California SuperBike tour after work. Hayabusa ->

Squeaked out of work early! 185 mile ride today.
Had very generous loaner bike from my friend… Green Magic was puking fuel 3 nights before after I flew out to the west coast. I got GM running… but pouring fuel out of the carbs.
The SuperBike to the rescue!

Half Moon Bay was gorgeous warm weather and got to eat my fantastic burrito out in the sunshine after work.

Route 1 down to Arata’s Farm. A place I am obsessed with. I would love to own that place and live there. Took the left there off the Rt 1 and into the Tunitas Creek Cutoff.

The 1300cc monster Suzuki Hayabusa is very docile bike to ride – despite what you might think. It is also a quick turner and handles really well. Razor sharp brakes. It has a 190 mph speedometer and actually needs the highest markers unlike many poser cars. That’s how fast this thing is.

The gear ratios are so wide, I rode Tunitas Creek in mostly 1st gear and 2nd gear. I had a near take out several years back on that road on a blind corner with some ass local so I am very leery of that road and blind left corners. Tunitas Creek is loaded with blind corners thru the redwoods and huge california Cedar trees.

Alices Restaurant of course at 4 corners. Pescadero, and some spirited blasts on Rt 1 over the cliffs and ocean. Rode back to Woodside 84 via Pescadero Road from the ocean. Dunbarton bridge had absolutely horrible Friday night traffic – the worst traffic I have ever seen.
Escaped to Niles Canyon and then Palomares Canyon was equal time back to Oakland… DUH! Of course you’re going to ride an empty no car road over a mountain pass.

It’s hard on my wrists though. And the mirrors took tons of fidgeting to get just right. Originally I deemed them useless to me which is scary when you’re lane splitting California rush hour for 3 days. If I owned this I would have to put 1.5″ minimum bar risers on it to tolerate it. I don’t always squeeze my thighs and abs when riding and load a lot of weight on my wrists unfortunately.
But a pretty magical day, and out riding in fresh air and a respite from the cold east 🙂


Route Map:


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Hauled a guitar back on a Superbike. Epiphone PR5E/B on a Hayabusa to be precise

Well, that just happened. I don’t think many have ever tried this trick.
Bought a 26 year old Korean built original series Epiphone PR5E/B guitar.
It’s gorgeous, featuring a “florentine” cutaway body with “snowflake” fretboard inlays and all black body and neck with double white binding. It’s pretty stunning, and has a great looking headstock with abalone logo on it. I really like it.

I borrowed two bungee cords from work, and a foam block they were recycling. I removed the back seat cowl or really ‘hump’ and stuffed it in my tank bag and then strapped it all down. Seller had a small bungee cord and we cut an electrical cord up to give it four attachment points.

On the way home at one point I was up to 60 mph and it was stable. No disasters and got it home in one piece!On the way home at one point I was up to 60 mph and it was stable. No disasters and got it home in one piece!

see other blog posted here:
rjfilms GUITARS BLOG


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Green Magic runs… after 15 months… but puking fuel.

I charged the battery for 4 hours.
I was then just able to start Green Magic and get it running!
Unfortunately the carbs kept running and running an puking pouring fuel everywhere.
I kept shutting off the fuel petcock to stop the pouring fuel and kept the motor running, when fuel was getting very lean in the clear gas tube I installed I would open the petcock again to keep motor running, and fuel would pour out of carbs in a second.
Very annoying and troubling. Fuel was everywhere.
I finally was able to narrow it down to the third carb from the petcock side of bike (right as sitting #3) that was pouring fuel in a huge stream. I guess the valve seat needle must be sticking there and won’t unstick with heat or knocking the side of the bowl doesn’t work either 🙁


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First day back riding. 180 mile joyride in the Sierra Mountains! GM Rides Again!!

Since I met the kraken…

After working on the bike over four days, on the 4th day the bike rose from the ashes.
180 miles of giddy bliss riding.
I was excited for days to get back on the bike and ride (if I could get it working).

Route:
Mormon Pass, Immigrant Pass, Highway 88, Carson Pass, Lake Tahoe, Highway 50 back.

I was on a bit of a deadline here, but had to test run it and see if it was ok.
A beautiful ride in the mountains. I was hoping I could make this loop without the bike failing on me. It ran great. The motor sounded great and pulled with power and I still have that gorgeous sounding burbling loud de-baffled exhaust that I love.
The mountains were for the most part hazy – there were active major forest fires in California nearby. So that was a little bit of a bummer. But the roads were great.



