with full hard bags, a Madstad 
windshield, and numerous other touches was found at a dealer in 
Soutfield, Michigan, just outside of Detroit.  They'd even cut the price 
of this 12K mile (19K km) specimen in hopes of clearing it before 
snowmobiles took over the showroom: $4,500.
Since we were always planning a visit to the Henry Ford Museum and 
Greenfield Village in Dearborn, a few miles from the dealership, we 
merely altered our plans a bit.  With easy access to Amtrak, we just 
rode to Dearborn in the morning (110mph/177kph trackage making for a 
spirited trip),  and checked in to the adjacent hotel, which is but just 
across the tracks from the Museum.
We visited that, had a nice dinner, and in the morning Uberred to the 
dealer.  Since her "M" license endorsement was a few days in the future, 
I test-rode the bike and found it rideable.
Let me interject, Honda's DCT auto clutch trans is truly bizarre in the 
first experience, all that clunking and shifting going on and a complete 
absence of clutch and shift levers.  It was actually unnerving at first.
Deal complete, I saddled  up and after being assured by the service 
manager he'd really checked the thing out, I rode the 300 miles (480km) 
straight home on the viciously busy I-90 on the Tuesday afternoon.  
Baptism by 80mph (130kph) fire!
Allow me also to remark upon the Madstad windshield- a surprise of the 
greatest magnitude, how well it works.  I did not even notice how my 
helmet wasn't being bashed around until I got home.

Meanwhile, when I got it home I installed Soupy's lowering links and 
dropped the steering head a little, effecting a 1.75" (45mm) saddle 
lowering.  It was just right, combined with the Sargent saddle she soon 
affixed, and while she's already gifted with being a bit long-legged, 
it's a comfortable height with which she has perfect confidence.

She has taken to the thing so much that she's begun to go in to work 
early (she's a chef in a catering shop) so as to get out early enough to 
ride before the early sunset.  A lot.
The NC came home on October 17th, 2017 and it now has over 2,000 miles 
(3200km) on it only 450 of which are mine.  That, my friends, is a quick 
love affair, given it's the dead of freaking winter.

I submit this photo link below of a ride to another state park for some 
hiking, on November 24th, 2017- November, for heavens' sake.  It was a 
terrible blustery day and she wanted to turn back more than once in 
35pmh+ (55pkh) gusts but kept on.  Again, that's some kind of love, 
isn't it?  The temps rarely touched above 50 F (10 C) if at all, and the 
heated grips and jacket liners were a-cooking.

Yet, today, colder than that, she saw some sun and was gone for over two 
hours, just "zooming around" as she puts it.

It's hard to learn to ride later in life, I've always believed, so 
overcoming natural age-acquired caution is a bigger deal than it was for 
those of us who learned to ride back when we were indestructible.  Her 
past as a bicycle racer of some skill (there were a couple of trophies 
involved) can only have helped, but we should all appreciate the newness 
of the mature rider without becoming too blase.

Here's a photo of the 11-24-17 ride at the park.   You may note the 
hilarious hand wing thingies I cooked up for the ZX after the success of 
the leg wings you see on the NC.  I have almost twenty bucks involved in 
these farkles, so take them seriously!
They actually work perfectly with the old mirror extenders I've always 
had on the bike since new, and serve to keep the hands much warmer and 
drier than without.  And, they mount and dismount in a few minutes.
And, they cost four bucks.

http://www.cherryriver.com/BZ/Matthiesen%20ride%2011-24-17/bikes.jpg

Have a good time out there, lads.

Bill Zeller
Lemont, IL



On 1/28/2018 2:00 PM, gpzlist-request at lists.micapeak.com wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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>     1. 9°C is enough (Alexander Finger)
>     2. Re: 9°C is enough (Art Johnson)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2018 17:40:44 +0100
> From: Alexander Finger <af at genevainformation.ch>
> To: GPZ List <gpzlist at lists.micapeak.com>
> Subject: 9°C is enough
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAKO=xBvVQ7qgA=1RSMoHJ3noyxu4tq2e2dMZxF_7VbDKQ5Lr7g at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> ..at least when the sun is shining. I took the Twin up to the Salève today,
> the weather was too tempting to stay stuck in the living room.
>
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/eErHS5hBzMt7DqAN2
>
> I wish everyone a brilliant 2018 with plenty of sunny mileage and fun! The
> GPZ is waiting for a new battery and then I'll get the lady out on the road
> again for a bit this year.
>
> All the best to the lurkers on the list!
>
> Alex
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2018 12:42:08 -0700
> From: Art Johnson <arthjohnson270 at gmail.com>
> To: GPZ List <gpzlist at lists.micapeak.com>
> Subject: Re: 9°C is enough
> Message-ID: <A8279DCB-82E2-4777-9589-946C0DE63E45 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=utf-8
>
>   NIce Alex,
> Hope to meet up in September.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jan 28, 2018, at 9:40 AM, Alexander Finger <af at genevainformation.ch> wrote:
>>
>> ..at least when the sun is shining. I took the Twin up to the Salève today,
>> the weather was too tempting to stay stuck in the living room.
>>
>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/eErHS5hBzMt7DqAN2
>>
>> I wish everyone a brilliant 2018 with plenty of sunny mileage and fun! The
>> GPZ is waiting for a new battery and then I'll get the lady out on the road
>> again for a bit this year.
>>
>> All the best to the lurkers on the list!
>>
>> Alex
>> ______________________________________________________________________
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> End of GPZList Digest, Vol 128, Issue 2
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