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kenno

Expired Membership
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About kenno

  • Birthday 04/11/1964

Personal Information

  • Name
    Ken Knight

location

  • Location
    Lower Queensbury, NB, Canada

Converted

  • City
    Lower Queensbury

Converted

  • State/Province
    NB

Converted

  • Home Country
    Canada

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  • Interests
    Motorcycling
  • Bike Year and Model
    2018 Yamaha Star Venture TC
  1. I got my welcome message June 14th, my 60-day membership should have expired mid-August, right? I may be living on borrowed time. I will say my "so long" now. So long! Safe riding to all you bikers out there. K
  2. 2012, and in 2013 as well, the CAD was better than par. 5yrs, not so long ago, recent times as far as I am concerned. K
  3. Went for a ride on the SVTC last night, needed carrots. As if you need a reason, am I right? We arrived home after dark and I was a bit surprised that the handlebar controls were not backlit. I guess I grew used to that in the era I rode GL1500/1800 bikes. I can't see it being a problem, there are not too many switches to memorize but I was struggling to dim the high beams -- funny I could turn them on OK, only off being the minor issue. On the 'wings there always seemed to be a bulb out somewhere.... Ended up getting potatoes and mushrooms, and romaine, so that's good. Kenno
  4. There was little point in looking into the invoice too deeply, no matter what it cost, I was paying 1000 deductible. As it turned out, they were able to recover about 150 bucks of their costs, so I "only" owed them 850 or thereabouts. The worst part was going without a bike for the last month-and-a-half of last season, so I am making up for it now. Now, exactly why did I come into this room? I do that too. I just finished doing the first oil change. On the SVTC, there are 27 drain bolts and 11 places to put oil. That may be an exaggeration. I could not get a torque wrench on the crankcase drain plugs, so here's hoping I guessed right with the wrench. That oil at about 1300kms or 800 miles was still looking new, at least in the oil tank. The stuff I drained out f the crankcase looked a bit on the gray side of things. I used Yamalube.... Kenno
  5. Sorry about the scratch, but thank you for the insight, I was curious about the topple characteristic, you know, without actually setting it gently down (only to learn I probably need a friend to help lift it) -- is that why Yammaco sells those lid protectors? Thank you. Kenno
  6. Some days I feel like the least serious rider out there. I am on my bike, I am wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, it might have a Minion on it, and a slogan saying "DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?" or "STOP BOTHERING ME, I'M BUSY" and Chucks on my dogs. My stereo is blaring loud, I may be the only biker ON THE PLANET listening to a mix of Shadowplay (Joy Division,) Just Another Girl (The Killers,) Unstoppable (Sia,) and Perfect Kiss (New Order.) I have sunglasses inside my helmet but my face shield is open. My windshield is all the way down, those air deflectors point right in my face. I don't have a place to go of a thing to do, but here I am, burning gas and soaking up UV rays, making noise. Serious stuff, huh? I have bought a few 2dn-hand bikes over the years, 6 of the 14 I have owned in fact. There are distinct merits to both. I have often considered that my desire to buy new not only makes it possible for someone to soon own a bike I traded in, but another used bike is slowly being introduced to the market. Thank you. Kenno
  7. You probably already know that parts are more expensive in Canada, some of it is currency, most of it is greed. During recent times the CAD was "worth more" than the USD we did not see drops in price for Canadian items. There are a few odd exceptions, I can always buy bike tires cheaper in Canada. I bought the oil and filter to do the 1st oil change on my SVTC at a Yamaha dealer in Houlton Maine 2 days ago, the dealer nearest my home in Canada, wanted $10/quart and $23.99 for the filter, but in the US I paid $5.99 for 2 quarts, $20 for 4 quarts, and $46 in total including the filter and state sales tax. If you do currency conversion at 1.30x $46 becomes $59.80. The total if bought in Canada would be $73.99 + $11.10 tax being $85.09. International shopping saved me $25, plus I got me some 93 Octane and a Whoopie Pie donut and Dunkin Donuts. Can you say cafe racer? Thank you. Kenno
  8. You raise an excellent point. Once the insurance is involved, their policy (tee hee) is to use "That model year or newer" parts. In a way it is nice the parts all come painted up, that eliminates one hassle, matching colours, but if I went through the exercise to replace only the "must be replaced" parts and leave the odd "no one will notice anyway" stuff as is, it would have rendered a different cost, maybe not even go through the insurance. I have a big "but" though, it is nice to put it back the way it was, and trading it in at the same dealer who checked the damage and replaced the parts meant there was no "oooh, you dropped it huh?" bs to deal with. An expensive lesson with $1000 deductible, I back out of the garage more carefully. I have set aside the offending rock, I call it the 1000-dollar rock, and I look for rocks that may have grown larger and rake them up. My dream it to one day place a nice concrete pad outside the front of my garage, but that is why we dream. Thank you. Kenno
  9. That was my last bike, it took a while for the muffler to come in. they got it done in 53 days, from September 13, 2017 to November 5, 2017. It was very cold when I rode it back home. Thank you for your concern. Kenno
