Archives for the month of: June, 2009

Fillup: Part 3

June 30, 09 //

I’ve only had to fill up the new DR200 three times so far (had it about a month) and I’m still trying to get a good gauge of how well it’s doing on gas. Today I finally puttered out at about 200 miles on this tank. I flipped on the reserve and headed to the station. My last fillup was after a ~40 mile journey at fairly high speeds, so I was curious how this tank would do with mostly city driving under it’s belt (although it had the journey home from the long trip on it). I topped it off at 2.4 gallons.

199 / 2.4 = 83MPG

83 MPG is better than the last tank and I expect the next to be even better (considering it will be all city driving). Also take note that gas was a little over 3 dollars a gallon if you do the math on the gauge. A HUGE reason for getting the bike was to save gas, and in a future where gas may not will not be cheap, I felt it was a worthwhile investment all the way around.

Outlines

June 29, 09 //

Cookie

June 24, 09 //

Father’s Day Trip

June 23, 09 //

Took my longest trip so far on the Suzuki DR200 to visit my Dad in Taft, CA from Bakersfield. I opted for the 30 miles of farm roads and corn fields instead of the faster Taft highway route. I’m not sure I could keep up with many cars behind me at 55MPH the entire time. On the long straight farm roads I was able to push the 200cc engine to it’s limits. I got up to about 70MPH+ for a few seconds but it basically feels like it’s going to fall apart at that speed. The DR200 could probably take 50-60 comfortably for quite a while which is fast enough for most general highway riding in my area.

I left Bakersfield with about 100 miles on that particular tank of gas and was pretty confident I would make it there without any problems. I missed a turn on the way which worried me that I wasn’t going to have enough gas, but found a dairy to photo some cows as consolation.

After visiting with the family and playing some Punch Out for the Wii (AWESOME!) I made the journey home. At this point the tank had about 140 miles on it. I had read that this bike had a 3.5 gallon tank so I figured I could PROBABLY make it home with the gas I had left, so I left Taft without getting gas. About 3 miles outside of town the bike died and I realized I had made a mistake. Luckily, the reserve on the bike allowed me to putter back to the gas station and fill up. I filled up roughly 2.5 gallons (meaning either the tank isn’t as big as I thought, or the reserve is a whole gallon) and don’t remember exactly but I had somewhere between 150-165 miles on that tank which means I got 60-66 MPG (although the big revs testing the speed on the way there probably didn’t help). After I filled up, I headed home, enjoyed the scenery and took some pictures on the way.

View Larger Map

The more I ride the bike the more I realize you notice SO much more than you do in a car. You really feel much closer to the land around you. It seems like you almost become super-aware of everything you see. I’ll still drive by places on my bike I’ve visited 100 times in a car and notice something new.

Hosty Host

June 22, 09 //

I recently switched to Dreamhost from Godaddy for hosting (excuse for a retheme). They had some father’s day special for 9.95 for a year or something. It ended up being much cheaper and was a great excuse to get away from Godaddy. I’m sure their service is great or whatever but their site drives me INSANE. I don’t want to add anything to my purchase, I don’t care about race car chicks, I just want hosting and a domain. Navigating the site was just painful, not to mention my WordPress started slowing down for unknown reasons. Dreamhost, in comparison, has been amazing so far. A bit too early to pass judgement but my brother recommended them and so far they fit the bill.

Volcano

June 22, 09 //

Happy Box

June 20, 09 //

Motorbike

June 20, 09 //

After much research and deliberation I got myself a new 2007 Suzuki DR200. I decided it would be better to do my 2 mile commute to work on a bike that I could pay off in about a year. Tag price was about $2900 (MUCH cheaper than the alternative) and gets about 70MPG so far. I’m on 170miles this particular tank of gas (holds 3.43 gallons total).

A big part of the great mileage has to do with the small displacement of this bike. The DR200 is fitted with a 199cc engine which makes its safe top speed about 60-65 mph stock (and I don’t think I would feel comfortable keeping that up for a long distance). I don’t ever plan to take the DR on the freeway and rarely on the highway if at all.

