Motorcyclists Thread

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Got really bored today...
decided best cure...a romp through me stompin grounds
but
not on me dirt bike but me cruiser
So'z
the result
Suzuki really really really knows how to spring a bike
V-twins are superior to single lung moto engines (oh such a sschweet bottom...end)
Steve McQueen F*king rules** (but then we all already knew that)
Intruders have a surprising amount of off road capability even when lowered and kitted out as a touring machine
and I really like riding way off the beaten path (but then I knew that all ready)


**If ya have to ask ya aint a biker

[Larv]

As a new biker with only six weeks of riding experience, I am impressed by the amount of skill it takes to do things smoothly and properly. Some previous motorcycling experience in my youth would have been highly beneficial. I have fallen off my bike only once, going about 3 mph. Why? Because I violated a basic biking principle: Don’t brake while you’re leaning in the middle of a slow, tight turn. It was not much of a fall. My bike went down, too, but I had case guards installed that protected the engine and other parts. There was no damage to either me or my bike.

I decided to take up biking to be exposed to something altogether new. I wanted to be challenged, and I got my wish. Out here is western Washington, around Hood Canal, we have a lot of hills and tight turns. I’m scared and tense most of the time, but it beats living a safe and boring life. I like to watch good bikers, especially those on potato burners, do with ease what I can’t do yet, as if their bikes were natural appendages of their crotches.

The good news is that I am a determined and persistent person by nature. I’ll get there sooner or later, or die trying.

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by alexander

Groups are gone for a bit, until hopefully someone fixes the interface and makes groups usable again for the mean while we will have to confine ourselves into a thread or two

Can you elaborate?

Science Forums - Social Groups

Under the "Community" link in the forums menu.

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Larv

As a new biker with only six weeks of riding experience, I am impressed by the amount of skill it takes to do things smoothly and properly. Some previous motorcycling experience in my youth would have been highly beneficial. I have fallen off my bike only once, going about 3 mph. Why? Because I violated a basic biking principle: Don’t brake while you’re leaning in the middle of a slow, tight turn. It was not much of a fall. My bike went down, too, but I had case guards installed that protected the engine and other parts. There was no damage to either me or my bike.

I decided to take up biking to be exposed to something altogether new. I wanted to be challenged, and I got my wish. Out here is western Washington, around Hood Canal, we have a lot of hills and tight turns. I’m scared and tense most of the time, but it beats living a safe and boring life. I like to watch good bikers, especially those on potato burners, do with ease what I can’t do yet, as if their bikes were natural appendages of their crotches.

The good news is that I am a determined and persistent person by nature. I’ll get there sooner or later, or die trying.

Larv, please get some certified instruction, the road is no place to learn! I enjoy our discussions for to much to want to hear about you dieing trying..... I've been riding for 45 years, one big piece of advice I can give you is always assume every last cage driver is out to get you, personally, is planning to get you and and is just waiting for the chance! Never trust a driver in a cage dude!

[alexander]

T, i'll restate that, until groups become more intuitive and pretty looking, i'll stick to keeping this thread

To add to things moon said:

As a rider, you have to not so much worry about yourself doing something wrong, but rather of somebody else doing it in their car. People, especially tired, will go into this trance-like driving mode, where they pay attention to whats going on in front of them, but not really pay attention to what's going on around. Thing is that once driving becomes a reflex, this is easily possible, even someone who hasn't been in a car accident in 5-10 years can easily fall into this, and then they will do stupid things like pull out in front of you. 60% of motorcycle crashes are results of someone not looking and pulling out, and you know what their first answer always is, "oh, i didn't even see him", and they are right, their brain just didn't focus on an object they normally wouldn't focus on. I'd say another 25% of accidents on bikes are caused by stupid motorcycle drivers, driving either too fast, or doing stupid things like driving between cars in a traffic jam. 10% of crashes are mostly due to a misjudgment and one's inability to control the bike under extreme conditions. Misjudgment would be misjudging the corner and not knowing how to brake late into the corner take the corner, also trying to stop and hitting the car. Obviously there are mechanical failures, and road conditions that can contribute to crashes, and i would leave about 5% to those. I almost wiped out at 45 mph going around a corner, and hitting some unswept sand towards the curb, i have a friend who went down good coming out of the corner on his 1000, as he describes it "i'm power sliding the bike out of this corner, at this point hitting a little over a buck, and as i'm coming out, i see a guy happily blowing the leaves into the middle of the road from his back yard", he had lots of road rash, and a gash on his right arm that needed stitches. There are deer hits, just like in cars, though i had a friend be taken away from one of those in hand cuffs, in the back of a police cruiser...

