two wheels are better

Sunday. a good day

2009-09-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

The photo doesn't convey that this is the best day at the track of the
year. Nice

It Lives!

2009-04-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

The conversion was a success. The CRF450 lives today as a Supermoto. Dirt set-up is off, track-only super soft supermoto slicks are on, as are the new rims, hubs, oversized rotor, etc. Holy shit, the thing is fun, even just bombing up and down the street in Bushwick. Front feels like it will come up easily, something I didn't mess with having no helmet and no jacket on. But it's going to be great at the track. And those slicks warmed up and were like bubble gum, SO soft with the sun on them.

Spent the entire weekend in the garage getting to this point, and countless others. But the feeling when finally bombing down the street after all that effort, that is what it is about.

If anyone has questions about the conversion process, hit me up. The rear wheel slipped in pretty painlessly, just redid the chain tightness etc and only had to remove the rotor prtector thing (plastic) to get it on. On the front, I did have to cut a bit of the fork protectors, but not much. And I didn't realize that on CRFs, the relocator bracket actually replaces the stock brake pad "holder," as opposed to on a DRZ, where you just a re literally relocating teh entire stock set. Now I see why having an entire front brake package, w master cylinder and all, would be a good idea. Right now it's more work, as I'd have to pull of the relocator and pull out the pads etc, maybe even bleed the brakes.

Oh and this is my friend Daniel, working on his Lambretta. Cool.

Back to the Track

2009-04-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

Stoked, finally the season is here. I didn't get a chance to ride my own bike unfortunately, but I did get to ride this -
and it was fun as hell. More soon, or visit nycsupermoto.com.

Purge!!

2009-02-21T15:49:00.001-08:00

I now have no motorcycles. I sold two in one week, and the triumph went awhile before that. Why would someone with a blog called 'two wheels are better' sell all his motorcycles? Because he needed money for one particular motorcycle, and he also is thinking focus is important. Too many things to fix, too many projects, too many things to ride, too much. So I figured whittle it down, it's hard enough to find time, so I'll just focus on supemoto while I can. It's been years since I didn't own a street bike, but it's also been years since I rode a motocross bike, and I feel like soon I'll be too old to do it at all (pretty much too late already, haha), so better to do it now. I can ride around on a touring bike in a few years. BTW ignore that post below about not racing anymore and just getting a Vespa. Got a hitch installed, it was a hassle, but was do-able.

I'll be getting a Honda CRF450r and converting that for supermoto. I'll blog about the bike and the conversion process here. I'll also post about the track days and the experience of racing supermoto as a novice in the Northeast. Looking forward to it - hope I don't crash and hurt myself and take myself out for the entire season again, as with last year. (It was the guy who was leaking oil's fault!).

It Is About Time!

2009-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

For another post, but it's still kinda too cold to ride and talk motorcycles. New track days are posted for ESMRA (Eastern Supermoto Racing Association). That's good and all...but not sure I can handle the hassle! Been toying with the idea that maybe something like a Vespa would just make things easier. Scoot it. Supermoto this year will require installing a trailer hitch on the C30, something that isn't do-able yet in the US. The Euros, in their infinite wisdom, have been hooking trailers on these things for years. But we're a little slower here. So I will need to drill holes in the new car myself, to install the hitch/tow bar. Then I will have to wire it myself from the car's batter, as US Volvo dealers have been told not to activate the hitch lighting. Jesus. Not sure I'm digging that. Then of course finish off the trailer, get the bike sorted (or get a Honda CRF like most at the track), and go once a month. That once a month thing is the killer - you miss one track day and you are out of luck for awhile. So much depends on getting there that one long weekend. Least at a motocross track you can show up any weekend. Or just get on a normal street bike and take a ride to get some coffee. ha, yes, maybe it's just a mood today. The Vespa above looks dope as hell, no? 300cc Super. Cool.

NYC Supermoto

2009-01-02T10:07:00.001-08:00

Join up!

Snow

2008-12-21T18:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I've nothing to add as it relates to vehicles, snow is everywhere, no bike news or much in the way of bike musings. The car ownership is going along like the cat's pajamas though. But it has been awhile, and seems to be getting crusty on here, so I'm posting something regardless. The above is a photo of zurich, in the snow. I didn't take the photo. I miss zurich, so in lieu of posting something about bikes, I'll post this. The swiss have it pretty good, better than they realize.

