********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: JFMinyard@aol.com To: pc800@tcamc.uh.edu Date: Tue, 20 Sep 94 01:37:35 EDT Subject: Glad to be back Hi guys, It's been a while since I posted anything to the list so I thought I'd try to catch up. I had a problem with my modem back in July and then my AOL account got screwed up. After I got that straightened out I found that I was no longer receiving mail from the list. I guess the server dropped me when my mailbox didn't respond. Then, stupid me, I lost the address of the mailing list. Thanks to Kent Polk for emailing me the address and server commands. I've downloaded the archives and have reading some of the posts that occurred while I was incommudicado(sp?). One post by Neill Thompson has prompted me to reply. The very short segment that follows has been subjected to judicious editing. >I also thought that I would report to this group that I joined the >Honda Sport Touring Association. >------------------------------------------------------------------- >Neill Thompson 'The Prince of Dorkness' '82 Honda CM200T >Honeywell Inc. 'Helping you control your world' "Wee Bad" >nthompso@csa-dev.iac.honeywell.com '94 Honda PC800 >DOD 1133 AMA 371208 HRCA hmmmmm HSTA 5477 "Little >Wing" I too am a member of the HSTA and can only say good things about my experiences. This is one organization that is built around one premise- motorcycles are for riding. All the get togethers, regional STARS, and national STARS(Sport Touring Association RideS, I think, maybe, kinda... oh hell) are based on riding. If the roads aren't good and the routes well laid out nobody will show. The people I've ridden with in my area(Knoxville, TN) have all been knowledgable, helpful, and very safety conscious. Most have been through the MSF rider course, they stress proper gear and riding technique, and always urge you to ride at your own pace. The pace they set is spirited but not too extreme. The regional director for East TN spends a lot of time finding roads with plenty of curves and very little traffic. Of course, the HSTA is probably too tame for the owner of the only PC800RR, Kent Polk, but is possibly on target for most PC owners who think riding is more than just the superslab. If you have a chapter in your area, check it out. They usually welcome people to go ride with them, even non-members. They have also named an officer to serve as a liason to the electronic media, so a post on wreck.moto will also probably bring response. Sorry to run on so, next time I'll concentrate on the bike I promise. Jim Minyard '89 PC800 HRCA#HM707913 HSTA#5379 ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu From: nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com (Neill Thompson) Subject: Yeee haw Date: Tue, 20 Sep 1994 09:53:50 Cc: nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com It's not exactly hot news, but I still think about it alot and I have wanted to let you folks know. I took my first tour on Little Wing! It was great. The bike was flawless. I enticed a co-worker who rides a Softtail to go with me. We left Phoenix on Thursday morning (9-8-94) and rode north. We turned off I-17 and got on US 89 through Prescott and Sedona. This streach of road made the Rand McNally top 10 the last time I looked. From Flagstaff, we headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. From there you can see the North Rim lodge about 20 miles (as the crow flies) across The Canyon. The drive however, is about 200 miles. The route took us east along the East Rim Drive and then we reconnected with US 89 which crosses the Colorado River at Marble Canyon. Continuing on, we camped out near Jacob Lake. I carried my backpacking stove and cooked a satisfying dinner and was asleep by about 8:30. At 420 miles this was by far my longest motorcycle ride. I was tired and somewhat sore but basically I felt great. The next morning, I cooked breakfast and we were on the road by 7:30. We made the 45 mile run south to the North Rim for a quick look. I hadn't been there since I was 12 years old and on TGFWRT (The Great Family Western Road Trip) 26 years ago. It was an interesting contrast with the South Rim which I have visited many times in the past 2.5 years that I have lived in Phoenix. We headed back north and into Utah. We visited Zion National Park which was also on TGFWRT. I had not appreciated Zion as a kid. The scenery is magnificent. We continued north and visited Ceder Breaks National Monument. More fabulous colors and rock formations. At over 10,000 feet, it got somewhat cool that evening as we camped out in the National Forest but prior planning paid off and I had just what was needed to stay comfortable. The next day, we rode toward Las Vegas on I-15. The interstate follows the Virgin River which flows through Zion NP. The river cuts a gorge through a ridge which is in the northwest corner of Arizona. The interstate is delicately threaded through this