The 2018 Harley-Davidson Street Glide CVO - An Intimate Review

With my immediate family, we have owned five Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and never been entirely happy with them - until now.

My previous model was bought with high hopes, soon dashed. It was a 2013 CVO Electra Glide, the last model prior to the release of the "Rushmore" updates. As a result, HD added every possible addition to the bike, (e.g heated grips and touring pegs) and this made it a fair buy. I also loved the 110 cubic inch motor, although it ran hot in warm weather. The major challenge was achieving smooth airflow behind (a much changed) screen.

But the new bike, a 2018 CVO Streetglide is an amazing step forward. The changes are small but many, and it is the addition of each that makes it a wonderful Harley Davidson to ride. They are:

1. The new engine, the M8, which will receive most of the HD Marketing attention. It was actually released last year, and depending on who you talk to, had some issues. I thought that they were real. The M8 has water or oil cooling and sounds almost "Japanese Like", but with the addition of pipes, mine sounds very Harley. I like the motor a lot. I have the 117 cubic inch version on the CVO, and the odd thing, is that is VERY under-tuned, despite the sheer volume, torque and apparent power. A lot can be done to this motor, at a price of course. One of the other big advantages of the new engine is improved fuel economy - to at least 450km if driven hard. But Harley Davidson, where is the LONG RANGE tank we all want as an extra!?
2. The rear suspension is changed and upgraded and is a substantial improvement. This not oonly positively affects the ride, but also the steering, which will now run for kilometres with no hands on the bars. If you dare.
3. The "Rushmore" air flow system was new to me but has been on the bike for four years, and makes a substantial improvement in comfort. This was a key change reason for me. I still needed a slightly higher screen than the standard one, and chose the 10 inch version with the slight kicker in it. (Bend at the top). A copy of the (very expensive) Clockworx screens in my view. There are also openable vents in the lowers, below knee level.
4. A MAJOR step forward for me, and the key reason I chose the 2018 model over the 2017 one, is that all the electrics and sound system now run via Bluetooth to a (Provided) head set from SENA. Nice move HD!
5. In addition, the larger color screen is good also, although the UI is not perfect and the GPS, while useful is a very basic model. If you like to use a large range of waypoints for example, it is not suitable. In another part of this is the sound system, which on the Streetglide is truly amazing. If you like sound, then this is the model. There is also a little pocket and USB connector for your mobile phone to charge and feed music. But it is TOO SMALL with a cover on a larger format iPhone - Please fix HD?
6. Harley have moved some of the controls, which is a bonus, but still has some way to go. The Cruise Control switch is now on the left which makes more sense, but high beam is still a thunb reach away, when is should be controlled by your left forefinger over the bar (by way of example).
7. The new bags are particularly good. Harley changed the opening latch a couple of models back, to one that can be actioned with one hand. and this has stayed and is much liked. In this new model there are two subtle change that I am particularly in favor of -
1. The removal bolts have levers on them, so you can remove the bags without tools
2. The clip to connect all the wiring inside the bag now has a plastic clamp and slide that makes removing the wiring inside the bag, super simple. This is a big plus too.
8. Nine speakers for sound - awesome. You can also play the radio, or music from you phone. I Am disappointed that the CB Radio is not included in the package for Australia, with the Australian VHF frequencies - so that I can listen to the truckies on the Hume Highway!
9. A new seat which is growing on me. The contrasting stitching looks super, but the overlapping pillion pad removes all options for a driver back-pad - unless you buy the "Transformer" back-pad from Kuryakyn. I like!
10. I had updated the lights on my previous bike to LED ones anyway, but the new headlight comes in LED format as standard. IT is good but not exceptional, but them I am fussy when it comes to kangaroos at night. The rear lights and indicators LOOk very cool, but are too small in my view. 
11. Unlike the previous model, touring pegs are not provided. So I added my own. What IS provided includes a nice kit and certificate, a bike cover and a couple of other things that just add to the overall value of a CVO. 
12. One thing that Harley has ALL OVER the competition is the quality of its paint and chrome. They are outstanding on this bike, as you would expect. 

