From Homoto – 2010 Sonoma County Pride Parade, posted by Jay Larson on 6/07/2010 (13 items)

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Hi everyone. I hope you are enjoying my posts, I haven’t heard anything from anyone about what they want to hear. Since I am over-caffeinated at this very moment, I am in the mood to be cynical, and my brain is thinking way more than I may be capable to handle. I will try to actually write something technical in THIS article as well.

Just to finish up on the Spring Break ride, we got into Kernville, decided to go to the BBQ place, and it was great. We all fell in love with the waitress, and she fell in love with us. NOT like that…We’re all a bunch of homos, remember? Well Ken isn’t. But he’s married. I don’t have much to say cus by this time it was a big blur. I wasn’t intoxicated, just don’t remember as much. I do remember something like Jay telling Patrick that every time he drinks wine, he sounds like an old Jewish NYer lady. Patrick agreed, saying “Well you know I’m from Connecticut”, and I added “And on a clear day ya can see Lawng Eyeland”. Next day back home. We had OK weather until we left Coalinga. 8 1/2 consecutive days of good weather with 1/2 day rain is ok in my  book. I came home, told Pablo I started smoking again, and I stopped the next day. Three weeks later, he broke up with me, I am smoking again. I am not feeling sorry for myself anymore. Thank you for all of your support. I’ll stop smoking eventually.

Since this is supposed to be a technical article, I think I’ll write something like that. I’ll start with basics, but if you have a topic you would like to see discussed, please let me know. I’ll start with the four stroke engine. It’s what makes the sound of your lovely lovely.

It’s hard to imagine that just four strokes will do anything(at my age anyway)but it is the essence of how the crankshaft turns. The four strokes are;

1)Intake. This is where position of the crankshaft is just after TDC (top dead center, meaning the crankshaft has brought the piston to it’s full height) and the intake valve(s) start to open, and the downward movement of the piston creating a void for the fuel/air mixture to fill. The intake valves open all of the way when the piston is at mid-stroke. By the time that the piston is at bottom dead center, the intake valves have closed. This is the end of the intake stroke.

2)Compression. This is where the piston starts to come back up the cylinder. Both the intake and exhaust valves are closed, and this creates compression. If you have heard af a compression ratio, I’ll briefly explain. Let’s say that the volume of a cylinder and combustion chamber combined with the piston at BDC (bottom dead center) is 100 cc. When the piston is at top dead center, the volume of the combustion chamber is only 10 cc. This would create a 100:10, or better fractioned as a 10:1 compression ratio. So, as the fuel/air mixture is compressed, it becomes volatile. One little spark can just set it off. We’ve all met boys in the Castro, kinda like that.

3)Power. This is where it all becomes worthwhile, all the energy put forth for the other three strokes become a climax. This is it. The power stroke. The piston is at TDC, and the spark plug ignites the fuel/air mixture. This is not an explosion…but rather an expansion of gasses. This expansion pushes the piston downward with extreme force, creating power. When the piston reaches BDC, it is at the end of the power stroke. (now the piston feels spent and is not interested in exchange of phone numbers with exhaust gasses or anything like that, and it’s time for the exhausted gasses to be pushed out like a dirty bag of laundry).

4)Exhaust. Piston is at BDC, exhaust valve begins to open. The piston pushes the exhaust gasses out through the exhaust valve and clears the cylinder for the next sequence of cycles. This makes a sound. A loud pop if you will. On a single cyclinder engine, it it heard as such. On a twin it is more like a rumble, and on a 4 cylinder it is more like a buzz. But have you ever tried kicking someone out that didn’t make noise? I will explain these reasons on a later volume. (now the piston is ready for fresh meat, or air/fuel mixture if you like)

Here is an animation of these processes done by animatedengines.com that illustrates most of what is explained above. The noisy, volatile boys in the Castro is yours to figure out.

http://www.animatedengines.com/otto.shtml

Have fun, tlas,

Brian

1. Ride with you head up, eyes looking far down the road.
2. Keep your weight forward to help load the front end suspension.
3. Downshift first, then brake when heading into the curves.
4. Look through the corners.
5. Get back on the gas early as you exit the corner.
6. Breath and relax.
7. Be smooth in all you do.
8. Ride on the balls of your feet.
9. Be predictable and deliberate, have a plan and execute it
10. If you get into the dirt, stay off the brakes

• Visualize a good lap, look ahead, watch for markers and look through the curves
• Look ahead, it slows things down,the extra time will help you feel relaxed
• When you look ahead, let the track come to you
• Visualize the next corner as soon as you complete the one you’re in
• Visually connect the dots – the entry, the apex and the exit, then the entry to the next curve
• Do not just follow the guy in front of you, don’t assume he’s riding correctly
• Focus on learning and following reference points for each curve