narrow, breathtaking gorge. We then picked up the drive through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and re-crossed the Colorado at Hoover Dam. From there, it was an uneventful ride down US 93 into Phoenix. The three day total was about 1140 miles. No tickets, no drops, no tipovers, no flats, no breakdowns, no out of gas, just a great first mini-tour. This kind of riding was a MAJOR reason for selecting the PC and it was very rewarding to take advantage of the bike's special blend of characteristics and have a successful shakedown tour. As loaded as I was, I noticed no effect on the bike's performance. On the highway, it hummed along smooth and quiet. On the twisties, it responded easilly, comfortably, and predictably. The trunk offered convenient and ready access to gear. I did see an '89 PC at the North Rim. I did not see the owner. Anybody we know? On close inspection I noticed a few thing. The front crash bar covers had been removed and some highway pegs were mounted. I though this looked comfortable as I had been somewhat envious of my co-workers laid back riding position. There was also a radar detector mount on the inside of the windshield and a short power supply cable snaked out from behind the instrument cluster. An inexpensive round stick-on LCD clock was mounted in the center of the tach where it didn't appear to interfere with anything. Generally, I wear a watch and don't have any problem reading it while riding but when it was cool and I bundled up and wore my winter gloves, my watch was pretty inaccessible. I thought the clock was a nice addition. It would have been nice if Honda had included one in the design. Perhaps the nicest luxury I indulged myself in was the Walkman tape player I carried in a belt pouch and the speakers that I mounted in my new Arai Signet. The only thing that I could wish for different is that I had no radio and auto reverse would have meant half as many tape changes. Such a unit is available for somewhat over $50.00 which includes digital tuning with presets. I also resolved that I would look into getting a shearling seat cover made to go on over the stock saddle. The extra padding would be nice and getting the breathable layer in between the ass and the vinyl would be a welcome addition. I was thinking that an elastic or draw-string could secure it and allow easy installation and removal since I would not expect to use it for my short day-to-day commuting. Does anybody have any feedback on any of these ideas? I know that many of you have taken much longer and more adven-tour-ous rides but you've got to start somewhere and I think I am off to a great start. You may also want to check-out the latest issue of 'Motorcyclist' for the story and pictures of their staff tour which covers much of the same territory. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Neill Thompson 'The Prince of Dorkness' '82 Honda CM200T Honeywell Inc. 'Helping you control your world' "Wee Bad" nthompso@csa-dev.iac.honeywell.com '94 Honda PC800 DOD 1133 AMA 371208 HRCA hmmmmm HSTA 5477 "Little Wing" ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: kent@eaenki.nde.swri.edu (Kent Polk) (from nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com (Neill Thompson)) (at Tue, 20 Sep 1994 09:53:50 +0000) To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu Subject: Re: Yeee haw Date: Tue, 20 Sep 94 13:38:44 CST Hi Neill (Neill Thompson), in on Sep 20 you wrote: > It's not exactly hot news, but I still think about it alot and I have wanted > to let you folks know. I took my first tour on Little Wing! It was great. > The bike was flawless. I enticed a co-worker who rides a Softtail to go with > me. We left Phoenix on Thursday morning (9-8-94) and rode north. We turned > off I-17 and got on US 89 through Prescott and Sedona. This streach of road I went through this area coming back from both of my TX->CA trips. Along with making sure I ride AZ666, this section is still a 'must' on all future trips out west. (except Sedonia, in traffic at 2PM in the blazing sun... :^( ) > I did see an '89 PC at the North Rim. I did not see the owner. Anybody we > know? On close inspection I noticed a few thing. The front crash bar covers > had been removed and some highway pegs were mounted. I though this looked > comfortable as I had been somewhat envious of my co-workers laid back riding > position. I've done a lot of riding in my 27+ years of motorcycling (some 175k+ miles as best I can figure), and long ago came to the conclusion that that 'laid-back' style of riding results in a lot of lower back problems for a lot of people (including me). Sure it feels good for a while, but your thighs are much better equipped to handle a sitting position than your tailbone. I can ride about twice as far by letting the thighs handle the load. Not to mention that it'd be pretty darned hard to ride the 666 twisties while sitting back on your ass. :^) > $50.00 which includes