Friday, May 9, 2014

Clear, Blue Skies!

It was a beautiful morning though only 31°F on the ride in. No more sunrise pictures for a while since today's sunrise at 4:46am which is a bit earlier than I care to be awake. Sunset today will be at 10:46pm so we just hit 18 hours of sunlight but counting dusk and dawn, we really don't have any real night as its dusk/dawn for those other six hours.

I really couldn't tell any difference in the handling of the rig after the to-in adjustment. Though I haven't tried it with a passenger yet. Maybe tomorrow. The high temperature for the weekend is supposed to be in the mid-70s.

I don't think I will ever get tired of the view from the little grassy area next to our building. For a while they was some discussion of a demonstration solar farm on this hillside. I heard it got derailed somewhere due to complaints about aesthetics. Unfortunate as the demonstration was going to have a capacity of about one megawatt. Not insignificant.

BTW, I still have motorcycle parking to myself. The beautiful weather hasn't been enough to lure folks out.

Instead of lunch, I rode out to the Parks Highway Monument to get a photo of the Tanana Valley. Plus this gave me an opportunity to see if the pull to the right of the rig has changed after the toe-in adjustment. The view was well worth the trip out. The visibility wasn't "unlimited" and the clouds enhanced the view. I has only warmed up to 46°F but didn't need any heated anything.As far as handling, it still feels the same and is probably due to the sidecar windshield as much as anything else. I will continue to monitor tire wear as too much toe-in could increase tire wear. And I will probably be removing the sidecar windshield this weekend.

16 comments:

  1. Richard:

    Your weather is better than ours. We've been having record rain with severe flooding in Delta. Over 3". About an inch in the city.

    Hard to believe that you will be having daylight all your waking hours.

    In spite of our good weather, I cannot ride. I'm not better yet but I have been tempted . . .

    bob
    A weekend photographer or Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. We had a few sprinkles earlier in the week but nothing significant. Just lots of daylight and it's still increasing at the rate of 6 min/day. Barrow is already up to 23 hours of sunlight.

      See, you need to get one of these sidecar things....

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  2. Those pictures give a good idea of the views. Though at 31 degrees, they're all yours, good buddy.

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    1. Soon it'll be so warm that folks up here will be longing for snow.

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  3. Some things are worth a little discomfort...

    Beautiful header photo. I could stare at that a long, long time. I'd like to see that same view for each season. You probably have posted that view in all seasons...

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    1. I generally only make it out to the monument in the Summer. And in the Winter, it's too dark to get a good picture. So you're stuck with Summer. But, thank you. I love the view!

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  4. Love the new blog header picture.

    And can you please send some of that sunshine our way.

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    1. Thank you! I thought that you were getting plenty of sunny days. Just that they never happened on or near the weekend.

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  5. Great new header pic. There is nothing bluer than Northers skies.

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    1. I love the clear, blue skies that we have though they are predicting another dismal fire season...

      We may as well enjoy the clear skies while they last.

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  6. Richard - beautiful view. I enjoy our longer daylight hours but 23 hours of daylight +/- would send my bio-rhythms into a spiral. Who said NY is the city that never sleeps? Apparently Alaska is the state that never sleeps (cause somebody left the light on!)

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    1. Believe me, you get used to the daylight pretty quickly and soon it seems completely normal. But once the equinox passes, the countdown sort of starts towards Winter...

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  7. Like the others, I like the new header pic....the tub looks nice and level....interesting you've felt no difference in the handling now that you've increased the toe-in. It's snowing here right now, waiting for significant accumulation before heading out on Scarlett to ride around.

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    1. I think lean has a bigger impact on steering effort than toe-in. I think that toe-in affects front and sidecar tire wear more than anything else. And the stiffer sidecar spring would decrease the change in lean.

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  8. I'm aching for a side car again because of you *smiling*. I love change. I change my blog all the time and really like your new look also. Long ride days must be nice too!

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    1. Thank you! I wanted a side car shortly after I started riding. I think that there may be a Ural in the future due to 2WD.

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