[eon]

I visited there many years ago as tourist. Apart from the military planes buzzing the hotel I had a great time. I seem to remember some great roads up in the mountains. Maybe not the largest place to go riding though.

[eon]

I’d agree with that. Other than hill starts I can’t think of anytime I would be riding the clutch in a car. Even in stop/go traffic most cars can creep along in 1st gear with the clutch not engaged. I say most as my much loved S2000 would stall below 10mph in 1st gear and of course the clutch pedal on that had the strongest spring imaginable. Thankfully I was rarely in traffic in that but when I was it not fun.

[eon]

Quote “Biggest difference I found is the whole friction zone thing…shouldn’t do that in a car!”

I disagree with this statement, at least it contradicts how I was taught to drive. I have no idea what it does to the clutch but as far as driving goes, it is definitely something you should be doing in order to drive safely. Part of the UK driving test is a hill start. If you roll back an inch it’s an automatic fail (if I remember correctly, it’s been a while). A hill start on a manual car is exactly the same as on a bike, replacing back brake with hand brake (or emergency brake as it’s called here, though quite what emergency you would use it in has never been explained to me).

Actually that name difference highlights an important difference in attitudes I think. Folks here only ever use that brake for parking. You’d better not pull up too close to a manual car on a hill here as I can guarantee they will be rolling backwards, sometimes several feet, before they get going. When I test drove a manual Audi I was completely befuddled as it had a center console that completely blocked the hand brake, and this is a European car. Obviously you are not intended to use it while driving over here, having a cup holder is more important

[eon]

As someone from the UK who now lives in the US, I can confirm that almost all cars over here are automatics. Not all but most. When I was buying a car it factored into my choice as I was concerned about being able to resell a manual when it came to that time. In the end I bought an automatic. It’s not as bad as it sounds as they have come on leaps and bounds over the years. Unless I was buying a sports car then I would have no hesitation buying an automatic here. I say here as in the UK you pay a hefty premium to get the automatic, here getting a manual would make your life harder, limit your choices etc.

[eon]

I’ve read that the protective qualities of leather will break down as it goes through several (or many) wet/dry cycles. It will stiffen up which makes it lose some of its abrasion protection. I think you are supposed to do something with your wet leather jacket but I’m not sure what. Dry it off with a towel when you get home?

I have not heard of textile jackets breaking down over time. I’ve also not heard that washing them is to be avoided. My textile jacket has the hand wash symbol on it and many machines have that setting so I would comfortably throw it in the machine. I would never do that with a leather jacket so even if I don’t use my washing machine I don’t see how it is any worse than leather?

I think I’ve said this on here before but it is worth repeating. The higher price textiles claim better abrasion protection than leather. Having hi-tech materials, such as ceramic particles embedded in the material, makes these claims believable. I know professional racers all wear leather but their suits are hand made and sprayed onto their body. If you compare like with like, say a $500 leather jacket against a $500 textile jacket I don’t think there is a clear cut winner as far which offers more protection.

But I do think leather looks better.

[eon]

I read somewhere else that there are Federal funds available for installing traffic circles, that might explain why they are popping up everywhere. If they stick to the simple symmetrical example above then all is good. Soon as they start have lanes appearing mid circle then and 3+ lanes feeding into them then all is lost

[eon]

The problem with 4 way stops is that, by definition, it forces everyone to stop. Compare that to a roundabout where you only need to Yield (not Stop) to traffic from one direction only. You are obviously going to get a lot more traffic flowing through a roundabout than a 4 way stop. But my biggest problem with the 4 way is when it isn’t a 4 way (if that makes any sense). You approach an intersection and you are hunting around trying to figure out what the rules are. Sometimes that means reading a “Warning Cross Traffic Does Not Stop” sign or looking to see if there is a stop sign on the other roads. I even came across a 3 way stop sign the other day (with 4 roads leading into it). Talk about confusing. And then there is the 5 way stop close to me that is a crap shoot. I don’t have a problem navigating these but it causes traffic to back up as only one vehicle can get through at a time.

