297: Environmentalist's Heaven

I'm often sickened by the stuff I'll read on the Internet from supposed adults (and I'm not insulting anybody's intelligence, just saying that these people claim to be adults, but since I can't see or hear them, I'm taking their word for it).
When it comes to this retarted environmental shit, global warming, carbon footprints, greenhouse gas, greening agenda, etc., etc., I just want to puke because it seems that the average man or woman just simply goes along with what they get from their evening TV news.
And you know what that is, don't you?
It's that YOU are hurting the Earth, and that YOU have to do something about it, like pay, and pay dearly.

Also, you're going to have to change your lifestyle, so no more driving your car as much as you used to, and dirt bike riding off-road simply has to go.
We can't have you out there disturbing the fallen leaves and scaring the chipmunks, you know, and heaven forbid should you actually make any kind of noise.

It always seems that the more learned forum members and the ones that know how to write well will fall into the camp where they seem to either support the whole environmental movement, or at the very least, don't seem to mind it.
It is really nauseating when these same guys start to hammer other forum members if they voice their own views on how environmentalism is a big lie or something like that.
Maybe, at least some of these supposedly well-educated people are just chicken to voice their own, unique view on the subject.
Too bad if that's true.

Off to jerk for hump day,
-John

296 Weeks Gone By

That's about 5 and three-quarters years, by the way.
Ain't math fun? :)

We're now well into the busy season at jerk, and it's back to the usual routine of working non-stop from start to finish.
I'm not a fan of it, but I know I need an income of money to survive in this lousy system that we've known since we were born.
You know, the one where we work all our lives and try to earn a lot of this stuff called money, the stuff we're told that without it, we're washed-up and will basically have something very bad happen to us.
And then, several times a year, people will demand some of it back, or else more bad stuff will happen to us.
Of course, every week when we get our paychecks, a portion is taken out for these same people before we even have the check in our hands.
Like clockwork.
Without fail.
I wish the US Post Office was as reliable. ;)

I can only imagine where all of that tax money goes.
I feel confident that if we were to know exactly what's going on behind out backs and under our noses while we're literally kept busy all day trying to earn this money, we'd be pretty pissed-off and offended and feel quite cheated, abused, and used.
I see no difference between today's taxes being collected from us and the good ole days of the Middle Ages and the King's henchmen coming around to your little cottage, pounding on the door, and demanding some of your earnings for the King, or else, off with your head.
Well, there is one difference - we have cell phones. :)

I'll have a new part to install onto the WR-250XX this weekend:
An FMF Megabomb header.
This is the exhaust pipe that fits between the cylinder head and muffler.
I'm currently using the original pipe and an FMF Q4 muffler, but I want to install this FMF header so I'll then have a full FMF exhaust system.
Why?
More power!
I had a full FMF system on last year's WR-250RX (as I do with the WR-250FY firebreather), so it's high time I complete the picture on this year's bike.

I'm also curious to see and feel just how much a difference this change makes, and I'll be sure to post my opinion on the WR-250R/X message board.
There, more than one guy has written stuff like, "Bah, that thing ain't worth the money, blah, blah, blah..."
So, we will see for ourselves first-hand and report back with the results.

Off to jerk,
-John

295 and Talkin' Some Mean Jive

More silly motorcycle message board reading this morning.
I get a kick out of the guy who will post asking questions (that I think he should already know the answers to), then basically tear into the first guy who replies, and then he wonders why nobody else bothered to post a reply.
Yes.
Dipshit know-it-all. :)

I probably have mentioned before that my opinion on the WR-250R and WR-250X isn't really welcomed with open arm on the forums for these bikes.
No, the majority of the members on these forums would rather eat shit and die than be told that the suspensions on these bikes are poor as they come off the showroom floors.
What is funny to me is that whenever I mention that the stock suspension ain't all that great (and I only do this to answer somebody else's question about the bike), almost every time I get a reply, the first thing the guy will do is to remind me that he ain't racing and how he didn't buy a YZ to go racing with, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
In other words, he's trying to tell me that he knows the bike isn't a motocross racer.
Gee, really?

Well, I know that, too.
What I'm saying is that you can certainly appreciate a good suspension when riding your dual-purpose bike while cruising down a dirt road with your 300lbs of camping gear strapped to the back, as well.
There's a misconception that you should only require the good stuff for racing.
Pure bullshit.
You can benefit for good suspension no matter where you ride, and no matter how slow or how fast.
But, you see, when I say that the rear suspension sucks and needs help, they take it as some kind of insult.
Oh, well.
If they're truly satisfied with it, good for them.

