KTM; The new Harley?

Maybe your a HD fan and maybe your not, say what you want about their bikes you can not deny one thing. They are doing something right. They've been in the game a long time and their following is, well as far as I can tell, second to none. The only thing I can think of with even half as close of a colt like following in the motor sports world would be Jeep.

 HD has product support and accessories line that's way beyond that of what I see available for in line "Super Sport" bikes. They take it one step further though with their never ending line of swag. T-shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads, pet accessories, furniture, Zippos, baby clothes, automobile accessories and even a Ford truck edition all its own. The list is much longer then that however. It seems to me that KTM wants in on this action, and Im thinking good on em for getting the money how ever they can.  Last two times I went to my dealership for parts Ive notice the KTM accessories display growing in size. In fact last time there I noticed they had more KTM stuff not related to actually riding then they did KTMs on the sales floor. In KTMs defense this particular dealer ship sells just about every manufacture they can cram into the building and stocks maybe 2 models of each. I should have snapped some pics of the display while I was in there but lets look at some of the stuff easily found at other dealers and on the web.

Dog bowl is cute, and I could see why youd want one, I guess. 

Keeping your pet KTMed out starts here.

This kind of Swag I can understand, its the usuall kind of stuff.

Pretty much every company makes a Cozzie now-a-days

LED flash lights ARE pretty handy

USB memory stick. Again handy, but while out on you dual sport?

Handy and practical. Good for track days.

Childrens lunch box

Sure...why not?

This is just too much no?

This one is listed as a diaper bag, starting to get a bit much?

Gotta carry your books in something.

Ummmm, ok?

My personal fav!

Now I ride one of the more popular SS bikes out there, the "Gixxer" is a popular bike among track riders, street riders, stunters, squids and even girls. The particular year and model I ride is widely considered the best liter bike they have produced even today. With that being said I have to special order a oil pan or even sprockets but if I wanted a KTM pedal bike, baby binkies or a USB stick Id be in luck! 

Its no ones fault really, and can we really blame KTM? They are in business to make money. I personally cant fault those buying the gear, Im a known brand whore. I have more clothing articles that sport Suzuk Rock Star Makita, Alpinestar or Icon then most teen age girls have Hollester.  

All I know is, if the rain holds out today I promise Ill ride instead of posting these rants to you guys ;-)

Power commander fail boat.

For the last going on what? 3 seasons now...Ive been dealing with an intermittent problem with my daily rider(2005 GSXR1000). Long story short on hot days and/or pretty spirited rides my bike would die. It wouldn't loose electrical power but it would cut off as if no fuel delivery. The gauges would read "check" as if the key was on and switch off despite the switch still being on. The bike would crank and crank and never start. No FI light, no code in dealer mode, no abnormally high temp, no obvious issues. Clutch switch checks out, kick stand switch checks out and kill switch appears to be OK too.

Time goes on and I try numerous "fixes". I went over all fuel lines to ensure no kinks. I change my after market gas cap just to ensure no "vapor lock" type issue. I cleaned the in line fuel filter, removed the fuel pump and cleaned the screen filter on it as well as cleaned up the pump and inside of the tank. I continued to go over all normal maintenance stuff(plugs, coolant, air filter etc) while the bike was apart with the exception of a valve clearance check. I just did that a lil over a year ago and they were well with in spec. Not enough miles since then to concern me. My next step was charging system as I have heard issues with R/Rs over heating and causing something like this. The battery is brand new as it did not make through the winter. I removed all electrical accessories (LED accent lighting, Cig lighter plug) and tested the charging system. Stator was removed and visually inspected as well as all tests listed in the service manual for the stator and R/R. Everything checked out good.

This season I go for a ride on the first real warm day and whammo...same damn thing. This is where I noticed the key that I posted earlier. When it happens the bike will say "CHECK" on the gauges which indicates key on, and switch off.  If that were the case the bike would not crank, mine does. That's all it will do. The fuel pump does not prime and bike will not start. This lead me to think Power Commander. I promptly called Dynojett and ran this by them to see if this sounded like anything they have hear of or dealt with before. The less then helpful tech simply said "Take the PC3 off and see if it still happens". The PC has been off every since, completely off and the bike has not acted up. Now I haven't been out on too many hot days since but to my surprise the bike is running noticeably better with out the PC. I have a custom tune by the 8 time super street drag race world champion and I love the power the bike puts down with few mods (166whp, and 93ft/lbs at Sport Bike Zone Dynojett dyno) so to me there is NO way I should feel this way. I'm sure some of it could be the tunes fault but I'm thinking the PC is toast.

My nest step is if the bike remains free of issue through another 1 or 2 hot days I will connect the PC3 again, I will wait till the bike acts up and immediately lift the seat and disconnect power from the PC and see if the pump primes and starts. If so then I'm done with PCs. Ill look into either a stock ECU flash or Bazzaz.

What do you think? What has worked or not worked for you?

Rain rain go away....

So yesterday was pretty much a wash...literally. Rained almost all of the day and it came down in sheets. Pretty typical for my days off. I was able to get out on 2 for a little bit (its honestly a goal every day) but only to the bank, and to get a hair cut.

