Otis and I, a riding went

Cousin Otis and I chose to ignore the world and go for a lovely ride May 31, 2014. Nope, we didn’t join the “Ride for Dad” (which is a great charity event), we went our own way. I’m not big on group rides.

Nature gave us an absolutely wonderful day.

Some background first

Otis an I last rode together in 1988 (or so). Despite the fact that we only live about 50km apart, we don’t get together very often. Between 1988 and a few years ago, we both took a hiatus from riding but are now both firmly back in the saddle. On one of our last rides together, Otis’s Harley had a malfunction so we rode two up on my Yamaha Maxim 400 with Otis on the seat usually reserved for the rider’s female companion. We were significantly over the weight limit of the Maxim and it could barely make it up any hills. We weren’t quite this bad. We gave up at the next significant town (Smith’s Falls, ON, for the record) and called our uncle Claude. He jumped in his van, drove the hour to meet us, picked up Otis, went back and got Otis’ bike and delivered them both safely home. I carried on with the rhythm of my Maxim’s engine going “thank you, thank you, thank you”.

Otis and I have very different bikes. He has an wonderful classic BMW K100 circa 1988 (I might be off a year), while I have my Alaska proven Yamaha Super Tenere with all the mod cons.

Back to May 31, 2014

We didn’t have firm plans other than to ride the 511 from Perth, ON to Calebogie, ON, then re-plan once we got there. I had never ridden the 511. It was nice. Very little traffic (most of it bikes), lovely corners and hills.

The Spotwalla track isn’t super exciting, but here it is.

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=9cca537bf388bfb25

The Sena SMH10 intercoms were awesome (again). We left them open the entire trip and had some great laughs and conversations.

We saw many other motorcyclists heading in the other direction on the Ride for Dad tour. When I got home, I got a text from a dude I work with (Mr. Street Triple) stating that he saw us. I now have to go through my GoPro video to try and find him! That sounds easier than it is.

We stopped fairly frequently because we weren’t really in a rush and because I have to pee every 8 minutes and 17 seconds.

At Calebogie, we decided the best choice for us was to just head back down the 511 to my place and catch some pool time.

Overall, a great ride. We came home intact, had a swim and a cold beverage. Our thoughts were with Dendog and his peeps. Hopefully we can ride with him soon for a short Milddogs 2014.

New Gear Reviews

I am no longer acquiring new farkles nor gear for riding. I pretty well bought everything anyone would ever need leading up to the Alaska trip. For this trip I only had two minor additions.

GoPro Mounting: I salvaged one of my broken Hero 3 cases and mounted it hard wired to the mounting bar on my Madstad bracket. This placed the camera behind the windscreen and allows me to record continuously for about 8 hours at 720p 60fps. To make this mount I affixed one of the sticky mounts to the back of the case. Drilled through the side to plug in a USB cable semi-sealing with a rubber gasket. I then had to make two short aluminum bars to perform the equivalent of a gender bender. I’ll post some video shot with this mount later.

Arai Pro Shade System: I just got this Friday when Mrs. Milddogs picked it up at the UPS Store in Ogdensburg. Not available yet in Canada – I tried, but available at Revzilla at the time. This is an interesting way to get a sun shade / peak without compromising the integrity of helmet. Despite what the instructions say, I added a light smoke pinlock. At first I did not think much of this device. But, out on the road, I really liked the combo. No sunglasses needed. As Anthony says in his review, it could provide more coverage. The only weakness I encountered was glare from my instrument panel coming up under the coverage provided by the pro shade in the down position. But, it doesn’t cost much more than a regular visor and seems to be worth the difference in price.