Category: Gear

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I’m a big fan of electric motorcycles. I like electrical stuff in general and I spent most of my working life as an electrician with benefits. Harley’s new Livewire E-Hog is an impressive first effort but at $30,000 dollars a copy it is a lousy deal compared to E-bikes from other manufacturers. You can easily beat the Livewire in both speed and distance for half the cost but that’s not the Livewire’s major problem.

The Livewire’s problem is industry-wide. Harley and those other guys are trying to duplicate the internal combustion experience with an electric motorcycle and they are burning a lot of joules doing it. Electric motorcycles are not direct IC replacements and their riders understand this.

For motorcycles, battery technology today is not compact enough and recharges too slowly for a rider with no fixed destination in mind. Until manufacturers can agree on a standard-sized, easily swappable battery pack we are stuck waiting for the bike. The first battery operated power tools were like this: you had to plug the whole tool in and wait. No work could be done until the thing was charged.

With standard-sized batteries (within a product line) cordless power tools have nearly supplanted the old, outlet-bound stuff. It takes only a second to swap in a new battery and you are back on the job doing whatever it is that you do. No one has range anxiety because there’s always a hot battery in the charger ready to use. Tesla is working on speeding up charge wait times by swapping the huge battery in their cars and it only takes a few minutes. When an electric vehicle can pull up to a gas station and swap in a charged battery as fast as I can change my power drill battery they will have become viable transportation.

The reality is, manufacturers are not going to standardize battery sizes. The best we can hope for is a battery changeable along the lines of the power tool situation: each battery is specific to the brand. Even that will not happen soon and maybe if you move the goal posts it doesn’t need to happen for the majority of users.

That leaves commuting back and forth to work as the ideal use for an electric motorcycle. You can have a charging source at both ends of the ride and you will be busy working or puttering about the house while the bike charges so there’s no down time. Give up on the idea of e-bikes matching IC bikes in all instances. The highest and best use of electric motorcycles is a situation where you have time to kill between rides.

I know The Motor Company is not going to listen to me, but here goes: Harley, stop making expensive, high performance electric motorcycles. I’ve seen your lighter weight electric bikes and they are so far removed from the traditional Harley-Davidson customer they might as well be electric Buells.

Harley’s marketing for as long as I can remember has been based on heritage. Timeless styling and traditional products have served you well. For a successful E-bike look to your past and the Topper scooter; it’s the ideal commuter platform to modernize (not too much) and electrify. The boxy rear section can hold a huge battery bank without looking like it’s holding a huge battery bank. It’s a classic form that simply drips Harley-Davidson heritage and the youth of America will go gaga over the styling. Keep the thing below $4000 so a normal person can afford one. You’ll have to outsource most of the drivetrain components to keep the price reasonable but you can slap the parts together in an old V-Rod factory and call it made in the USA!

Product Review: MY Construction Supply Rebar Caps

We never used re-bar caps back when I was doing construction. I don’t think they had been invented yet. It was a different time: You had to be tough, man and I was. If you tripped and fell onto an exposed re-bar the thing would go clean through you and out the other side. The jobsites I worked on were grisly with dead men impaled on rusting steel. I’ll never forget that smell. In the hot Florida sun the bodies bloated fast, seemingly still alive as they twitched and waved a stiff, blackened hand each time a bubble of gas escaped.

Guys getting skewered on re-bar was so prevalent we didn’t bother to pull them off until it was time to pour the concrete. Why bother, another man will just come along and land on the thing.

I never fell onto a rebar myself. I’ve come close but managed to avoid spearing the bar, because I didn’t run up a bunch of debt going to college or paying exorbitant hospital bills for puncture remedies. Back then people took responsibility for their actions, not like now. Those guys stuck on the rebar? Maybe they should have eaten less fast food or bought a cheaper car. Today you see rebar covers all over construction jobs. It’s all part of the dumbing down of America.

Back to the rebar covers, I’m reinforcing the ground surrounding The Carriage House and there are a bunch of re-bars sticking up from the retaining wall. I’m not so worried about falling onto them (because I made wise life choices) but the damn things are sharp. The bars will eventually be bent down into the formwork and covered with concrete, until then I’m getting cut to ribbons. A good-sized gash to the elbow was the final straw.

At first I was going to use empty beer cans to cap the bars. That visual might be too much for my wife to handle and anyway I’d have to drink like 75 beers to get the job done. I’ve been trying to lose weight by drinking gin and tonics as a calorie saving measure. Processing that many beers through my gastrointestinal system was a non-starter. I found the MY caps online for 50 cents apiece.

The caps fit rebar from 3/8” to ¾”, inside the cap are 4 vanes that conform to the different sizes. It’s a good set up. The bright orange color alerts you to the bar so there’s less tripping and zero cutting on my jobsite.

