memoryloot

For years I hear people speak of compounding interest like the holy grail to getting rich. Not until I learned the Rule of 72 I appreciated how this worked. Thanks to Dave Ramsey who mentioned it on one of his recent radio shows. He explained that a quick way of calculating how much you will have after 20 years @ a 12% savings rate. It goes something like this:

Monthly savings x 1,000 = Final Earnings in 20 Years

For example, if you save $500 a month for 20 years at 12% interest rate would yield $500,000 (gave or take a thousand or two). $500×1,000 = $500,000

The following formula also will give you the amount of money you would earn after just a lump-sum investment at the same 20 year at 12%:

1 Lump-sum x 10 = Final Earnings in 20 Years

For example, if you save $5,000 in an IRA and left it there for 20 years at 12% would yield $50,000. $5,000×10 = $50,000.

I looked further into it and figured out how he came up with these numbers and discovered that you just divide your saving’s interest rate to 72 and you’ll figure out how much time it will take for your current amount to double.

For example, if you have $10,000 that was getting a 6% return, it would take 12 years for it to double to $20,000. 72/6 = 12.

This provides a good way to estimate how much money you will have at a particular time. Isn’t this great?

Let the birthday season begin! We start off with Kylee’s at Saddle Ranch, Universal City. Yes, nothing like having the waitor stand up on the table and singing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” and having half of your Mai Thai get spilled on you to ring in your special day. Food was good as usual, but the mass of drunk people dancing to music that would might as well be played at a High School dance was a sure indication that the night was going to be an interesting one. And it was. It further confirms that bars and clubs are no longer the pass-time of my choice anymore. I enjoyed my Saturday night spent watching Underworld Evolution, eating In-N-Out burgers, and reading at Barnes & Noble more. Not that I’m saying Saddle Ranch wasn’t fun, its just I prefer to be in a nice, quiet, and relaxed environment. Its just the natural progression of growing up I suppose.

Believe it or not, its easy to change your oil on a motorcycle. At least on my 1999 Yamaha R6, its easy! Hopefully this post will help out those who may think this maybe a daunting task. Daunting only because a single mistake can cost you significant injuries or even worse, your life. And with that, I would like to add that I am not liable for any injuries that may have been the result of this post. I merely describe my experiences. Please use caution and continue at your own risk. Hopefully you still want to read on and learn something new.

This guide should be applicable not only to 1999 R6 but any R6 from 1999-2002. Also, the steps taken here should also help guide oil changes for other sport bikes.

To begin, make sure you have the right tools for the job.

Shown in the picture are 3 quarts of motor oil, 1 oil filter, 1 oil filter tool, 1 torque wrench, and 1 ratchet wrench set. Not shown but is required is a flat-head screwdriver, dirty rag, and a rear motorcycle stand.

An oil container to collect your oil and recycle will help as well. You’re probably wondering, “I don’t have a rear motorcycle stand or a torque wrench.” Well, the motorcycle stand is very helpful if you’re working on your motorcycle. Its also perfect if you park your motorcycle for a long period of time. This way the oil is distributed evenly in the center of the engine so that its not constantly leaning to the left side. A torque wrench is probably not as essential. If you do want one, I suggest go out and splurge on a really nice one that gives you 0-150 ft. lbs. of torque reading. Don’t go for what I have in the picture. Its very difficult to read and I’ve already returned it.

You should also consider the brand of oil. Although, my owner’s manual for my R6 recommends a 10W30 SAE oil for cold weather and 15W40 for warmer weather, I went with the Castrol R4. At $10 a qt, it isn’t the cheapest stuff out there. But its supposedly the best thing you can put in your bike which burns really clean and its synthetic. The only difference I’ve noticed is that when my bike is idling now, the wound is alot deeper and sounds better when I accelerate. I believe there may be some improvements on horsepower, but really no way in validating this without bring it in for a test. Its probably more psychological than anything else.

The oil filter I chose was from Fram. Filter number PH6017A should fit the standard R6 from 1999-2002.

After you’ve straightened out the items you need to buy, warm up your motorcycle. Take it out for a quick ride and come back so you can help the oil drain out easier when the vehicle is warm.

Remove the screws indicated by the arrows in the photos and remove the left and right lower fairing.

The left side of your motorcycle should look like this without the fairing.

The fairing should come off in one piece like the image above.

