/dev/nikc/blog

Kuolleiden purjehduskenkien seura

May 7th 2012

Ramblings of a beginner motorist

17:03

After putting it off for years and years I finally got myself a motorcycle driving license last fall, along with a motorcycle to go with it, of course. Now, after putting it off for months and months, I thought I’d jot down some words for generations to come to liven up this nowadays very stale blog of mine.

This is a posthumous recounting of my complete (albeit still fairly brief) career as a motorist, so it’s a bit on the lengthy side.

The bike

I wanted a classic, that much I was sure of. Something with as little plastic as possible. But at the same time, something reliable, because I neither enjoy nor am very competent at repairing stuff. That, I thought, spells “japanese motorcycle”, because of their reputation for being virtually unbreakable workhorses.

I had previously been looking at a Honda CX, but my memory failed me by one letter and I ended up window shopping for a Honda CB instead. Which was a fortunate memory lapse, because I really prefer its’ appearance over the CX’s.

Ultimately, I got myself a Honda CB750K7 (1977), drove it for a week, after which it was stolen. Thank goodness for insurance!

A month or so later, I bought my second Honda CB750K7 (1978), which I still own today.

The bike is essentially in original condition; cosmetically worn but runs very well. The side covers have been replaced at some point, though, and are of the wrong colour.

Gearing up

Beginning motorcycling is expensive, really expensive. But initially going cheap, and later replacing substandard gear is even more so. Thus, I decided I wouldn’t cut corners based on price – after all, it’s all about my own safety and comfort.

But finding good quality gear is not easy, however, and it’s increasingly hard when you’re as vain as I can be. I wanted something that matches the feel of the bike I ride, and to make it even more difficult, something without huge brand marks printed on the chest or back – a much too prevalent feature when it comes to motorcycling wear.

Eventually I found Halvarsson’s Classic Thunder leather jacket, and Halvarsson’s Morgan Classic leather trousers to match. A comfortable outfit with protective armor, and, most importantly, which also matches my other criteria.

The new season arrives, with no spark in sight

With the amount of daylight increasing by minutes every day and the remaining snow receding at an accelerating pace, I was eager to get the bike back on the road. In early April, I performed spring maintenance on the bike, installing new filters and replacing brake fluid and engine oil. But unfortunately the battery had died during the winter. An unfortunate incident which delayed my start of the season, because during easter no shops are open.

A week later, I swapped in a new battery and fired her up with a “single push start,” as if she had been sitting under a palm tree all winter. And even though it was a very cold day, that couldn’t keep me from aimlessly riding around for a few hours, as I knew I could thaw my frozen body in the sauna afterwards. The most important thing was that the season was now officially opened.

Fixer-upper

For this season, as it is my first full season, I’ve decided to do only minimal work on the bike. Just enough to keep it in good running condition, but nothing more, and mostly just concentrate on the driving. Perhaps next spring will bring along bigger overhauls and repairs.

I did replace the shitty aftermarket mirrors one of the previous owners had fitted, with aftermarket replicas. Not only an improvement in appearance, but a gigantic functional improvement as well! The ones I replaced had a silicone lined joint (which looked like some DIY magic) which caused the mirrors to vibrate to the extent of being completely useless already at very low speeds, whereas the aftermarket replicas vibrate only slightly at highway speeds. Marvellous!

Also, I fitted a chrome visor on the headlight, because I can. Now she’s officially a custom bike :-)

For those interested, I keep a gallery of snaps from my day-trips.

Nov 2nd 2010

Greetings from Sweden to the citizens of Helsingborg^H^H^H^Hfors

14:42

Vickan och Daniel

Pitihän sitä nyt käydä katsomassa kun herraskaiset soivat meille alamaisilleen ystävällismielisiä eleitä ja muutaman sanan.

Niille jotka eivät päässeet itse paikalle tein simulaattorin jolla voi fiilistellä paikan päällä vallinnutta hurmosta. Taustamusiikin avulla voi kohottaa tunnelmaa entisestään.