Roundabouts do break down though if there is a high volume of traffic going in one direction (typical in rush hour as traffic flows into/out of city). If you have to yield to that traffic you could be sitting there a long time before there is a gap big enough to go.

Here is a diagram from the UK DOT website on how to navigate them
(obviously reverse all directions for USA traffic).

Full link here
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070338

[eon]

4 way stop signs should be banned on principle. Stupidest traffic flow management system ever dreamed up. Coming from the UK I am very familiar with roundabouts and on the whole I say they do a good job. They don’t solve every problem though and designers there tend to go a bit crazy with them at times (there is an infamous one somewhere in England that looks like a snowflake). Once folks get used to them you can make them very small. There are plenty of mini-roundabouts around that are nothing more than a painted circle in the middle of the intersection but the same rules apply. Would not want to jump straight into that design here though. I’m seeing a lot more of them cropping up here in WA which makes me happy.

Now if we can only change all those Stop signs into Yield signs….

[eon]

I don’t think either of those bikes are available here in the USA and most of the contributors here are from the States, so I’m not sure you will get a great answer here.

What makes people say the Honda is better than the Yamaha for beginners?
In the States the Ninja 250 seems to be in a class of its own for beginners interested in sport bikes. There really isn’t any competition in the <= 250cc bracket. Are you limited in engine size or HP by legislation in your country?

[eon]

I have never owned your bike (or even a bike with a chain for that matter) so these are just generic answers. I’m sure an actual owner will be along soon to give specific answers.

1. 8~9k Sounds about right. You should be able to tell by upshifting. If you feel the engine struggling to pull at that speed then you were probably in the correct gear to begin with. Higher RPMs generally mean lower mpg but unless you are just cruising down the freeway you want to be in the optimal gear for your speed.

2. Factory tool kits tend to be extremely basic pieces of crap so a regular toolkit is probably a better choice. A spanner is a spanner after all. You will want to stiffen up your suspension for a passenger and you may even want to change it for just yourself. Not sure if you need a special tool to do that on the ninja. My scooter has a weird shaped tool to do that so this might be tricky.

3. Every 500 miles is standard I think. There are special brushes and cleaning supplies to do this. Simply put it up on the center stand (if you have one) and rotate the wheel and clean the chain. Not difficult and I’m sure there will be videos out on YouTube to show you how it is done.

4. Not sure about mpg on the Ninja. That does sound a little low but it depends a lot on your riding conditions. If you are in town a lot then your mpg will plummet.

[eon]

Also make sure the kill switch is not switched off. It’s easy to bump it off and then panic when it fails to start. Don’t ask me how I know.

[eon]

The movie is very good, it gets my recommendation (though it’s not what I’d call a motorcycle movie). It’s not even overtly political so you should be able to enjoy it whatever your political views.

[eon]

Say it with the accent. Zouth Afrika.
Saudi Arabia got SA for some reason.

[eon]

I’d have to disagree about the fun part, unless you are coming from a sport bike. Course, I’ve never ridden anything else outside of a training class so maybe I don’t know what I’m missing. I just know I have a lot of fun riding my 500cc scooter. Had a great time this past weekend when 7 of us went on a weekend away and got lost in the backwoods and had to take a 15 mile forest service road back to civilization. Gravel roads with huge potholes, large drop offs and slick mud made for an interesting ride. I had a great time but found out that night it was a white knuckle ride for the others. A feet forward cruiser laden down with luggage is not the best bike for that type of road. Apparently I was being cussed at as I was standing up taking in the views down the cliff sides as the others prepared to meet their maker

At least I had fun

[eon]

There was (is?) some controversy over the SHARP tests also. Something to do with not testing the chin bar I think. Can’t remember now. But I do love the star rating system.

[Author]

Posts