They’ve been out in the sun for a few weeks and the color hasn’t faded yet. Kind of funny that the packaging says “Does not protect against impalement.” Which is the main reason you buy the damn things. I suspect some cell-phone owning construction worker fell 13 floors onto the MY cap and managed to sue the company.

Go ahead and call me a nanny-state mason. I deserve it. I guess you could say I’m getting soft in my old age. Seeing all those orange caps sitting atop the rebar makes me sad. I miss the old ways. I miss personal responsibility. And, funnily enough, I miss that smell.

What’s The Bright Idea?

The Husqvarna 510 SMR came stock with a 35-watt/35-watt incandescent headlight bulb that was nearly useless. I say nearly because when it was lit it provided a weak beam limiting nighttime speeds to 30 miles per hour. But it was worse than that because for some reason the motorcycle constantly blew the bulb leaving me to get home using the little parking light bulb (which never blows out). The plastic headlight fixture shows signs of melting even with the standard bulb so I set about trying to find a better idea.

Husky uses an S-type light socket base like you’ll find in scooters and mopeds. This bulb was used as my baseline for temperature and current draw. I figured if I didn’t exceed the standard bulb on these two measurements the plastic headlight should survive and the electrical system would be able to keep up with the program. Baseline was 2.5 amps @ 13-volts and 230 degrees. I did all the tests using highbeam.

The stock incandescent light surprised me. It’s the oldest technology, they’ve been around more than a hundred years, yet it wasn’t the worst of the bunch. I had to try and find something better, though.

I bought the LED bulb off of Ebay and I have no ratings on it because I can’t find it for sale again. The bulb has no markings. It was like a one-shot deal I guess. The reason I chose this one was that unlike the other LEDs it didn’t have the large heat sink or cooling fan behind the bulb. It was a direct fit for the Husky’s push-and-twist bulb socket. The LED used so little power I had to check a few times to believe it. Only 0.14 amps were required to fire the thing up! It also ran much cooler than the other bulbs, producing only 134 degrees. I’m thrifty so I loved the thing but there’s a reason those other LED bulbs have such a big big cooling system: The light output from the minimalist LED was weaker than the stock bulb by a lot.

The halogen was a 50-watt high and low beam. I tried to find a 35-watt halogen but couldn’t at the time. I’ve since found a 35-watt and I’m going to get one and try it. As you would expect, the higher wattage bulb drew more current and ran much hotter: 4.9 amps and 337 degrees (still rising fast). I stopped the test early because I didn’t want to melt my headlight shell. The Halogen was very bright and did a great job projecting all that power to the front. It was the brightest bulb by far. I’d love to be able to run the halogen but I think I’ll have a meltdown if I do.

I found a HID bulb-ballast combination with a multi-fit base that would fit in the Husky’s socket but I would have to gut the contacts to allow the harness passage through. I didn’t want to do this so I just held the bulb in the reflector housing. It was a disappointing bulb consuming more power and putting out less light than the incandescent bulb. If you’ve ever had one of those adjustable, wide/narrow beam flashlights you know how little it takes to change the beam pattern. Bulb position is critical for good output and the HID must not have been in alignment with the reflector’s focal point.

In the video link you’ll see the four bulbs I tested and the statistics on each one. All the bulbs had their pros and cons but none of them solved the problem. I ended up using the LED even though the bulb was the weakest. I was going on a trip to Utah and wanted to see if it would stay together longer than the incandescent. It is still going after 2400 miles. The stocker never lasted as long.

I think I will have to replace the entire headlamp on the Husky to get a decent light. The plastic construction limits how much wattage I can use and is borderline melting at stock levels of heat. I don’t ride much at night but sometimes you get caught out and have to muddle through. I added a bright off-road light to the Husqvarna just for those situations.

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Loaded for bear…

Good buddy Jason, a Ruger No. 1 in .338 Win Mag, and a 400-lb, 7-ft Alaskan black bear.

As the title of this blog implies and in this case, my good buddy Jason was literally loaded for bear. For several years I had owned a Ruger No. 1 single-shot rifle in .338 Win Mag.  That’s a monster of a magnum.  I had never fired the rifle and I sold it to Jason. He told me he was going on a bear hunt in Alaska (something I’ve always wanted to do), and I was happy to the see the rifle go to a good home. Most recently, Jason sent the photo you see above and a recap of his hunt to me to share here on the ExNotes blog. Here you go, folks!

It all started in 2016 when I purchased my first Ruger No. 1 in 338 Win Mag from Joe.  I’ve always wanted a Ruger No. 1, but I already had a Winchester Model 70 in 338 Win Mag. I planned to go on a bear hunt in 2018, so what I did was sell my Winchester Model 70 to my best friend, who went on the bear hunt, too. I would be using my Ruger No. 1. So this is a story about me and my new rifle and our quest for a big Southeast Alaskan black bear. It was a guided hunt through Alaskan Coastal Outfitters.

