Everything ran great up to Monterey and back last weekend. The only problem was the battery! I went straight to the bank in the morning and it wouldn't start. I got a ride from a friend to take the battery to have it tested and it's voltage was just fine but it wouldn't push any amps and it wouldn't take a charge either. The conclusion was that the battery had been damaged in the lowside crash and you could see evidence of this in the slightly out of place battery post. The battery was a YUASA that was not even a year old... what a bummer! So I went to Momentum Moto and Keith there hooked me up with a deal on a brand new Yuasa in the spirit of getting me up to the races. You could say I got the Laguna Seca race weekend deal on the new battery, many thanks to Momentum Moto. He also hooked me up with a deal on a new tailpack so I could haul some clothes and stuff to the races. Here is a shot of the bike just before I left.
Riding with a tail bag was interesting. I was able to use the built in bungee straps to secure it to the rear seat. Of course the more weight you put in the bag the tighter you need to strap it to the bike. As soon as I got on the freeway I could tell that the tailpack was definitely acting exactly like a wind neutralizer device that would go behind your head in a convertable. You know like the mesh screens that attach to the back of the head rests in a Porsche Boxster... same thing. It was weird, the wind wouldn't hit my helmet or body near as bad with the bag on the back. It was like a wind bubble was formed when the bag would deflect the wind upwards and over me. Interesting. What a great bag though! It's a Tourmaster/ Cortech model and it comes with straps built in and a 3M cover to waterproof it in the event of rain. Worked great and I could have expanded the sides if I needed to put more inside it.