Off to jerk,
-John

294: Highway Cruising Made Easy on my Brain

I've been reading more silly stuff on motorcycle message boards the last few days. The hot topic seems to be other WR-250X (and WR-250R) riders being concerned with riding their bikes on the freeway and wondering if the bike will be turning too many engine RPM for comfort. Basically, the people are asking things like, "How many RPM will my bike be doing while running at 75mph" , or, "What sprockets should i be using if i ride a lot on the freeway?" This is all to do with their concerns that they will somehow hurt the bike by revving it at what they feel is too high of an RPM for miles at a time. Either that, or the sound coming from the muffler just annoys them. Or both. I think they're worring about nothing, and basically are trying to make the bike into something it's not. I really think most of these riders should spend the time learning how their bikes are put together and how to maintain the bike because servicing the air filter once every year, for example, isn't enough, Bucky. You don't hear these guys talking about something as important as that, but instead, they work themselves up over this highway nonsense. A WR-250X (or WR-250R) is a 250cc bike. You know that. Well, a 250cc bike simply is not going to be able to putter down the freeway at idle speed RPM and yet still have any kind of acceleration if you were to suddenly twist the throttle. The bike makes decent power off idle, but since a 250 is considered a small engine, it's off-idle low-end power still isn't enough to pull the tall gearing that these guys seem to want for the highway. So, these guys riding these 250cc bikes seem to want their bikes to putter along at low RPM at 75mph, but the engine's power characteristics make that a silly thought because you'd basically need a 9-speed transmission to make the jumps from gear to gear realistic to get a top gear that tall. In other words, if the gear ratios allowed the bike to putter along at 75 at a really low RPM that would satisfy these guys, 1st gear would end up being rediculously tall, making taking off from a stop a more difficult thing, not to mention the jump from gear to gear would be silly. On top of that, and most importantly, the reason you don't see the manufacturers building the bikes like that is because it would be plain ol' stupid to do so. Why do you really expect a small bike like a single-cylindered 250 to idle along at 75mph? Do you really think that's how it's supposed to be ridden? Do you think you are somehow damaging the engine by revving it into it's powerband as you cruise down the highway? Yes, folks, the WR-250X and WR-250R have enough low-end power to make riding them easy, but the real power, built by the Yamaha factory in Japan, is in the upper half of the usable range of RPM. This includes while riding down the freeway. This seems even more silly because the way the bike comes stock is already geared much taller than it needs to be, so you'd think that these highway riders would be satisfied with that. Nope. They want the RPM to be even lower. That's the funny part. I have a buddy and old riding chum who is basically like this - he's worried that riding a small bike on the freeway for miles on end will result in having to do an engine overhaul by the end of the day. Comical to me, but that's basically his feelings on the subject. He's owned and ridden street bikes for years that were just as notorious as my WR-250X for needing to have the engine revved to reach it's real power, but he would never rev them. Ever. This was because his natural instinct told him that doing so would hurt the engine in short order. He got that way from having basically junk bikes that were not running correctly quit running on him way back when he first got into motorcycling, and having the bike quit and having to push it home some miles stuck in his mind. Basically, he came to believe that if he revved the bike too much for too long, he'd break it. He feels that way to this day. Motorcycle riders come in all varieties, that's for sure. :) Off to jerk, -John

If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What do the May Flowers Bring?

Pilgrims, silly. :)

This cramming together of the words without paragraphs really sucks, you know.

Makes reading this about as easy as reading some jibberish from a message board, where you often get stuff without punctuation or caps or even any kind of a break between sentences.

You know - 2nd grade writing done by supposed adults.

Actually, most 2nd grade kids can do better than that.

Haven't ridden the WR-250FY yet this year.

Why?

Two reasons:

No. 1 is that since I no longer am storing or maintaining the bike in my dad's garage, it's simply more of a pain in the ass to take it riding, bring it back home, wash and lubricate it, and them put it back in storage at it's current spot.

However, I think the main reason is No. 2:

I just haven't been bitten by the Pachaug rock pile bug yet this season like I did last season.

Basically, I haven't felt like getting the WR-250FY back out yet, and I'm not about to make myself go out there just to say that I did it.

I rode out there so much last year, I believe that it's just my own way of saying that I've had enough of it for the time being.

That may change at any given time, be it tomorrow, next week, or next year.

At least I still have the bike for it right here with me whenever I do decide to go.

So, for now, I'm concentrating my riding with the WR-250XX on the street.

I'm not really surprised that this is what I've chosen to do since this bike is my most recent aquisition, and it's a whole lot of fun in it's own right.

