After riding 45,000+ miles in the last couple of years I decided I had earned my wheels to put a little more money into the bike. I am by nature a fairly frugal bloke, even been called cheap more than a few times. Push finally came to shove this Spring when my second-hand stock seat was wearing out and growing painfully uncomfortable. What followed is a series of changes that has transformed this Honda ACE 750 cruiser into a tour worthy machine.

First the Seat

I looked around for seat options. I considered having the seat modified locally. By the time I had the seats recovered and some foam replaced I was looking at around $300 for the driver, passenger and backrest. I decided that the investment in a real touring seat, while expensive, would be a choice I would never regret. I ordered through a local dealer and got a brand new Mustang touring seat for $600 with tax, which was a fair price. The seat was a little stiff at first and set me up a couple of inches higher which for my long legs was a welcome addition.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that the higher seat also lowered the reach for my bars and lowered the windshield height relative to my face. As a result I started messing with the bike trying to get everything just right.

Next the New Bars

Previously I had risers which raise the stock bars up and back a few inches. I was able to pivot the bars up but still was not quite right. I found some mini ape hangers at jpcycles.com for $43 with shipping and opted to go that route thinking it wouldn’t be too expensive. The process was certainly more involved than I thought it to be. The bars were light weight. I took my weights out of the stock bars, sawed them to length and inserted them in the new bars with some silicon to prohibit vibration along with some muffler weld at the ends and some spring pins. I also shot the middle full of caulk. Mini ape hangers are by nature more springy so I did everything possible to dampen that effect.

The old risers had munched the bushings in the triple tree, so I found one on e-bay for $45 with shipping. I busted one of the stock risers and learned the hard way about the importance of using a torque wrench. I wrestled with getting the triple tree back on finally taking the bike in and having the dealer reset it. I was experiencing significant vibration. After much pain and suffering from riding around with vibration during the installation and troubleshooting process I finally got everything installed correctly.

I ordered some Kuryakyn grips $58 from e-bay and bar end weights $38 from e-bay. They helped to dampen the vibration and further reduce the spring in the mini apes.

I have on order a new clutch cable. The stock cable fits but is a bit taught but is functional. It is at end-of-life anyway so I ordered a new one that is stock +4 inches for $72 with shipping that will arrive soon.

Still I was having some additional vibration.

The New Fork Springs

In the process of riding the bike while doing the mods I added some weight to the windshield bag which I believe finished-off the stock springs. The bike now has 55,000 miles on it and had never had the forks redone. The front suspension was now shot and I was getting vibration from the front forks. I opted to upgrade to Progressive Springs, with the oil, seals and labor it totaled around $280. The new suspension was much improved but a little too firm. One return trip to the dealer to reduce the spacer by 1/2″ and drain a little fork oil and it softened a bit. I also changed the pre-adjuster from 4 down to 2 which has made a huge difference. The bike now has a firm but comfortable suspension that can take on some pretty mean potholes and keep on cruising.

Final Out Come

The bike now fits my perfectly. The bars are at a nice height that keeps me from bending over, the seat is very comfortable and the bike has a good suspension which makes all the difference in handling. The mini ape hangers also straighten my back which sets my head further back and reduced in the increased buffeting from the rise in seat height.

What I Learned (Again)

• Making one change can and often does lead to a series of changes.
• The expense for these changes can also be greater than originally anticipated. What started with a $600 seat and a $43 dollar set of bars grew significantly.
• If possible purchase a bike with as many add-ons and modifications that fit you as possible, the most expensive item being an upgraded seat.
• I enjoy working on motorcycles but am a better developer than a mechanic. Next time I make significant mods I may work through a dealer for the changes and probably would not have incurred any extra expense, maybe even saved a few dollars. More importantly my time is worth more than what I saved.
• A motorcycle is an expensive hobby but a cheap form of transport. Even with all the expense the miles I’ve saved on our cars in the last two years has extended the life of the vehicles.

The changes to the bike made a world of difference. I look forward to appreciating the investment mile after mile.

1. URL is the location online where the graphic will be posted. The upload tab allows you to send an image from your desktop to the web server.
   The html code looks like <img src=”http://www.domain.com/subfolders/image.jpg”>.
2. Alternative Text or Alt text as it’s abbreviated is an important element and should always be employed. It accomplished two very important tasks.
   • Provides visually impaired readers an explanation of the graphic, which was it’s original intent.
   • Enables search engines to more effectively index your site for more effective optimization.

   The html code looks like alt=”Photo caption”

3. Width and Height are optional attributes. I always reduce my images to the appropriate size in a photo editor before uploading as it reduces page load time. But in the case of slight modifications, these attributes are very helpful.
   The html code looks like width=”150px” and height=”150px” where px stands for pixels.
4. Border is often used to remove a border around linked images. In some cases it’s helpful to add a border to an image. To remove a border the element would be 0.
   The html code looks like border=”0″ or border =”1″.
5. HSpace and VSpace elements add horizontal and vertical space, which creates white space around images.
   The html code looks like hspace=”10″ and vspace=”10″.
6. Align is primarily used to position an image to the left or right of the page. This allows text to wrap in a natural fashion around the image.
   The html code looks like align=”left”.

