95,000 Mile Bonneville

I was looking at oil dripping over the lower areas of the bike last week and wondering if after 9 years and 95,000 miles my favorite motorcycle ever, had blown a serious gasket. So by way of emotional compensation I went to look up past rides and found this, one of my favorite pictures of the Bonneville in action on the Overseas Highway. I remember stopping for a cup of tea and enjoying the bright summer sunlight and the color and the ride aong the only road through the Keys.

I bought the bike brand new in October 2007 from the late lamented Pure Triumph of Fort Lauderdale for exactly $8,000 including the center stand and tax and delivery. I got a short test ride and I thought to myself "This feels like a scooter with gears" so light and easy was it to ride "I must have this." There was no doubt in my wife's mind when I got back to Pure Triumph that a "new" Bonneville was coming into my life. "Is it as reliable as your Japanese bikes?" she asked, and all I could say was that the reviews were excellent. A week later my bike was ready for pick up. I made a reputation for myself at the dealership as I showed up ready to ride 170 miles home. The mechanics in the shop called me "the rider."

Perhaps I had been taking my motorcycle for granted but the catastrophic oil leak manifested itself as a puddle one day, thus saving me from running the engine dry. I envisioned a future of expensive repairs and with one Vespa to be released shortly after a fourth (or is it fifth?) round of renovation with the other Vespa needing to go into the shop for refurbishment I faced the prospect of having to drive the car all the time.
      I wasn't sure what to do so I did what I could. I changed the oil filter and the oil and hoped the non name brand filter had sprung a leak. A week later the oil remains in the sump so it appears that a crisis was narrowly averted. We ride on. One thing I like about the Bonneville is the lack of bodywork. The oil change is easy and the filter just falls away dripping on nothing. The final drive chain needs no adjustment between tire changes when I let the mechanic change the tire and thus adjust the chain. I use a Loobman oiler to keep the chain lubricated and it gives me no trouble at all and last 40,000 miles...I like riding not wrenching.

I put a windshield on and some luggage and I called it good. I ride on original suspension and burn original light bulbs, I clean it from time to time with S100 and Brasso for the chrome but I'm not fussy. It only has value for me as my daily rider and for sale I would get nothing. The rectifier burned out at 75,000 miles and $150 later we were back in business. One side panel broke its plastic mounting hole which i covered with a washer and is now sitting tight. I just keep riding and filling it with mid grade fuel which returns 43 miles per US gallon, and never varies unless I ride the freeway.

We've ridden some freeways the Bonneville and I. I went to visit Jack Riepe in Pennsylvania and he polished the windshield for me with some proprietary toothpaste only to have it rain cats and dogs all the way to the Autotrain in Virginia the next day. 

I've ridden all over Florida on the motorcycle I call "The Bonneville" or "The Triumph." I have never found any reason to name inanimate objects in my life and I find the need to give human names to lumps of metal rather quaint.  It's just a Bonneville and I invest it with sentiment after so many hours in the saddle.

It's hard to articulate why I like the Bonneville so much but after half a century of looking I found the one I like. To me it looks like a bike should, even under dust rust and grime. It runs impeccably even though I know suspension, clutch and sundries will need replacement soon. The speedometer makes an annoying whirr for the first mile in temperatures under 60 (rare in South Florida) and I changed the valve guides a few years ago when Jiri the Mechanic took off the head to de-coke the combustion chamber. He blames ethanol for the crud in the combustion chamber. 

 

I have read where the Bonneville is considered overweight at 500 pounds ready to ride compared to an early model machine built at Meriden which weighed in 60 pounds less. Some people want more horsepower than the 67 said to be churned out here. All I know is I can outrun most family sedans easily, headwinds are no problem and cruising at a steady 75 may use fuel at 38 miles per gallon but you get there. Sure the tank could be bigger, 160 miles will run you dry- I know. The seat works for me though some think it's a plank, the riding position is neutral and the bike is easy to throw around corners not like a boy racer but respectably enough. In traffic it cuts and weaves like a scooter.

I rode a couple of Iron Butts, ridiculous long distance rides, great fun very tiring and very satisfying too, though doing them late in the year was absurd, especially riding to Binghamton in Fall, I froze in the fresh New York air. The bike ran fine of course.