Off to jerk,

-John

Feel the Power

Power as in Michelin Pilot Power tires. Hey, I didn't think of the name for them. ;) I mounted these tires onto the WR-250XX yesterday, and I can now feel it in my lower back as proof. I must have reached middle age, not to be confused with the Middle Ages. :) How do they work? Excellently, actually. Most excellently. They simply grip the road much better, and you can literally feel how much better while riding the bike. The bike corners, changes direction, and even stops noticeably better. As an added bonus, the tires are more compliant to the bumps in the road, absorbs them better, and this goes a long way to keeping traction. Not surprisingly, I'll need to lower the front end of the bike by raising the height of the fork tubes a few millimeters, something I could feel on my maiden voyage with the new tires yesterday afternoon. This is due to the new Michelins being shaped a bit differently than the original (and well-worn) Bridgestone BT090 tires, and now the front of the bike feels a few millimeters higher than it used to be, something that has a negative effect on handling feel. An easy adjustment that will compensate. It's all about feel. :) So, basically, the way the bike sits right now is probably how I will keep it for the rest of the season. That is very good, indeed. :) -John

291 Sleeping Pills

We're in the time of year where we have more orders for parts and accessories coming in at jerk, and that means more time is needed to get the day's workload finished. Not a real fan of having to stay after store closing to get it done, but it does happen. This tends to steal time away from your normal supper and sleeping schedule, so I feel a bit tired this morning. At least we're in Thursday, and we're past the mid-way point in the work week. :) I really should mount those nice, new Michelin Pilot Power tires onto the WR-250XX this Saturday. The weather forecast is good, and it seems time to do so. Off to jerk, -John

290 Miles of Great Riding

Well, I didn't ride quite that many miles this weekend, but I did ride the WR-250XX and it was fun. Today (Sunday), especially, was good because the weather was better and I felt better, and that makes things just better. See? Also, the WR-250XX was working as fine as ever, handling as fine as ever, revving it's little heart out as fine ever, the great front brake was hauling the bike down from speed when asked to as fine as ever, and the overhauled rear shock was keeping the rear tire in contact with the road as fine as ever. So, things went fine. I hear guys from time-to-time saying that riding a little, single-cylindered 250 as a street bike would be far too slow, underpowered, etc. Not that many years ago, I'd be saying the same thing, having had more than a few much larger sportbikes that had more than enough power. However, I'm having at least as much fun riding this little WR-250XX as any of the other 600, 750, or 1,000cc sport bikes I've owned. In fact, dare I say more fun at times. Why is this? Well, I think it is simply a case of my tastes maturing, and my realizing that it can be awfully fun and entertaining to have just enough power and being able to use it all versus having more than you can use on the street and metering it out in small, controlled doses. I know I've written words very much like that recently, but you know what? It's very true, and pretty much reflects how I'm feeling about my street riding these days. I'll always have an appreciation for a high-performance bike with plenty o' balls on tap, but this WR-250XX simply feels and works so well, I can't help but have fun with it. I can only imagine how good it will feel once I mount those new Michelin Pilot Power tires, something I really need to do before next weekend's ride because the rear is just about as smooth as a baby's ass. :) -John

Gimme Some Good Weather

We're on a roll with how this cheesy website crams my paragraphs into one big mess that's hard to read. We'll see how this one goes. :) The weather forecast for BOTH days this weekend is actually for normal temperatures with plenty o' sunshine. That means 50-something degrees. Finally. Yeah-fuggin'-hoooooo! I think you know that means motorcycle riding on the immediate horizon, folks. ;) In other good news, for the first time in about 10 years, the results of my self-figured-out 2010 federal income tax return ended with me supposedly getting a refund. That is excellent news after paying-in for a decade. Do you really think the government needs any more of my worthless money, anyway? I mean, it's basically a bunch of numbers on paper or on somebody's computer screen, right? If the dirty money we all work for and all need to survive (in this system we've been born into and told it's the only way to do things) were suddenly abolished and we no longer had money, would we all stop producing products (actually, today, it's more like would we stop buying imported Chinese products?) and all stop working? Would life go on anything like the way it does now, save the dirty money? Would we be reduced to orangutans swinging from trees and rampaging in the streets, looting and raping and plundering (like the world movers and shakers do to us), or would we still carry on in some kind of civilized (and perhaps more natural) manner, just without this stuff we call money? Would food still be grown for people to eat? Would there still be medicine for people that need a pill for a headache? Or a roll of toilet paper to wipe your bum-bum with? Would there be any more toilets made? Off to jerk for another beautiful free-bee Saturday, -John