This afternoon I went running with Jacob on a slow fat kids run. We took about 40 minutes to go 4 miles. Go go 10 minute miles!
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Tags: Covered Bridge, Jacob P, Running
Today I blew off work for a few hours to go have fun on my motorcycle in the central Oregon coast range mountains. Out of the 150 miles I drove, I only hit really sketchy gravel and mud for about a mile total. FYI to all the sport bikes: don’t take Highway 411. Well, you can… but only if you want to have fun going up and over a tight windy pass in mud and gravel.
I filled up twice during the ride. The first fuel up I took 3.02 gallons and had driven 134.3 miles. At this fill-up I topped it off as high as I could for the coming ride. Even so, I still averaged 44.7 mpg.
The second fill-up happed about 85 miles later. I didn’t push the trip meter until about 10 miles after the first fill-up so I’m not 100% positive on the distance but it was something like 85 miles. Another top-off brought me to 1.66 gallons. That makes for 51.2 mpg. That’s not bad considering I was going slow along some sketchy back country roads.
Every time I go out and ride my PC800, named The Tardis, it’s like falling in love with the bike all over again. The Tardis might have a few nagging issues (need new clutch plates soon, back tire will need to be replaced sooner rather than later due to old rubber rot, underpowered stator, etc) but it sure is fun to ride.
In other news, I was having some trouble keeping my heated gear working throughout the ride. One of the outlets kept cutting out. I’m not sure if it’s an issue with the Heat Troller, the outlet, or the plug. Until I get some right-angle plugs for my heated gear I won’t be able to tell for sure.
Tags: 1989 Honda PC800 Pacific Coast, Alsea, Epic motorcycle rides, Heat Troller, Logsden, Motorcycle, Newport, Siletz, Summit, Toledo, Waldport
Yet again I put new antifreeze into the PC800. This time I put in Prestone Dex-Cool Extended Life. It is orange. Good thing there isn’t anything but Aluminum in my bike’s engine. The IPCRC was pretty set against the generic NAPA brand antifreeze that I had filled the bike with 500 miles or so ago. It seems that there is a high probability of that brand having silicates or borates in it. With the PC800, any silicates or borates in the coolant will slowly eat away at the water pump until it doesn’t pump anymore and you end up stranded at the side of the road with an overheated bike on a hot day.
Many of the crowd on IPCRC only use the Honda brand pre-mixed motorcycle coolant. I chose to get this Prestone stuff on the advice of a couple of the members. It explicitly states that it doesn’t have any borates or silicates in it, it was much closer and easier to buy the Prestone brand, and it was cheaper. I suppose I’ll find out if it was the right choice if my water pump goes out someday. Hope it doesn’t!
This servicing was done at a few hundred miles shy of 45k.
In unrelated news, my clutch is starting to slip when I really hammer on the throttle at high speeds and sometimes when trying to accelerate quickly through the gears. Hopefully I won’t have to pull the clutch plates and service it until I get 3k to 5k miles out of the oil that is currently in the engine. Probably around May I will do that job.
Tags: 1989 Honda PC800 Pacific Coast, Maintenance Log, Motorcycle
I ditched studying and work for a bit to go for a quick motorcycle ride this afternoon. The loop took me up through Kings Valley, Dallas, Rickreal, and Salem. Then I turned south through Independence and Camp Adair back to Corvallis. In total it was about 90 miles.
Tags: 1989 Honda PC800 Pacific Coast, Camp Adair, Dallas, Independence, Kings Valley, Motorcycle, Salem
Dan and I went out for a road ride for fat kids today. Including going to and from Dan’s house, my ride was about 20.5 miles. Our average pace was 12.6 miles (sloooow). My max speed was 31.6 mph. Total time including waiting around at Dan’s house was 1:39. Total calories burned was 1078 (according to my little $10 cycling computer).
Tags: bicycle, Coffee Loop, Dan D, Felt 95, Road Ride
This afternoon I took the PC800 out for a quick romp through Kings Valley via Airlie. On the way there I filled up with gas. It took 2.77 gallons of gas. The last tank lasted 129.5 miles giving me a fuel economy of 46.75. Not too bad considering I was having a lot of fun on the throttle all of those miles. Tonight’s ride was about 46 miles total.
Tags: 1989 Honda PC800 Pacific Coast, Airlie, Kings Valley, Motorcycle
Since replacing my front tire a month ago I’ve been having a heck of a time figuring out how to get the plastic to snap back on correctly. The left side piece is not reconnecting correctly. There were a few posts on IPCRC from a few months ago with someone having the same troubles. I tried to follow the suggestions there but to no avail. Anyone have any ideas how to make my front wheel shroud whole again?