Something that does pertain to bikes; been pondering dual sporting, and am thinking of going that route this season. The supermoto thing takes a TON of effort, with only a few track days per month available. At least on dirt there are more options and events. We'll see what develops.

Saville Gray

2008-11-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

And sometimes - four wheels are ok. First time for everything - Rebecca and I bought a new car this weekend! It was a good deal. Volvo c30 - this after many months of looking, and our old car felt like it was just about to kick the bucket. The process of car shopping was painful, we walked out of several dealerships and had a couple deals not materialize. This one, which went down Saturday afternoon, was casebook dealer manipulation - they tried EVERYTHING. From telling us our certified capitol one bank check wasn't usable (they wanted us to finance through them, or lease), to telling us they had faxed forms to verify payment, only to find out they hadn't faxed anything. I was on the phone to Capitol One three times, and without that happening I think they would have let the deal die, and then pressured us to go with them (the dealership, for leasing or financing). They wanted us to be stuck there without our car, without an approved way to pay, and then push us into a lease or their terms which would mean more cash for them. The bullshit thing is, when we called Capitol One, the loan we had from them was instantly cashable at any franchise dealer, so they (the dealer) were lying to us. Which we verified through Capitol One and eventually handed the phone to them to make it stick.

They also tried to get us to sign over our car before we had finalized the Capitol One situation. Didn't work, but SO shady! The lies kept coming, they kept us there 4 hours, and I am still amazed we truly got the deal we went in expecting (we had negotiated Friday night after work and then come back Saturday). They basically wanted to take that deal and then twist it by adding incredible fees for either processing our check or to make us go with their lender. They seemed very unhappy about the deal when we left.

God bless the internet though. For the hell of it, when things were going badly, I threw out the following. "Do you really want me to spend the next few months on Volvo sites and all car sites calling out your dealership, and mentioning you by name, as awful, manipulative, and as responsible for a terrible buying experience? I will be on Dealerrater, Yahoo Autos, C30world.com and more posting about you personally." Anyway, it did take a turn then, and surprisingly it went a bit for the better. I felt like a dork for saying it - 'I will sic the internet on you!' But it changed their tone - from semi yelling, to being (or feigning being) nice. The most problematic guy became docile and actually offered a 20% discount on accessories when we were leaving.

Btw, saville gray is the color of the car.

Trippin' to Floyd Bennett

2008-10-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Recent trip to Floyd Bennett field, tres bien! Highlights included a banana costumed guy (jason) chasing a banana costumed guy (daniel) across the runway. there were also some wheelies, and some aimless looping around the field that looked like a blast. i didn't do any of that as i was almost out of gas. Never go on a big group ride without filling up first. Btw riding in a pack is fun as hell, I forget until it rarely happens, it had been a whole year since I'd last done it. Lots more photos can be found here.

Capey

2008-10-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Amazing trip, followed up the race day with 4 days in Falmouth. Was amazing, and the biggest news is of course that Rebecca and I got engaged. Snaps of the trip here, and an awesome week. The biggest decisions were how far to ride (bicycle), and where to eat, and what kind of drink to get. Went to an awesome Irish place where the owner sings EVERY night, Liam Maguire. Not sure there's anything I'd want to do every single day, but he obviously digs it as it's up to him - he's the boss.

Supermoto

2008-10-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Back to the track! Yes, went back and raced once more post injury. I was very slow. It mostly felt good to be back out there, though the bike felt very heavy and now when the back end would chirp and come around I tended to hit the brakes big time. So not nearly as aggressive, and I wasn't that aggressive before. It was fun, though less cool was the way they announce each heat. At the end they were REALLY moving through em and I missed my last outing on the track - I rode up to the pit just as they were pulling away from the starting line. Like 3 guys went down, and I would have been in that group, so maybe it's just as well. I think it was better psychologically to have a day crash free. Added a few photos. snap snap. and THEN, went to the Cape. That trip gets its own post.

detonation

2008-08-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

the detonation event was today in brooklyn, 14th and wythe in williamsburg. nyc vintage moto put it on. went with robert, photo included of him and jim checking out jim's really cool cb750. sooo many cool bikes. it's also still fairly local and low-key so hasn't gotten lamed up by any one crowd. that's a benelli 200, '65 i think, above. pretty sure the guy rode it there.