digital tuning with presets. I also resolved that I > would look into getting a shearling seat cover made to go on over the stock > saddle. The extra padding would be nice and getting the breathable layer in > between the ass and the vinyl would be a welcome addition. I was thinking > that an elastic or draw-string could secure it and allow easy installation and > removal since I would not expect to use it for my short day-to-day commuting. Using the right kind of shorts (I use my bicycling underwear, the kind with no seams in pertinent areas) works lots better than seat covers for me. The saddle on the PC800 is apparently a pretty good stock saddle (for Honda). I've put in several 800 mile days on mine with no complaints (about the saddle :^) > Does anybody have any feedback on any of these ideas? I presume this means you did want feedback, no? :^) Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute (will disavow any knowledge of me) Internet : kent@swrinde.nde.swri.edu (DoF #) : Official DoF Squid Motto: "Ride Hard/Crash Gently" Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute Internet : kent@eaenki.nde.swri.edu ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** Date: Wed, 21 Sep 94 09:55:44 -0500 From: glsmith%koess.dnet@delcoelect.com To: "pc800@tcamc.uh.edu"%KOGW01.dnet@delcoelect.com do any of you happen to know the dates for the honda homecoming in marysville, ohio? it seems to me it happens in the last two weeks of sept. i posted a message to rec.moto, but i figured you folks were more attentive than the casual rec.moto, and i would be less likely to get flamed....... as a reminder, i mostly lurk in order to gather info on the pc800. i don't have one. i'm hoping that if i can get to the honda homecoming, they will have one available for test rides. regards. ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: JFMinyard@aol.com To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu Date: Thu, 22 Sep 94 09:34:59 EDT Subject: Re: Yeee haw Neill Thompson writes: >I also resolved that I would look into getting a shearling seat cover >made to go on over the stock saddle. The extra padding would be >nice and getting the breathable layer in between the ass and the >vinyl would be a welcome addition. I was thinking that an elastic or >draw-string could secure it and allow easy installation and >removal since I would not expect to use it for my short day-to-day >commuting. >Does anybody have any feedback on any of these ideas? HARTCO in Sevierville TN manufactures lambskin seatcovers for a variety of bikes, including the PC. The seatcover is not really a drawstring arrangement, I believe there are also a couple of straps involved, but is available in coordinating colors and has a rain cover. I don't recall the price. The information is: Hartco ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: JFMinyard@aol.com To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu Date: Thu, 22 Sep 94 09:41:32 EDT Subject: Re: Yeee haw Neill Thompson writes: >I also resolved that I would look into getting a shearling seat cover >made to go on over the stock saddle. The extra padding would be >nice and getting the breathable layer in between the ass and the >vinyl would be a welcome addition. I was thinking that an elastic or >draw-string could secure it and allow easy installation and >removal since I would not expect to use it for my short day-to-day >commuting. >Does anybody have any feedback on any of these ideas? I'm sorry but I accidently hit send before finishing my last post. The information to contact Hartco is: Hartco 1-800-446-7772 1-615-428-5262 716 Parkway Sevierville, TN 37862 I've been somewhat interested in a similar solution myself. If I get any more info or discover a different solution I will post it here. Jim Minyard '89 PC800 ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: JFMinyard@aol.com To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu Date: Thu, 22 Sep 94 09:26:16 EDT Subject: Re: Unknown subject >do any of you happen to know the dates for the honda homecoming >in marysville, ohio? The Honda Homecoming is scheduled to start today, Sept. 22, and go through the 24th, Saturday. I went to the one that was held last year, my second big trip on the PC, and thought that it was a nice visit to the plant and vendors. I think it may be a little smaller this year after having the Honda Hoot in Asheville NC in June. The demo setup at the Homecoming last year was very nice and quite large. The majority of the attendees are Wingers but many people expressed a lot of interest in the PC as a more manageable bike for older people and women. It was my first real exposure to large groups of motorcyclists, even if they were mainly of the touring variety, but I was very pleased with the interest and response the PC produced. Hope you get a chance to go and demo one. Jim Minyard '89PC800 ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu From: nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com (Neill Thompson) Subject: Re: Yeee haw Date: Thu, 22 Sep 1994 10:28:45 Cc: nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com In article JFMinyard@aol.com writes: >Neill Thompson writes: >>I also resolved that I would look into getting a shearling seat cover [snip] >The information to contact Hartco is: > Hartco > 1-800-446-7772 > 1-615-428-5262 > 716 Parkway > Sevierville, TN 37862 >I've been somewhat interested in a similar solution myself. If I get any >more info or discover a different solution I will post it here. >Jim Minyard >'89 PC800 I called this morning and spoke to a nice lady who gave me the following details. 