Hi All

[Bagger John]

Saw mention of this forum on the other so I joined and recognize some familiar faces. If anyone here ever hung around the VRCC forum you'll remember me by my nick as well.

Currently have an '08 ABS and a '12. May get a Gen3 1400 to round things out once we get moved and combine households. Lady friend prefers to ride on my cruisers though her daughters are big fans of the C14.

[Boomer]

Welcome John. Any pics of the C14s and the baggers? 

[Bagger John]

George,

Plenty - but they're always a work in progress. I'll link a couple of the Valks and get photos of my C14s uploaded too.

ETA: My '01 Interstate, gradually being blacked out (fork covers, wheels and a lot more haven't made it on yet):

[Bagger John]

'99 Tourer, modified (naturally)

[Bagger John]

My '08 ABS. Note the glacier in the background - first ride of that year to the office. Temps were in the low 20s F.

[Bagger John]

2012. It now wears a 2nd-gen Givi V46L trunk. That's going to come off during the next round of upgrades and a ZG1400P police-motor radio box mounted in its place. In addition to being a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast I'm also a licensed radio amateur and this bike (when done) will be the perfect place from which to enjoy both hobbies.

I have some radio equipment aboard it now but that's going to be expanded in coverage and capabilities.

[Bagger John]

Not-quite-latest pic of the 2012. Cams, oil lines, cam supports, buckets and shims have been removed, shims measured, parts ordered.

I'm taking this opportunity to do a thorough cleaning of everything. Pipes, crankcase, bodywork - anything that's normally inaccessible is getting detailed.

[gPink]

Nice work, Sir. 

[Boomer]

Nice bikes 
What bands are you working from the bike(s)?
Many years ago I tried 2m & 70cm and even running colinear antennae the range sucked.
I don't do any RA these days as not enough time in the day.
Hope to do more when/if I retire, maybe even get my HF certification.

[Bagger John]

What bands are you working from the bike(s)?
Many years ago I tried 2m & 70cm and even running colinear antennae the range sucked.
I don't do any RA these days as not enough time in the day.
Hope to do more when/if I retire, maybe even get my HF certification.

Currently, 2/440 and 11 - we use CB on the road a lot here for group rides.

The '08 has the ability to run an FRS/GMRS (462/467MHz) or a MURS (151/154MHz) portable concurrently with the others so if anyone with that type of rig rides with me I can communicate with them as well.

The '12 is going to get an Icom IC-703+ in addition to its FTM-10R. That'll give me 15 through 6M while mobile and 160-6M while portable/camping in addition to 2/440.

[Boomer]

Currently, 2/440 and 11 - we use CB on the road a lot here for group rides.

The '08 has the ability to run an FRS/GMRS (462/467MHz) or a MURS (151/154MHz) portable concurrently with the others so if anyone with that type of rig rides with me I can communicate with them as well.

The '12 is going to get an Icom IC-703+ in addition to its FTM-10R. That'll give me 15 through 6M while mobile and 160-6M while portable/camping in addition to 2/440.

I used to use 10m (FM) CB from the bike here in the UK and 10m (AM) CB in the EU, but when I got my ticket I moved to 2m/70cm as my licence does not cover anything longer than 11m.
I guess your tent will be easy to spot. It'll be the one with the huge rhombic attached 

[Bagger John]

I used to use 10m (FM) CB from the bike here in the UK and 10m (AM) CB in the EU, but when I got my ticket I moved to 2m/70cm as my licence does not cover anything longer than 11m.
I guess your tent will be easy to spot. It'll be the one with the huge rhombic attached 

In the interest of weight and space, I've come up with a neat little travel solution. Actually appropriated it from a diplomatic HF communications package which was sold by a Cali company in the 80s. It's a dipole made of some small gauge but very tough wire. Each reel (side) of the thing is smaller than your average soup can, as is a 75ft roll of RG-174 feedline. Rigging lines and insulators are included with the wire bundles and a center insulator is attached to the -174. The only other piece of hardware I need to carry is an adapter to connect the feedline's BNC to the bike's SO-239.

We tested the whole setup at this year's Field Day. I was making 20M contacts with the antenna a whopping 8ft off the ground, this with 10w from the '703. Our usual camping crew has no shortage of individuals willing to rig support lines for me so getting the thing up 40-60ft in the air shouldn't be much of an issue.