[briderdt]

White Werewolves… THat’s awesome.

[briderdt]

I’ve got an odd-shaped melon or something. So many of them just pressed hard right at the top of my forehead. But I tried on that Gmax, and it fit nicely. And the 68s has that nice rear-facing flashing LED thing (2 flashing modes, one steady mode) that I really like as well — just one more attention-getter for safety. And the price at Motorcycle Superstore was only $117 (or thereabouts). I can deal with that.

[briderdt]

…but do you switch it on the fly, or is this something that is a must to pull over for?

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…unflappable, Terminator-type driver/riders. Never know. I tend to not even feel “fear” or that crap-in-my-pants feeling at all, even in very tight situations. Doesn’t matter whether I’m in my cage, or on my bike (bicycle — don’t have a motor yet). But I get the shakes well afterwards (adrenaline reaction). IN the moment, I’m totally calm — just reacting. I’ve seen so many people (women usually) react by completely tensing up.

So hopefully that REALLY scary situation never happens.

[briderdt]

I gotta agree with megaspaz. Being that afraid of it isn’t a good thing.

[briderdt]

…my wife was convinced she wanted a Sportster for her first bike. Until last night, when we stopped by a dealership that had a used one in stock. The salesman started it up, and she got on… Okay, she hasn’t taken the MSF course yet, so she wasn’t going to take it anywhere, but she sat on it and gave the throttle some twists. And I watched her expression go from trepidation, to exhilleration, to disappointment, to dread.

She’s had some arthritis problems in her hands and elbows, as well as a cervical spinal fusion earlier this year. She felt that the vibration coming through the handlebars would eventually cause problems.

So now she’s starting all over again.

She’s convinced that the Suzuki C50T is the bike for her now.

Sad part is that I was ready to buy the Sportster if she wanted it.

[briderdt]

I’m thinking that it’s the road sludge that’s getting splashed up onto the radiator, and that’s what’s burning. When the roads aren’t wet, the sludge stays stuck to the road.

[briderdt]

Put as much down as you can, and get as low a payment as you can. But then pay it off as soon as you can. It gives you the flexibility to pay less when an emergency comes up, but also gets the loan paid off sooner (with less total paid).

[briderdt]

…that person driving the van that you kicked had no idea that you were behind them when they did the e-stop. They won’t make any connection between the two events, and now you’re just an a-hole to them (most likely along with all the other a-holes on motorcycles…).

Broad generalities suck.

[briderdt]

“THEN – later on in my trip, I come to a stop light, it turns green and I go and some AHOLE in a minivan is waiting to turn right into my lane from a gas station, he looks at me and I know he sees me because I saw him hesitate but then he goes right in front of me. WTF? So, I was anticipating that and everything was fine, but I have heard that so many times that they look right at you and then they just do what they want anyways, I just hadn’t experienced that until now.”

I get that all the time around here, whether I’m in my car or on a bike.

[briderdt]

…about the best thing he could have done was lessen the impact somewhat.

[briderdt]

And I think that’s what “riding” is all about. I’d had dreams of doing a similar thing (though on a smaller scale) on my bike (the pedal kind) when I was about that age. Just a fanny pack, a credit card, a map, and a loose idea of a route — see ya in a month. Never happened.

Though I don’t think I’d do this on a 250 Rebel, I could see me doing it on something with a little more oomph behind it. But it sounds like a lifetime adventure. Very cool.

[briderdt]

…there’s a light that attaches to the back of the helmet, 4 LED’s, that are wind-powered. I’m curous as to how well those work. Anyone?

[briderdt]

Last Friday I was visiting a local dealer. Second time I’d been in, and talked to the same guy (good tip there — deal with one guy. Even if they’re NOT on commission, building that one-on-one is always a good idea). Anyway, this particular dealer has the book out on the floor that lists every additional item over the MSRP. Then he hinted that there are times when they have deals that waive these costs (or most of them)… So it’s always good to get in the floor guy’s back pocket (figuratively).

[briderdt]

I was looking the other day, and though the Yamaha FZ6 didn’t feel “bad” sitting on it, I was propped up on one foot putting the other on the peg and trying to get a feel for it.

Then I noticed that it had a center stand.

With the help of the floor guy (’cause I’d never put a bike on a center stand before), I got it on the stand and then hopped on. Having both feet on the pegs made ALL THE WORLD of difference in how the bike felt. It was comfortable, completely. Where I was iffy with one-footing it, actually getting ON the bike was a whole new world.

So when you’re out there sitting on bikes, make sure you’re really feeling what it’ll be like.

Just $.02 from some one’s whose eyes were recently opened.

[Author]

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