vinmoto event had everything from triumphs to two-stroke kawasakis (nice h3, no photo), to benellis and ducatis. there was a very boxy seeming 80s era honda vfr 750. stuff you don't see too often. and stuff you see all the time that had been tweaked just enough to make it interesting. few photos included. there was also a very weird performance art thing where someone played guitar, another guy played sax, another guy carved wood with a chainsaw, another guy splattered paint on a canvas on the ground, all while someone else synced their carbs. there was a huge crowd, not knowing what the hell to make of it. nor did i. the bikes were great though.
robert's 1974 suzuki two-stroke 550. cool bike.

electricity needs timing

2008-08-24T20:20:00.001-07:00

last weekend i spent saturday in the garage. here's what it looked like. it was a beautiful day, so very tough to make myself go spend it in a garage. but it turned out to be an awesome day, because my bike now runs extremely well. before it was misfiring and running rough. it was very hard to tell what was wrong. could have been carb/fuel mixture issues, or electrical. luckily james, who is also in the garage, was on-hand and he knows brit bikes (and bikes) very well. it turned out to be two-fold, as both things needed to be addressed. the timing was off, because the magnets on the rotor (this bike has a boyer electronic ignition) had moved and the rotor was also now loose. that means the timing would sometimes (rarely) be spot on, but also would often be way off. occasionally it didn't start. so we reset the timing and boom, it immediately it ran right. but the carb mixture did need sorting. with that also sorted, it's now running very well. starts FIRST kick when cold. pretty cool for a bike 37 years old.

arguably the most amazing part about this day was james willingness to dig into my bike with me for a few hours when he had been working on his own. i will remember to return the favor to someone else down the line.

Selling the Triumph!

2008-07-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

here is the info - contact me if you are interested. time to make space.

Beautiful bike (if I do say so). Starts up between 1 and 3 kicks. The engine was fully rebuilt less than a couple hundred miles ago, probably less than 100, as I never rode more than right around here - little jaunts in Brooklyn. I have receipts for that work, about $850 done upstate.

Kinda dirt-tracker, style, stripped down but not altered in any way. I seem to only have left side photos, but both sides look great.

Still feel the new Amal carb needs sorting as slide sometimes stuck when hot in the past, but it's running well.

Loads of extras, extra black triumph tank, great condition, extra new 2 person seat, extra rear wheel, carbs, and loads of smaller parts. I also have all stock parts that were removed (side panels etc.).

The bike is registered to me and I have all paperwork needed to transfer. If you'd like to come see it sometime, send me a note. bobheinemann@gmail.com

Thanks,

Bob

finger snap

2008-06-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

i crashed. and it wasn't even that big a crash yet it sucked more than i thought it would. you see these guys on moto gp in full leather racing suits skidding along and then jumping up and getting on their bikes unscathed. so i didn't think supermoto would REALLY be all that dangerous. everyone thinks ohh, motorcycles, yikes. but i figured full race suit, helmet, boots, gloves (not nice enough gloves), it would be ok.

i was racing at englishtown in new jersey, my last race of the day, may 18th in a group of about 12 beginner racers, in a sharp corner and in the rain so probably going about 45-50 when i high-sided due to hitting some oil on the track. the guy in front of me was leaking like mad and proceeded to oil up the entire track. rear started to spin, then grabbed once off the oil, and bit and pitched me over the side. next lap many more guys crashed and they called the day. the weak points in my gear both resulted in injuries - leather gloves w little padding, and stiff motocross boots that transmitted the force of the impact up my leg and into my knee. not to say i wouldn't have been hurt. but it could have hurt less. oh and btw, crashing below speed limit speeds, even in full leathers w a back protector etc, hurts when highsiding. not to winge on, but those clowns in flip flops and tank tops make me cringe even more now.

the result - mallet finger, and my knee was messed up for a few weeks. the knee seems ok now. i planned to ignore the finger, but it would not straighten out, and eventually i looked online and found out that it might never straighten. so i went to the ER. note - go to the best ER you can, when possible. i went down the street. i later went to a hand dr and got much better care. i've included one photo of me splinted. one photo of another person's finger with the same injury. and an illustration of how the tendon snaps due to impact and then must reattach. or suffer from wonky finger.

the upside - i actually came in second once in a group of 4 in the DRZ class. that was an amazing feeling and got me hooked. 2 of the guys crashed themselves in that race, so i pretty much just rode around them and then just didn't crash. a good strategy i plan to try next time. don't crash and you probably won't come in last.

