Ok, so I managed to blow it on the MassBIA spring meet... it ended up I had 3 other activities scheduled for that day as well. I do have a chance to redeem myself and head to annual British Motorcycle Meet in Auburn on June 4th.

I think this was one of the first all-British events I ever went to, albeit it just once in the past some 16+ years ago. Here's hoping that the weather holds out and and my schedule doesn't have any mystery surprises.

I went to their Fall show last year and had a good time.

Maybe this year I will (in order of likelihood, not chronological):

1. Find the place where they sell beer straight off. Not through random discovery when searching for the loo before heading home.
2. Enter my bike in the show (they have a Hinckley era category) if it doesn't get too messy on the way there. Anyways, you need to park it somewhere, right?
3. Be social. (There are probably some other items that I am not listing that would rank before this.)

Back then that was the Thayer Street days of Vanson in Boston's South End. Long before it started to become gentrified... back when there was still an elevated Orange Line rail system serving it. Sometime in between they ended up moving to Taunton, into some soulless industrial park facility. Now though, they are in a giant old factory in Fall River whose atmosphere harkens back to the Thayer Street warehouse... less the Boston Rock 'n' Roll part.

Either way, they have always been a true motorcycle oriented place. I will try to make it to the open house, weather permitting.

Today I took a nice ride out to Oxford, MA for the Massachusetts British Iron Association's Fall Swap Meet/Show.

There was (in my mind) a fairly respectable set of bikes on show. Triumphs were in the majority, with about a third as many Nortons. Plus a smattering of BSAs (I counted two), Enfields (two again), and Velocettes (two again... breeding pairs?). Anyways, I took some pictures of what interested me and have linked them up in a gallery here.

I tried to take notes of what I was snapping pictures of, but not all bikes had show tags on them at the times. Nor am I the worlds best note taker. Feel free to send corrections/observations.

Not a whole lot else of interest to the show though. Th swap meet part was a little dodgy... a few odd commercial vendors with various stuff. The token leather shop booth with stuff that looked more along the right lines for a Harley guy. Someone with a booth with insanely loud fluorescent shirts that I guess were supposed to keep you visible while riding (not much good for road burn though). There was a lady there though that had some nice pins and badges. So I bought one, it rocks. I will have to scan it or take a pic of it another time.

So, that, a chili dog, a Coke, a cheeseburger, and a pretty mediocre cover band later and I was done. I 'll go again though (and hopefully next time I will discover where they are selling beer before I decide to hit the road).

Man, once I got out of the city and into the wooded areas, my hands were starting to get cold. Definitely time to get myself a new set of gloves. Maybe it is just New England weather. Maybe it is because I have missed two weeks of riding, but it seems like I have missed some seasonal transition here. Brrrr.

It was quite a surprise to me when I flicked the switch on and the lights did not change. Lights were no different and no "your high beams are on" dumby light came on either.*click* *click* *click* *click* Nothing.

I'm not sure why the idea struck me, but I decided to see what happened if I turned the high beam switch one while finger the flash switch. Et voila, my high beams stay on. Huh? If I flick the switch down to low they go off and if I repeat the flash + high beam they come on. So now I figure, "Oh, duh. That is what I get because I didn't RTFM my Owner Manual well enough. This is how they are supposed to work." I complete the remainder of my ride quite well-lit using my newly discovered high beam technique.

Now I have just got home. I park my bike and look back in wonder at my discovery. To amuse myself I flick just the high beam switch on and off to remind myself of my initial surprise that it didn't work. And it works. Turn the bike off, turn it back on, it still works. Read the fucking manual and it mentions nothing about needing any multi-switch foolery to turn on the high beams.

WTF?

N.H.T.S.A No. 05V - 276

Replacement of Coolant Hose

Affected VIN: Speed Triple Start of Production to VIN 234916
...

Basically looks like there is a potentially leaky coolant hose and losing coolant is bad m'kay. This no big surprise, as I already read about it on T595.net months ago... I was wondering when this would finally arrive.

Anyways, I really need to do more riding so I can get to my 500-mile service interval. I will life life dangerously and watch out for a soggy left boot in the meanwhile.

Well, my Speed Triple isn't a classic, but I still enjoy classic (which to me means pre-1972) Triumphs... and BSAs... and sure Vincents too... and even the odd Norton. I yearn for a 68/69 Bonneville.

Anyways, I have missed a bunch of other Brit bike shows earlier in the year, so this one may be my last chance to catch one in the area this year. It is run by the Mass British Iron Assoc, who provide full info on their page. I never quite understand why these things are always in the middle of the sticks, but it is a good excuse to buzz through Worcester and stop at Coney Island Hotdog.

Basically, I could see in the lanes to my left and right, but I couldn't really ever see behind me. Attempts at adjusting the mirrors' angles so I could see behind me resulted in a really good view of my arms, but I just couldn't see things behind me (you know, dull stuff like encroaching cars, etc).

So I replaced them with a pair of Hindsight LS bar end mirrors from CRG (Constructors Racing Group). They are smaller than the stock mirrors, but are also slightly convex, so they offer a much wider range of view. This combined with placement further out than stock means a much better rear view (I can now definitely see everything directly behind me). The "LS" stands for "Lane Splitter"... the mirrors have pivots so they can be flipped inward if I need to squeeze into a narrow space.

My previous entries here have been re-entered at the apropriate dates.

Luckily for me, just hours before all the seriously bad parts of weather came, there was a break in the wind and rain and my Bike Barn arrived. I was able to somewhat hastily (and with a few errors, I need to go back and hit some steps I missed) assemble it to protect the S3. I was loosing sleep the first night it was in place, which saw some major winds, but so far so good. Glad I got it when I did.

Although the engine has to go through it's breaking in, so it didn't go anywhere beyong 4K RPMs, I can sense the serious power (and lovely sound) from the 1050cc triple. There is just no comparison to the other bikes I have ridden before... all of which have been carburated twins in the 500cc ('72 Triumph Daytona, a really sweet little bike) to 1340cc (Harley Springer Softail) range. Response to the throttle (both on and off) is amazingly crisp.