Immigrant Pass almost immediately right out of Pollock Pines by the beautiful Jenkinson Lake I’d kayaked on w Jay.
Immigrant Pass is closed in the winter and I’d never ridden it. Glad I did.
At the end of the pass just before 88 I stopped by an abandoned ski area – in fact the TOP of the ski area. That was kind of strange. A few old buildings with damage and graffiti and old chair lift tower and the ends of two that used to drop off skiers. I had to look it up later, but it was “Iron Mountain Ski Area” and it closed for good in 1993. I’m pretty sure there were a few vagrants squatting in one of the building and outside nearby.

Highway 88 to Kirkwood had fresh pavement that’s perfect with big sweeper turns up to the highest parts of the ride.
I passed by Kirkwood Ski area and stopped for pics again like I had done years ago. Carson Pass is really pretty breathtaking winter or summer – it just opens up in front of you after you hit the highest point in the pass over 10,000 feet elevation.

I’ve always loved the meadows coming off Carson Pass and taking the left up small winding Highway 89 to Lake Tahoe.
I was blissed out on this ride. There were very few cars out on the road, it was like having most of it all to myself.


I got back to my friends mtn A frame and loaded everything up and rode back to the Bay.
Rode straight outta Pollock Pines to Sacramento, and had a late burrito dinner stop at dusk.
Got back to Oakland and #vanlife at 11pm.

While out west on this trip I am mostly sleeping in my converted cargo Ford E250 van nicknamed ‘Evan’.
I shower and exercise at the awesome gym at the huge Silicon Valley tech co everyone knows their name.


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Salvaged from the wreckage… Green Magic rides again.

Couldn’t believe it. With some planning, parts getting, and repairs and on the spot fabricating I finally got Green Magic back running.
The part I could not believe: after it sat for over a year (wrecked) with the battery hooked up, I put the key in the ignition and a dash light came on weakly. (no horn but who cares?) The battery at rest (not under load) read 12.75 VDC after sitting a year wrecked.
Now, mind you, this was after the bike was moved into a storage facility near El Cerrito, then another different one and stored, then hauled up to outside Lake Tahoe to my friend’s summer place. There it sat all winter outside under a lean-to he built off the big garage.
I finally got back to the bike July 25, 2018.
It took a lot of time to find all my riding gear, it was scattered in storage all over the place.
The major thing was the stator cover was completely destroyed in the wreck. Shredded and shattered. All the oil had long since leaked out on my friend’s pickup truck. I knew the rear blinker was destroyed, a brake lever, a mirror, significant fairing destruction etc…
What I also didn’t know was the shifter lever had snapped right off. So there was no spot to shift gear with your boot / toe.
I had a bunch of drama but was finally able to modify a commonplace Honda front brake lever to make it cleverly work in Green Magic. I could get the pivot bolt to mount up with the Honda lever but had to file off metal as it was far too much material to fit.
This caused some trouble at first, as the front brake completely locked up. So back uphill I went to my friends garage and out came the angle grinder again to custom chop off more material off the back of the lever where it meets the reservoir piston. Finally got it to work well.
The shift lever? Well, that I got fairly medieval on. My initial idea up in South Lake Tahoe was to simply use some metal conduit and bend it a a 90 degree and simply screw it into the severed stump of what remained of the shifter mechanism. My friend thought that was too ghetto after he came back after work and very nicely and with some masterful crafting cut two 45 degree angles on conduit ends and then welded the cheap metal together at a perfect 90 degrees. we then drove two sheet metal self taping screws in the conduit that we hammered onto the shifter stump. You know what? It worked!

I wound up firing up Green Magic the next day after charging the 5 year old AGM battery near instantly!!!!
I could NOT believe. My friend looked nonchalant and unimpressed. I tried to explain “You Don’t Understand!! This bike never ‘just starts’ after sitting for a month or more!!” etc… But it did.
Took it out on the first test ride and locked up the front brake, but it was running!!

July 26th – extracted bike out of lean to area into main garage. Assessed damage. charged battery overnight

July 27th – battery took charge to 12.87 VDC. Engine turned over!
oil and filter in, but I forgot to drain oil from plug! over filled, oil still in there.

July 28th – fired GM up!! 7pm. repaired fairing bolts & reinstalled all fairings. Jay welded the custom EMT shifter lever late after work

July 30th – Painted tank dent damage 3x primer and 2 main coats of white I brought up.
Finally found my Shoei helmet in all the chaos. Huge mess, massive cleaning on helmet. Repaired broken shield attahchment areas. Most of the bad scratches were left on shield on not in central vision 🙂 Sierra Mountains test run to Tahoe and then rode back home to Bay Area!


