Monday, May 30, 2011

NEW SEAT CONCEPTS SADDLE ON MY 2004 BMW R1150GS

I bought a Seat Concepts saddle for my GS. They're a company out of Hemet, CA. By May 25th, I'd only put about 1000 miles on it since I installed it in April, but I really liked it.

I've had Corbin seats on previous bikes (great!), and I've had custom seats made for me from stock pans.

REVIEW: I wanted a different saddle for my 2004 BMW R1150GS. The stock seat was fine for 200-300 miles, but then Monkey Butt set in.

I reseached available options -- Russell Day Long, Corbin, Sergeant and local custom shops. I saw that Seat Concepts was right up the road from me and the price was right. I spoke with Bundy who set me up with a new seat built around my stock seat.

It looks great (see photos) and feels even better. It's a neat design (the close-up photo may show the dots). It's wider in the rear and appears to set the rider back a few inches, which is nice. It seemed too plush to the touch, but is actually quite firm when sitting on it; very similar to a Corbin. Bundy states that it's a super secret memory foam (or not) and is different from what other seat manufacturers are using. That may well be, I just know that it looks great and feels good after a 300+ mile day.

Did a couple of "around towners" to test it out and it felt great. The true test was a whopper of a ride all over SD county, to include some off pavement stuff (yes, I dropped the pig).

I'm liking it so far (3 weeks in) and would recommend the Seat Concepts saddle for the GS.


Does that look comfortable or what?







UPDATE: I just returned from a 2,300-mile ride to Washington and had a great opportunity to test the seat on some long distance rides (a few 500-mile days and a 960-mile day). Holy cow! Anyhow, the seat could be more comfortable. It started feeling like a wood plank after about 100 miles.

I'm asking the fine folks at Seat Concepts to add something to make this saddle more comfortable. We'll see...

I love the seat, but would like to use it all the time, not just on local rides.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Bob Dylan is 70 years old (March 24)

Yup, it's true, Robert Zimmerman is officially old.  Here is a selection of his lyrics, sure to confirm the rumor that it was indeed Bobby that introduced the Beatles to weed.

Bob Dylan lyrics (I and I, Changing of the Guards)I And I

Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed
Look how sweet she sleeps, how free must be her dreams
In another lifetime she must have owned the world, or been faithfully wed
To some righteous king who wrote psalms beside moonlit streams.

I and I
In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives
I and I
One say to the other, no man sees my face and lives.

Think I'll go out and go for a walk
Not much happening here, nothing ever does
Besides, if she wakes up now, she'll just want me to talk
I got nothing to say, 'specially about whatever was.

I and I
In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives
I and I
One say to the other, no man sees my face and lives.

Took an untrodden path once, where the swift don't win the race
It goes to the worthy, who can divide the word of truth
Took a stranger to teach me, to look into justice's beautiful face
And to see an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

I and I
In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives
I and I
One say to the other, no man sees my face and lives.

Outside of two men on a train platform there's nobody in sight
They're waiting for spring to come, smoking down the track
The world could come to an end tonight, but that's all right
She could still be there sleeping when I get back.

I and I
In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives
I and I
One say to the other, no man sees my face and lives.
Noontime, and I'm still pushing myself along the road, the darkest part
Into the narrow lanes, I can't stumble or stay put
Someone else is speaking with my mouth, but I'm listening only to my heart
I've made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot.

I and I
In creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives
I and I
One say to the other, no man sees my face and lives.

Changing Of The Guards

Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves
Desperate men, desperate women divided
Spreading their wings 'neath falling leaves.

Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
On midsummer's eve near the tower.

The cold-blooded moon
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
Whose ebony face is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

They shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil.

I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending beneath a heart-shaped tattoo
Renegade priests and treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.

The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road and the wailing of chimes
The empty rooms where her memory is protected
Where the angel's voices whisper to the souls of previous times.

She wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later the sun is breaking
Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks.
Gentlemen, he said I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning either brace yourself for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.

Peace will come
With tranquillity and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Countdown to the GAMA

Scheduled departure: Early on June 12.

Well, let's see what's on the agenda once I depart San Diego...

Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Tacoma. Philadelphia, Atlanta, LA. Northern California where the girls are warm...WAIT, that's a Steve Miller tune.

Here's the GAMA: http://www.greatamericanmotorcycleadventure.com/

What are the destinations?  They are listed in the chart below.


A map showing the destinations is listed below.