 I would say I have had not issues with my bike at all, but it has only done 3600 kilometres. Overall, I will work on the engine breathing in time but otherwise this is a first class highway cruiser.

Is there Life after the Iron Butt Rally (IBR)?

December 2017 has arrived, and with it, application time for the 2019 Iron Butt Rally. And I have significant withdrawal symptoms.

After all this time, I still think about the Iron Butt Rally. It is a truly magical event, designed to test human beings to the end of their endurance, and to put motorcycles through absolute hell over 11 days and 11,000 miles. I know the latter very well having expended in excess of US$5000 on repairs to my bike in 2017. And 4000 of that was unplanned. It is now sold, and the new buyer has got a bike better than new. But I digress.

My original plan, and agreement with my family, was to enter just four rallies in the USA, two Butt Lites and two IBR's. This is done. I finished both Butt Lites and one IBR which on the odds, is a rather good overall result. To reduce the chance that I would "regress", I have sold both my bikes in the USA. But I do know that the American LDR community is so strong, that if I said "Can someone lend me a bike?" I would receive a rush of offers. But I digress 2!

Back in Australia I have two new-ish bikes, a Harley Davidson and a BMW. Both are excellent riders motorcycles. I had not expected much of the HD Street Glide CVO, but it is such a better bike than the five year old model that was traded on it, that it is actually a pleasure to ride - and ride well - and far. I have come to a couple of realizations since the 2017 IBR finished in July;

1. The financial, physical and emotional cost of riding in an IBR are huge and enduring for many months.
2. It is high-time I re-charged my GPS' and returned them from miles to kilometer units!
3. Most motorcycle club members (BMW or Harley) actually don't like to ride far - they are really interested in the primacy of a social connection, first and foremost.
4. I am more addicted than ever before, to riding to the wild places,
5. And most importantly, there are so many wonderful places still to ride - from a long weekend in Bright, Victoria (that I am really looking forward to, with friends in March 2018). to a longer ride with other friends to Lhasa in May 2018.

Now I may have your attention. 

This ride to Lhasa is a real challenge and may readers will have no idea what it means or where it is. The ride starts in SW China and travels to Shangri La (the real one, not that in the movies) then onto the Chinese Everest Base Camp and finally to the Capital city of Tibet, Lhasa. I have always wanted to go there. This is "The Forbidden Kingdom", a world of magic, a world of wild weather, a place of truly elevated places (above 5000m) and a place that requires very special visa's and approvals. 

And I cant wait! 

Of That, Which We Must Not Speak - Lice!

There are some topics that should never discussed across a dinner table.

And they should not be, at least in polite company. In part these are because we are "civilised" or at least in veneer. Sometimes they are just too gross to discuss over a meal! One such topic is that of Hair Lice and nits. Clearly no one wants to think of small writhing living creatures dropping from their hair into the soup.

Or worse, the thought of having to drag them out of the hair of a loved one. But then many of us have done that for our children, after they have shared hats at school, or got "really close" to each other. I remember those days well, of drowning the little blighters in some nasty chemical from the pharmacist, and then dragging, slowly, a very fine tooth comb through the long tangles of one of our children. Frankly, it wasn't easy, but it worked.

Lice are tiny creatures with six clinging legs, about 1 mm long. They give birth to babies as eggs called "nits" which generally contain a cluster of about six eggs. These stick to hair like - glue. For an adult human, who gets lice in their hair, they are a nightmare if only because it implies that the person is unclean. In fact the opposite is more probably true - lice love very clean hair, and hate oily locks.

I copped a dose of lice at my local barber. He used tools that had been also used on two teenage boys, who had their hair cut before me - I watched it happen! To make matters worse, I was heading off on a four day trans-continent motorcycle ride, and frankly, my helmet made a perfect breading ground for them - warmth, sweat, dead skin and time. By day two I was itching like hell.