The first two attributes, the URL and Alternative Text should always be set when uploading images to page content. Border, HSpace, VSpace, Align and other attributes can be set with CSS styling. Sounds like another post. Gee, I guess you’ll have to check back soon for styling images with CSS.

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This post has been on my mind for quite some time. I’ve devoted a good chunk of time the last few months in getting my Honda Shadow Ace 750 to fit me just right. After walking through the paces I thought I’d pass the info along for other tall riders like myself.

The delimma; making a mid-size cruiser fit a tall person

I stand 6′ 2″ tall. Finding a bike to fit a tall rider is not an easy task, especially if you want to go with a mid-size displacement engine. Being highly practical I went with a Honda cruiser as I love the way they ride, they are economical and are notoriously reliable. I also wanted a bike that I could modify as needed without spending a mint.

Getting the Bike to fit Ergonomically

Finding a bike that fits you perfectly without adjustments is near impossible. Adjusting the bike to fit you is a necessary process, one that can take some time and dollars. I did not want to spend several thousand on a bike and then another grand or so on adjustments.

Some essential adjustments:

• Adjust handlebars. Replacing handlebars is an expensive proposition. The factory placement was too low and too far forward. The answer: Risers. I bought a set of risers for $130. Specifically Phat Risers II for the Honda Shadow ACE 750. They did the trick without purchasing new cables. The stock ones did have to be re-routed which I did all but the throttle cables myself.
• Added a Backrest for support. The I found an economical one off ebay for $120. It’s not adjustable and was a pain to install but actually fits just right. The Honda stock seat became significantly more comfortable after the backrest was installed. I’ve ridden nearly two hours straight with no significant discomfort.

Other minor adjustments for comfort. Beyond those two major purchases there are a number of tweaks I’ve done to make the ride more comfortable:

• Removed the foot brake pedal pad to give my leg more room. (Amazing the difference).
• Adjusted the position of the handlebars to the perfect angle for me.
• Adjusted up the windshield as far as it goes and raised the bottom sliding window to vent some air and remove some turbulence off the top.
• Added a throttle wrist rest. This $13 slip-on piece from the cycle shop is well worth the investment. Even for around-town riding it makes a big difference.
• Added an engine guard. I went with economical one for $120 off ebay which was a bit of a pain to install. Besides providing more protection for the bike in case of a spill and looking snazzy, the extra weight on the front-end helped the tire grip better.

Now that the bike fits just right I enjoy every minute of the ride. Being essentially a car replacement, I’m putting 1500 miles a month on the bike. The bike gets consistently between 50 and 52 miles per gallon. All purchases paid in cash and for a reasonable price it will pay-off in the long run.

I used to feed on caffeine and sugar to boost my energy. The truth is that it was a counterfeit version of energy, short-lived and fleeting at best. By diverting from the quick fixes I’ve noticed a long-term vitality that comes from more exercise, good food and letting my body naturally float through the variance in levels of energy through the day as opposed to the quick fixes. I no long move through the day on artificial highs of caffeine and white sugar. Don’t get me wrong, I still drink tea many mornings sweetened with honey. I eat a piece of chocolate now and again as well. What I don’t do is to depend substances to buoy me up.

What started as a scooter, grew to riding an old 500cc Honda Shadow motorcycle which has gone to full bloom now in a shiny 2002 Honda Shadow ACE 750cc bike. Through a pretty intensive educational process I am learning how to ride safely, how to maintenance a bike and learning about myself along the way.

One thing I’ve learned afresh about myself is the ability to intensely focus on things to the point of pushing aside other pursuits. During these last several months my posts to thoughtsparks.net has dropped out as I’ve been consumed with fixing-up bikes, scanning Craigslist, riding the bike and just wrapping myself around the process. Now on the backside of the initial learning curve I can say that I am well pleased with the end result.

So what has the process been? First there was the scooter and helmet purchase in October. In November the scooter was sold and the old Honda 500 was purchased. Then commenced the extended repairs of the bike along with taking the Motorcycle Safety course in January. February, in between trips to San Diego and Chicago was riding and fixing, riding and fixing. March looks the most promising with the sale of the ’83 Shadow and now the purchase of the ’02 750cc.

What’s next? Riding and more riding. Now that I have a truly road worthy bike it’s off to the Texas Hill Country in the Spring for some adventures and taking in the beautiful Spring scenery.

This week I picked-up a new Acer Aspire One Netbook for $350. I’ve been eying these sweet little machines for a while. What put me over the edge was the change from a Solid State drive with only 8 GB to a HDD with 144 GB. I needed a very portable but fully functional machine. It has 1GB memory installed with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor. It boots in about 12 seconds and responds nicely. I have decided to keep the number of services running on the machine to a minimum with anti-virus and Skype being the only two added that would put a noticeable load on the processor.