supermoto supermoto rah rah rah

2008-04-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

i went to the track last weekend, practice saturday, and sunday i raced. was a longstanding goal of mine so very glad i got out there. above is me at supermoto practice, alone, snapping myself. i was a little stressed here (pre-first ride, never been at this track etc.)
you can see my bike below, with my numbers for the eastern supermoto racing association. i raced in two classes, and got a little plaque for the drz class just for entering (there were only two people that road that class, basically a street supermoto). in races, i let the pack go ahead the first couple races so i could get a feel for what racing was like. but in the 4th and last race, i actually came in 5th out of 7 people riding the track. i couldn't believe that i wasn't last. that was enough encouragement - i can't wait to go again. i hope to convince someone else to come along, going alone kinda sucks.

squaw valley

2008-03-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

ok, i'm straying from the intent a bit here. these are photos from the squaw valley trip we went on recently. amazing trip - sunny as hell and snowy. extended by one night as couldn't bear to leave: i had forgotten how great snowboarding can be. i also was tiring of the lenny photo so good to get something else up there.

Me and Lenny

2008-02-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

Oddly enough, this photo was snapped Tuesday while I was onstage with Lenny Kravitz and a bunch of contest winner in Philly at the Electric Factory. These kids had all won a trip (through Myspace) to travel around with Lenny on tour. I was involved on the Capitol/Virgin/Myspace side of things. This is kind of the culmination of the whole promotion. Part of their prize: a photo with Lenny that will be in YRB magazine. Lenny was late, so I went up as a stand-in, so they could set up the shot. He almost didn't make it, photoshopping his head onto my body was debated (half seriously). Then at this moment he arrived and kinda jumped in between and thought I was one of the winners. Hence the odd expression.

All for...what?

2008-01-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

I've spent about three separate weekend days working on the Triumphs' front end now. This troubles me. Here's where it all started - minor fork seal leak. Everything was working fine, brakes decent, but a little bit of fork oil coming out of one seal. So I take the wheel off, take the forks apart, put new seals on, put it all together again...And it still leaked. Then I realize I had too small a diameter seal as a replacement, as my fork legs are a tad larger than stock for some reason. Next weekend, take it all apart again, put in new fork seals that fit (turns out these won't work either - they suck), and decide to redo the brakes while in there. Later I find I have the wrong brake shoes...I try to put the old ones back on and takes forever to figure out how to put the drum brakes together according to the manual diagram. Turns out I misinterpreted what the clown in the book was trying to show, so I spent about a few hours hurting myself to no avail. I was ready to bring the whole bike into a shop and just hand over a few hundred dollars. This still doesn't seem like it would have been a bad idea.

This past Sunday, I figure out that it's actually not that hard to get drum brake shoes on. Coming back to it, it was like an epiphany. You just line everything up but pull OUTWARDS on the springs (see where I am pointing) to get them back on and lined up correctly. It's hard to explain though - hence the manual issue. The fork seals made more sense too. So...I get it all back together, third weekend working on a bike that I am just trying to finish so I can MOVE ON, and it STILL DOES NOT WORK. And, in trying to get the seals to seat, I banged the fork leg, the inner part, with a metal punch. Stupid. Standing with me at the time was a friend who is also a Ducati mechanic, and he said 'ohh, that's not good.'

So after several days, the bike is worse off, I still need to buy new seals (the newest ones don't seat correctly), and the forks have a nice ding in them that may allow oil to trickle out permanently, no matter what seal I get in there, eventually. But the drum brakes work better now.

Very frustrating, this. Like Ted Simon realizes in Jupiter's Travels when going around the world, the mishaps and frustrations ARE the trip. It can't just go as planned; that shouldn't even be the goal or expectation. But, it's hard to put that thinking into practice.

mark working

2008-01-14T13:23:00.001-08:00

Mark works at EMI; he's a good guy. This was also done to show some folks how easy it easy to upload mobile photos to Facebook and Blogger - so apologies if it's not the most riveting entry (Mark notwithstanding).

NYC Motorcycle Show

2008-01-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to add this - not a lot at the NYC motorcycle show but a couple things stood out. An incredibly nice CB350 race bike. I volunteered to work the booth NYC Vinmoto Booth one day and ineptly answered questions when people dropped by. Oh and I made sure no one knocked the bikes over. Kids like to twist throttle. The bastards.
Good experience overall, chance to blather about bikes all day with people. Normally I end up doing that with Rebecca, and you can imagine how much fun that is for her.