On my return, I read up on lice via the internet of course. The general consensus is that lice can be killed easily in a hot environment and that the nits or eggs will not last 10 days in the heat. So, I wrapped my helmet in a plastic bag and set it in the sun for three weeks. Then cleaned the liner thoroughly after removing it, via hot water and soap. This did NOT work. Nits can last longer than three weeks quite clearly. I also believe that they can also last on bedding and towels, which is contrary to much of the information on the internet. For this reason, I started washing my towel and pillowcases every day.

In fact the way to sort out the liner, would have been to freeze the liner in our domestic freezer, then clean it.

While all of this was going on, I went to the pharmacist and bought two different commercial shampoos, "guaranteed to remove lice and nits". They did not. They will kill the lice, but the nits are another matter all together. I then tried other commercial treatments and some "home remedies" such as vinegar. The latter works fairly well, smells horrible and needs to be used twice a day for some days.

For nits, they will stick to your hair very strongly. The cleaner your hair, the better. So, adding a little oil to your hair makes it MUCH harder for them to survive. I started here. Then I had all my hair cut off, leaving the shortest stubble. It still did not clear this up, so I had my hair removed with a blade, by a barber. This worked for some time, but ANY small nicks or pimples offer a re-breading ground for the little buggers.

My recommendation is to mechanically remove the nits with a fine comb, when your hair is long. Do this a number of times. THEN get it cut short to a stubble, and rub with oil - cooking oil works but Tea Tree oil is the go -and number one treatment. This finally worked.

A footnote to this is that this process with chemicals is very rough on your hair, allowing another pest to take hold. It is microscopic and called demodex. Because you cannot see these little mites, and they are present on everyone's head, they are much harder to deal with when they get to plague proportions. The cause a rash on the skin, much like rosacea, when in plague numbers. Again, a very short, non-blade hair cut, coupled with Tea Tree oil works well.

A second footnote is that helmets wear out. Old ones are worse then new ones. This is a great time to throw out your old helmet " then one you have kept in case of emergencies". Do it now.

What the hell is The Iron Butt Association Anyway? (And long distance riding?)

To some friends who have asked:

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you on this. Enter the rest of this email at your peril. Addiction follows as sure as sun follows rain....

In simple terms, you go to the Iron Butt Association (IBA) Page here - http://www.ironbutt.com/ or the Iron Butt Rally (run by the IBA) page here;

http://www.ironbutt.com/ibr.cfm 

or here for this years details: http://www.ironbutt.com/2017ibr/

Or here for a review on ONE DAY of the last rally! 

http://www.ironbutt.com/ibr/2015/Day1.pdf  This was the one I rode in.

BUT, I am preparing a more detailed response as a number of people have asked - eventually it will be on my BLOG here:

http://olafsbike.blogspot.com.au/ where you will also find all my 7 reports on the Iron Butt Rally 2015.

But before you go there, the Australian club and website for LDR's (both Long Distance Rides and Riders) in Australia is the Far Riders and you can find it here:

http://farriders.com.au/index.php

These guys generally do an RTE (Ride to Eat) on a Saturday at Noon anywhere in Australia. To get on their list you register for one of their rides (on their website), ride the 1000 km in 24 hours and bring a receipt for your starting time (after Noon Friday) to the event (as I did today for "East #43"). Your name gets added on the list, you get a number (mine is 489) and you are enshrined as an Australian Far Rider for ever in the website list. Everyone who is a FR is visible to anyone who wants to scroll down the list! Currently there are 1046 Members, and some of those are Aliens. 

The Iron Butt Rally is a different beast. It started in 1984 and runs every second year. It is organized (exceedingly professionally) by the Iron Butt Association who are based in the USA but operate in about 30 countries. To join the IBA you simply have to ride and document a 1000 MILE Ride (1610 km) in 24 hours. Document and submit to their Exacting standard. Go here for the IBA as before: http://www.ironbutt.com/ One of my close friends in Sydney realised he could ride his Harley to Melbourne and back and just qualify for membership of the IBA. He did it, got his certificate and has never tried again - "You have to be f....g crazy to do that weird shit again" he said.

