Well, Scott, I'm younger than you and can just about get Pandora to play to my Sena 80% of the time. Haven't yet mastered answering a phone call through it or <shudder> make a call from it. I may never get that far. Sooooooo.....You're light years ahead of me on the tech front!
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
Good tech should be invisible. We should just "use it". So far from what I've used Google is pretty good for Luddites like me.
I've been told Siri is very good, as well as Alexa. I'm used to females telling me where to go, so it is an easy transition. Quite often when a navigation direction is spoken, I reply with "yes dear." 😉
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Aaahhh. I disable Siri on point of principle. When she is accidentally activated, I usually respond along the lines of Harcourt Fenton Mudd to her voicing an opinion.
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
I like calling Siri a bad name and she says "That's not nice".
Just realized I've had the Screaming Yellow Zonker for a year, as of August 1st. 8,220 miles later, more has been spent on normal maintenance than on aftermarket parts. 😎 That is a first! 🤣
Having an absolute blast, and learning a lot. Looking forward to another big ride, and hopefully at least one more after that, before SYZ goes into hibernation for the winter.
Loaded up for the ride home the day of purchase.
The main reason for getting a sidecar. Travel buddies! 🤩
Having fun with new friends.
Even received a trophy for "furthest Ridden". That has never happened before! 😮
A huge shout out to you all. You've been welcoming, fun, and downright great folk. May we have many more opportunities to share good times. 🍻
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
I like calling Siri a bad name and she says "That's not nice".
Now that is funny! 🤣 The first car my sister got with navigation, she would take wrong turns just for the fun of it. She would laugh at the navigation saying "recalculating route."
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Blackstone Lab oil sample kits showed up today. 🤩 Just dropped the oil sample from the last oil change on SYZ off at the post office. Pretty excited to see how it comes out. I asked for a TBN which reports on the remaining additive package. It's an extra $10. But since the bike ended up with 6,720-ish miles since the previous change, I'm pretty interested to see the results on that. All said and done, it seems pretty inexpensive at $35.00 for the kit, testing, and including shipping both ways. It was an extra $10 for the TBN report.
Will include the results in this thread when I get them.
Learned a few things:
* I had filled out the website kit request, but did not create an account. After waiting for about 6 weeks, I called and the lady not only setup the online account, but also shipped out three kits.
* She suggested I try the email report format, as it will come faster. On my side it makes things easier to attach to the maintenance spreadsheet.
* The online account also means they keep records of all the testing they do, by vehicle if I properly fill out the form that comes in the test kit. In the future when this laptop fails and all information on it is lost because I've not done a backup in the past three centuries, at least they'll have record of the tests.
* They recommend the sample be taken after the engine has set for a while, not after immediately running the engine. They also recommend the sample be taken about midway through the drain process. Or if not being taken during a change, then use a suction straw through the dipstick (my words not theirs, based on the info provided).
I've done oil testing for work through Blackstone, but never for personal use.
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
* They recommend the sample be taken after the engine has set for a while, not after immediately running the engine. They also recommend the sample be taken about midway through the drain process. Or if not being taken during a change, then use a suction straw through the dipstick (my words not theirs, based on the info provided).
I've done oil testing for work through Blackstone, but never for personal use.
That is a very interesting request; rather like a UA at the clinic lab...
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
* They recommend the sample be taken after the engine has set for a while, not after immediately running the engine. They also recommend the sample be taken about midway through the drain process. Or if not being taken during a change, then use a suction straw through the dipstick (my words not theirs, based on the info provided).
I've done oil testing for work through Blackstone, but never for personal use.
That is a very interesting request; rather like a UA at the clinic lab...
Uh-Oh! Hope I didn't send the wrong sample to the wrong place! 
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Posted by @thane-lewis
That is a very interesting request; rather like a UA at the clinic lab...
oh, Thane.....you don't have to even think about sending in an oil sample to Blackstone Labs.....because you are driving a Honda Goldwing 1800 rig, so the stock engine is good for at least 500,000 miles, and.....no oil consumption.