Today was a bust but not because of the weather. I had work 6a-3p which naturally turned into 6-445p and by the time I got home I was entirely too lazy and too close to the Phillies game to go anywhere. Remember, Im from South Jersey so its Philly sports down here. Yankees, Mets, Giants and Jets fans can find a new blow now please. Take the odd Dallas fans with you too. Hmmmmm, On second thought I guess the bond of brothers on 2 can erase your poor choice in sports teams. Carry on.

The good news is the weather forecast is looking great for the rest of the week. I should absolutely get some time on 2. Ill see if I can get some GoPro footage from around my area.

We have touch down.

Ran some errands on2 today and then for a lil ride. Saw this small helicopter landing on a dolly being pushed by a pick up. 

So, why the title?

The URL comes from a very popular saying about motorcycle riding; "Four wheels moves the body, two wheels moves the soul". If you ride, you get it. No real way I can put it into words for some one who doesn't. The feeling is one that so far in my 32 years I haven't been able to duplicate. I've found a few things that come close in some aspects. Sure I can take the top of my Jeep, the doors too. That gets the wind through my hair but it doesn't get my blood pumping like the bike does. I don't feel the bike between my legs, under my feet and the power in my right wrist. I don't get the same sights, smells and feels in the same order at the same speed. More importantly I don't get the same me time I get on the bike. There is a reason you never see a motorcycle parked out side a shrinks office.

The title Live Fast LIVE Fun is a twist of something I normally quote. Famous Stars and Straps clothing line ran a slogan for a while "Live Fast Die Fun". The timing for this saying was perfect in my life. It came at was probably the riding climax of my friend group. Fourteen of us at the time had bikes, went to bike weeks, bike nights, meets etc. Few us road daily, I'm not talking just for transportation. We would ride to no where, to every where, to....well, I don't need to explain it to you, again if you ride you get it. The timing turned kinda south when in 2008 a great man and a great friend died doing what he loved. Kevin aka Kool Ass Kevin left behind a group of friends who he touched in ways we will never forget. Live Fast Die Fun became words we clung to and immortalized in tributes to KAK.  While I sport this saying tatted on my ribs, on my bikes, on my shoes, on my gear and every where else I can, I wanted this blog to be something a little different. I wanna celebrate the life around riding.

More to come on that later too!

LFLF!

The Stable

This being a motorcycle based blog I thought it may be cool if I showed my bike(s). Ill toss up some older pics of them to get us rolling and I will get some new pics on the hurry.

The "daily" is my 2005 GSXR 1000

Basic bolt on performance mods(Filter, Yosh exhaust, PC3, TRE, R6 throttle tube mod, SS brake lines, custom dyno tune by Ricky Gadson (166whp, 93ft/lbs). There is some appearance mods done as well, Pazzo shorty levers, gas cap, lenses tinted, stickers and lots or road grime and stone chips. Pushing 30k miles shes seen her share of the road and still a BAMF. We call her Suzi. 

Then there is the track ride, she has some nick names but Im going to try to keep this blog some what PG13 so saying them in the 2nd post would do us all no good. 

2001 GSXR 750 with a list of mods so long Id forget em all. Power adder wise its an old PC3, MIG full exhaust, filter, -1+2 sprockets, quick turn throttle tube and STICKERS!  The rest is all suspension. Traxxion dynamics up front, Penske double clicker out back, rear sets, levers, master cylinders, lines and blah blah blah. Shes a beast for an older lady. The "Superman Gixxers" are consistently voted best used track bike for the buck my Motorcycle Road Racing Mag and she proves it to me all the time. 

Finally, there is the lil ladies bike, aka Black Beauty. 

2008 GSXR 600. Slip on pipe and a list of visual enhancements that would justify a blog of its own. Everything from black bolt kits, frame bolt covers, powder coated everything on the bike that was silver (obviously some of this done after this pic) and washed after EVERY ride. Shes crazy about this thing. The bike is lowered a tiiiiinnnny bit as you can see, this is to accommodate my wife's stature. 

Those are my rides...whatchu' got? 

It Starts

I'm not much into social media these days, unlike most of the people who surround me. I don't have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or anything other then a cell phone really when it comes to keeping in touch with the world. I am on a motorcycle forum that I go on more then Id like to admit (www.GSXR.com, I'm SRAD600) but that's about it. There is a few things I miss from social media and an easy hundred I don't. I miss the fact that I don't get invited to anything any more until last minute. Apparently invites are 99% through FB now days in my friend circle. I also miss having a way to share my thoughts, pics and cool stories (who cares about every one elses lol).

If you ask my wife she will back up the fact that I have A LOT to say. Ive never been one to fall short of words. For that reason this seems like a good idea to me. A space on the net where I can share some pics, vids and thoughts. I hope to keep most of, if not all of these thoughts related to motorcycles and the riders life, but I babble and I live in NJ which means I'm not riding all year.

This post was just a lil something to get us started here. My next post will be my bikes, Ill include some pics and a little about whats done to them and we will go from there. The challenge in this blog will be the pics/vids. I am the worlds worst GoPro owner, more on that later.


Live Fast, Live Fun!


Tom