NOW to get in the 11-day, highly competitive, Iron Butt Rally takes about four years. Thousands of people apply, and about 100 get accepted. As Mike Kneebone aka "Mr Nice-guy" is prone to say regularly, "More people have been into space than have finished the Iron Butt Rally" - and factually that is correct.

This thing is brutal. Finishers don't generally shake hands when they meet - they give huge bear-hugs (irrespective of gender) indicating "mate we went through hell together but wasn't it awesome!" The IBR is essentially a Scavenger Hunt for sites (not things) all over Canada and the USA, with points for the more remote and weird places (mountain tops, death valley, brothels, car museums, private homes, there is nothing they would not stoop to, to make it "interesting".)

There are no monetary prizes for the winners of the IBR. The first get a piece of plastic for the shelf and the rest - who finish - get a certificate. Plus Global Kudos. And one other thing. You cannot buy, trade, bargain or otherwise steal one of these - a three-digit IBA Membership number. You only get it when you have COMPLETED an Iron Butt Rally. Plenty of great riders have tried and failed. Mine is #517 - and it aint going nowhere!

On the alternate years there is another rally run in the USA, called "Butt Lite". IT is 6 days not 11 and has become insanely popular, mainly because it is brilliant practice for the IBR itself, and adds to your ride credentials (or Ride Biography that you have to provide when applying for the IBR)  I have ridden in Butt Lite VII and Butt Lite VIII. The organizers for Butt Lite are a quaint group from Minnesota called Team Strange. They started as a Ten Pin Bowling Club and morphed to motorcycles. Just to keep Butt Lite interesting, they regularly ask riders to play a game of bowls - and score their points into the Rally!

Go here to read about all their rallies; http://www.teamstrange.com/

So, who enters and why?

Well that is easy - Type "A" personalities make up 80% of the entrants. Great riders (well most of them anyway), athletes, US Marines, Policeman, pilots, NP Rangers - and regular Joes and Joans etc. One entrant last year was a "Naval Aviator" (F18 Pilot) who looked and acted like Tom Cruise. (How do you know when a Naval Aviator is in the room? Don't worry, he'll tell you!) The navy flew him back from Afghanistan just to compete.... and gave him all that weird food and psycho training. He came second.

Well that should get you started. Don't say I didn't warn you.

(More in the un-abridge version, like "is this dangerous?"

Olaf

"To Pee Or Whee, That is the Question" (IBA ACT Insanity SS1600)

The Iron Butt Association has some weird and wonderful Certificate Rides for the truly crazy.

One of those is the "ACT Insanity Ride", which is a multi-lap event round the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) totaling at least 1610 kilometres. For my US readers, somewhat like DC). This looked like the perfect practice ride (being #5 actually) for me, prior to the Iron Butt Rally (IBR) in late June 2017. So I put a little note on the IBA Australia Forum, looking for a companion and some witnesses for this ride, knowing full well, that I would get limited interest in the dead of winter. 

I was wrong. 
Almost thirty riders and 15 volunteers offered to join me. In the end, fourteen committed to ride and nine actually showed up on the day, with others having bike-battery problems and not feeling well. The magnificent nine were all IBA certified riders as it turned out, and included; Derrick Sutton, Michael "Fatman" and Lynne Morris "The Pillion - LTP", Craig "Wombattler" Harcombe, Simon Bell, Ron "Grey Gentry" Perry, Barry "Spaz" Martin, Kerry "Cliff" Clifford, Russell "RusJel" Smith and yours truly, Olaf "Olly" Moon. And as you would expect, turned up on all sorts of weird machinery including KTM, BMW, Honda, Triumph, Harley Davidson and Yamaha kit. From a blue R1200RT to a canary-yellow Tenere and a fire-engine red VFR. There was also an FJR and a Royal Star!

