Saki Is Going To Get A Transfusion.

     Heh last two days at work have been nearly unbearable. It is all due to certain people having an inability to communicate. The plant manager is the worst at it, and because he is having some sort of a bad day, he has to take it out on someone, and that person is usually me. I nearly walked out yesterday when he yelled at me for something that would have been easily solved if he would have communicated the problem to me. I didn't walk out. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then went about my business. Today was a bit different. I seemed to get the silent treatment from him and one other worker. That didn't bother me as much. I just went about my day, and didn't have to worry about small talk with people. It was great. I was able to listen to my audio book without interruption.

     That isn't what I'm here to talk about though. I'm here to talk about my ever evolving idea of motorcycle safety. I've been rethinking my view on my gear. When I got Saki, I went away from what I knew, which was all black all the time, to let's color coordinate with the bike. Most of my gear has some type of red in it, with the exception of my Motocentric jacket which is black and hi-viz yellow. That one has a rainproof lining, and if I have to ride in the rain, I want to be seen. That brings me to where I am at right now. I want to be seen. This has nothing to do with a desire for attention. This has everything to do with, I don't want cars to hit me. With that in mind, I'm now looking at all white gear. I just recently bought a pair of white gloves. I know that gloves won't really help when it comes to cars, but it will be easier for other bikers to see the biker wave.

     I have been looking at a particular white leather jacket lately though. It is nowhere near as good a deal as the one that never came, but it is reasonable priced for a full leather jacket. It is made by ICON of course. I'm a big fan of their stuff. They are a company out of Portland Oregon. All of my gloves are ICON, and the jacket I wear most of the time is made by ICON as well. They make good looking gear, that is functional. They were one of the first company to incorporate 3DO in all of their products. If you don't know what 3DO is, here is a brief explanation. 3DO is a material that is soft and playable but when it has an impact, it instantly hardens, so it is great lightweight and strong armor for protection.

     I'm only looking at the jacket because there are other things that I need, well need is wide ranging word here. I don't really need these things, but some of them will be beneficial in one way or another. The first thing coming to your mind is probably the GROM. Ok, that is a little frivolous, but her is the justification. It's specs say that it gets over a hundred miles on a gallon of gas. So, in a way, it pays for itself in less money buying gas. Yeah, that's a stretch. The one thing that I "need" is a new exhaust system for Saki. There is a very good justification for spending the money on that. The new louder exhaust system will allow me to be heard by cars, and they will be less likely to just whip into my lane and killing me. I thought I had narrowed it down to a single exhaust, but I'm now thinking about a different one. The first one was a Yoshimura full exhaust system. It is the cheapest of the ones out there, and from everything I've see, you don't need a power commander to tune the bike with it. The new competitor to this race is an exhaust system from Two Brothers. It costs a little bit more, but there are some performance advantages to having that one. I would have to get either a power commander or have Saki tuned properly once I put it on though. That adds a bit to the cost. Both companies are American, so I would be staying local. I have the money for either one of them, but I'm thinking that the more money I spend on a new exhaust for Saki, the less money I will have for the GROM, and I do plan on stunting the GROM out. I'll have to get an exhaust for it, as well as s stunt crash cage, and other things. Not to mention, that at some point, I'm going to paint the GROM purple. That could be way down the road though.

     These are tough decisions, but fun ones. That is why I haven't bought the jacket, or the exhaust or the GROM. I'm weighing my options. Also, I kind of like having the money in the bank, but the exhaust is something that I do "need". Actually this time I won't put the quotes around it, the new exhaust is a need, and something that will be safety helpful. Let me know what you think I should do. Yoshi? Two Brothers? One of them and the jacket? Screw it all and just buy the GROM?

     In other news, since I still haven't gotten my 3000 mile maintenance done on Saki, because my schedule won't allow it. I also haven't  gotten the oil changed, so I got all the stuff I need, and will be giving Saki some new full synthetic oil on Saturday. I had to wait for the oil to come in. I ordered some Motul 300, which form the reviews seems like a good choice. I'll let you know what Saki thinks  of it. I'm doing it first thing in the morning, so that we can ride all day. I am going to have to make some sort of arrangement for the maintenance though. The guy said that he only has one tech on duty on Saturdays and the actual work takes 5 1/2 hours to complete. That time doesn't include the time  the have to wait until the bike cools down so that they can do the work on it. Part of the work includes valve adjustments, and you can't get in the engine while it's hot. It will just mess things up. It looks like I'm going to have to leave Saki there for a few days, and find a way home and back to the shop. It's going to be very hard  for me to leave Saki and not be able to ride. I'm not going to say that it will kill me, but it will be close.

     Real quick before I leave for the night. We worked on another finger picking exercise in ukulele class tonight. I brought the guilele in again for it. I have improved on the other piece that he gave me, and this one is a little easier, but more intense, if that makes any sense at all.

    I'm beginning to yawn like crazy, so I guess that is the clear cut sign that it is time to go to bed. Peace in and goodnight.