It’s a dual sport (enduro, dual purpose, etc) bike which essentially means it’s a dirtbike with street legal features (blinkers, mirrors, etc.) The freedom of riding a bike is really something special and the fact that I can peel off into the dirt is even better. Riding during the summers here in the central valley might be tough to bare at 100 degrees, but so far I’m having a blast. Once gas hits $4 a gallon, maybe more will jump on board.

Square

June 19, 09 //

Toilet Paper

June 19, 09 //

(9:33:37 AM) Spensawr: so last night
(9:33:41 AM) Spensawr: i was getting toilet paper
(9:33:52 AM) Spensawr: and i dropped the whole role
(9:33:53 AM) Spensawr: BUT
(9:34:02 AM) Spensawr: i caught it before it went completely in the toilet
(9:34:10 AM) Spensawr: but
(9:34:14 AM) Spensawr: the very bottom of it
(9:34:16 AM) Spensawr: touched
(9:34:20 AM) Spensawr: and like a quarter of it
(9:34:28 AM) Spensawr: is soaking wet with toilet water
(9:34:31 AM) Spensawr: so
(9:34:34 AM) Spensawr: im holding it
(9:34:38 AM) Spensawr: wondering waht i should do
(9:34:42 AM) Spensawr: the bottom half is wet
(9:34:53 AM) Spensawr: there is no trash can in my bathroom, that would require me to take it downstairs
(9:34:57 AM) Spensawr: if i let go
(9:35:01 AM) Spensawr: the whole role would fall in
(9:35:07 AM) neekalus: throw it in the bathtub
(9:35:13 AM) neekalus: then get a palstic bag
(9:35:18 AM) neekalus: wrap it in it
(9:35:20 AM) neekalus: shamwow
(9:35:25 AM) Spensawr: instead what i did
(9:35:28 AM) Spensawr: i slowly worked around the edges and took out the cardboard insides
(9:35:32 AM) Spensawr: and dropped it in the toilet
(9:35:35 AM) Spensawr: so we hav ea whole role
(9:35:43 AM) Spensawr: this morning
(9:35:46 AM) Spensawr: its very wet and soggy
(9:35:55 AM) Spensawr: i found a popsicle stick on the floor
(9:35:56 AM) Spensawr: so i took it
(9:35:58 AM) Spensawr: and broke it up
(9:36:03 AM) Spensawr: into little peices
(9:36:04 AM) neekalus: wait
(9:36:09 AM) neekalus: what is a popsicle stick doing in
(9:36:12 AM) neekalus: your bathroom
(9:36:14 AM) neekalus: who eats in there
(9:36:14 AM) Spensawr: not important
(9:36:16 AM) Spensawr: i took it
(9:36:20 AM) Spensawr: and shredded
(9:36:25 AM) Spensawr: the whole role so that it will go easily
(9:36:26 AM) neekalus: there is fecal particles all over the bathroom
(9:36:28 AM) neekalus: watch mythbusters
(9:36:31 AM) Spensawr: yea
(9:36:35 AM) neekalus: i never eat in the bathroom
(9:36:36 AM) Spensawr: mythbusters also found them EVERYWHERE
(9:36:39 AM) neekalus: i know!
(9:36:47 AM) Spensawr: even in the freezer with the popsicles
(9:36:48 AM) neekalus: even more reason to not eat a popsicle in the toliet room
(9:37:07 AM) Spensawr: so now
(9:37:12 AM) Spensawr: i have shredded toilet paper role
(9:37:14 AM) Spensawr: in my toilet
(9:37:16 AM) Spensawr: ready to be flushed
(9:37:22 AM) Spensawr: end
neekalus is typing…

Fillup: Part 3

Outlines

Cookie

Father’s Day Trip

Hosty Host

Volcano

Happy Box

Motorbike

Square

Toilet Paper

Links

Categories