This ride is not your normal IBA Event. 
It requires pre-approval from the Association AND a record of every riders' lap odometer reading PLUS the normal 2-witness forms and petrol receipts. This I sought. Being determined to get all the paperwork correctly signed and completed would require a group of volunteers to be at the staging site for the full 24 hours, and to record all the "mileage" readings. Volunteers to stand in the freezing cold were Volunteers, Sheryle Moon, Sian Moon, Ed Husek, Lionel Haynes, Shane Jasprizza, Bill Beaton, Lisa Walsch and John Sullivan.  To this crew, we owe a huge thank you! Also, on the day a few others such as Martin Little and Nev showed up, plus some visitors from various places to watch the action. Who was the tall silver-hair stranger with the ear-ring and Triumph jacket?

We submitted the route to the IBA for approval, based on the original ride done by three riders in 2011. In that time-frame a number of changes had been made to the roads, including the completion of the dual-carriage Majura By-Pass, which made that section of the route a little quicker and a lot more comfortable - but more highly patrolled by the police. Each lap was about 84 kilometres depending on who was measuring, and should take about 1 hour 7 minutes according to Google Maps. Anyone circulating under 60 minutes was certainly efficient, and probably had a particularly good run through the traffic lights. 

The course went south down the Monaro Highway and then took two linked roundabouts, across to Tharwa Drive then to Drakeford Drive heading north. At Glenloch Interchange we took the West Belconnen slip lane, and headed west then north through Melba and Flynn up the "S'es". We then turned right at a T intersection, back to the Barton Hwy, then south to join Northbourne Ave. Here we turned left and headed up to the interchange with Majura Rd, then south past the airport to the Caltex at Hume where the start, stop and witness station was located. Here, Lionel had brought a large caravan, and with the approval of the station manager, parked here to create shelter for the volunteers. A table and chairs was also set up, to get a "process" of recording done in order, with each rider's ODO recorded on their own clipboard. 

This ride was over the June Long Weekend, and so it was a "double demerit" points weekend, a fact NOT lost on the riders, who proceeded to ride past 8 fixed speed cameras on each lap (160 passes in total) and assorted hidden, mobile camera cars - of which at least four graced the course at different times. The police were well aware of the ride and visited on their police bikes and an un-marked car at one point, discussing long and hard what the "Iron Butt Hotel" (Signed caravan) was actually doing there. Immediately prior to the start, David Rolfe texted in, saying that his Harley had "failed to proceed" even after bump-starting down a hill, with a failed battery. Teaches you to ride it to Perth!

After a very short briefing from Olaf at 3.00am, including a clear safety-first warning, the crew headed off, following him on a "slow" lap so that they could learn the course and the location of the cameras. However, by the time we entered Majura Lane on the first lap, Olaf was passed by three speedsters! Nonetheless we all arrived at the gas station together and chaos ensued as each person met with a Volunteer, who had to find the correct clip board and record their details. Soon we were all headed off on lap two, and the witnesses got together in a huddle and decided to "get this shit sorted". Sian took command and arranged the boards in sequence of the riders leaving the lot, so that the correct one was presented to each rider, then returned to the back of the clip-board-line-up. Of course only Fatman and Lynne had marked their bike and board with a sticker (as requested although few knew what "LTP" stood for until later!) - this would have certainly helped everyone, especially on the change over of staff later on. One rider carried his clipboard, to make life even tougher for the adjudicators.

After a couple of laps, the pace smartened up considerably, as it was still dark with very few cars on the road. The full moon came out and the weather stayed surprisingly mild, rarely getting down to freezing point. My guess is that if it had been minus five celsius, then life would have been much tougher. 

Riders soon got their lines into order, making some serious swoops around the seven round-abouts on the course, a Canberra speciality. Some were already grazing their pegs within a couple of laps. Even a few inches off-line could make for an excessively exciting exit, especially on RA number four, where all signage had been run-down by another vehicle, so arriving at this one was always an adventure, with an off-road option. 