  10. Many for-sale bikes have the expression "never dropped" in the ad, but not mine. That is because I dropped it while on uneven ground trying to back it out of my garage. I reached down to touch the ground and because of the slope, there was no ground to be found, at least not at first. I was abruptly spat on the ground and over it went. You might have noticed the bikes falls over on its side, wheels in the air, so much for low centre-of-gravity. I called roadside assistance (nice thing about owning a BMW bike) and a tow truck came, the operator helped me lift the bike. I could not get it off the ground alone. When I saw the damage, I got the tow truck operator to take it to the dealer (2.5h away) which is included in the roadside assistance, and shortly after this arrived: Yes, that says $8337.55, so now you know what happens if the bike falls over. "Case Cover" is the outer lid of the hard bag, "Case Lid" is the inner piece with the hinges. "Front Left" is the upper side fairing where the K1600 GTL logo sits. "Muffler" is the pipe and canister from driver foot pegs back. "Left Engine" is the engine guard, which apparently protects the engine AND NOTHING ELSE from damage in a tiny fall. You might notice the Labour is 100 off (109.95x10 = 1099.50 not 1199.50) but who can be that picky? BMWs are known to have expensive replacement parts, the 435 in the photo, for instance, I hit a deer at 110 km/h (70mph) and lost the left front headlight among other things, 8 parts comprise the headlight (LED) and the cost to replace them was $5119.62. No kidding. I put the bike through my insurance, counts as an at-fault so my rate went up. On the bright side, the "accident" did not affect the trade in value. I should get crash protection to the SVTC -- has anyone seen any crash bars for the SVTC to specifically protect the hard bags in case of a topple or low speed drop? Kenno
  11. Heading to the US, the last road before the border is Taint Lane. Just saying.
  12. Best way to see what the new bike is all about? Go for a ride. Saturday we went to Bangor, Me for a drive, there and back amounts to 556kms or just about 350 miles. At least the way I do it -- takes about 6 1/2 hours of in-the-seat time and is a great mix of roads. We cross the international border in the sleepy Maine town of Orient. On the way there I ride at a casual pace, following the speed limits closely some at 25mph,some at 55mph, and on the way back, via I-95, less casual at 75mph, and then another hour thereabouts on NB-95 and the TransCanada Highway at 110km/h to a town just 20 minutes from home, then 80 km/h following a secondary highway along the Saint John river home. We have done this jaunt countless times dating back to the summer of 2007. It was hot out by our standards, 86 degrees F, the bike while not yet technically broken in with about 500kms on it performed swimmingly, I realized 52 miles per imperial gallon (not those tiny US gallons) which would translate to about 42 mpg using the smaller US gallon, so not too bad for a mix of driving, two up, hot out, and using over half a tank of fuel for the calculation. I guess it is the US quart that is smaller, gallon still equals 4 quarts, in Canada a quart is 40 ounces not 32. We had lunch at our favourite restaurant in Bangor and enjoyed a pair of official coffee breaks, one on the way there in Lincoln, Me, and one on the way back in Houlton, Me. No waiting at the border, Orient Me sees on average 3 vehicles per hour. The biggest issue for us is explaining why we are crossing here, but when I explain it is more about the ride getting there, it all makes perfect sense: choose 100 minutes at 75mph covering 186kms or 129 minutes at 55mph covering 169kms, the extra half hour wins every time. My bottom was a bit sore from damp jeans, it was 86 degrees out, perspiration abounds. The best testimonial from my passenger came at the mid-point of our interstate ride home, where I asked if we needed to stop for a break and stretch our legs – she said no, keep going. I get more out of that that any online video test ride or numbers off the brochure, comfort is a fickle entity, and it can be a bit tough to get it just right. Now with just over 1000kms on the SVTC, less than 600kms to go until fully broken in. Call me crazy, but I follow the guidelines in the manual. I have kept it in T mode and I try to remember to shift at the points mentioned in the manual, at least until break-in is complete. Kenno
  13. Thank you. My patience runs hot and cold. I can wait for winter, can't wait for summer. That was not supposed to be a joke but as I look back at it it is kind of funny. I don't mind waiting for something if the wait is worth it, and it always seems in retrospect you can only recall the good memories. For instance, my friend the engineer and I went on an overnight trip across the border, mostly for something to do, and when he recalls it he mentions the cool morning air and the autumn leaves in full colour, not the fact that he was battling a massive head cold and could barely tolerate his head in his helmet. Years from now I may recall the Friday we went for our SVTC and how nice a ride it was, at least the way home, with those other details being lost where they belong. I went to my insurance guy yesterday, it was 86 degrees out, I got a bit of a burn on my arms, and I was a bit nervous parking the new bike at a meter downtown, but I had a coffee with my wife, put on a few clicks, got some incredible stares, and lots of "what is that?" oriented questions. The clock is up over 400kms now, we went for ANOTHER ride in the evening, no complaints about getting on and off the bike, which is wonderful because when the bike itself is the challenge in the ride, that brings the enjoyment down. Might go for another ride today. I love the TV interface! I know people toss the work 'intuitive' around hither and yon but trust me, it is hard to build a computer interface (and this it what this is) that is easy to use AND efficient. Maybe it is because I have built computer interfaces for more than 30 years but I find it not just easy to use, but they have figured out how to use it based on glances at the screen. Naturally it is key that you know roughly where things are but once that hurdle is overcome, it is a nice system. Kenno
  14. Thank you. So far, I am enjoying it very much, and my passenger says it's not as bumpy as our other bikes, which is huge, if you consider the shape of the roads around here these days. Have fun on your ride and or course ride safe. My safety strategy has nothing to do with conspicuity, I adhere to a simple rule of road safety - stay away from other vehicles, if that means I have to overtake to do it, then I will thanks. Kenno
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