South of Boston, MA-Hundreds of passers-by slowed to point and laugh heartily at a trucker who blasted into an overpass on interstate 495, just south of Rt. 24. The truck was carrying upwards of 5 cars, and the topmost one was just high enough to strike the bottom of the overpass. The impact was extreme and sent the car hurtling off the trailer and down to the ground. Damage was considerable and the car is not expected to survive.



The driver, who was unharmed, and his truck (which was similarly unharmed), were not available for comment. Neither were the officials at the scene, as they were too busy herding the gawkers around the carnage. However, we were able to get a few comments from some of the others involved.

“I’m not quite sure how this stuff happens,” said the overpass, which was shaken emotionally but did not sustain any physical injuries. “I’m here all the time. And, a long time ago, someone put up some signs up the road a piece that said exactly how high I was. It’s not like I can get out of the way, and I have a right to be here.” The overpass went on to say that some of his colleagues on Storrow Drive have been victims of the same crime.

Friends of the unidentified victim were visibly distraught: “I’ve never liked riding up here,” said a dark-colored SUV that had been sitting directly behind the victim. There’s a reason England’s the only country who insists on having double-decker buses. Would you feel safe up here?”

The driver of the truck is expected to be charged with cruelty to an overpass and the destruction of one crappy and boring SUV.

2 observations in brief:

1. The shifters on MotoGP competition bikes (and many other race bikes) are reversed: You tick the lever down for upshifts (1-2, 2-3, 3-4, etc.) and up for downshifts. This requires a linkage and pushrod quite different from stock sport bikes, on which you tick up for upshifts and down for downshifts. Since the MotoGP crowd was full of posers, we started checking the shifter linkage on displayed “race” bikes to see if they were legitimate or just fancy-painted stock bikes to wow the crowd. (Some were, some weren’t).

Then, last Wednesday in Georgetown when I was visiting the exorcist stairs (they connect 36th and M streets, if you’re interested), I saw a CBR1000RR with gold-colored brake levers, bar ends, and rear-sets. The first thing I noticed, however, was the golden GP-style shifter linkage that this squid had installed. Good thing I self-trained to notice this bit of rice at the MotoGP.

2. Speaking of the exorcist stairs (the stairs that the priest hurls himself down at the end of The Exorcist), they were…stairs. Before mounting them, you must walk through the parking lot of an EXXON, pass a stinky dumpster, and walk around several parked cars. When I reached the top I couldn’t help but laugh: sitting there were tourists holding a Washington, D.C. tour book. I couldn’t even climb the stairs in peace.

Our discussion so far has dealt with how to get around a track as fast as possible. While it would seem that such a Line would also be the best route around a track during a race, this is not necessarily true. The winner of a race is the driver that finishes first; the clock is irrelevant as long as you are faster than everyone else.

The racing line is simply a modification of the regular Line to position you ahead of the competition. In reality, your line during a race will likely be different with each lap. The cars around you will be in different spots each lap, and your line will need to be modified accordingly. While the best line to take in a race depends heavily on each specific situation you find yourself in, there are a few general modifications to The Line that are applicable in a race. Read the rest of this entry »

We have gone to the Red Bull US Grand Prix MotoGP event for the last two years. The first year our goal was to check out and support the first MotoGP event on US soil in 11 years and so we just got general admissions tickets and found the cheapest place to stay. Using what we learned the first year we planned more intelligently and had a much better time. So for anybody interested in attending this event next year (And I totally recommend it) the following are some suggestions on how to maximize your fun:

1) Get Paddock passes – The MotoGP pits is pretty locked down because they don’t want anybody stealing any secrets, but the AMA pits are completely open and it is amazing to watch their operations. Even in a high stress environment like a qualifying session everybody is calm and does their job precisely. Read the rest of this entry »

However, we have a fairly good reason (well, we really don’t, but we’re going to post a lot of cool stuff soon to make up for it).

For instance, we just got back from the US Motorcycle Grand Prix, or MotoGP at Laguna Seca, where we saw Casey Stoner use a little bit of luck to run away with the win and make another step towards an overall victory. Valentino Rossi, our favorite rider, finished 4th.

But you can read the MotoGP website for all that info.

What you won’t read there is anything about the disturbing lack of protective gear worn by all the bikers and motorcyclists (whichever term you decide is less pansy) who attended the event. I saw just as many t-shirt-and-jeans riders there–at the most serious motorcycle racing event in the US–as I do driving in New Hampshire (where there is no helmet law). And my personal favorite, the helmet-and-gloves, wifebeater-and-shorts ensemble, was out in full force.

I’ve gone down on my bike in full leathers from fairly low speeds and come up with a broken wrist, a badly broken finger (the joint face of my right pinky was crushed; it is now misshapen and I’ve lost full range of motion), and a sprained knee. With that behind me, it seemed so bizarre to be at an event like this, where the competitors are wearing the best available safety gear, and see so few of the fans following suit.

There has always been a lot of confusion about error code 43, the CEL people get when they delete the EGR or their VR4 or Stealth TT. That different years have different systems to monitor EGR system operation causes a lot of the arguing and misinformation that you’ll see on car forums. However, the explanation is quite simple and easy to understand.

Important background:

If your VR-4 or Stealth is a first generation (1991-1993) Federal-spec car, it has no way of monitoring the EGR system. It cannot throw an error code. No exceptions.

If your 3/S is a first generation California-spec car, the EGR valve has a temperature sensor in the top of it. The ECU looks for this sensor to output a certain voltage under certain engine conditions (which I’ll get to shortly). If the ECU does not see the voltage it expects, you WILL get error code 43, the check engine light for EGR. Again, there are no exceptions, no quirky cars, and none of this “well my car didn’t get a CEL even though it has the temperature sensor.”

All hybrid cars–meaning all ‘94-’95 VR-4s and Stealths–work just like California-spec first generation cars. They have temperature sensors in their EGR valves.

All OBDII cars–meaning all ‘96 and later–monitor the EGR valve using the MAP sensor on the intake plenum. They do not have temperature sensors in their EGR valves. This system is more invasive than the temperature sensor system that 1G cali-spec cars and hybrid cars use. THe ECU can closely monitor the operation of the EGR system and is able to tell when the valve is closed and when it is open. This system is more difficult to fool than the temperature sensor system and I have yet to see a simple and effective method of doing it.

Read the rest of this entry »

GhostTowns.com calls Roslyn a “semi-ghost town” with many remaining original buildings.
I went to have a look. The town is a 90 or so mile drive from Seattle, straight out I-90. It is fairly close to Cle Elum and set back a few miles from the highway. It is built into an odd depression in the hills–not quite a valley, so that as you drive through it you get an odd sensation of houses rising up and dropping off. Roslyn was originally a coal-mining town and still feels as if it was thrown together in a rush: houses are behind houses, some have no easy access or are not equally spaced. Many of the buildings appear quite old (though it’s difficult to tell with towns like these the degree to which this is authentic and the degree to which this is created by the town to appease tourists) and quite a few are empty and unused. But Roslyn is hardly a ghost town.

Read the rest of this entry »