Our base camp was on a boat and in the evening we would take a skiff and cruise around all the little islands and bays looking for the right bear. We saw lots of bears (a lot of sows with cubs). We also saw a lot of boars. On Day 4 of our hunt we saw a really nice bear. We got as close as we could without spooking him. My guide told me to get out of the boat and he held the boat still for me. Then, as I was pulling my leg over the side of the boat I got hooked on to the edge of the boat and I fell face down in 8 inches of water.

The bear ran off and my beautiful Ruger No.1 was laying in 8 inches of salt water, so we raced back to the boat, took the rifle apart, and cleaned it up so it was like new.

The next day we went out again and this time I was extra cautious not to fall in when we came across the bear you see in the picture. He was about 300 yards from the skiff when we spotted him. We got as close as we could without spooking him, which was about 140 yards, and my guide kept on asking me if I could make the shot. I always answered “yes, no problem.” I lay down and rested my rifle on my pack. Wouldn’t you know it, I had to lay down in a little creek so I got wet again. We lay there for what seemed to be an eternity. My guide made sure it was a boar and not a sow. Finally, he gave me the OK.

Just then, the bear turned so he had his back to me (so I couldn’t shoot). It gave me an opportunity to situate my follow-up shot. I decided the quickest way to get a follow-up shot (if I needed one) was to shoot with the next round in my hand.

The bear finally turned broadside and I dropped the hammer. I hit him just behind the shoulder and he dropped. My guide backed me up with a 375 H&H rifle, but he didn’t need to fire it. The bear went down, and when we reached him, we saw he was the monster he appeared to be from a distance. The bear measured 7 feet and weighed about 400 lbs.

Jason, that’s an awesome story and a magnificent photograph.  I was sorry to see that rifle go, but it obviously went to a good home and you sure put it to good use.  You know, it takes a real sportsman to do what you did…going after bear with a single-shot rifle.   Congratulations on a successful hunt, and thanks much for sharing your adventure with us here on the ExhaustNotes blog!

Read our other Tales of the Gun stories!

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Tested to Destruction: Haix Boots

My second pair of Haix boots. They’re comfortable as slippers, they last forever, and they are perfect for adventure riding. These will last me until 2027, I think.

You read Joe Gresh’s Tested to Destruction piece on Rossi Boots.   When I read it, I immediately thought of my Haix boots.   My first pair lasted more than 10 years.  After they finally wore out I tried a less expensive brand, but then I went back to Haix.   I had worn the best; no substitute would ever be as good.  Haix is pronounced “hikes” and they are, simply put, the best footwear I’ve ever owned.

I happened upon my first pair of Haix almost accidentally.  The story goes like this:  My good buddy Mike, whom I’ve known since the 7th grade, is a retired police chief.   He worked his way up through the ranks of a major metropolitan city on the east coast, became Director of that department (it’s the top spot), and retired.   Mike goes to the International Association of Police Chiefs conventions every year, in 2004 that convention was here in Los Angeles, and Mike invited me to go with him.   It was a cool experience and we had a blast.

I had a to have a police connection to get in to the event, so Mike deputized me as the Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police.  My new position included a cool official-looking police ID card and I asked if I could get a gun out of the deal.  Mike’s answer was a curt “No,” but hey, I tried.   We had a hell of a time at that convention.   There was all kinds of interesting gear on display.   Guns.  Helicopters.  Police motorcycles.  Patrol cars. Surveillance equipment.  You get the idea.  Oh, yeah.  And boots.  I’ll get to that in a second.

Facial recognition software. You know, Big Brother. That’s me and Mike being dropped into the data base.

There were cool guys there, too.  Mike introduced me to Willie Bratton, senior FBI executives, and the head of the CHP (I asked that guy if he could help me with a speeding ticket and no one laughed…I thought it was funny as hell).  We saw all kinds of cool  gear, including a police helicopter that you could climb into.   I did that and immediately starting pushing buttons from the pilot’s seat.  One sent power to the turbine starter, the turbine started to whir, and the blades actually started to move.   Mind you, all of this was indoors at the Staples Convention Center. Wow, talk about people descending on us quickly!  When we walked by that helicopter later, it was roped off.  You couldn’t sit in it any more, thanks to me.

Oh, yeah. The starter worked.  We’re still laughing about that one!

But I digress.  The point of this story was that one of the vendors displaying their goods was the Haix boot company, whom I had never heard of before.  The boots looked good, I tried a pair on, and they felt great.   Think slippers for comfort level, great support, and a cool combat boot look.  They were $200, but I was in.   The guy told me to take the pair I had tried on, and they would invoice me later.

I wore those boots everywhere for the next 10 years, and I always wore them on my motorcycle rides.  That included the 2005 Three Flags Rally, tons of weekend rides, tons of Baja rides, the Hells Loop Rally, and lots more.  They were waterproof, unlike motorcycle-specific boots they were comfortable to walk around in, they were lightweight, and they just felt great.  After more than 10 years of abuse, though, the soles started to separate during the Western America Adventure Ride in 2015.   I remember Gresh picking up some Shoe Goo for me in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which got me another year of use.  But finally, I had to give in.  It was time for a new pair.

