[Amoryl]

you sissy pac northwesterners have no concept of bad weather you live a couple years out in chicago or minneapolis and then ever EVER complain about seattle weather.

I loved living in seattle, and basically calling all the natives sissies right and left when they complained about the cold RAIN in december.

honestly I don’t remember the potholes being that bad, and I drove a van all over the place, not nearly as bad as here in chicago anyway. I DO remember the evil hills and switchbacks…particularly driving on the western edge of lake washington. and how mapquest doesn’t mention that half of deerborne (sp?) is not actual street, but pedestrian stairways.

the first 3 months I lived there didn’t rain a drop. most of the rain in general was mostly confined to the morning or 5 minute increments.

but seriously, no one knows how to drive in snow at all there. as Tycho put it, “Its like NASCAR in slow motion”

[Amoryl]

oooh, your daughter’s a cutie!

and I mean that in the “adorable” way. not the gross old dude hitting on an underage girl

she looks like she’d fit perfectly on a 250. I wear boots for almost everything, used to be I could get away with just colapsing when I turn my ankle, but now I need all the ankle support I can get, I hate having my ankles exposed for everything to hit.

I remember catching a really nasty burn (though there’s no scar, so maybe I actually only witnessed it…I was VERY young) on my ankle getting onto a recently run motorcycle wearing shorts and flip flops, I was like 4 or 5, someone should have stopped that from happening, especially since I needed to be lifted up onto it. but hey, thats what happens when everyone’s a bit past the legal limit, eh?

hopefully it’ll drive the lesson home to a) always wear boots and b) make sure the kickstand is always down in the future when the exaust might actually be hot.

[Amoryl]

thats the way I am in my wrangler, most people will wave (well the raise a hand or tip the hat kinda thing) and if I see em in time I’ll wave too. usually the only ones who don’t wave out here are young ladies who’ve clearly not been told about the jeep wave and get this look of “why’s that creep waving at me?”

if everyone waits for the other guy to wave, no one’ll wave. and then we’d all just be silly and complain “those jerks, they never wave”

I’d wave when it’s safe, nod when it’s prudent, and if I’m in a situation where I can’t do either, chances are the other guy is too.

[Amoryl]

I’ve noticed squids on crotchrockets not wearing gear, and highsidding on the highway going 90+ because they were trying to impress their squid friends are clearly too cool to take the time to wave to me

[Amoryl]

I’d love to see a race with those, though likely it’d be more of a drag race than a twisties, I gotta wonder how those things handle at speeds on the turns.

[Amoryl]

yeah, the CanAm Spyder. sweet…trike thing, I’ve seen a few of them around up here, and we’re Harley country…

they look fun, but I’ll take 2 wheels for cruisin

[Amoryl]

gotta agree, I’d be more worried about fixing the constant and inevitable problems with a bike that age, especially how little it’s been ridden in 27 years

a good bike to start on would be a rebel or really any of the 250cc bikes mentioned endlessly here, they’re all pretty light and manageable, and many of them ARE highway capable, if you’re not in a particular hurry. an another forum someone rode over 1700 miles on a used rebel almost all highway in one long trip. so don’t let people say you can’t take it up 300 miles.

unless you’re mechanically inclined, and want a project bike, I’d stick with bikes made this century, maybe late 90’s tops. MAYBE

me, I’ll get as close to new as I can, I’ll have enough to worry about just learning to ride it.

[Amoryl]

as far as the cruisers handlebars go, most of them aren’t THAT high up, usually it’s aftermarket deallies making them so silly (the ones where you ride around like a toddler trying to get onto the dining room table) and most of the entry “cruisers” will have a more realistic hight of handlebars. I’ve not managed to sit on one yet, but the Hyosung GV250 is said to look more like a big bike, than the rebel or nighthawk.

if you can find it there’s always the 500cc vulcan, i’ve heard good things about it.

[Amoryl]

I heard it’s stupidly easy to hack the iphone so you can use any network for it. not for me though, I want a cellphone that is a phone, and thats it. preferably flip so I don’t butt dial. all the snazzy mp3/camera/whatever dohickies seem to me more likely to result in running out of juice right when i’m on the lonely country road with a flat tire, no spare, and a car full of perishables.

that being said, I’d lean more twards the crackberry, the Iphone has neat lil gizmos and spiffy touchscreens, but it’s really geared to gadget junkies and tech nerds more than functionality.

[Amoryl]

maybe there could be like a sidebar, or perhaps a help/advice from senior/experienced members a sorta a “if you’ve got questions, these are the guys in particular to ask” also perhaps if some are willing maybe a…i wouldn’t call it a mentorship or anything, but maybe some of the more experienced guys’ll put their names out and encourage people to PM them with questions and advice.

ultimately it would be up to you (ben) to decide who those experts going into a sidebar or whatever, are. (we trust ya)

[Amoryl]

yeah, not to mention you got an amazingly sweet deal on that 650

[Amoryl]

sounds like she did a bunch of things wrong. I’m not sure what its like up there, but generally where I am, shifting multiple lanes in one go is a no no, and if seen by a cop will result in a ticket. also she should have as soon as she got into her destination lane made sure to look all around her to make sure she was in a good place, seems like she just scooted over and figured she was fine as soon as she got there, leaving it up to the car (how is it the CAR that never sees us saw her without her seeing it?) to slow down and avoid the impact. she’s lucky she wasn’t killed, and part of me wishes she’d have seen how close, so maybe it’d scare her into a bit more awareness, but the other part is afraid she’d have gone from obliviousness to panic and actually caused an accident just after she was spared from it by the more aware car’s driver.

[Amoryl]

according to totalmotorcycle.com’s fuel efficiency guide, the shadow 750 is a 3.7 gallon including a .9gal reserve and averages around 55ish, which is what it seems you’re getting. which means you should be getting around 200 miles if you use the reserve. or around 150 before swapping over.

makes one wonder how the prior owner was riding it to get such bad mileage. or he was just really REALLY cautious.

[Amoryl]

yeah the dealerships are really eager to sell you a bike that’ll kill you, all in the name of a bigger commission. once you ride it off the lot, if you die a quarter mile later, they still get paid. I think its what would keep me from being one of those dealers…I couldn’t bring myself to sell a brand new rider something that had a better chance than not of killing them the first time they made a mistake. I know some people learn on these, and some people actually do very well, our Rannette here sounds like he’s making great headway on his ducati. but for me, the risk’s just not worth it. let me learn on a small bike, ride the hell out of it for a while, and then move up if I choose.

dealerships are not your friends.

[Amoryl]

though i hear many refer to doing it on a sport bike as the “Iron Crotch” challenge

[Author]

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