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Honda CB650 Nighthawk: 28 degree grocery hauler
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November 22, 2008 at 6:36 am #2366AnonymousGuest
Over the past few weeks my confidence on the bike and in NYC traffic has been improving dramatically. My shifting and braking are smoother, I am more confident in keeping a lane position and a bit more aggressive with the horn (used something like sonar in Manhattan traffic) in short, the kamikaze cabs are still F-ing scary to drive with, but now it feels more like a healthy and manageable fear as opposed to a panicky white knuckled fear. I’ve even started to lane split a little bit to get out of clumps of slow moving traffic.
I had been planning to put the bike away for the winter, and was pretty annoyed at having to basically try to relearn the new skills that I have been acquiring over the past few weeks next Spring. Instead of waiting it out, I’ve decided to push (muddle?) on through the cold stuff and keep riding. Tonight was a pretty extreme test of my dedication to all season riding…28 degrees with a steady (and F-ing COLD) breeze…
So, having little $$, I came up with some pretty simple(OK ghetto) ways to stay warm and keep riding. (No big secret really, just layers…) and decided that it would be more fun (and cheaper) to freeze my ass off on the bike than freeze my ass of waiting for the bus to get down to Fairway (a massive and CHEAP gourmet market started by the Freshdirect guys) and take a $6 cab back. So I suited up ( Arai SZ-C helmet, long johns, hoodie, armored Power Trip textile jacket, Olympia leather gloves, and a deuter ACT-Lite 40+10 internal frame backpack) and headed out the door. I knew I was in for a bit of punishment as my thighs were kind of cold just sitting on the bike…toes were also cold…but once I got the bike warmed up it really wasn’t all that bad. My face was a little bit cold due to the vents on my face shield and the air coming in underneath (the SZ-C is an open face helmet with a full face shield…which sadly fogs up a bit more than some full faces because you breathe right onto the shield. My next big gear purchase will be a full face Arai which will hopefully fog up a bit less) I kept my speed down and stretched my fingers and generally moved around at stop lights to keep the blood flowing and by the time I got down to Fairway I was a little cold, but not uncomfortable at all. Invigorated would be a better description of how I felt.
Going through the supermarket knowing you can only fit 3,000 cubic centimeters of food in your pack really makes you prioritize and carefully plan what your really NEED to buy and not just impulsively grab crap off the shelves. I ended up with 6 pork chops, mozzerella cheese (Capiello, miles better than Pollyo), Brie, cracker, hummus, lemons, cookies, cold cuts, and a 6 pack of saranac holiday mix. I got some funny looks from the cashiers as I was loading my pack and suiting up, but a couple of little kids were VERY happy to see me in my gear for some reason.
I full pack added around 20lbs of weight and was a little bit unwieldy at first, but after walking around the parking lot (this is the only supermarket in Manhattan that has one!) for a few minutes to get used to the weight, I jumped on the (freezing) Nighthawk and began my usual choke caressing maneuvers to keep her idling happily. Once I got her warmed up, I popped her into first and took off. There was almost no discernible handling difference with the added weight but for some weird reason I felt nervous about it, like this should be dangerous or something. I made it home in one piece and when I turned onto my block was a little bit sad that I had to end my ride there to put the groceries away. Next mission: West Side Highway MF-er!! Baby steps…baby steps.
November 22, 2008 at 6:58 am #14960chromium ghostParticipantForgot to log in. The previous post compliments of your friendly Manhattan layabout/recluse Chromium Ghost.
Also I just realized I truncated my shopping bounty: forgot the coffee(Kenya AA) cookies(whippets, like mallowmars but cheaper/better) toilet paper, and ice cream (Steve Colbert’s Americone Dream) for those of you keeping score at home.
November 23, 2008 at 1:20 am #14969MunchParticipantLOL….nice…. I take it your ride is near about 35- 45 mph? I ride full highway speeds here and my V500 is without windshield or fairings…… 35 degrees is about my limit…. with layers. Ofcourse 35 at 75+mph…… lets just say you can near bouts leave the ice cream on the exhaust and at worst have a good creamer for your coffee or atleast thats how you feel. When I ride then I have my leather chaps, and jeans, boots ofcourse and for upper T-shirt, sweater or sweater like shirt, then my leather Jacket, head… full faced helmet with Baclava underneath oh and my heavy gloves…. gets nippy but very manageable. Under 32 is where I stop more for fear of some Dumas either tossing drinks out the window or just plain missing weather report and finding that one ice patch no one else found before.
Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a prediction, but today…… is a Bi**h
November 24, 2008 at 12:59 am #14978chromium ghostParticipantYeah, Manhattan traffic rarely moves faster than 45 or so, and the posted speed limit is 30. Times Square area it’s more like 5 mph…but super fun to ride through anyway. I’ve been purposely avoiding the highway as I still only have about 300 miles under my belt…luckily the weather has been keeping me in the city and under 50mph…most of the time. Ice patches are a truly frightening prospect. I think I’m going to avoid riding for at least a few days after any snow. But still, fuck, you’re right some chucklehead tossing his big gulp in the street and….not pretty.
Speaking of, I saw something pretty damn funny in midtown the other night. Some idiot in a giant Escalade stops in the middle of a side street, with a green light and cars behind him, gets out of his truck and proceeds to drain his fire hose…by the time I rolled up the puddle had spread all over the street so I had to ride through some SUV drivers pee. Thanks dude.
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