1. Custom fit to the PC as well as other bikes. 2. Shearling is trimmed to .5" and provides padding equivalent to 2.5" of foam. 3. Front and rear seats are sold separately for (I think) $89.95 or as a pair for $129.95 (I'm sure). 4. Slate gray color. I didn't ask about the availablity of other colors. 5. Install by removing seat. 6. Includes a nylon slip-on cover which covers both seats and can be ridden on. 7. 10 day turn-around on orders with UPS shipping. 8. Fit is guaranteed, satisfaction is not since they are custom made and do not carry inventory. 9. Credit card orders accepted over the phone. 10. Short riders may be effected by change in seat height. 11. Info packet with colors available by mail. Kent felt that the clothing route was a better approach to the problem but I still thought that the seat cover approach was appealing. I almost placed an order but opted for the info by mail instead because of the return policy. I'll let you know when I get the info. Jim, How did you find out about these people? Is this info consistant with any other info you have? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Neill Thompson 'The Prince of Dorkness' |'82 Honda CM200T Honeywell Inc. 'Helping you control your world' |"Wee Bad" nthompso@csa-dev.iac.honeywell.com (work) |'94 Honda PC800 nthompso@aol.com (home) |"Little Wing" -------------------------------------------------|'94 Ford Ranger DOD 1133 AMA 371208 HRCA hmmmmm HSTA 5477 |"As yet un-named" ------------------------------------------------------------------- ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: JFMinyard@aol.com To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu Date: Sun, 25 Sep 94 03:48:03 EDT Subject: Re: Yeee haw Neill Thompson writes: > Jim, How did you find out about these people? Is this info >consistant with any other info you have? >------------------------------------------------------------------- >Neill Thompson 'The Prince of Dorkness' |'82 Honda CM200T >Honeywell Inc. 'Helping you control your world' |"Wee Bad" >nthompso@csa-dev.iac.honeywell.com (work) |'94 Honda >PC800 >nthompso@aol.com (home) |"Little Wing" >-------------------------------------------------|'94 Ford Ranger >DOD 1133 AMA 371208 HRCA hmmmmm HSTA 5477 |"As >yet un-named" Neill, they had a booth set up over in Asheville, NC during the Honda Hoot this past June. I spoke with them a minute and picked up a business card. They didn't have an example of the PC cover there but did have other covers and reupholstered Gold Wing seats with velour. The information you have seems correct to me. They often advertise in the back of Rider magazine for the Wing products. I was quite surprised to find that they are based in Sevierville, TN which only about an hour from Knoxville where I live. I have been searching for a solution to the butt burn which sets in a few hours into a long hot ride. I tried a cheap pair of the bicycle skivvies that Kent suggested but the results were so poor that I have hesitated in purchasing the more elaborate examples available. I have considered the shearling cover and even the possibility of having my seat custom upholstered. If I went that route, I am not sure whether I would have it done in velour(or cloth) or possibly leather. It would depend on the leather's breathability. Anybody out there who would care to provide some input? Another reason reupholstering is attractive is the fact that I made my own backrest and after a planned redesign, custom upholstery would look so much more professional. At the two rallies I have been to where the PC was well represented, several of the bikes had custom seats among the many other modifications. I want to give my bike a unique character and the versatility for full dress touring, but I don't want to lose its sporting looks and around-the-town convenience. Sorry to ramble on, but I'm looking for comments and suggestions. Jim Minyard JFMinyard@aol.com '89 PC800 ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: kent@eaenki.nde.swri.edu (Kent Polk) (from JFMinyard@aol.com) (at Sun, 25 Sep 1994 03:48:03 -0400 (EDT)) To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu Subject: Re: Yeee haw Date: Mon, 26 Sep 94 09:44:44 CST Hi JFMinyard (JFMinyard), in <9409250348.tn63459@aol.com> on