An Antelope Excursion

This past weekend I was able to knock off one of the items that has been on my bucket list for years; visit the Great Salt Lake.

I went to an island on the Great Salt Lake called Antelope Island. I did a little bit of hiking with my buddy Ryan. Our group rented some kayaks, and wanted to paddle around the White Rock Bay, but as you can tell from the photo, it would have been about a mile walk just to get to the water, and those kayaks were heavy. We decided to stick to the North Bay, because the water was much closer to get to from the parking lot. The lake held up to its name. It was so salty that after the water dried on your skin, it left enough of a salty residue to salt up a meal for 5 by scraping salt off your body.

It was a great day to spend playing with friends on a sandy beach.

A New Vroom

I recently bought a full Yoshimura exhaust for my bike. From the headers all the way down to the exhaust pipe, all stainless steel and new. After market exhausts are normally used for racing, because when installed, they add upwards of 15 horse power to the performance of the bike. Not to mention, it also adds the the meanest growling sound that can be heard blocks away.
My friend Jose helped me to install the Japanese-made Yoshimura R-55 GP exhaust. This is Yoshi's newest racing exhaust, and is particularly made for Suzuki GSXR's.
I also added some other items to my bike including: Frame Sliders, and Swing Arm sliders.
The installation of the exhaust was one of the easiest parts of repairs. Following the installation, it was required to remove some other parts which included the actuator assembly, and disconnecting a certain wire from a wire harness of about 50 different wires. I just had the actuator assembly replaced last summer, and now it is no longer used. It is a cable system controlled by a separate motor which controls the out-flow of exhaust to maximize the power performance for the amount of throttle given. It was a pricey repair. I wish I never replaced it.
Following the installation we decided to check the air filter. Needless to say, it was the dirtiest air filter I've seen.
Installing the frame sliders would have been easy, until we had to drill a 1" hole through the left side cowling. That was a pain. Frame sliders are used to prevent body damage to the bike if it falls over, or is wrecked.
The hardest part of the 5 hour repair process was replacing both side cowlings. Jose said that my bike was the hardest bike he has ever worked on. He is used to working on his Yamaha R6.
I'm ready for some warm weather so I can ride my toy around.

A ReAl Home Win

Working at the RSL game this past Saturday was a ton of fun. I got to work with the Toronto FC commentators and producer during the game. The second home game proved to be everything that real fans want and don't want in a game.

Want: A want for ReAl Salt Lake to show up and play using strategic, action packed moves to win the game. RSL spent most of the game on Toronto's end of the field. RSL had around 13 corner kicks compared to Toronto's 4 corner kicks, and had one goal taken away from them due to a penalty.

Don't Want: Rain and cold temperatures. It rained during the entire second half of the game. Luckily I kept dry the entire game inside the press box, but by the time I got to my car after the game, I was drenched.

After the game coach Jason Kreis was asked what his team could do to improve. He replied, "Nothing. They just need to keep playing like they did tonight." Kreis went on to say, "They played very well tonight and did a very good job passing the ball."

This is the way a champion team is expected to play. This game happens to be the first home win for RSL this season. They currently stand in 7th place of 8 teams in the Western conference with a 2-3-1 (Win-Loss-Tie) record.
Let's hope this win will be #1 of a home win streak. RSL will take on the Philadelphia Union Saturday May 8th @ 2pm at the Rio Tinto Stadium.