• When you’re tense and fearful, mistakes happen more easily
• Have a plan for each lap, know what you’re going to focus on on that lap
• Learn skills one at a time, let them build on one another, baby steps
• Be prepared with a plan for where you will go
• Practice diaphramic breathing, breath especially in the curves
• Feel the rhythm of the track
• Learn to ride the bike, not let the bike control you
• Relax your hands on the grip, relax the tense arms/shoulders as you ride
• Reduce caffeine intake, be rested, don’t drink lots of alcohol the night before
• Exhale while entering the turn, inhale at the apex, exhale at the corner and go on to the next curve

• Elbows down and relaxed
• Head up and chest forward and looking forward
• Move off the seat just before the curve, rarely are you directly on the seat, only one the straights
• Lean through the shoulder,
• Put your face where the mirror would be, “Kiss the Mirror”, and lean forward a bit to lead the bike
• Look thought the corner
• Use your thigh or knee as and anchor point on the outside of the bike to hold you as you lean the other direction
• as you turn, 70% of your weight should be on the outside foot peg, use it to lean the bike your way
• Don’t forget to counter steer
• Stick that knee out, it’s your gauge to measure how close you are to the ground
• At first you’ll feel like you’re “about to fall off” but later when you see pictures you’ll see you’re hardly leaning at all
• When you get the lean right, you’ll feel a Zen moment as you’re in complete harmony with the bike and the curve
• Crotch up to the tank, body forward

• Two ways to pass – on the gas or on the brakes
• Know the track and know where you can and can’t pass
• Stalk and kill – ride behind someone a lap to two to see where you can pass them before you plan your attack
• Consider your skill level before ever passing
• If you don’t feel comfortable passing a group, just slow down or get off on the exit ramp for a bit
• It’s the passer’s job to keep the pass safe, passe should continue in his own predictable course
• Practice straight acceleration in the straight aways
• Practice increased curve speed

• When you reach a plateau, be strategic and build a plan for how to increase your ability or speed
• Try to peg the throttle once in a while to get used to it
• Your goal should always be to grow to be a BETTER, SAFER and faster rider
• Understand your bike’s power range, know where to keep your RPMs when you’r picking up the speed
• Make sure your transitions from curve to curve are smooth
• Never coast, you’re on the gas or on the brakes, but not coasting
• Practice getting on the brakes in the curve later
• After a curve get the bike up straight sooner, learn to really gas it coming out of the curves
• Look ahead further
• Know the bumps, the camber the apex of every turn
• Know where on the track you can pass easily
• minimize the time you spend at lean angle
• Think one corner ahead
• Pick the dots you want to connect, practice  hitting them two laps in a row, then go faster on the third lap
• Increase your skill level BEFORE your speed, an automatic speed increase will come with higher skill level

• Learn the apex of every curve and be able to hit it every time
• Learn body position
• Braking – slow at first then hit it, then come out of it slow too
• Tighter lines are better, use less of the track s when you’re ready to speed up you’ll have more room to grow
• Clutch control, and shifting with out the clutch
• Throttle control and how to gas it
• Practice higher RMMs
• Decrease fear and learn to be relaxed
• Be smooth and predictable

• Where’s the entry point, the apex, the exit point and the next entry point
• Where are any markers off the track, where are the brake markers
• What gear will you want to be in
• Plan what speed you thinks is safe for you and what speed you want to work up to
• Note the good places to pass
• Note where you will want to upshift and then downshift
• Note a safe track exit strategy
• Where are the cambers and reverse cambers?
• Have a plan for what you want to learn first, have one or two things for each lap to focus on
• Ask other riders what their markers are, what the tough corners are

Hi everybody, I hope you enjoyed my first very big blog. I am hoping to keep this up as a regular thing, so I just drank a glass of metamucil. OK, I’m regular. I miss all of you when I don’t participate in HoMoto rides, activities and dinners, and there was alot these past few days.

I am so looking forward to Jay’s class on how to navigate technical stuff with our website, calender and such. Being newly single, I may be looking to navigate some things as well. I think it will bring some less savvy (like myself) closer to the action that takes place amongst the Homotum.

So before writing my first article, I would like to first ask everyone;

What do you want to know? (about bikes or anything else I can be cynical at).

send me an email at brian.peterson@homoto.us.