I figured maybe I should lust after a Harley or a "proper" touring bike like the Yamaha 1300 pictured above. But 600 pound motorcycles feel unnecessary to me espccially as I am not touring most of the time. I see a regular commuter on an FJ1300 Yamaha on the Overseas Highway so what doesn't work for me works for others. I tried renting an Indian Chief for a day to see if "the other" cruiser company had got the format more comfortable for me.

Nope, I rode around Central Florida with my arms thrown wide gripping the huge handlebars, my feet splayed like a whore on a  couch and my ears ringing to the incredibly loud sound of the factory mufflers. I missed my nimble, silent Triumph. Especially as this beast had six gears and I was shifting all the time and it drank gas at the rate of 30 miles to the gallon. Next week I'm renting a Scout in Las Vegas just for fun but I have no hope of a motorcycle better suited to my needs coming along.

I like the new water cooled Triumphs, especially the 900cc Street Twin (above) in red. It has less horsepower than mine but it gets sixty miles to the gallon, has tubeless tires, lower seat height and weighs 25 pounds less; all for around $8,000 factory dollars. The simplicity and absence of chrome makes it appeal to me more than the "proper" water cooled Bonnevilles with 1200cc to their name and much greater performance. I also like the longer oil change and valve inspection intervals. But in the end my old air cooled ride has plenty of miles left to go and I plan to ride every one of them. Rusty permitting.

 

The hardest thing about dog ownership is leaving the dog, Rusty now or Cheyenne (above) then, behind. So what am I to do? Get a sidecar? Not yet. But when I become too feeble to ride on two wheels I will consider that and I can't think of a simpler more reliable motorcycle to hack than a Bonneville. I am not an engineer so I don't understand the desire for a Russian combination driven by an engine that needs to be rebuilt every thirty thousand miles. I'd rather be in the wilderness with a Bonneville and a come-along, than a Ural and two wheel drive to get out of a  hole. Besides I can't conceive of putting myself that far from civilization in the dirt  that you need two wheel drive on a motorcycle prone to failing.

I suppose in the end the fact that I ride instead of repair is a big draw to this motorcycle. Good looking unlike modern standard motorcycles, reliable and easy to ride the Bonneville is perfect for 59 year old me. So easy I am always tempted to jump on at the least excuse.

Triumph Bonneville, Parabellum windshield, Long Key.

Las Vegas

In discussing our recent four day trip to Las Vegas a friend who likes the place described it as "Disney for adults" which was funny because I had the exact same thought while I took my early Thanksgiving dinner with my wife seated at the edge of the lagoon at the Bellagio resort. A perhaps less flattering comparison came to my mind as we strolled the famous Strip: this place is how Key West should be if it got it's public spaces properly organized. To my own surprise I liked Las Vegas very much.

I have visited Las Vegas over the years and have never much enjoyed the place allowing its reputation for sleaze to prejudice my own objective observations. This trip we stayed at a Hilton resort which was smoke and gambling-free, we failed to feed the slot machines and we took advantage of what Las Vegas had to offer with open minds and we enjoyed it tremendously. I want to go back.

My wife who hasn't been there in forty years was horrified to discover the slot machines take a minimum of  a dollar at the airport...that put her off completely which is funny as her father was an accomplished and profitable poker player. I have no interest in throwing money away, unless it's on motorcycles or travel so we both saw eye to eye on that. On the surface and from the 19th floor Las Vegas is just a collection of random buildings...

 ....some of them strangely beautiful or garish depending on your point of view. But then all of Las Vegas is tasteless and crass, and in that way this place is totally liberating. Las Vegas to me represents the true essence of island time, such as they speak of in Key West. You are completely free to do whatever you want all day or all night. Now they have even legalized marijuana so  I don't know where that will lead. Most places have no dress code, and those that do state as much clearly so you can take the opportunity to dress up, so come to Las Vegas be yourself and no one will notice or care. It's fantastic!

I remember when this place was cheesy neon and free shrimp cocktails and so forth, and there are remnants of the old Las Vegas at least superficially but when we went for a walk on the strip for several hours around dusk we found a place where you can walk at all hours with no fear in a place that is kept clean and spotless and not one drunk did we notice.

Imagine the Osmonds still performing to sell out crowds...some things never change! 

 The half size Eiffel Tower...

