Stay Upright

 I've done training courses with the Stay Upright school since the 1980s, when the principal trainer was the company's founder Warwick Schuberg. I've done probably a dozen courses all up, various road riding courses and also an adventure bike course. The courses are essentially repeats: it's been good to get a refresher, some more feedback on my riding, and also the techniques taught have changed with time. 

In the 1980s the emphasis on braking was to bring both wheels to the point of lockup and to release the brake if the wheel locked up, now the emphasis is on "setup and squeeze", take up the slack in the brakes and suspension then apply the brakes no further than the point of lockup. Also in the 80s it was recommended to use all four fingers over the brake lever all the time, so that if you needed to emergency brake the habit of using all four was ingrained and automatic; with modern brakes only two fingers are necessary. 

Their approach and training have undoubtedly saved my life. I vividly remember the first time that I was aware that their system had allowed me to avoid dropping the bike. The system required that you never ride over painted lines on the road: although this is okay when it's dry when it's wet they're very slippery and you can't brake easily on them. You always ride over pedestrian (zebra) crossings on the black bits rather than the painted bits so that when they're damp avoiding the paint is automatic. One day in 1987 a car coming from a side street failed to give way and I hit the brakes when I was in the middle of a crossing, I'd've skidded and probably dropped the bike if I wasn't on the black. 

Day courses typically involve theory and then supervised riding practise. 

Happily, at the end of the day there is a "consolidation" session where you get to practice the techiques taught riding as fast as you want around the racetrack. 

Both photos supplied by Stay Upright. They have a website and a Facebook page. 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; an Inquiry into Values" by Robert Pirsig. 

I first read this waiting for a train in 1982. I'd completed a long bicycle ride and had a day to kill waiting for the train home. On that reading only the frame story and bits of the philosophy made sense. With subsequent readings (seven to date) I came to understand and put into context the philosophy that the book was written to convey. The book has a broad description of Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality and many side trips into his ideas around motorcycle maintenance and life in general. 

My approach to bike maintenance was influenced by Pirsig from that first reading.  I was at that point reading Richard Bach's books about maintaining his own biplanes, so the approach of working on machines as well as riding/flying them was already inground. Pirsig's book gave greater depth and thought to the process of working on machines. When I purchased my first motorbike in 1985 my maintenance of it was a natural extension of my work on push bikes and the influence continued.  At this point 40 years later I don't know which of the ideas Pirsig and I share I got from him, and which ones he confirmed. 

He subsequently wrote a sequel, "Lila; an Inquiry into Morals" (1991), not as packed with ideas as the first book but useful as an elaboration of some of the ideas. His widow Wendy Pirsig edited a collection of his writings "On Quality; an Inquiry into Excellence" published 2022. 

The last pages of the book describe a happy moment in the ride where he and his son Chris, sitting pillion, ride south to San Francisco: 

The cycle swings into each curve effortlessly, banking so that our weight is alwasys down through the machine no matter what its angle is with the ground. The way is full of flowers and surprise views, tight turns one after another so that the whole world rolls and pirouettes and rises and falls away. 

Rich air and strange perfumes from the flowers of the trees and shrubs enshroud us. Inland now the chill is gone and the heat is upon us again. It soaks through my jacket and clothes and dries out the dampness inside. The gloves which have bene dark-wet have started tor turn light again. It seems like I've been bone-chilled by that ocean damp for so long I've forgotten what the heat is like. 

The road continues to twist and wind through the trees. It upswings around hairpins and glides into new scenes one after another around and through brush and then out into the open spaces where we can see canyons stretch away below. 

The description suggests the "flow" state of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the sublime sense of timelessness and absorption where one is fully engaged in a activity that is challenging, but not too challenging. In Pirsig's metaphysics this is the experience of Dynamic Quality, as opposed to Static Quality, where one categories and explains things. 

A broad arc connects the mystical experiences of William James (1899) with the peak experiences of Abraham Maslow (1964), the dynamic quality of Pirsig (1974) and the flow of Csikszentmihalyi (1990). Broadly James recognised that these experiences were not solely in the domain of religion but occur also in meditative and drug-affected states. Maslow recognised that they were more likely when one was in a good place, where the lower levels of one's hierarchy of needs were met. Pirsig supplied the metaphysical structure within which the experience could be understood. And Csikszentmihalyi supplied a detailed road map indicating what things predisposed an individual to these experiences and how we can make them more common. 

Recently a website was established to promote and coordinate celebration of the anniversary.  

There is an active facebook group ZMM Quality. 

After Pirsig's death his bike and various associated items, including his leather jacket and tools, were donated to the Smithsonian Institution. On April 15 the bike will be put on display. 

A 50th Anniversary edition of ZMM is to be published 13 February. 

The Road

 T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia", wrote a memoir of his time after the events of "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" where he recounts his life as an anonymous enlisted man in the Air Force. This was called "The Mint", published under the pseudonym "382057 A/c Ross". 

The chapter "The Road" has Lawrence's account of riding his Brough Superior in a one hundred mile loop around his base picking up fresh eggs and bacon. It was rendered faithfully in the opening moments of the film Lawrence of Arabia, where it assumes that the day of Lawrence's fatal motorcycle accident was a similar circuit. 