The mud is from doing a little off-roading/gravel/mud roads with the bike. At the top of the plastic semi-circle you should be able to see where the plastic is separated. Click through the picture a couple times to get a HUGE version to see what I’m talking about.
Here’s a close-up. I can’t get the tabs to attach to anything and it seems that maybe the left side plastic is warped or something?
Looking at it from the front. The right side plastic (left in this photo) is just fine. The left side piece is screwed up though. Any thoughts on how to fix it?
Since I was already installing heated riding gear and because of all of the stories of faulty rectifiers and dead electrical systems, I decided to install an analog voltage meter. I chose the Honda Marine voltmeter. The gauge is waterproof and lighted. Rather than buy it from some random website, I decided to get it from my local marine supply store. Next time I’ll buy it online. The local store took forever to get it and then charged me double what it would have cost online. They even charged me for shipping!
While I was at it I decided to get an idiot light because I suspect that if I didn’t have it, I’d end up being an idiot someday. I ordered a Signal Dynamics Heads Up Voltage Monitor. After going on several rides with it installed, I can say that I am VERY glad that I chose to install both an analog gauge AND an idiot light.
To make the hole for the analog gauge I found an appropriate sized hole saw at the local home improvement store. The small hole for the LED for the idiot light only took a little drill that I had in my tool chest.
I ran wires for the gauges back along the right top frame tube to the auxiliary fuse block I installed in the trunk. Most people hook a voltage gauge directly to the battery. I chose to connect mine to the fuse block instead. Sure, I might lose 0.05 volts going through some extra connections but I think it’s better to be cautious with my bike’s voltage anyway. I don’t need to squeeze every last tenth of a volt out of the system. At least not yet anyway…
My setup. The idiot light LED is in the upper left corner of the speaker blank. It ends up being in the extreme bottom portion of my peripheral vision when my head is up while riding. So far it hasn’t been distracting at all although I haven’t ridden during any dark nights yet. There are plenty of photos of other people’s setups on IPCRC. This is just the way I did it because I liked it this way. I’d be interested to see what other people come up with for their installations in the future 
Tags: 1989 Honda PC800 Pacific Coast, Motorcycle, Voltage gauge, Voltage meter
During the bike overhaul last month I decided to install a cigarette lighter socket on my PC800. The most logical place to me to install it was in the “glove box” compartment on the left side of the dash. While buying some antifreeze at the local auto parts store I found the cheapest aftermarket cigarette socket they had and bought it.
Installation was pretty easy. I found a drill bit that was the right size and popped a hole in the front side of the “glove box.” The cigarette lighter socket slid right into place and screwed down tight. I then proceeded to go overboard with the black silicone RTV, covering the ENTIRE length of the outside of the socket with the stuff. Better safe than a shorted out socket, right? Right?!?
I ran the wires for the socket around the front of the instrument panel and down the top frame tube on the right side. I chose to go on that side of the bike because I had another set of wires installed over there for a voltage meter in the dash and figured I might as well put both sets of wires in the same set of zip ties. Previously I had installed an auxiliary fuse block in the trunk which I wired the cigarette lighter socket into. I made sure to put a 15 amp fuse (and make everything from there to the socket rated for 15 amps) so that when I get an electrical compressor, I can use the cigarette lighter socket up front. Most of the ones I’ve seen for sale online require a 15 amp fuse.
Unfortunately I was so excited to install the socket that I didn’t take any photos of the installation process. Instead, here is a photo of it all done. The socket and the plug cap are at the top end of the “glove box.” The screwdriver is so I can pop of my radiator cap to make sure I have enough fluid (replaced the coolant recently). The two knobs at the bottom at the photo are part of my Heat Troller installation. It looks like there should be plenty of space in there to charge a cell phone or Ipod while riding. Wouldn’t recommend doing that in the rain though 
Tags: 1989 Honda PC800 Pacific Coast, Cigarette Lighter Plug, Maintenance Log, Motorcycle
After some super cold (for western Oregon) weather last month where it hit 8 F at night, I decided it was time to get a few pieces of heated riding gear. Enter Warm n Safe’s Heat Troller. Doing some research on the several companies that carry digital riding gear thermostats, I decided to get it from Warm n Safe. People over at ADVRider really like them and everyone who has used them seems to think they’re a good company.