Yours truly on the right, wearing my first pair of Haix boots, in 2005. Marty and I were standing in front of Lake Louise in Canada. We rode in the 2005 Three Flags Classic Rally from Mexico to Canada.

I cheaped out and bought a pair of S.W.A.T.-brand boots on the Internet prior to leaving for the Colombia ride.  They were stiff, they were uncomfortable, and after 5 days of riding through the Andes Mountains’ heat, humidity, and rain, they were toast.  My take on it is that the S.W.A.T. brand is probably good for kicking butts and taking names, but they didn’t make it for me as a comfortable motorcycle boot.  Nope, I needed me another pair of Haix.

Then good buddy Mike came to the rescue.  There was another IACP convention (in San Diego, this time), I was Deputy Dawg again, and I shelled out $200 for my second pair of Haix.  Which I’m wearing now, knowing they’re worth every penny of that $200.   In 2027, I’ll be due for my third pair, and you can bet I’ll be going for HAIX again.  I’m just hoping that the 2027 IACP convention will be here in southern California.

Mini Motor Madness

There is a universe of product testers who thrive on YouTube. The oddest bit of kit has at least three reviews and the information is almost always valuable. I never buy anything without checking YouTube first. I’ve had my eye on these little motorized bicycle kits for years and after watching several videos showing the kits as fairly good quality I finally pulled the trigger.

The amount of equipment you get for $108 and free shipping from Amazon is amazing. The kit is complete, no need to go to the hardware store for an extra widget or a bolt. Some of the U-Tubers replaced the nuts and bolts with higher spec stuff but it’s not necessary.

The kit comes with a zillion parts bagged by function. On the carburetor, behind the idle screw old school motorcyclists will recognize the tickler, a plunger device that drowns the carb float causing fuel to spill into the engine. The function of the tickler is to enrich the fuel/air ratio for cold starting. Kind of like a choke except more flammable.

Amazon has pages and pages of bicycle motors and most of them look like the one I bought. Prices range from $90 to $200 for what looks like the same exact thing. There are 50cc kits and 80cc kits so I opted for the 80cc. YouTubers will tell you the 80cc engine measures out to around 60cc, which is a good thing because the engine fins don’t look large enough to cool a bigger bore. You can also buy 4-stroke kits but then you’d be no friend of mine. The main reason I sprung for this one was because it came with a chrome exhaust pipe.

The transmission is a one speed, manual clutch set up and you’ll get the throttle, throttle cable with a matching grip for the left side. A clutch lever with a push button latch allows you to disengage and lock the clutch for pedaling the bike as normal. Included on the throttle housing is a kill button that plugs into the ignition coil. Wiring couldn’t be easier as there are only two wires and I’m guessing it doesn’t matter how they connect.

The hokiest part of the conversion is attaching the rear sprocket. Your average bicycle has no way to connect a rear sprocket so you have to use two rubber discs, three steel plates and the sprocket to sandwich the spokes. This seems like a bad idea from many angles but YouTubers say it works ok. Centering the sprocket is critical along with adjusting run-out. A flimsy looking chain idler pulley is included to keep the included chain from sawing through the lower frame rail but again, the Tubers say it ends up working well. Careful adjustment of the motor in the frame may eliminate the need for an idler. That’s what I’ll be shooting for.

When I say complete I mean complete. You’ll get a chain guard, a petcock, a sparkplug and even fuel hose. Unless you want upgraded components there is really nothing else to buy.

The kit comes with a cool teardrop gas tank that bolts to the top frame tube. The tank comes glossy black and would look great sitting atop an 80 cubic-inch Indian flathead drag bike. Handwrite “The Jewel” on the side of the tank in that yellow junkyard paint and you will win all the bike nights.

The sheer quantity of parts for $108 makes me happy (a fringed T-shirt for a Harley costs $100). For me, it almost doesn’t matter it the thing works or not. I like looking at all the new pieces. My next step is to find an older, one speed, balloon-tired 26-inch bicycle for a host. One with curving frame tubes and chrome fenders. I’ll let you know when I find it and I’ll do a story on the install and road test of the little motor.

Tested to Destruction: Rossi Boots

We’re starting a new feature here on ExhaustNotes.us called Tested To Destruction. TTD will be a life-cycle product test from purchase to the dumpster. You’ll not find so complete a product test anywhere else on the Internet, go ahead and look around. Due to the long test periods involved some of the products may be discontinued and no longer available. There’s not a lot we can do about that. One other note: By definition we are testing to destruction so all products will fail in the end. It happens to the best. Nothing lasts forever.