 ...the magnificent and over crowded Bellagio resort where I would never want to stay but where the best of the many Cirque du Soleil performances in town was well worth a jaw dropping visit:

We  ate at the edge of the lagoon our last night. Like I said garish and absurd but totally cheerful and welcoming. One thing I have always liked about Las Vegas is that its a union town and the staff we encountered reflected that with long term employment and loyalty to the companies that treat them well. Tips are appreciated but people get paid to stay on the job and grow with the companies:

And in the middle of fake opulence and garish bright lights the inevitable:

 Duval Street should boast street performers and entertainers such as we saw. Sober polite and skilled:

And cheerful bums minding their own business. We saw no drunks, the place smelled clean and crosswalks were replaced by pedestrian bridges at major intersections. The strip was manicured and landscaped and patrolled by bicycle police just like ours in Key West.

We walked among crowds who were boisterous and speaking a Babel of languages but no one was acting angry or belligerent. Show girls ready to be photographed with you:

I suppose we lucked out and one could have a completely different experience but we could have spent a lot more time on the Strip people watching and window gazing. I did miss public benches just like I do at home but they do like to keep people moving in these spaces. 

 You pay a tip and these blonde bombshells will cuff you for the privilege of a selfie with them. There are tons of your favorite (or unknown to you) cartoon characters wandering around ready to be photographed with you. This to me was the part of Vegas that harks back to the more innocent era when women in underwear reeked of quickie divorces and suburban lust. It's not really what this town is about now, they make more money acting respectable.

Who could resist a gondola ride while being serenaded by a chorus of O Sole Mio? Me, that's who. Especially on a 45 degree night in November but they had takers.

The whole place was like a walk in the park and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Extravagance with a precious commodity in the desert:

If you like me always wondered about how they film street scenes in public places I saw this sign nut no sign of actual filming:

We walked past tons of dens of iniquity, boring places filled with blank faces and the smell of burnt tobacco, photographed rather poorly on the fly, the workers keeping things spotless of course: 

Everywhere I looked there were wonders to be seen. We left ourselves no time for  museum visits and there are plenty...

Beside the themed resorts with their bizarre cultural roots, Egyptians, Romans, Italians, French and so forth there are tons of brightly illuminated tower blocks everywhere. No shortage of energy wastage here: 

Lyft was a new experience for me and gave me a chance to engage with half a dozen locals talking about their lives, transplants mostly from California in search of affordable housing and reliable jobs and one guy from the Bronx who evaded a life in a gang by coming here at random, getting married and making a career with MGM. Las Vegas he said saved his life. MGM paid for his schooling and gave him a management position and because he is ambitious for his family he drives on the side. My respect for Las Vegas went up after that enlightening conversation.

Oh and don't forget the silliness and the extravagance. Waste and excess could drive you nuts or you laugh it off. Your choice.

I think I will be back. Perhaps I will find the nasty unpleasant underbelly we should all hate on another visit. Somehow I doubt it, Las Vegas thrives on being a rather nice place to visit even if you don't gamble or want a  divorce. Who knew? 

Thanksgiving

Some Florida Thanksgiving humor:

 Thankful to live and work in the Lower Keys, where things are far from perfect...

 ....but with a good job and a decent home and mild weather and a few friends...

 ...you can live a moderately unconventional life and not take slack for it. Thankful not to have to deal with Christmas:

 Thankful to live where nutritious coconuts can be tossed out as garbage, not prized a s food:

Thankful Rusty has worked out so perfectly with minimal fuss.

Hawk Missile Site

I have written about this place before but I like coming back here. It is a place not suffering from gentrification or beaitification and I like photographing the gradual decay.

I was here six years ago with Cheyenne: Hawk Missile Site Link 

They have cleaned the area up a bit and closed off the open buildings over the past few years but it's still a  good spot to dog wander.

 And to take pictures of the old radar sites:

 Its where the city stores stuff not in immediate use:

 And it's where planes fly overhead after they take off from the airport.

And where the homeless hang out. This guy was chatting to Rusty who wasn't having any. Then my little dog got curious and started approaching the guy at the table. As he did he kept one eye on me as though to make sure I wasn't going to leave him in the lurch with this stranger.  It's a a rare occasion I see him being cautious around a stranger. Maybe the pile of belongings freaked him out.

 Then it was off to do some poking around in the grass:

Hawk Missile site being put to good use.