But, Scott, I do have a question.......How many total miles are on that engine right now ?
Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort
Sometimes I get a mental Polaroid...
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
Posted by @thane-lewis
That is a very interesting request; rather like a UA at the clinic lab...
oh, Thane.....you don't have to even think about sending in an oil sample to Blackstone Labs.....because you are driving a Honda Goldwing 1800 rig, so the stock engine is good for at least 500,000 miles, and.....no oil consumption.
But, Scott, I do have a question.......How many total miles are on that engine right now ?
Odometer shows a bit over 74,000 miles. So "almost" broken in. 😉
Going through all the build/maintenance notes from the gentleman who built this, it appears to have come in to the BMW dealership on trade. He did a lot of parts changing, and while I don't see anything about swapping the engine, it is not guaranteed to be original.
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Took a ride up in the mountains to start using the Zumo XT. Not really excited about the Garmin device, but any day in the mountains is a good day. 
Route for the day started in Fort Duchesne (pronounced Due-Shayne). A touch under 80 miles with about 30 or so in the dirt. I took a few Jeep/ATV trails for some fun.
The first question was whether to deal with the summer storms. We are near the north end of the Monsoons, so we get some great lightning/thunder and downpours.
That decision made, it was time to gain altitude in order to stop and smell the pine trees.
While at it, why not explore a new-to-me Jeep/ATV trail. Most of these can be done in a mini Ute without issue, but every now and then something comes up that grabs attention. This was a pretty mild one.
The attention getting on this trail was a very stinky mud pit.
The view at the end of the trail was worth it, and it even had cell phone reception!
Coming back down the most "dramatic" part of the trail was a pretty steep rocky down hill, that had plenty of dug out spots where vehicles got stuck on the way up.
Evidently Utards don't know what "Tread Lightly" means. 
From there it was on to Pole Creek, which feeds into Pole Creek Lake, and provides campers in the Pole Creek Lake Campground something to do besides play solitaire on their cell phones.
Lots of people still out camping. Which is cool. Some might be getting in early reconnoiters for hunting season.
One more chance came up to run another Jeep/ATV trail. Rig actually bottomed on rocks a few times here. Thankfully there is a nicely built skid plate under the engine.
That was it. Made the loop and back home with just a bit of rain. Not enough to wash off the stinky mud. That will be tomorrows project. Now I have to watch more YouTube videos, and read a lot more about the Garmin, so I can figure out if it will ever be as good as Google & BCN on my cell phone. 
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Getting ready for Summer Vacation v2.0, and wired in the Zumo XT mount to the bike. Decided to do a switched power, which meant adding a relay and associated wiring. Probably overkill, but it's done.
What has been a total pita is getting all the bluetooth connections working. Phone/Packtalk Edge/Zumo XT. Finally just took the easy route and paired everything through the packtalk. Haven't figured out how to the get the voice recognition for the Zumo XT working yet. But maybe something to goof with on the trip.
Tomorrow I'll make a simple route on Google maps, see if it can be ported into the Zumo XT and go for a ride to try it out.
Wish me luck. I'll need every bit available. lol
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Getting ready for Summer Vacation v2.0, and wired in the Zumo XT mount to the bike. Decided to do a switched power, which meant adding a relay and associated wiring. Probably overkill, but it's done.
What has been a total pita is getting all the bluetooth connections working. Phone/Packtalk Edge/Zumo XT. Finally just took the easy route and paired everything through the packtalk. Haven't figured out how to the get the voice recognition for the Zumo XT working yet. But maybe something to goof with on the trip.
Tomorrow I'll make a simple route on Google maps, see if it can be ported into the Zumo XT and go for a ride to try it out.
Wish me luck. I'll need every bit available. lol
This is kinda where I'm at also. I'm trying to pair up my iphone and talkpac to my android tablet that I want to use for as a gps. It's very frustrating right now,,,lol.