Remove the oil cap and check the oil level with the oil dip stick.

Locate the oil filter and drain plug and remove the drain plug first.

Oil should drain out like the image above as soon as you remove the drain plug. Wait till there’s a trickle left until you proceed to remove the oil filter. The oil filter will have residual oil so make sure you catch the dripping oil with your pan/container.

Set your oil cap and drain plug aside while you’re draining your oil. Once all oil is drained, clean the drain plug with your rag.

Apply a light coat of oil around the rim of the oil filter and drain plug. Make sure you do not lose the washer of the drain plug! Clean the hole or surface where you’re going to screw the oil filter and drain plug so that there’s no dirt that may get trapped. The filter should be screwed on with 12 ft. lbs. of torque and the drain plug should be 36 ft. lbs. of torque.

After you’ve tighten both oil filter and drain plug, proceed to pour your 3.5 quarts of oil in the engine. Check the dipstick constantly to make sure you have enough oil. Warm your bike up again and make sure oil is not leaking from the drain plug or the oil filter. Once satisfied, proceed to attach the fairing back to the same position and screw the piece back on. This may take some time and is primarily the reason why shops charge an hourly rate because it takes them time to remove and put back these fairing pieces back together. And there you have it! Your first oil change.

On a side note, I bought 2 cleaner solutions called Moto Pro to clean my bike. That stuff is incredible!

The first cleaner does a really good job removing the dirt from your bike. The contact cleaner is incredible on tough dirt. Check out the before and and after photos of my rear wheel.

Needless to say I’m happy with the $7 I spent on the cleaner spray and $4 on the contact cleaner.

I also recommend that you lube your chain while you’re at it. I use Bel-Ray’s Super Clean Chain Lube. This stuff sprays on white and keeps your chain from getting dirty. After it sets for 15 minutes, it doesn’t splatter any oil while the chain is spinning through the sprocket during operation. That’s the main reason my rear rims was so dirty was because my previous oil change guy used motor oil to lube my chain.

This should get you started in your new weekend job as a motorcycle mechanic! If not, its another thing you can put under your skills section of your resume. Actually not really. Its just good to know for your own curiosity. Let me know if you find this useful.

Despite the weather here being wet and cold, my gf and I decided to head on over to the LA Auto Show at the LA Convention Center. I was surprised to see so many people there this year. I went about 3 years ago and remembered there being a lot less. But with cars like the 2006 Bugati Veyron, I can see why the mass arrived. On the subject of the Veyron; This has got to be the most popular car in the show. Crowds of people was constantly flowing in and out of that car’s exhibit room for a chance to peak and see the $1.3 million car that top out about 250 mph.

My personal favorite was the new Lexus IS. That was “the car” that I had to see before leaving the show. Many people were buzzing over that car waiting to take a seat in the driver’s seat. I was one of them. Not only did this new IS seemed a bit more refined than the older one, the new one had many other great features. One being the paddle shifting on the steering wheel, much like what Ferrari is doing. The finished look of this car was very nice and up to par with Lexus standards. I didn’t feel they achieved this with the prior model, but they made sure the quality and luxury of all their Lexi (?) was represented here.

My other favorites were BMW and Mercedes’ exhibits. I was very disappointed with what Audi had to offer. All but maybe a couple of their models were silver colored. Alot of Audi and VW models are designed to look similar from one another, it was very difficult to tell an A6 to an A8 to an S8.

My favorite part of the show was the aftermarket section. They had more exotic cars there for the regular Johns and Joes to come up close and look and touch. These cars were probably customer cars that was brought in to sell the product the aftermarket store was selling such as rims or those invisible bra/stickers. I have not seen that many Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Bentleys assembled under 1 roof anywhere.

Like many other years, Porsche exhibit was at the same location and again their cars look pretty much the same. So it wasn’t too exciting. I didn’t really dive too much into the domestic market except the new muscle cars like the Chevy Camaro Concept, the Dodge Chargers, Chrysler 300, and Cadillac’s XLR.

I have to admit, this year’s auto show was much more impressive and kept my attention for a much longer time span than previous year’s. If you haven’t checked it out, you still got 1 more day!

There comes a time when you don’t ride your motorcycle for awhile and the battery goes out. What is one to do? Fortunately for you, yours truly have been stranded in that same situation enough time to know exactly what to do. Yes, you should try to push start your bike.