So far I give the machine high marks for the most part. I love the overall design with a casing that seems pretty sturdy and a nice glossy lid. The screen is very bright and the keyboard is adequate to effectively pound away. The HDD model puts out a bit more heat and weighs a little more but still not a beast by any stretch. The mouse position is the biggest flaw with the buttons on the left and right of the pad as apposed to just in front. If you use an external mouse or know/learn keyboard shortcuts, it’s a tolerable inconvenience.

The built-in web cam has a nice resolution which will come in handy for Skype sessions. The speakers are a little tiny, but adequate enough to enjoy listening to music.

The machine comes in both Linux and XP. Being that I’m a Windows guy, I decided to stick with XP and was able to load my full version of Office wirelessly by sharing a disk drive from one of my other machines. One funky default setting easily fixed was the power setting for the wireless connection. It was set to maximum power efficiency which caused the connection to be very flaky. By turning that setting to off, it was good to go. That one oversight the company really needs to fix.

This little machine is powerful enough that if one were to get an external mouse, keyboard and monitor, it could become a primary machine for someone. You’d need to in that case purchase an external CD drive if you don’t have another machine to load software and transfer music files etc, across a local network.

Here’s a little secret; being environmentally conscious and fiscally responsible can bring with it some really good times. Newly acquired, I picked-up a really nice deal on this retro style Yamaha Vino this past weekend. Between scooting around on this 50cc to work and hoping on my trusty Marin bicycle, I’m having a ball. With Texas being such a mild climate one can ride virtually year-round aside from the far too few rainy days.

I also love the idea of parking my Camry with 190k on it and extending the life of that old ’95 model even further. It’s still humming like it was just driven off the dealer’s lot.

I enjoy the adventure that comes from trying new things. Looking for alternatives to our resource-guzzling, over-sized and over-extended culture requires some creative thinking and flexibility. Alternative transport is just one great way to save resources as well as positively affect the environment. Some other ideas I am happy to employ:

• Be content with TV from an antenna instead of cable. With a high-def unit and a good antenna I can pick-up both the regular pbs channel and the new Create pbs channel (what more do you need).
• Stay content living in a small house. It keeps our family close (both figuratively and literally) and we save big, big bucks with small mortgage, low utility costs and we don’t have room to just accumulate more stuff we don’t really need.
• Live close to work which makes scooting and biking very convenient. I used to work 25 miles from where I live in which I would bike and bus to work. Busing is a whole other adventure.
• Shopping at Goodwill and garage sales. It’s amazing what folks will discard that is in perfectly good condition.

I’m sure there are many other things I could do that would be good stewardship for what I’ve been given. What ways have you employed?

Internet Explorer 7.0/8.0: It launches slow, loads pages slow and has many irksome features in the general bloated fashion of Microsoft. I have little use for IE for home use. However, on an enterprise level, IE makes a compelling argument for it’s use with integrated authentication and compatibility with its Office and SharePoint products.

FireFox 3.0: Still a mainstay on my desktop, FireFox has an amazing array of browser add-ons that make it a browser of choice for developers. FireFox is hands-down the most flexible and feature packed browser with a large developer community. For an all-purpose browser FireFox takes the cake. One important caveaut, add-ons can slow the launch of the browser down to that of IE which is paltry.

Chrome: The fastest browser by far. It launches quick, loads pages rapidly and simply a slick browser. It’s streamline design, not surprising coming from Google, allows for more screen space. I hope that Google doesn’t get the itch to over engineer the browser as it evolves but leaves the simplicity of it alone. For Mac fans, Chrome is on its way; Just hang on.

Not sure how I got here this quickly. Just a year ago I wrote the post A Techie Looks at 40. Now here it has come and gone I’m officially over the hill or there abouts. I was talking with Sabrina and the girls last night about how I think at a certain point your true age is determined by three things:

Genetics – You can’t do much about that one.

Lifestyle choices – These are many little choices that add-up. I can tell you that I feel remarkably better than I did a year ago. I dropped my 20 year addiction to coffee (which started with my No Caffeine 35 Day Experiment), dropped fifteen pounds (didn’t Lose 20 by 40 but made some real progress), and am walking on an almost daily basis.

Outlook on life – This one I also have a great amount of control over. It’s a state of mind more than anything. My mother who is a young 76 years old chose to turn outward instead of inward after my dad passed away eight years ago. She cuts a rug on a regular basis with her friends and is currently off on another of her travels.

So from here forth my pledge is to take what I’ve been given, continue to make concrete goals that promote wise lifestyle choices and to keep dreaming. The greater part of failure must be in not dreaming, not believing in what is possible, not setting goals and not going for it. I think I’d rather “fail” at not accomplishing all my dreams or goals than “succeed” at reaching my goals by setting so few.