CL 350 - Bought from John - Motorgrrl Garage

2008-01-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here it is! lol yes it's not beautiful, but the hope it so make it into a track-ready race bike to ride in the vintage class. Photos of a beautiful CB350 to come - to give an idea. This photo was snapped in the garage where I keep a couple bikes - not this one, actually. Or not at the moment anyway.

start spreading the news

2008-01-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve! Times Square right as the ball dropped - pretty amazing and we literally made it with only seconds to spare. We were staying at the Marriot and ran down at 11:45, worked our way through some barriers, flashed a pass, and made it into a barricaded area. Lucky and fun. Pretty serious adrenlain rush as the confetti comes down and a million people are losing their shit. Full story to come, but I wanted to get this photo added.

Rebecca, Angie, and Mike - someone we randomly ran into and hung out with - he was from Florida and his brother had passed out already so he came down with us.

today - spotted in red hook

2007-10-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

these don't pertain to two wheels, but that obviously does not matter. saw some interesting sights out in red hook today. a MASSIVE boat, yes the queen princess, cruising (quite literally) by the jetty thing out in red hook, and what, from the photo looks like a nice patch of nature. it was a nice patch of nature. where i grew up, a sight like this would not be a big deal, but a few hundred square feet of honest to god nature out in the middle of brooklyn truly seems like an oasis. to have this in a backyard here, or a roof! the mind boggles.

also today - spent hours at the garage, redid my 'spot,' cleaned it out went through a lot of hassle with the new carb and think it MAY be working now, but i won't know til i get the engine hot. knockoff repros of things that were made in england, and are now made in india or china, are kind of a bummer. the quality is just not the same.

2007-10-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

and one to finish things out. sally, again, with a better shot of the never-finished triumph. endless to do list on that one.
i need to figure out how to do a series of links off one blogger image. will look into that.

carby

2007-10-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

this made me happy. a new carb, brand new repro from amal. the only thing missing is patina. that's something i really don't like about new bikes, it's like they have no character, even when they seem like they should. so this new carb looks a little weird sitting there on this bike, but i guess it'll have patina of its own eventually. the upside for sure - the carb slide should no longer stick. the old one was warped from wear. i'll know saturday if i have a solution.
getting back to patina - seems like new stuff just won't aquire the same quality sheen that the old stuff does. something in the production. it also has to do with the original being made in a factory in england, while the repro is likely made in china. i will try to look into that.

2007-09-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Nice bsa

2007-09-30T16:23:00.001-07:00

floyd bennett field
took a ride out to floyd bennett air field in brooklyn today. it is way out there, an abandoned series of runways that are now a national park. big part of the fun was getting there - don't normally end up in a big group like that, 15 people or so. lot of fun to ride in a pack, though it's a little slow. went back to bushwick for a bbq afterwards. good day.
(pardon the camera phone photo, buying a new digi cam this week, i think)

2007-09-30T16:19:00.001-07:00

Ride to floyd bennett field

2007-09-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

taken today (saturday). rebecca and sally in front of an old red tractor at an apple orchard. pumpkin pie, coffee, donuts. nice

2007-09-29T09:33:00.001-07:00

Supermoto day!
my drz in supermoto track day trim. taken recently.

on its way

2007-09-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

some snaps of me getting the triumph into shape. finished photos tomorrow. (it's never finished). this was a LONG project. technically, years in the making. it shouldn't have taken so long but was my first foray in disassembling (and reassembling) a bike. yes, that's inside the apartment. we have since moved, but it used to live inside with us (as did 3 (!) other bikes. everything is sold now 'cept the drz and the triumph.

71 triumph

2007-09-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

i will take a better photo tomorrow. but here are some snaps of me working on my triumph. it looked like hell when i got it. added a boyer, harley (dyna) coils, and some ininteresting mounting of said coils. photos of that to come

so...

2007-09-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

given the title, i'll mostly be blogging about motorcycles, since they are a big interest of mine and consume a good deal of time. here is my syzuki drz400. bought as an s model, supermoto-ed it by adding excel rims, talon hubs, oversize rotor and relocated the caliper to accomodate. currently, it's all black, not the blue seen here due to aftermarket plastic. but the blue is saved. i'll get a photo of that tomorrow, as i am going on a ride.

snapped at motorcycle 'show' in queens

2007-09-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

triumph 71
saw this very nicely done 71 triumph bonneville at the recent 'antique' motorcycle fair in queens. should have taken more photos. nicely done.