I first became aware of Rossi boots in Australia. Nearly every tradesman wore the things and the ones I spoke to raved about the classic, made in Australia boot. I was on extended leave in the outback and needed a tough boot for hiking and camping so I bought a pair of Rossi Enduras. The Rossies aren’t cheap (like me) but I splurged and who doesn’t love having boots named after the greatest modern-era motorcycle road racer?

The Rossies were comfortable from Day One. No blisters or slipping, soft and flexible with pull tabs and elastic sides to make installation a breeze. No wonder the Tradies wore them. That first pair lasted through Australia and back in the States through several boat rewires.

In my real job I worked in very oily conditions. The bilge of a commercial fishing boat is full of slimy gunk. Unlike every other boot or canvas shoe I have purchased, the Rossi soles stayed firmly attached to the uppers. The Rossies easily outlasted four pairs of regular boots.

One thing that disintegrates after a couple years is the rubber liner inside the bottom of the boot. This liner is supremely comfortable when new and I guess you can replace it with another liner. This has happened with both pairs I’ve owned. When mine fell apart I pulled out the pieces and kept on pouring concrete. The boot is still comfy without the liner, just less so.

The boots in the photo are my second pair of Rossies and they have gone through the wringer on countless construction jobs. Imagine: 2 pairs of boots for over 5 years of hard use. I used to go through work boots every 6 to 9 months. My second pair, like the first, never came apart and I’m retiring them only because they look so bad people keep offering me money for a cup of coffee.

I wear these boots when riding motorcycles, dirt or street. The comfort is great and being able to easily slip them off on hot rides is so nice. I know slip-on boots may fly loose in a crash situation so save your breath: I make my gear choices for me. You make your gear choices for you. Anyway, Flat Earthers and Vaccine Deniers tell me it’s safer to be thrown clear of the boot in an accident.

You can buy Rossi boots online but make sure to get the ones made in Adelaide, Australia. They’re not very stylish and you can expect to pay a lot but it’s like you’re getting four pairs of boots for the price of one. There are several boots that look the same as Rossies but are lower quality. Shop wisely.

Reloading Part I: Equipment and Components

The finished product:  Reloaded .45 ACP ammunition. This handcrafted ammo is tailored for my 1911, and it is much more accurate than factory ammunition.  Our blogs on reloading will cover the equipment and components needed, and the steps involved, in reloading ammo for the .45 Automatic.

I’ve had a few requests for a blog on reloading.   You know, not just favored loads for different cartridges, but how to go about reloading.  I know it can be a bit intimidating if you’ve never done it, but (trust me on this), learning how to reload adds an entirely new dimension to shooting, and many of us view reloading as being as much fun as shooting.  In fact, one of my friends often jokes about shooting…he says it’s what we do so we get to reload ammo again.

A very cool guy named Roy Johnson taught me how to reload when I was in the Army.   I was assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas, and Roy ran the Rod and Gun club there.  Roy was a colorful El Paso fixture, and they named the road to the Rod and Gun club Roy Johnson Lane when he died.  I was 22 years old when Roy taught me how to reload, and I’ve been reloading ever since.

I thought I would approach this topic in two or three parts, with the first blog focused on the equipment and components you’ll need to reload, and a subsequent blog or two on the actual reloading process.  I had to pick a cartridge, so I thought I would start with the first one I learned to reload:  The .45 ACP.

With that as a backdrop, here we go…

Reloading reverses the process of firing a bullet, and reversing that process requires several pieces of equipment.

One part of the equipment list is the dies that force the fired brass case back into shape (the brass expanded during firing) and knock the used primer out of the case.

A set of RCBS carbide dies for the .45 ACP cartridge.
A die set consists for a pistol cartridge typically includes three dies. From left to right, they are the resizing die (it sizes the brass case back to original dimensions and punches the primer out of the case), the expander die (it opens and flares the case mouth to accept the new bullet), and the seating die (it seats the new bullet in the case and removes the case mouth flare).

I stick with RCBS dies, as I’ve learned over the years they work best, but there are other manufacturers out there.  I also use Lee dies for a few of the cartridges I reload (they are typically less expensive than RCBS dies, and they are as good).  An added advantage of the Lee dies is that they include the shellholder with the die set, so you don’t have to buy a separate shellholder and pay extra for it.  I don’t care for Hornady dies, but as they say, your mileage may vary.  I’m the guy doing the writing here, so I’ll share my experiences and preferences, and I like RCBS and Lee.  A new set of RCBS carbide dies are a little north of $50; Lee dies are typically $10 to $15 less than the RCBS dies (and like I said earlier, the Lee dies come with a shellholder).

The business end of the carbide resizing die. The red arrow points to the carbide insert.

I use carbide dies for pistol cartridges.  A carbide die has a super-hard carbide insert that interfaces with the brass case, and it allows you to squeeze the case back to its unfired configuration without having to lubricate the case first.  The downside is that carbide dies are slightly more expensive than non-carbide dies.  For straight-walled pistol cartridges, there are three dies in a set.  We’ll discuss in more detail what each does in Part II of this series.