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First naked step yesterday. FEAR PT PAIN. Beatings

I took my very first step yesterday with nothing. Nothing on either leg. I was pretty astonished.
And also did not want to at all. I had only hours earlier been cleared from ‘the boot’ aka aircast.
So here I am in Physical Therapy. Told to stand. Told to walk.
AND THEN
told I will be balancing on one leg for 30 seconds. My therapist-in-training has never made a joke with me. I assume she’s finally now. So I say “on my good leg, right?” And she says, “Sure”, then the other.

No way. No freaking way. I have been a champion ankle / single leg balancer since my prior ankle break 23 years ago. I can do the flamingo with my eyes shut for at least 30 seconds. I can balance without movement eyes open.
But not today.
Apparently the such limited walking etc… has weakened my good leg, even though I demand it to do everything for me for the past 6 weeks. I bruise that one too, putting all my weight on it constantly and hopping, twisting and carrying weight all on that leg.

Then after a slightly wobbly open eyed good leg 30 second ‘flamingo’ pose I demanded to do the bad leg.
So… after resisting and say no way I can even do 3 seconds… I try and try but my good leg will not leave the ground – toe firmly attached to terra firma. My body won’t do it. Every part of my brain and body says DONTDOIT. NO.
I am even holding onto the table next to me. Finally, I am able to raise the good leg off the ground. For a few seconds. A few wobbly seconds. Everything feels completely wrong. My bad leg is frozen like a vice left outdoors 5 years on a New England salty road.
It’s turning all kinds of colors in urgent screaming protest. Red with white speckled blotches. The pain ratchets up fast. This is completely impossible to do, my brain knows this.

PT is about fear. And going so far past the personal fear barrier deep into your worst fears. Doing things you know absolutely you should not be doing, and cannot do. You are sure you cannot and should not do a simple thing. You would never ever do it on your own or try it – you wouldn’t even think about it in your head because it hurts your broken body so much to even put that glimmer of thought in your head. “Oh, ok, do two sets of 15 of those then.” It’s that.

My Grandmother told me something like this often: “Your body is your own expert. You know what you should and can do”. (Another piece of excellent advice: When you are sick / can’t eat, “If you can picture yourself eating an item, then you can.”)
This completely throws your Grandmother’s knowledge and wisdom out the window and stomps all over it.
The ‘therapy’ I ‘endured’ yesterday was akin to a Nancy Kerrigan beating.
My leg completely swelled up and all around the ankle. Almost as bad as the original break. Much worse than flaunting Doctor’s and Therapist’s orders doing “Ultimate Adventure” hell for 8 days and rock climbing and sand crawling and gravel scrambling in 115 F heat in Arizona and Utah.


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OhMyGosh!! I just took 8 steps without a cane or a crutch at all!!!!!! Woot!!

This is meaningless to anyone who has not broken a lower limb… but for me it is 100% thrilling and astonishing!
I was so far behind all weekend on the Cape for where I need to be by tomorrow for a 9 day grueling job.
I’ve gambled everything on this – all cascading decisions rest on me being able to walk – a lot – at least with a single crutch or cane. But really the very best is with nothing at all except the boot.
Yesterday was huge – at end of PT session I was somehow able walk on a single cane. I couldn’t believe it. I had worked so hard Saturday and Sunday over at First Encounter beach.
I was cursing and so angry I couldn’t walk on a single device at all. I tried so hard. I wanted to slam my crutch into the earth and destroy it.
I worked my leg so hard my upper calf went into a spasm, and on Monday the PT girl said my leg was completely knotted up and worked it so hard to try to break up the huge muscle knot and tear. It killed – smashing her thumb into it was the most pain of this whole experience since a few days after surgery by far.
My calf is still a very weak shadow of itself, and after walking the driveway a few times with single cane and taking those 8 steps free (with my boot of course – that’s on for the next 2+ weeks), my calf started the cramping up process again. Not super painful or anything, but I know that’s it’s knotting up in protest from abuse.


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Took my first step with only a single cane today!!!!!

HUGE for me.
I was thrilled. Right at the end of my PT session and then some more when home.
This is big big news and a massive relief with this huge grueling 9 day shoot coming up Wednesday…


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Fucking butcher

ankle hardware butchery
ankle hardware butchery side


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Green Magic down. Damage. Green Magic Man damaged.

Sadly, this should explain the title:
broke ankle wide 2 images


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