Sep 25 you wrote: > At the two rallies I have been to where the PC was well represented, several > of the bikes had custom seats among the many other modifications. I want to > give my bike a unique character and the versatility for full dress touring, > but I don't want to lose its sporting looks and around-the-town convenience. > Sorry to ramble on, but I'm looking for comments and suggestions. Well, if you want to give it that sporty look, you could grind the pegs, center stand and front crashbar protectors down a bit from cornering like I have. And put on some real shocks so people won't notice the infamous Slinky Trunk (tm) effect so much... :^) None of my mods has adversely affected the touring or around-the-town convenience. The suspension mods make the bike *much* easier to handle in traffic, and noticably improved its turning radius and stability. The improved stability is great when running twisties far from home, but it also improves slab riding as it handles turbulence, etc. better. I've ridden ~1850 miles in 2 1/2 days on the bike with these changes, and that was at a fairly easy pace with about 1/3 of the route being twisties and was at the end of a 5k mile/two week vacation. The only thing I've done to adversely affect touring is putting ME33 radials on the bike. I get about 9k miles. And I suspect that running the bike at redline for sustained periods of time isn't the best, but after talking to people who have raced different versions of that engine, it appears that redline is so low mainly because when Honda changed the cams and carbs to produce more torque at lower rpms for the PC, they just dropped the redline to match the drop in rpm at peak torque. Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute Internet : kent@eaenki.nde.swri.edu ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu From: nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com (Neill Thompson) Subject: scanned photos Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 10:06:04 Cc: nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com I had some photos of Little Wing scanned. It took two rolls of film to get the light right to see any detail in the black and to avoid losing the bike in the shadows. But finally I got a few pictures that I was satisfied with. I sent them to a guy with a scanner to convert. The scanner couldn't distinguish the subtle grey-on-black shading and so the scanned images suffer from the same problem as my first set of photos. I wanted to use the bitmap as wallpaper for Windows. When I got the .BMP file, it wasn't full screen sized (I use 640x480) and so I had to enlarge and crop it. In so doing, I lost some picture quality. I asked the scanner-guy to try to scan it to the desired size and he said he'd look into it. Have any of you tried this and with what results? Do any of you want to see what I've got so far? Want to wait till I see if I can get a full screen scan of better quality? Which FTP server are we putting the photos on these days? Last I knew, there were two sites and I'm not sure I can figure out where they are. This would be a good addition to our FAQ. Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, know what I mean? Say no more! I got the info in the mail from Hartco regarding seat covers. Their brochure shows some elaborate constructions mostly for full-size tourers. They appear to be well fitting. They also included a set of 10 swatches of shearling. The charcoal grey at first under indoor light appeared almost navy blue. Outside in the sun it did appear to be a more appropriate shade of dark grey. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Neill Thompson 'The Prince of Dorkness' |'82 Honda CM200T Honeywell Inc. 'Helping you control your world' |"Wee Bad" nthompso@csa-dev.iac.honeywell.com (work) |'94 Honda PC800 nthompso@aol.com (home) |"Little Wing" -------------------------------------------------|'94 Ford Ranger DOD 1133 AMA 371208 HRCA HM295612 HSTA 5477|"Kimosabbe" ------------------------------------------------------------------- ********** MESSAGE SEPARATOR ********** From: kent@eaenki.nde.swri.edu (Kent Polk) (from nthompso@az15eh09.iac.honeywell.com (Neill Thompson)) (at Thu, 29 Sep 1994 10:06:04 +0000) To: pc800@sina.tcamc.uh.edu Subject: Re: scanned photos Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 12:36:37 CST Hi Neill (Neill Thompson), in on Sep 29 you wrote: > I had some photos of Little Wing scanned. It took two rolls of film to get [...] > to the desired size and he said he'd look into it. Have any of you tried this > and with what results? Do any of you want to see what I've got so far? I had a guy scan in several pictures of my PC when I was working on the suspension. none of the images turned out, despite several pictures being pretty good. Gonna have to try someone who knows what they are doing I think... Kent Polk: Southwest Research Institute Internet : kent@eaenki.nde.swri.edu