You will also need a reloading press and a shellholder for the brass cartridge case.   I use an RCBS Rockchucker press I bought new nearly 50 years ago when Roy Johnson taught me how to reload.  A good press lasts forever.

The RCBS Rockchucker reloading press. A good one lasts forever. The red arrow points to the shell holder. Different cartridges take different shell holders. We’ll see how all this stuff is used in Part II of our reloading series.

A scale is necessary for measuring propellant charges (also referred to as powder).   Several companies offer scales specifically designed for reloading.

My RCBS reloading scale. Like the Rockchucker press shown above, I’ve been using this for a half century.

It’s a good idea to have reloading trays for the cartridges.   These are relatively inexpensive, and they seem to last forever, too.

Reloading trays. These hold the brass cases we are going to reload, and allow for easy tracking and inspection of each reloading process step.

A powder dispenser allows you to dispense the correct amount of propellant in each cartridge case.

A powder dispenser, and the propellant I like to use for loading .45 ACP ammunition. I bought that dispenser back in the day, along with the scale and the press. My preferred propellant is Unique.

At this point, we’ve covered the equipment necessary; let’s now turn to the components.  One is the propellant you see in the photo above.  As seen in the photo below, for the .45 ACP cartridge, I prefer Unique.

You’ll need previously-fired cartridge cases.  You can also buy new brass that has never been loaded if you don’t have any, or you can buy factory ammo, shoot it, and save the brass.  I don’t think I’ve ever purchased new brass for the .45 ACP, mostly I had plenty available from my days in the Army.  The .45 ACP cartridge is a relatively low-pressure cartridge, and the brass seems to last forever.  I’ve been reloading the brass you see here for a long time.

Fired .45 ACP brass. It’s dirty. I usually polish mine, but it’s not necessary that you do so. We’ll talk more about that in the next blog.
Polished .45 ACP brass. It cleans up well and it seems to last forever (look at the stamps on the two cases on the left).

You’ll need primers.  The primer is the little cap that the firing pin strikes when you pull the trigger.   There are two or three companies making primers these days.  I usually buy whatever the shop has in stock.  I haven’t found that primers make a difference in accuracy or reliability for handgun shooting.

Winchester primers. We’ll talk about the tool you see below the primers, and how to install the primers, in the next blog.

And finally, you will need bullets.  I’m using moly-coated 230-grain roundnose lead bullets these days, like you see in the photo below, mostly because I have a bunch of them in my reloading locker.  Many other bullet configurations are available.

Bullets. I usually buy them in boxes of 500 because I do a lot of shooting. There are different kinds of bullets available, but that’s a discussion for another time, too. If you’re just starting out and you’re reloading .45 ACP ammo, my advice is to get a 230-grain roundnose bullet in either cast or jacketed flavors. It will feed reliability in nearly any 1911. We’ll talk more about this in the next blog, too.

There’s one other item I strongly recommend you purchase, and that’s a reloading manual.  These manuals list different loads for different cartridges and different bullets and propellants.  The whole idea here is to experiment with these combinations (within the parameters provided by the manuals) to find the recipe that produces the best accuracy and reliability in your gun.  My preference is the Lyman manual, as it lists different bullet manufacturers and cast bullets, too.  You can buy manuals from the bullet manufacturers, but the downside there is they only show data for their bullets.

You can buy all of the equipment separately (as I did a long time ago) or you can buy a complete kit that has everything you need to get started.   RCBS has a kit that goes for about $350.  Lee has a similar kit for a lot less (about $150), and it will get you into the reloading game.  I have a friend who bought the Lee kit a few years ago, he uses it to reload .308 Winchester ammo for his Model 700 Remington, and the ammo he makes routinely delivers 1/2-inch groups at 100 yards.  With either kit, you’ll need to buy the dies required for the cartridge you wish to reload, and the components as described above.

You might be wondering:  Where do you buy this stuff?  Most gun stores sell reloading equipment and components.  Cabela’s and Bass Pro are two that come to mind.  You can also buy components and equipment online from places like Amazon, Midway, Natchez Shooter’s Supply, Grafs, and other places.  Buying the energetic components online gets a bit more complicated (propellants and primers), but the stores can fill you in on that.  In most areas, there’s usually a shop that is known for being the best in your neck of the woods for reloading stuff, and you can find these places with a quick Google search or by asking around.

So there you have it.  I’ve described the equipment and the dies you’ll need to reload the .45 ACP, but the procedures I’ll describe in subsequent blogs will be the same for nearly any handgun cartridge (.38 Special, .537 Magnum, .380, 9mm, .40 S&W, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt).  All you need will be different dies and shellholders, and of course, different types of bullets.

Our next reloading blog will cover the first steps of the reloading process.  Stay tuned; it’s coming up!

