GPZList Digest, Vol 128, Issue 2
Arthur Robinson
art.robinson at rogers.com
Wed Jan 31 07:26:03 PST 2018
Great Story, Bill!!
That's some Kind of Lady you have there.... Congratulations!
Art in TO
-----Original Message-----
From: GPZList [mailto:gpzlist-bounces at lists.micapeak.com] On Behalf Of William P. Zeller
Sent: January 28, 2018 6:31 PM
To: art.robinson at rogers.com
Subject: Re: GPZList Digest, Vol 128, Issue 2
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> 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, <mailto:gpzlist-request at lists.micapeak.com> gpzlist-request at lists.micapeak.com wrote:
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> 1. 9 C is enough (Alexander Finger)
> 2. Re: 9 C is enough (Art Johnson)
>
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2018 17:40:44 +0100
> From: Alexander Finger < <mailto:af at genevainformation.ch> af at genevainformation.ch>
> To: GPZ List < <mailto:gpzlist at lists.micapeak.com> gpzlist at lists.micapeak.com>
> Subject: 9 C is enough
> Message-ID:
> < <mailto:CAKO=xBvVQ7qgA=1RSMoHJ3noyxu4tq2e2dMZxF_7VbDKQ5Lr7g at mail.gmail.com> 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 Sal ve
> today, the weather was too tempting to stay stuck in the living room.
>
> <https://photos.app.goo.gl/eErHS5hBzMt7DqAN2> 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 < <mailto:arthjohnson270 at gmail.com> arthjohnson270 at gmail.com>
> To: GPZ List < <mailto:gpzlist at lists.micapeak.com> gpzlist at lists.micapeak.com>
> Subject: Re: 9 C is enough
> Message-ID: < <mailto:A8279DCB-82E2-4777-9589-946C0DE63E45 at gmail.com> 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 < <mailto:af at genevainformation.ch> af at genevainformation.ch> wrote:
>>
>> ..at least when the sun is shining. I took the Twin up to the Sal ve
>> today, the weather was too tempting to stay stuck in the living room.
>>
>> <https://photos.app.goo.gl/eErHS5hBzMt7DqAN2> 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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