600 miles at extra-legal speeds

"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion) 05/21/2018 at 14:20 • Filed to: None

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Miata trip review

We’ll keep it short and sweet (which is what I always think to myself before rambling on for paragraph after paragraph, but uh. This time, for sure!)

Earplugs SIGNIFICANTLY reduced overall driving fatigue. Unsure as to why I didn’t use them sooner.

I removed my front lip spoiler that kept rubbing on the beefy winter tires, allowing me to soften up the compression and go from rock-hard glass track setting to more of an old school Buick floaty ride. That was also huge. It’s been a long time since I’ve driven the Miata with a mellow ride.

Engine did fine on I5, seemed happy to stay above 80 with the rest of traffic, with occasional higher speeds on empty stretches. Once the PNW Oppo group made it to the actual cruise route things were a bit more challenging. Uphill, super high-speed sweepers meant I was downshifting often and trying to stay at the absolute top of the powerband. Basically stayed at 6000+ rpm for the entire cruise to (somewhat) keep up with the ST twins and.... Well. No, I’m not even going to try saying I kept up with the liter bikes.

No overheating though! Alternator belt loosened quite a bit over the course of the weekend, and I’m unsure if that’s because of hard driving or something else. When I checked it there was a good 1.5 inches of belt deflection! I ended up spending about three minutes every startup waiting for voltage to climb, but it did eventually get to safe levels so I just put that in the “fix it when you get home” list.

Oh and I was still running general arctic altimax winter tires (or whatever they’re called). Pushed them fairly hard, with quite a bit of tail shimmying under heavy braking. I also realized that with these tires and high temps, I can do burnouts on dry ground! Woo-hoo!

All in all the car handled the long drive much better than expected. Tightened the alternator belt when I got home (I know I know, I’ll replace it soon I promise) and boom. Good as new.

Except now I need a bike in my life. AMGtech’s Monster and Decay’s Street Triple (right?) really solidified the desire for some two wheeled fun. Motorcycle endorsement class is already in the works, and I’ve started ordering riding gear. Once the job thing is all worked out I’ll start looking for a bike.

Oh and my alternator is missing a bolt, which probably contributed to the whole loosening thing. Rats.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 14:26

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#mazdalife

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 14:26

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Kinja’d

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/21/2018 at 14:31

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You’ve been hit by

You’ve been hit by

A smooth Kinja’d

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 05/21/2018 at 14:32

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Yeah, I saw that. I edited one of them to remove the picture

gettingoldercarguy > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 14:43

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Looks like fun, wasn’t able to attend because real life. I’ll say what every motorcyclist hates to hear. Be safe and wear your gear. I still have a bunch of tpro gear that I wore underneath my clothing whenever I rode.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 14:51

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This whole time I was assuming you had taken out your headlight motors and fixed them in the up position. Then I think it was studystudystudy who snapped a pic with them down. Blew my mind.

sony1492 > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 15:04

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Earbuds work well as earplugs and their a little harder to lose.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 15:25

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You know what’s really impressive about the street triple? It’s only 675cc but still only down 20hp on my 1200cc. Granted I have a much larger power band and way more torque, but triumph kills it with their bikes.

AestheticsInMotion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/21/2018 at 15:56

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So true. That pulley is painful to look at

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 15:57

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Muahaha soon the two-wheel-transformation of oppo will be complete!!!

AestheticsInMotion > gettingoldercarguy 05/21/2018 at 15:58

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After seeing how fast those bikes were hitting triple digits... Yeah. I don’t think I’ll have a problem remembering to always wear protection. Hopefully you can make it next time!

AestheticsInMotion > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 05/21/2018 at 15:59

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That is impressive. I was definitely looking at Triumph, but there’s a Ducati dealership practically down the street from me that I visited this morning.... They’re just so beautiful

AestheticsInMotion > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 05/21/2018 at 15:59

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Haha nope. I’ve just started leaving them up more. Not sure why...

AestheticsInMotion > DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By 05/21/2018 at 16:00

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Seriously. Somehow I went from wanting to buy a nice luxury car to compliment the Miata, to basically a more hardcore version of a Miata

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 16:04

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tottally worth it though, just be safe! Gear and safety course first shows you are way ahead of the curve compared to Joe Squid on his showroom fresh r3 and flip flops.

What style bike are you looking at?

AestheticsInMotion > DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By 05/21/2018 at 16:08

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I had a 250 ninja in high school which was a blast. And I loved the street triple and Monster 1200 I saw on the meet. I’m thinking something that bridges the gap between those two levels. Craigslist Sv650?

The Monster 821 is pulling at my heartstrings tho. As is the Indian scout bobber, but I’d rather have a sportier bike. Any recommendations?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 16:15

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I was really impressed by how well you were sticking to the road on those winters.