May 29th 2010

Kuin kaksi marjaa, osa 6

11:15

Oct 14th 2009

French Connection

09:06

French Gold

Sep 27th 2009

The day democracy died

12:27

Demonstration at the Finnish House of parliament in Helsinki

Sep 24th 2009

Color spectrum

22:42

Color spectrum of bikes

Sep 14th 2009

Eläintarhanlahti

18:03

Eläintarhanlahti

Sep 9th 2009

The Jim Jones Revue

14:16

The Jim Jones Review Loosessa 28.8.

Parturini1 suosittelemana kävin kuuntelemassa(The Jim Jones Revue Myspacessa) miten lontoon poikien bändi(The Jim Jones Revue) rokkaa, ja rokkasihan se. Uusi Loosekin tuntui toimivalta.

Jun 14th 2009

Ukonilma kuvin

18:45

Pätkä eilistä ukonilmaa usean perättäisen kuvan voimalla. Ensimmäinen kuva on otettu kello 22.07 ja viimeinen ruutu kello 22.33. Harmillisesti salamat olivat vain pilviä valaisevaa lajia, niitä minä tavoittelin, mutta onhan se ihan kiva näinkin.


Timelapsen katsomista varten tarvitset Flash-pluginin.

Jun 7th 2009

Viisi kuvaa Helsingistä

23:08

Kyllä mä joskus vielä keksin jotain sanottavaa, sitä odotellessa harjoitellaan kuvablogin toista tulemista varten.

Raksa

Sinisen talon kahvilan näkymä töölönlahdelle

Hesperian kattoja töölönlahdelta nähtynä

Rakkauden koivu töölön nummilla

Vaaliliputusta töölössä

May 31st 2009

Neljä kuvaa Helsingistä

21:30

Pitkään on ollut tämä foorumi hiljaa, ei tunnu sanottavaa löytyvän. No, eipä sitä ole vieläkään, mutta pistetään edes muutama kuva.

Sumu

Töölönlahti

Polku

Ratapiha

May 4th 2009

Terassilla

10:32

Terassilla

Apr 28th 2009

Ex-tempore goes roots

11:06

Jussi Syren & The Groundbreakers

Viime viikon perjantaina hakeuduin hetken mielijohteesta Kantiksen Roots-iltaan jossa lavalle asteli Jussi Syren & The Groundbreakers sekä Micke & Lefty. Ensinmainittu oli entisestään tuttu levyltä kuunneltuna (ja livenä toisen bändinsä kanssa), toinen ei lainkaan.

Micke & Lefty

Vaan kyllä kannatti. Kumpainenkin vakuutti sen verran että kotiin lähtiessä oli paitsi hyvä mieli ja askel kevyt, myös molempien levy taskussa.

Apr 24th 2009

I Amsterdam

15:05

I Amsterdam

Maaliskuun lopussa piipahdimme Amsterdamiin. Mukava kaupunki, vaikka aivan helvetin kylmä ja märkä. Paitsi tietysti viimeisen iltapäivän. Mutta ei pidä valittaa, kyllä se työpaikalla/räntäsateessa notkumisen voitti. Niin ja sainhan minä uutta materiaalia seuraavaan blogimiittiin kaupungin vallanneilta skoteilta – aika veijareita nuo iloiset hameveikkoset.

Toki matkalla myös kamera räpsyi, m.m. ensimmäiset diakuvani kuvasin tällä matkalla. Jälkeenpäin olen huomannut että diafilmin valottaminen on juurikin niin hankalaa kuin minulle on kerrottu. Mutta sain minä silti kuvia kasaan kolmen gallerian verran.

Apr 17th 2009

Orstel

11:12

Amstel in Amsterdam

Orval in Kallio

Jännää, miten periaatteessa täysin kelvoton väline muuttuukin potentiaaliseksi lottoarvaksi poistamalla värit pelistä.

Meta

Pages

Search blog

Latest comments