The installation process went fairly smoothly. I chose to put the dual controllers and indicator lights in the left dash plastic just above knee level and below the “glove box.” The template that comes on the instructions for the Heat Troller worked just fine to help me align and drill the holes. I ended up using the brass spacers that are included in every permanent mount Heat Troller. There’s a good chance I could have gotten away without using them but by the time I realized that, I had already made the holes too big to turn back. In the end it worked after adding a washer to each thermostat. I used it to fill up some extra space. Oops
While I was putting one of the thermostat controls into its final position I managed to snap off one of the legs on the indicator LED. A quick trip to my soldering iron and it was all fixed up. Those little LED legs are fragile! And also too long for the way I installed it. I bent mine in kind of a U shape to make the LEDs be at the proper height.
To button up the thermostat installation, I covered both thermostat circuit boards in dielectric grease. The hope is that by covering them in dielectric grease, I will never have to worry about water or road grime shorting out the Heat Troller. If you don’t want to use grease, I remember reading (I think) on the Warm n Safe website that clear nail polish works well, too.
And now for a small rant:
I don’t understand why the Heat Troller or any of its competitors doesn’t come with a way to disconnect the thermostat controls from the loooong cables that run back to the Heat Troller control unit. My installation is such that I will have to take the whole Heat Troller off the bike if I need to take off the dash plastic in the future. It makes sense to me to add in a couple of connectors near the thermostats. That way, it would be a snap to disconnect whatever plastic panel the Heat Troller thermostats happen to be connected to. I’d even pay an extra $10-20 for this feature!
Back to the story…
I found the best place on the bike to mount the Heat Troller control unit box thing is underneath the seat on the left side of the bike. I used the double-sided sticky tape Velcro stuff right on the gas tank where the big curve in the tank is (at the back by the trunk). That space is just a big void otherwise. Might as well fill it with something useful! This also provides enough length to get the power cable to the battery (or in my case, an auxiliary fuse block in the trunk).
The cables running to the front of the bike were routed up the top left frame tube and zip tied down. After a couple of rides I pulled the plastic panel off the bike along that frame rail to check to see how everything is doing. No melting so far! I guess the real test will come in the summer but judging by the other wires that run along that same path, I shouldn’t have a problem.
Initially I was planning to have the two coaxial plugs that hook to heated clothing from the Heat Troller stick out from under the seat. I ended up opting to install some BMW plugs on the dash plastic instead. The reason I did this is for all those days during the year when I don’t need heated riding gear. On those days I’d much rather have some nice clean socket plug caps than a couple of dangling pigtails sticking out from under the seat or between the body plastics. Warm n Safe has a nice set of BMW plug sockets and a good set of BMW plug connectors with an 18 inch cable and coaxial plug at the end. At the same time I also picked up some 12 or 18 inch (I forget now. Measure it yourself to make sure you’re getting the right one!) coaxial plug cables to extend the reach of the cables up to the BMW plug sockets.
WARNING FOR TALL RIDERS:
In retrospect I wish I had installed the BMW socket plugs up higher on the bike. The place I ended up putting them (see photos below) is right where my knee goes when I ride. It isn’t a HUGE annoyance but it is a bit annoying. I am planning to buy some right angle BMW plugs in the near future to replace my straight-out BMW plugs. However had I measured 5 times instead of 4 before cutting, I would have put them up higher on the plastic where my knee won’t hit. If you’re a shorter rider this probably won’t be a problem but if you’re tall, double-check the fitment before you cut plastic.
After I tightened down the BMW sockets, I coated the sockets from top to bottom with silicone RTV sealant stuff. I chose to use black in case any was visible from outside the plastics. Now those plugs are water-tight and won’t short out as easily.
Having ridden it for about five hours in cold weather since installing the Heat Troller I can say that I absolutely love having heated gear. The position of the controller knobs is perfect to reach while riding. The little LED lights are out of my line of sight when my head is up but it only takes a quick glance down to see the status of the units. Aside from the minor plug inconvenience, I would say that this installation is a success. In the future though I think I will add a toggle switch on the dash to quickly kill the power to the Heat Troller. This will be very useful when I am running my heated gear at full blast and need to stop at a stop sign or stoplight. No more dangerous voltage drops!
Here are a few photos of the finished installation. I got too excited cutting plastic during the install to remember to take photos of the process.
The controllers and BWM sockets are on the left side mostly obscured by the handle bars.
If I ever install another Heat Troller on another motorcycle, I will be sure to verify that my knee won’t hit the plugs.
Tags: 1989 Honda PC800 Pacific Coast, Heat Troller, Maintenance Log, Motorcycle
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