[briderdt]

So take what I say with a grain of salt. I have a Gmax 68s, which has 5 vents in the top that can be closed off, and the normal chin vent. So far it’s been plenty (though to be fair, most of my rides even on warm days have been in the morning). THere’s a new Givi that has a switchable chin bar for summer vs winter riding that looks interesting.

[briderdt]

If you lower the back (by lowering links), you may need to lower the front as well (at least some) to maintain the steering geometry. As you lower the back, your head angle gets more slack, which tends to make your steering “slower” feeling (more chopper-like).

[briderdt]

Another 650, but a single.

[briderdt]

I don’t remember the name of it off the top of my head. About the size of a paperback book, has multiple ways to hook up to the battery, fills a rear tire in about 5 minutes. Maybe some one can help out with a link.

[briderdt]

…is a recipe for a sore bum.

[briderdt]

…there’s no need to put it on the tender every time you garage the bike. It’ll be fine for a couple weeks.

[briderdt]

Bike tires have tubes in them. The reason yours does is because the spoke holes cannot seal air inside the tire. When you get a puncture on a spoke-wheeled bike, you patch the tube (unless there’s a large-ish hole in the tire, in which case you replace the tire).

You most likely won’t know if a spoke gets loose while you’re riding. And it’d be pretty rare for that to happen. On bicycles, you see the wheel wobble a little bit (and it can be an issue with brake caliper clearance — not an issue with disk brakes on a motorcycle).

When replacing or repairing a tire, you’ll get the rubber part only. The rim and spokes are all part of the wheel (what holds the tire).

[briderdt]

No, you don’t need to have your battery on a tender all the time. Seriously, the only time you even really should is if the bike is going to sit for a month without being started. Even during the winter, if you can start it up and urn it for a half-hour every other week, the battery should be just fine. Failing that, a tender is a good idea. As for carrying something to charge the battery… Why? If it dies while you’re riding it, it most likely isn’t the battery. Maybe the battery connections, or a fuse, but not the battery itself.

Hooking up a tender is pretty simple. Most people either have a pig-tail (like what’s there for hooking up heated clothing) to plug the tender into, or just have the aligator clips onto the battery posts itself. Even if you have to open up the seat or whatever to get to the battery terminals, it’ll only be a 5-minute job to get the bike ride-able again.

Hope that helps.

[briderdt]

They’re giving you the whole “usable” range of each gear. Doesn’t mean you should shift when you get to that speed. On my SVs, I can go 35 in 5th no problem, and it’s a nice quiet cruise at about 3000 rpm. But if I try to jump on it from there, it’d be a real good idea to drop a gear first. That chart is essentially showing you where you can cruise along in that gear as long as you’re not trying to accelerate.

Don’t get me wrong — one of my planned mods coming up is to re-gear my bike to take it down a bit on the highway. 60 mph yields about 5400 rpm in 6th. I’d like that closer to 4000, so that it’s not screaming (in my terms) at 70+. I figure going +2 in front should take care of that.

[briderdt]

…and I’ve put 1900 miles on it. And if the weather were cooperating, it would be a whole lot higher. So it just depends on the owner.

My wife’s bike, which we also got in October, has less than 100 miles on it…

[briderdt]

I just have a brush and gel at my work to do whatever touch-up is needed. But really, as it gets longer it’s actually easier (pony tail).

[briderdt]

A highside is essentially what results from the aftermath of a slide. The rear wheel slides sideways when it’s locked. What you’re SUPPOSED to do is keep it locked and ride it out until the bike comes under control again. If you let the brakes off, the rear wheel will regain traction (not in line with the direction of travel), and throw the bike upright (and most likely over). Most riders will get thrown off the bike when this happens (getting launched onto the “high side” of the bike), and sometimes the bike then follows.

So if you’ve gone down, you’re okay, and the bike is okay, and you get it upright again… What to do next? Adrenaline is pumping, you’re probably thinking you’re late for whatever you were traveling to, you’re probably in a bit of a state of denial (the “I’m okay” thing to the passersby)… But take a few minutes to calm down, maybe even evaluate what happened, look the bike over to make SURE it’s okay. Then calmly get your gear all back on, start it up (listen to the bike — make sure it’s running smooth), and go about your business as if nothing happened. But that few minutes can mean the difference between a repeat performance and getting there safe.

[briderdt]

If you’re going to kill yourself, please get it over with BEFORE you reproduce, so that you’ll (a) stop pi$$ing in the gene pool, and (b) not leave some fatherless children behind.

[briderdt]

It’ll be based on what some book says it’s supposed to take, and they charge that amount (and take, at most, half the actual time).

[briderdt]

You’re not the first person to tell me that. I hear it from my 12-year-old step-daughter all the time. Especially when I tell her to not do something (that is mostly destructive). And I will continue to suck, well into old age.

So you’ve gotten sound advice. It’s up to you as to whether you take it.

As for me, it’s all 1’s and 0’s…

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