It's very much the joy of motorcycling. Specifically, Lawrence's joy: he is out to test his limits, to ride fast, even to compete with a plane. 

One can almost hear the engine...

The text below is my yellowed paperback, the original public expurgated version. In the Faded Page version 'There he goes, the noisy ,' is rendered 'There he goes, the noisy bugger'.

Wedgetail Ignition

 About two years ago I became concerned about the bean can on my 200k bike and rebuilt it. This was successful, but I was never really confident that I'd done it as good as new, so I purchased a Wedgetail ignition system. This includes both the sender unit (slightly flatter than the bean can) and ignition control unit to sit under the tank and control the coil. I use a 1.5 ohm Dynacoil, not the OEM version. 

The parts arrived well wrapped but the ICU was damaged, presumably drop kicked during transit. It was replaced without delay or argument. 

It's worked faultlessly since installation. 

ICU Under Tank

The systems are built in Australia, available in the USA, and have a Facebook page. 

Third Bike

 I wasn't looking for a third bike but a 1985 K75C was on sale locally in rural New South Wales so I went and had a look. It had only 48,000km on the clock, was in good original condition and at a good price, so I purchased it. I'm currently working through a series of maintenance jobs like replacing the coolant and brake lines: the bike is unfamiliar after nearly 40 years maintaining airheads but some things are the same. 

There's an interesting piece on the K75 by FortNine, he describes the engine as being easily capable of doing a million miles. Also, there were a couple of episodes of the Airhead 247 podcast devoted to the K75, it's available on Soundcloud, also apple and spotify. 

Starter Motor

 On a ride recently my bike started unreliably: there was a "click" from under the tank but no life from the starter motor. In each case I was able to get the bike started after a few attempts and moving it around a bit. I wasn't sure if the problem was the relay or motor itself, but neither has been serviced, ever, so I figured I'd replace both.

I purchased an Arrowhead starter for AUD219. This was less than twice the cost of overhaul parts for the original BOSCH starter. 

Shiny new Arrowhead starter installed.

Replacement was straightforward except for a couple of points. 

• There are two hex head bolts holding the starter in place. The one on the left side of the bike could be turned using a ring spanner, but the housing wouldn't allow this on the right. I had a socket that fitted, but to get access for this I needed to remove the airbox and battery, which was a nuisance. When reassembling it I used an allen key bolt, so this should be avoided next time. 
• There is a bracket on the leading edge of the starter under the timing chain cover. It has 3 bolts, two on the starter and one on the engine. One of the bolts on the starter is impossible to get off while the starter is in place, but the lower bolt, screwing the bracket to the engine, can be accessed using a 10mm socket from the front. 
• The relay I purchased had 4 connections and is appropriate for other functions on airheads, but not necessary on my bike. The correct relay has 5 connections. 
• Care needs to be taken removing the relay with a screwdriver because one of the connections is always live, and so can spark. 
• The crankcase breather hose was perished, clearly visible in the pic, and was replaced. 

LHS Spanner Access

After this was done with the original starter relay in place the bike didn't start, so I swapped in the relay from the other bike and it started sweetly, no problems. So, the problem from the beginning was the relay, not the starter itself. 

Shiny new Arrowhead starter installed.

Second Bike

 In September 2019 I purchased a second R65LS, broadly identical to the first: both red, both with Brembo brakes, both with stainless exhausts, but 1984 rather than 1983 and only 135,000km on the clock. It looked like a good deal, purchased from the mechanic who had maintained it for the last 20 years. It arrived on the back of a truck looking as good as it had in the pictures. 1983 on left, 1984 on right. 

When I went to get it registered the problems started, and they have only recently been properly ironed out. 

First problem was that it wouldn't rev above 4,000 rpm. There were lots of little problems with the carbs, each time I'd reassemble them and hope that the latest minor fix had resolved the problem, but eventually I did a full rebuild. It turned out that the seller's idea of "recently rebuilt carburettors" didn't involve replacing all the O rings or cleaning the main jet holder. Weirdly they had assembled one of the diaphragms rotated: it's surprising that the bike could be tuned at all. 

The image shows that the piston is rotated (the diaphragm is located correctly in the carb body, the problem is that it has been fitted to the piston rotated). 

Riding on the freeway a vibration was setup that suggested a failing wheel bearing, but when I pulled off the road the rear brake came on and locked in place. I'd noticed that the gearshift was in unusually good condition for such an old bike, it had been replaced and somehow part of the original had fallen into the housing of the rear brake pedal, jamming it on. 

Always find the bit you drop!

The engine note changed and then the exhaust flange nut on the LHS cylinder came loose: it had been held on only by one thread and a stack of grease. This was sleeved and rethreaded by an engineer. 

The pin put through the sleeve to the cylinder head is just visible. 

The carburettors were now running but difficult to balance. I had some holes in the header pipes welded over to fix this. 

Keeping two identical bikes is a bit odd, but there are lots of advantages. Obviously I can ride one while the other is off the road for maintenance. And I can swap components to troubleshoot. I have little experience maintaining bikes apart from airhead BMWs, and all my skills are easily transferred between the two LSs. 

I'm now to the point I expected to be a month after the purchase: two bikes, either of which I'd trust to go riding.