The more i drive, the more i realize how important it is to know how to slow down. I remember talking to a bunch of people back when i used to work at the shop, and the biggest mistake most make is grab the front brake so hard that they lock up the front tire and just wipe out. Its a fine balance of front and rear brake that does the best stopping, knowing it is key to confidently stopping even in the worst of circomstances. The other deal is sliding, if you know how the bike feels when your rear wheel is locked up and how it responds to letting go of that brake will help you avoid some dangerous situations. And dont be thinking that you can just lock up the tire at 60 mph and quickly change direction, you need to know when at what speed, what bike feel of the bike to do this effectively, but like i said, once you do, its another margin of safety... Lastly you have to be a lot more vigilant on a bike, and you need to change how you look at the road, if you stare forward, like a car driver, you will miss things, training yourself to cycle your view, from center, to right shoulder out ahead, to center, to left shoulder ahead, to a mirror glimpse (dont always need it, but you should do this especially when slowing down), to center again, and just cycling that pattern will help you notice things that may potentially save your butt.

And last thing to remember, when in doubt, prepare for the worst, if you see a car ahead slowly crawling ahead out of the driveway, dont assume they will stop, slow down and keep an eye on that car at all times, especially the driver, if he/she's not looking directly at you continue slowing down until you are sure they wont pull out. This may piss the drivers behind you off, but it's a t-bone saving tip of the day for whoever........

[Larv]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Larv, please get some certified instruction, the road is no place to learn! I enjoy our discussions for to much to want to hear about you dieing trying..... I've been riding for 45 years, one big piece of advice I can give you is always assume every last cage driver is out to get you, personally, is planning to get you and and is just waiting for the chance! Never trust a driver in a cage dude!

Moon, see post #13. And please bear in mind that I've been riding for only 45 days, while you've been riding for 45 years.

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Originally Posted by Larv

Moon, see post #13. And please bear in mind that I've been riding for only 45 days, while you've been riding for 45 years.

Dude if you're takin this as anything but friendly advice and damn good advice at that you need to reread.......never trust peoples in cars, trucks or any other metal box (cage)

Moon man- Larv, please get some certified instruction, the road is no place to learn! I enjoy our discussions for to much to want to hear about you dieing trying..... I've been riding for 45 years, one big piece of advice I can give you is always assume every last cage driver is out to get you, personally, is planning to get you and and is just waiting for the chance! Never trust a driver in a cage dude!

[Moontanman]

I am sorry larv, I meant no insult at all. I've seen so many of my friends and acquaintances see me ride and decide "WOW, that looks cool I think I'll get one" an then within weeks and sometimes even days crash and burn, and it hurts me because in some ways i felt remiss on not telling them how difficult learning really is. I learned to ride in the dirt on a small dirt bike, a DT125 Yamaha, electric start and all! I thought I was a bad boy for sure, I must have wrecked that bike more times than is countable but the dirt is forgiving, the street much less so. Be careful my friend!

[Larv]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

I am sorry larv, I meant no insult at all. I've seen so many of my friends and acquaintances see me ride and decide "WOW, that looks cool I think I'll get one" an then within weeks and sometimes even days crash and burn, and it hurts me because in some ways i felt remiss on not telling them how difficult learning really is. I learned to ride in the dirt on a small dirt bike, a DT125 Yamaha, electric start and all! I thought I was a bad boy for sure, I must have wrecked that bike more times than is countable but the dirt is forgiving, the street much less so. Be careful my friend!

I have experienced that difficulty. If I had had dirt-biking experience I would be further along than I am now. But I'm doing OK. I've got 600 miles under my wheels. Pretty steady in most situations, but some things still do bother me. Tight turns from a stop, heading up a hill is still a challenge, so is the metal grating on the Hood Canal bridge. So far the cars have been friendly. However, I assume nothing and move amongst them with great caution. If the worst happens I hope a semi is kind enough to run over my head and smudge me out of existence.

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Bridge gratings suk much! I prolly will never get used to them, grooved pavement is just as bad...BEWARE OF THE TAR SNAKES!! (some bikes are worse than others but most eagerly follow 'em scary schpidt!)