So, I said I will follow up on my last blog. What exactly happened after Gallup. I have no fucking eye deer. (OK, I think that may be worn out by now, but that joke will always have a special place in my heart). Like I said, it was a big blur. We left Gallup only after I HAD to point out all of the roads ending in the numbers “91″ used to be highway 666. Why I am a devils advocate, I don’t know. Maybe that catholic priest just didn’t love me enough when I was 9. But if you really want to know more about highway 666, click here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_491. Where the fuck is Starbucks? I have a BMW and it has a nav system! Starbucks in Safeway. Poor little (actually kinda big) Navajito at starbucks seemed like he was the only gay in the village. Sweet. Service with a smile, and a wink. We’re caffienated. Oh yeah, at this point WE= Patrick, Jay and I. Armin and Ron are hanging out near Flagstaff doing sumtin. Off through the rest of NM, we went through the Zuni reservations, which weren’t as impressive to me as Navajo Nation was, but hey, there’s more. The moment we rode across the Arizona border, it was like a different country. The roads were paved better, more “Bike friendly” and to top it all off (I said top), when we stopped for a break, we stopped in a town called “Three Way”. What could be more exciting than THAT! OK, enough photos, back on the bikes. Uh-Oh. Patrick lost his ipod. YAY! Patrick found his ipod. More snow. Here we go, into Safford, Arizona. OMFG. Across from our hotel there was a movie theatre, renovated to also fit a starbucks, and a CHURCH! I was so excited that they chose a Rainbow decor for the FACADE of their building!  How decietful those church people. I have no clean laundry, I smell and Jay and Patrick are still hugging me. Less than usual, but still. They are going to Cycle gear, I am taking a nap. Gave Jay $20 to get me this cool shirt with three skulls and barbed wire going through their eye sockets. Looks cooler than it sounds. Went to dinner, and we started a tradition. Jay, Patrick and I will never laugh harder throughout the day than at dinner. The lovely waitress was so patient with us. Why doesn’t my desert have whipped cream? dollop. There you go you fucking 8 year old!  Thanks Jay! 8 years old forever!

There’s a couple more days left, I’ll get there. Thanks for reading. TLAS=Through love and service,

Brian

This title was chosen because it is almost the same name as one of my favorite porn movies. Dam. I don’t really have a favorite, but since I’m here to write about BIKES,RIDES AND MORE BIKES, that’s what I’ll do.

Over a month after our tour (Our= Jay, Patrick, Armin, Ron, Ken and myself) of the southwest, I am still smiling at it all. Although I was a day late, having just sold my car to afford this trip, I am on my way to LA to visit cousins and meet with the Homoto brothers on the eve of (Their) day three. My best moments were arriving after a long ride in 30*F weather with snow on the side of the road. Some little fear inside of me grew to enormous proportion and told me I was going to hit an ice patch and DIE! How would I explain that to Pablo when we met again wherever it is we go when our bodies are totalled out? OK, Brian, back to reality. There is no snow on the road, and if I am careful, I probably won’t die. And it might be a good idea to pull over and put your winter riding  jacket on. OK.

Arrive to Flagstaff with a tantalizing smell of Indian food. My favorite. Let’s go have some Indian food! Jay and Patrick responded “Oh we went there last night, and I’m not ready for indian food for another few months”. Phooey. We went to some international food restaurant, pretty good for a trashy waitress to be working at. And a guitarist who insited on playing Beatles songs on a classic style on his acoustic…could be annoying or entertaining, depending on how deep my ADD was. Did I mention I started smoking again? Yeah. This is going to be hard. Next day I woke up at 8:30 cus Armin told me that’s what time I had to get up. Where’s Ken? He’s in Pheonix with Phamily. What do we do now? Starbucks. Target. Road. This is where it all turns into one big blur. I should have taken notes. I will try to be chronologically correct here, but no guarantees.
Flagstaff to Gallup was interesting, riding through the Navajo reservations, red rocks and windy roads…all just more beautiful than the next. We stop for a quick rest and refuel, Patrick’s searching for his dream pet (a stray dog) And then…Jay starts flirting with Officer I.B.Begay. I am thinking…we’re all going to jail. OK, so maybe he wasn’t flirting, but he was taking a picture of him and his cute little Begay nametag. Patrick couldn’t get the dog strapped on the back of his 919, so the dog was left behind. Off to a village called Tsaile. Fun riding, but a real appreciation for what I have living in the city. Tsaile is a poor town. I think officer Begay told us to take the “South rim” road. I say “You don’t know who you’re talking to” “I’m taking the North rim!” Not really, but I have a need to make it sound dirty. Off to Gallup, where we dined on Papa Murphy’s pizza and watched the first of three episodes of “The lost room”. (We never watched two or three). What do the rest of the days have in store for us? Keep reading, I’ll follow up.

From 2010 GSR May Trip – San Simeon, posted by Jay Larson on 5/10/2010 (130 items)

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Homoto is proud to be the recipient of the “Best New Organzation” at the Bay Area Leather Alliance Awards this year.  Way to go, guys!