You shouldn’t feel even the slightest bit bad about not keeping up with us. The STs put down depressing 0-60 times, but starting at 40+ most cars cannot keep up. Mine has nearly constant torque around the headline rating from ~2.2k through about 5.5k, so I barely have to keep it in a power band, it’s always in there.

Some of the uphill traffic was a little tough. The most frustrating was when I was getting sandblasted by that silly CUV and Dart (this was where the rock landed on your head, I believe). The CUV just ignores the whole stay right thing, then when they finally get over the Dart tries to pass the CUV, all the while both are just pounding us with gravel. The Dart driver was like, “I look fast, so I must be fast, right? Right? RIGHT?”, as they are barely able to pass the CUV and we just blow their doors off (my hope was to get a handful more cars in the group past them before we lost the passing zone). I’m not sure how many succeeded because I was driving completely open roads with nobody visible in my rear view when I pulled over to wait for the group.

Glad to hear that the Miata did well, even with the intermittent charging problem. I’m still amazed that your car doesn’t have a spring-loaded tensioner.

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 16:17

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Id stay away from the Indian if you want anything sporty for sure. Monsters are fun for sure, just be prepared for ducati maintenance (mine needs valve adjustments every 6K miles and belts every 12K, but alas the price you pay for Italian soul).

You could look into something like a KTM duke, something a bit different from all the sv650s. Nothing against them, they are pretty much the miata of bikes lol, they can do everything. It will just come down to European vs Japanese and the pros and cons of each.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 16:42

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Monster 797's and scramblers are manageable as starter bikes too! But not a street triple, that’s a lot of bike, unless you have amazing self control, but even then...

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 17:00

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Lol to each his own. I only put mine up when using the headlights or washing the car... which I really need to do here soon.

I had considered removing the motors to save like 10-20lbs? (I forget), but then I might as well have bought an nb haha. Love the pop up lights!

Oh btw 270mm was the way to go with the broadway... perfect size. Not sure if you ordered a replacement yet. Sh*t is dope.

gettingoldercarguy > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 18:34

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Great! Yeah, I’d like to make it to one. The speed isn’t super crazy on the drive is it? I try to save that stuff for the track.

AestheticsInMotion > gettingoldercarguy 05/21/2018 at 21:31

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There was a wide range. The drive itself was almost entirely high-speed, super wide sweepers, not much tight stuff. I’m unsure of the actual speed limit, but we had people driving under it, at it, slightly above, well above, and impound the car (bike) levels. So don’t let speed stop you, it certainly wasn’t everyone driving like they were on a track. Plenty of check in points to get the group together again too

AestheticsInMotion > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 05/21/2018 at 21:38

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The only sketchy thing with them was braking. But by the next cruise I’ll be on summers with my suspension system basically at the highest level a Miata can currently be using off-the-shelf parts.... Cannot wait.

I definitely noticed that powerband. I’d be behind FortLangley going 50 uphill, then all of the sudden when a passing lane opened up he’d be 100 feet ahead and I’d have to downshift into redline to get back up. Still, it was a blast. I’m used to tighter curves where I carry momentum and don’t have to string the engine out too much, just relying on tire and throttle to keep me in the lane. This is the first time I’ve wrung it out like that (totally different than the rally style driving in the mountains of skykomish)

gettingoldercarguy > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 22:13

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Coolio, I used to do bike runs where they’re be labeled 2x or 3x the speed limit and then there were cars with highway pulls with some cars doing 120-180 punches or higher. Stupid shit I’ll never do again.

AestheticsInMotion > gettingoldercarguy 05/21/2018 at 22:37

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Yeah that’s nuts. I seem to recall hearing about that somewhere.... Maybe it was you?

We definitely had some fast drivers but nothing like that. I topped the Miata out at 110 for a second on an empty highway, the bikes did some high-speed passing (legally, dotted lines) in the mountains... But for the most part just going the speed that’s enjoyable and safe for each vehicle and driver. There were kids and spouses along too, pretty diverse group.

gettingoldercarguy > AestheticsInMotion 05/21/2018 at 22:53

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I don’t think I’ve mentioned that behavior of mine before. That being said it’s amazing how many people forget the stupid shit they’ve done. Part of the reason attorney’s love contingency contracts.

ateamfan42 > AestheticsInMotion 05/22/2018 at 11:25

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Earplugs SIGNIFICANTLY reduced overall driving fatigue. Unsure as to why I didn’t use them sooner.

I prefer to wear earplugs for any extended driving (> 30 mins) at speeds above 60 mph (with the top down). I really like these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G0PPTAK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1

The attenuation is far less than standard foam plugs (~12 dB vs. 30+ dB), but sufficient to cut out the wind buffeting. I can still listen to the stereo and converse with a passenger.