First thing you should do is find some open area so you have enough space to begin the actual pushing. This process is much easier if you have another person doing the pushing or if you find an incline so that you can push yourself while on your bike.

Turn your key to the “On” position and have your bike’s engine stop switch (the one that kills your engine) in the “On” position as well. Unfortunately I don’t have a fuel switch on my bike so I don’t know what you’re suppose to have that on. I would imagine having it at the open setting or the reserve fuel setting should be adequate.

Shift your bike to 2nd gear. That’s one click up from the neutral position. This way when the bike comes to life, you don’t get jolted out on first gear.

Grab and hold down the clutch lever and proceed to have your bike either pushed by someone else or by yourself down an incline. By the time you hit about 5-10 mph, slowly ease off of the clutch. As soon as you hear or feel the engine come to life, twist the throttle so you let in more gas to get the engine going. Make sure when the engine starts up and you twist the throttle that you hold down the clutch immediately. Otherwise serious injuries may occur if you forget to hold the clutch down and you turn your wrist too much on the throttle. That’s it!

I recommend doing this when you really don’t need to. It’s a good thing to practice and learn before you really need it.

Note: By following the suggestions on this post may cause serious injuries if not done correctly. I am not liable for any injuries that may result in this. Please understand that it is your choice to proceed. Consider yourself warned!

I see you speeding down 2 lanes behind me. Your bright HID light illuminating the grounds in front of you and eventually behind me. I see that you’re impatiently weaving left and right. With every gap after passing one car and approaching the next, you gradually catch up to me. Instead of letting you go I beg for you to come play with me. My heart thuds excitely as I stomp on the clutch and shift down to fourth. We both gradually pull away from the pack of law-abiding citizens of the road and quickly approach the next herd. You sensing weakness decide to cut to my right 2 lanes at a time and take the right shoulder past a 18-wheeling behemoth. Adrenaline through my veins, I anxiously wait while the snail in front of me concedes and gradually moves over. With blinding reluctancy, I steer my chariot forward. The 140 horses galloping under my hood, I continue to give chase. At speeds of 95 mph, I begin to wonder, “What if I get caught going this fast?” Suddenly as if on queue, I see the familar color of red and blue up ahead pursuing my opponent. I instantly ease off of the accelarator and coasted to the next exit. For tonight, I am the winner.

According to this article: http://biz.yahoo.com/special/live05.html, it costs a family of 4 $370,000 a year to live “well” in Los Angeles. That’s 3rd in the nation behind New York City and Boston. We’re talking about owning 2 houses, one in a nice neighborhood and one in the country side or beach house. 1 kid going to private college and the other one is in 8th grade. 2 luxury cars, a BMW 325i and a Lexus RX 330. Weekend get-aways at resorts, taxes, dining out, and health care costs. The part I didn’t like about this was that the fictional family only saved about 1% of their income to maintain this life style. This is definitely not the lifestyle I want to be pursuing. If this was 2 years ago, I may have been building my goals towards this but after reading The Millionaire Next Door, my views on people spending money extravagantly is rather silly and pointless.

I’ll be happy living in 1 mediocre house with 1 mediocre car, 1 motorcycle, dining at restaurants only on the weekends, and saving about 40-50% of my income towards my future goal of being a “Millionaire Next Door”. 10 more years to go!

First of all, Happy New Year. I’m finally settled back at home with my folks. I finally got my home hooked up to the Internet via SBC Yahoo! DSL. It only took me 5 days from the day they said it was going to be installed. That’s sarcasm just in case you didn’t catch that. I’ve been very productive since coming back. I’ve empty and organized all my box of stuff. I unpacked whatever I needed. Just the bare minimum. For some reason I just don’t think its time for me to completely unload. To me this is just a temporary stay so I don’t want to completely settle down. I tell ya, its good to have food ready when you come home or have food to bring for lunch. Also a place to wash and work on my motorcycle is sweet. The only bad point would be my lack of seeing my gf. At least we have the weekends to spend together.

Vegas was fun on NYE. Lots of people and great display of fireworks. I did very well that night being up about $200. But then lost it all on NYD. In a span of 1 hour I lost $200. And then lost the rest ($300) playing careless Hold’em later that night. I should have been more patient, but got too greedy. I even hit quad 9’s and won $50 for getting the hand. Unfortunately, blew that on craps. As far as gambling goes, the trip sucked. But overall, it was fun!