CERN Opendays 2013 is finished.

It was an incredible event, one that discovered I was entirely unprepared for.

The people hosting the various exhibitions and tours are the actual scientists who run the experiments.  One should spend months brushing up and studying their scientific fields of fancy, so they have questions that'll do justice with such august hosts.

The turnout seemed to be incredible.  I only hung around the Meyrin campus, which harbours the ATLAS detector, countless auditoriums, many labs, and the main computer centre.  There were lots of other options to visit, but time, weather, and lack of sleep (due to events beyond my control the day before the event) limited me.

A lot of the details around transportation were clearly still being worked out when I flew to Europe 3 weeks ago.  I didn't realize I needed to do a little more research before coming; free transit pickup points, better hotel options, etc.  It all worked out, but I could have saved myself some grief by having these sorted.

There was a rumour somewhere that they might do it again next year, before they go live again.  I am absolutely coming back, and I've got some learning to do.

The New Bike

This past Friday, I took possession of a brand new black 2013 BMW K1300S.

While quite similar in role to my 2003 Honda CBR1100xx, it is different in many respects, as I'm coming to realize.

First off, it is heavily computerized. That is probably one of the biggest draws for me; it is a modern bike, with some modern features. I'm a gadget-head at heart, and it is about time the bike meets me halfway.

Its front suspension is a radically new design called the Duolever, based on the Hossack design. I won't go into the details, but essentially where a typical telescoping fork tube design causes wheelbase and rake shortening during shock compression, these forks maintain the geometry or nearly so.  No more brake dive concerns in the twisties.

Shaft drive. No more chain to get dry, stretch, and need replacing a couple times a year.

Electronics everywhere. Fuel economy computer, tire pressure sensors, stability control, ABS, electronic suspension adjustment, heated grips, gear indicator (not just a neutral indicator but the actual gear number), and an alarm system are most of the highlights.

It is a little more powerful. Dunno how much that matters, since the XX offered me twice the power I could ever hope to use too.

It feels more nimble. The XX felt big while I was pushing it through curves. So far, this bike feels much quicker. I think its center of balance is lower, but I haven't investigated it enough yet to comment. Its gas tank is lower, for sure. I'm not even sure where that is yet!

And, it is new. Brand new. I'm its first owner. I don't need to be concerned about what the previous owner(s) did to it, what wires they cut, how many, how, and why did they drop it, etc. It comes with a 3 year unlimited KM warranty. I hope it feels like a warm hug.

BMW is offering 2.95% financing on the bike, with an optional balloon payment at the end of the loan, which I opted for. It is an open loan, meaning I could pay it off as soon as I want. The faster I pay it off, the less interest I pay. The payments are very low, which gives me some flexibility in how I budget around it.

I bought the bike from Budds BMW in Oakville. I'm not terribly impressed with their sales floor, unfortunately. I was specifically mislead about a term on the financing, they essentially refused to even consider any kind of discount (though they did waive their $250 "Budds processing fee"), told me to find my own transportation to the store to pick up the bike (including telling me to walk the last 2km from the Go station), and so on. I feel absolutely no loyalty towards them.

This is a curious thing. When I talked to their finance person, she implied there was an entire process to becoming a first-time Budds customer. But the motorcycle sales rep was barely involved. Gave me a Budds hat and sent me on my way. I had a far better first-time buyer experience at a Ford dealership, for a car that cost less than this motorcycle!

I'm not sure how many KMs I'll be able to put on the bike this year, considering it is almost half over, and I've got 6 weeks of European riding vacation planned on my old VFR.

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Winter Motorcycling

This has been a good year for winter motorcycling, but if I'm honest, I'd probably say I've taken my level of risk to the next level to keep going.

 

Last night, I rode almost 100km home from a distant client site at 01:30 in the morning. The frost was thick on the bike, black ice was plentiful on city streets, parking lots provided challenging footsteps. I didn't plan on riding at that time, but I got caught out with a problem at the client site, and we worked until we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. Then I rode home.

 

The bike handled it really well. I'm always cautious when there is black (seemingly unsalted, therefore black ice) pavement. Overpasses and raised roads can often be more frozen than ground-level streets, so slowing down and keeping the bike as stable as possible is warranted.

 

I've been using Warm & Safe heated gloves for a few years. They're good gloves; fairly well built, and I haven't had one lose its heating capabilities yet (unlike several pairs of Widder gloves before they left the market).

 

This year, I added a W&S heated jacket liner. It is pretty thin, water resistant, wind resistant, and does a decent job of replacing the thicker liner that my Tourmaster 3/4 length jacket came with.

 

A serious problem this heated liner has presented though is the load on my bike's charging system. Honda engines are bulletproof, but their electrical systems are crap. The stator location does not allow much of an upgrade option, and the stock one doesn't give you a lot of headroom for additional electric loads. I am losing count of the number of times I've come to a stop with a dead battery, and I now carry a spare charged battery on the bike at all times, though my backup battery seems to only have a small charge potential left to it, despite being only about a year old.

 

So far this year, I've had 3 days at -16c. The bike behaves kinda differently at that temp. Seems that below about -14c, the engine needs to run with the starter (which also turns off the headlight) for about 10 seconds before the engine can run on its own.

 

Another experience is that under -14c, my anti-fogging helmet visor starts to frost up inside. I saw someone who ran wires inside their visor with a power lead and a switch to help defrost the visor in arctic winters.

 

This is also the first winter that I've change my tires to something more winter-appropriate. Continental released the TKC-80 knobbly tires in sportbike (well, BMW GS) sizes. I haven't put studs on the tires yet, but the added confidence on <ice is worthwhile. The only thing to help with ice is studs.

 

Studs are technically illegal in Ontario if you're an Ontario resident that lives south of about Parry Sound, but the HTA also defines what a stud is; to be a "stud", it must extend greater than a couple mm from the tire, and exceed 7 on the Moh's hardness scale. Stud hardness isn't usually a documented spec, so unless the court is willing to test the hardness of your studs, you might be able to argue tickets on the subject.

 

I also think if you go the studs direction, I don't think you don't need to riddle the tire with them unless you plan on doing deep stuff. I imagined just doing every 3rd knob or so would help in those infrequent ice patches, enough to keep you upright until you pass the hazard. Maybe demonstrating restraint could also work in your favour in the case of a legal challenge.

 

As I suggested, I've managed to ride this year in weather I would never have considered before. Despite that though, I've only managed 2000km so far this winter. My usual range is 2500km, with one weathery winter only 1800km and last winter being epic at 4500km. I've got some work to do over the next few weeks.

 

My other winter-condition accessories include a simple neck sock (which cuts down but doesn't eliminate neck windburn), mid-to-heavy merino wool longjohns (and long sleeved tops when not heading to work). When I'm commuting or it is a short <30 minute ride, I just wear jeans. A longer ride would earn an upgrade to my Tourmaster riding pants with the rain/windproof liner (but not the additional insulated liner). I might wear Tourmaster rain pants over my jeans for medium-length work rides or on days where I can expect some salty spray from cars.

 

I also have a pair of lobsterclaw overgloves from Aerostich to help keep my hands warm. However, they make gripping the handbars a serious challenge. I'm tempted to smear rubber cement all over their fingers and palm.

 

For really long winter rides or if there's considerable moisture in the air, I might also throw on a Tourmaster rain shell over my motorcycle jacket to cut the wind.

 

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