Read our other Tales of the Gun stories for the loads we prefer.  Disagree with anything above or want to toss your $0.02 into the discussion?  Hey, there’s a comments section below and we’d love to hear from you.

One last thing…ever wonder what the “ACP” stands for in .45 ACP?  Well, here you go…wonder no more.

Canon S100 Review

The only camera that survived our 40-day, Zongshen RX3 China tour was the one inside my cell phone. My Canon 5D, that weighs a ton, broke its battery door and the 28-135 zoom lens actually fractured and stopped zooming. It sounds like the gears inside are broken. Both were inside a padded camera bag and the bag was wrapped in extra clothing. Don’t let anyone tell you we didn’t pound on those Zongshen RX3’s.

My go-to travel camera, a little Canon S95, also could not survive the rough Chinese trails we explored. The S95 suffered a broken screen and refused to boot up due to a broken top plate. Again, this camera was in my jacket pocket and not rattling around in a bag. We ride hard, you know?

Back in the USA the 5D battery door was an easy $7 fix. The 28-135 zoom lens is still broken and the parts to fix it are nearly as much as a used lens. I may not even replace it as I’ve gotten away from hauling the big 5D on motorcycle trips. It’s a great camera that takes beautiful pictures but magazines and web sites do not require technically perfect photos, only interesting subjects.

The Little S95, by dint of its size was harder to fix. I bought a new top switch plate for $14 and using a microscope, replaced the part without damaging a lot of other parts in the process. To my surprise the little camera booted up and would take photos. The broken screen was slightly annoying but the worse problem was that the front ring did not work anymore. The S95 really needs that ring to operate correctly. I’m pretty sure I broke the ring in the process of installing the top switch. These tiny digital cameras pack a lot of components into a tiny space. Fixing them is nothing at all like concrete work. The S95 was consigned to the busted camera drawer.

Joe Berk and I recently went to Mexico to road test the new Royal Enfield 650 and that trip convinced me that I needed a decent point and shoot camera. The cell phone camera is great but there were times I needed zoom but didn’t feel like digging out the big camera. I wanted a pocket DSLR.

Back to the busted camera drawer and the S95 I went. The parts to fix the screen and the front ring switch cost around $50. Add to that the $14 I had already spent, and the fact that I would probably end up breaking something else while fixing the S95, and things were looking glum for my S95. The little beat up Canon is a great shooter and I’ve had two-page spreads published in magazines with it, so while I hated to give up on an old friend I began to look for a used, working S95.

Prices for used S95’s hover around $100 for a fairly straight, functioning example. The funny thing is the next generation model, the S100, was the same price as the older unit. With a wider and longer lens and a much faster processor than the S95 the only thing making me hesitate was the S100’s bad reputation for a lens error glitch. When the glitch hits the lens stays extended and the machine refuses to take photos. So it’s kind of a major glitch, you know? Here you can see the extra bit of S100 (left) vs S95 (right) wide angle.

Here you can see the extra bit of zoom. S100 on left.

I researched the camera forums and found some S100 owners never have the lens error and of those that did a ribbon wire falling out of its socket was the cause for most of the failures. So I bit on a sweet 100-dollar, S100 that looks like brand new and seems to function perfectly.

The S100 boots up noticeably faster than the S95 but I am never in that much of a hurry. It will burst a bunch of shots faster than the old model. This may come in handy for action shots. The wide-angle lens is only noticeable when comparing both cameras side by side. When it comes to photography, more is always better. I’m happy with the little S100 and can’t wait to try it out on a motorcycle trip. If I ever go on another motorcycle trip, that is.

Baja Riding Gear

The right bike and the right clothes make for good traveling, and this is especially important when you’re riding Baja.   Travel light and travel right is the way to go.  What you don’t want to do is travel like I did on my first Baja trip.  On that one, my Harley looked like that opening scene in The Beverly Hillbillies (you know, the one with everything strapped to Jed Clampett’s old pickup, including Granny in a rocking chair on top).

How not to do it. My old Harley was way overloaded on this early Baja trip.

I guess it all starts with the right bike, and for all of us, that’s the bike we have.   I’ve ridden Baja on many different motorcycles, and they all worked for me.  My preferred bike for Baja riding, though, is my CSC RX3, which I think is perfect (especially with its standard luggage).  I’ve settled on a 250 as the perfect size for real adventure travel (your choice may be different, I’m not trying to pick a fight, and if my choice upsets you, hey, you’re young…you’ll get over it).

My RX3 early in its life. I can pack everything I bring with me on a Baja ride in its luggage. My bike also has a sheepskin seat cover, which makes for a more comfortable ride.