By lap three, I was smiling to myself. My bike has a long range tank fitted, and some of those on more traditional Yamaha-lys were going to be at the pumps after lap three or four. And so it was. This spread the riders out, and as some stopped for gas, food and a pee, this become even more pronounced. Foolish me had drunk tea and water before leaving home, and had to stop mid lap to relieve myself behind a tree - much to the laughter of a couple of other riders! This was not the last time for this little caper either, as the weather became colder, my need became stronger. 

At sun rise the traffic began to build. We had not planned for not one, but three major events at the Exhibition Centre in Canberra (EPIC), so traffic became epic at EPIC with the Farmers Market, Dog Show and Handmade Market all happening at the same time! Thousands of cars entered and left from Northbourne Ave, a good thing at one point as we were slowed unnervingly to a crawl, right past a hiding camera van. God favors the brave on occasion!

And so it continued, lap after lap. On lap fourteen, many riders had retired for a short lunch break, but having been "in front" and noting that this is NOT a race, I was overtaken by Wombattle as I went for my sixth pee and some extra petrol. My support crew were stuffing sandwiches and hot chocolate down my throat at each lap, which was much appreciated. 

We then proceeded to ride together by mutual but unspoken agreement, a delightful exercise as he is such an accomplished rider. Many will know the sheer joy of riding with someone who constantly rides perfect lines and the ideal pace. Wom is one of the very few who meets this standard and is an absolute pleasure to have as a riding mate. 

For the last lap, we were both beat, and he asked me to lead. It was dark and just before 11pm, so I did, and it ended up being one of the most perfect laps we could have had, with  no traffic lights, few cars and a constant pace. At 57 minutes, it was also one of the quickest, but not so fast that were pinged by the hidden camera car at Dairy Flat, aiming at all the ski traffic drivers. While I rode in ahead of Wombattle, he had stopped with me for my final pee, so would have finished at least three minutes ahead if I had let him. So he went for the final receipt, and I followed. How appropriate! Such is the life of the Long Distance Rider, a style and skill that I value in all my mates. 

Others rode into the gas station over the coming hours with the last at 1.24am, well ahead of the 3.15am maximum time. To all of you, congratulations, it was a tough ride with the crazy Canberran traffic, constant stops and starts. And to all the volunteers - we could not have done it without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Olly

Butt Lite VIII - Leg 2 - To the Shrine of Gerlach

As the years have gone by, my "bucket list" has become shorter and shorter (to my delight frankly), but one thing has remained for nearly a decade - a visit to the Long Distance Riders Shrine at Gerlach Nevada. But how to get there?

You may have heard of "Burning Man"? This is a festival to beat all festivals, deep in the desert near Gerlach. Once per year in September, strange people vie in breathtaking competition, to attend this "Art and Music Event" - the place? - the Playa (mud pan) in the middle of the desert, north of the tiny village of Gerlach NV. It is truly a remote and spectacular place.  On the hill nearby is a small hand-built shrine to Long Distance Riders (LDR's), in particular those who have won the Iron Butt Rally, and more importantly, those who have died in pursuit of it, or on another ride.

These are the directions (from the Butt Lite VII Rally book);

From the gas station in downtown Gerlach, follow NV 447 .8 mile to the junction of Washoe County 34 and NV 447. Turn right on WC 34 and ride approximately 1.8 miles to Guru Rd. Turn left onto Guru Rd. The IBA memorial is just past the Weather Rock; look for the red picnic table and license plate tree uphill from Guru Road. 40.67847 -119.36080 

For each rider who has passed, there is a small flat stone lying on the ground, with their name engraved. They sit within a circle (of friends) reading with absolute simplicity of their place in the world and their place within it.

To call it awe-inspiring, is to materially under-state its magnificence. The view around is of desert and mud-pans, surrounded by sawing mountains. It is spectacular and breathtaking. It is also a place of incredible beauty. Like many before me, I took a moment to sit on the simple seat beside it and take in the view - and a moment of perfect peace.

For the rest of the leg, we headed north to Oregan, into the pine forests and beyond, stopping for one night in a cabin by the river. I slept soundly for 6 hours and rose at 2.30am to ride on and back to CO. What an incredible and peaceful experience. We will never forget it.