Ben was a member of this group in the past.  Don't know if he still is.  I recently heard that Ben was a great trials rider, but I didn't know he had cystic fibrosis.

Ben's dad, Jim, is a serious motorcyclist as well.  He once rode his SR500 thumper over 1500 miles in 24 hours, and he completed the Canada-to-Mexico ride (more than 1600 miles) on that same bike, although I don't remember whether he did it in 24 hours or 36.

Great story, Vince.  Thanks for the link!

Brent

One effect you might notice from putting 87 octane fuel in a bike that needs 91 is knocking, aka detonation.  But you won't notice that if your bike has a knock sensor and compensates for the detonation.

I have a couple complaints about the non-oxy fuel I buy around here.  [Edit: I need to mention that the only non-oxy I can get here is 91 octane.]  I was putting it my trainer bikes all the time, but I tried a few tanks of 87 and noticed the bikes started much better, especially in the cold.  [The trainer bikes' engines don't have a lot in common with our sportbike engines, so this observation might not have much relevance here.]   Lately I've been mixing 8 oz. of Seafoam in 6 gallons of 87-octane gas, hoping it won't spoil as quickly.  And I try to put only enough gas in the bikes to keep them from running out, so the gas is as fresh as possible.

My other complaint about non-oxy is that one of the stations here is charging a 40- to 45-cent premium over 87 octane.  I've paid as much as $4.20 this summer.  Not a big deal when I'm only using six gallons a week, and it's cheaper than adding Seafoam, but it still makes me feel like a sucker to pay such a premium. But then Casey's in Trimont was selling 91 non-oxy for 3.49 for a few weeks this summer.

I'm with Tony, though about putting non-oxy in it if I'm not planning on emptying the tank soon.

Hope, I'm not sure how a dealer or manufacturer would know you used 15% ethanol unless you brought it to them with E85 in the tank.

Brent

YAMAHA?  Yamaha can't even build a bike that lasts a whole race!  Just kiddin'.

It could be really fun to Rossi dicing with Lorenzo and Pedrosa again.  The racing this year has been 98% yawn.  WSBK, on the other hand, has been pretty damn exciting. Lots of passing and very unpredictable.

Rossi's tire as he pulled off this weekend...

Shouldn't have used the retreads.  If he really needs to save money, he should try car tires.

I decided $29/pr. from Kurveygirl was too high.  Motorcycle-Superstore.com has some valve stems that look sort of like Kurveygirl's, but for $10.95/pr. 

In the end, though, I went way cheaper and bought a half-dozen each of two different styles from Patchboy.com.  The 45-degree ones like the picture in the first post of this thread were $2.10 each, and the short straight ones were $1.30.  I haven't tried 'em yet, but I hope they fit and never leak!

Thanks, everyone, for all your suggestions and ideas.

Brent

Quote from: beedawg on June 12, 2012, 12:36:19 PM

A lot of the "oldness" is just image. There are 10-year-old HDs with fuel injection, and some models got throttle-by-wire a few years ago.  They make a pretty good ABS.  Not sure whether they have tubeless wire wheels, but Harleys aren't as old-tech as the styling would suggest.

I was thinking of the push-rods and the dry sump design (big clunky oil tank)... and I realize that it's the engine sound they are going for.  But aren't the numbers all screwy still?  Like 30mpgs for 90hp?  ...not sure.

Ducati, BMW, and Yamaha use pushrod engines in some of their bikes.  Some Aprilias and KTMs have dry sump engines.

HD claims 42 mpg and 100 ft-lbs torque at 3250 rpm for the 103 ci Road King.  Tubeless wire wheels are optional, as is cruise control and ABS.  HD doesn't publish horsepower numbers, but I don't think any of them make anywhere near 90 hp from the factory.

Interesting comment at MinnPost:

Motorcycle helmets
Submitted by John N. Finn on June 11, 2012 - 7:56pm.

Since motorcycle manufacturers and motorcyclists' "rights" organizations such as ABATE (A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments) have made noise laws virtually unenforceable, I'd be in favor of a mandatory helmet law as payback for all the Harley bikers I have to listen to.

I wish I could accurately measure the number of people who feel that way about loud pipes.  I like hearing loud engines occasionally.  Sometimes while I'm in my yard, I can hear a bike or a train that's at least 10 miles away.  I usually like it.  I would probably hate hearing it all the time.  I know I hate it when I need to talk and I'm drowned out by unwarranted noise.  I hear a surprising number of positive comments about loud bikes from my students.

For that matter, the description is most likely derived from the police reports so there must be some standards applied to use the description in state or local enforcement.  Feel free to research the meaning for us. 

Words always mean whatever the writer want them to mean.  Different writers, different meanings.  Which is why communication can be difficult.