When I’m on the RX3, I can carry everything I need in its two panniers and the top case, with nothing strapped onto the bike with bungee cords.  I don’t like to carry stuff outside the luggage, because everything is locked and I can leave the bike when we stop to eat or take pictures without worrying about anyone stealing anything.   I’m usually carrying more than most of the folks I ride with, too, because I’ve got my Nikon DSLR, a laptop computer, the power supply and cord for the laptop, the recharger for the camera battery, an extra camera battery, and a laptop mouse.  I need to keep the beast fed (i.e., this blog), and I blog daily from the road.   The top case is devoted to the computer and the camera gear.  I keep tools, spare parts (you can read about recommended Baja spares here), and chain lube in the right pannier, and clothes in the left pannier.   Remember what I said above…travel light and travel right.

If I’m on a bike that doesn’t have luggage, my preferred approach includes an older Nelson Rigg tailpack and a set of Wolfman soft pannier bags.  That’s all I need.  These two items go on and off the bike easily and they are high quality items.   I bought the Nelson-Rigg tailpack 20 years ago when I rode Baja on my TL1000S, and I bought the Wolfman bags from CSC when I rode Baja with my TT250.  I’ve been impressed with both the Wolfman and Nelson-Rigg brands.   Wolfman, especially…it’s good gear.

My old TL1000S (the first year for that bike…it was a ’97) and the Nelson-Rigg tailpack. The TL is long gone; the tailpack is still covering miles with me.
My TT250 with my Joe Rocket gloves, HJC helmet, Wolfman soft luggage, and Nelson-Rigg Tailpack (the same one you see on the TL1000S above, but 20 years later in this photo).  All good gear.

My helmet is another item I bought from CSC.  It’s an HJC and I like it.  It’s not heavy (which makes a huge difference when you’re covering hundreds of miles day after day) and it’s comfortable.  I’ve tried others, but I keep coming back to the HJC line.   I have a Scorpion, but it doesn’t have a visor position that allows opening the visor slightly for air flow.  Others don’t form a good seal between the visor and the helmet, so when it rains the visor gets wet on both the inside and the outside.  Nope, for me that HJC works.

The HJC helmet I currently use. It’s comfortable and it’s not heavy.

My jacket is made by Olympia.  I like it because of the color (fluorescent yellow), and the fact that it is all one color.  Most (maybe all) of the other fluorescent yellow jackets available today have black panels along with the fluorescent yellow and I don’t care for that approach.  My jacket has a removable liner and it keeps me warm, and at night if it’s cool and I’m off the bike, I can wear just the liner as a light jacket.

A selfie showing my Joe Rocket gloves and my Olympia riding jacket. I didn’t realize it when I bought it, but keeping that Oly jacket on the road required more maintenance than the motorcycles.

I should mention that I hated the Olympia jacket the first two years I owned it.  Olympia used cheap stitching when they had these made, and most of it came undone.  Every time I washed that jacket, more stitching came apart.  Oly wouldn’t make good on it (they were quick to point out that the jacket had a 1-year warranty).  I paid a tailor to resew all the seams, though, and after that, it stayed together (even after repeated washings).  It’s the jacket I wear most often now.

I always bring along my R Heroes 505 workshirt, an ultra-high quality sweatshirt I wrote about in an ExNotes blog a few months ago.  I own two of these shirts (one of which has held up for 10 years now).  It’s warm and it’s extremely comfortable.  It’s also loose enough that if you’re carrying a concealed sidearm, it provides good coverage (don’t do that in Baja, though). I love my R Heroes shirts.

My R Heroes 505 workshirt. I love it.

I wear Walmart jeans (I’m not into fancy jeans and I think anybody that pays big bucks for blue jeans is bonkers) and an old set of motorcycle pants.  On  warmer days, the motorcycle pants go into one of my bags and it’s just the jeans.  On cooler days or if it’s raining, I wear both.  My motorcycle pants are water resistant but not waterproof (if the rain lasts long enough, they’ll soak through).   Every year or so, I’ll spray the paints with Kiwi water repellant to refresh the Scotchguard.  I’m kind of embarrassed that I don’t know who made the motorcycle pants.  I’ve had them for more than 20 years and the labels are long gone.

My gloves are Joe Rocket.  Joe Rocket gear is reasonably priced and the quality is there.  I have two pair.  I cut off the right index finger tip off on one so I can work my iPhone when I’m using it as a nav system.  I also have an older set of BMW cold weather riding gloves, and they work gangbusters. I think I paid a hundred bucks for the BMW gloves (everything that says BMW is big bucks), but on supercold mornings, I’m constantly reminded that was money well spent.

The last item I’ll mention are my boots.  I’m not a big fan of any of the motorcycle-specific boots because they are too big, too heavy, and too uncomfortable when you get off the bike.  I like military or police style boots, and my preferred brand is from an outfit called HAIX.  They’re Austrian (the boots are actually manufactured in Croatia).  They’re expensive (about $200), but they are worth it. The first pair I bought lasted 10 years.   I bought a new pair a year or two ago, and I’ll get 10 years with them, too.