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The “Five to Survive” Rule & Why You Should Use It
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eonParticipant
This was just a free 1 hour talk at the local BMW dealership by a guy who does suspension setup at the local racetrack. Was really a means of promoting his business but I went in there knowing nothing so I had nothing to lose. The guy was certainly knowledgeable but was a poor public speaker so it was kind of boring. He spent most of the time going over various terminology and showing us all kinds of springs and forks and stuff (you can see it’s all fresh in my mind ). He probably mentioned oil viscosity but I cannot say for certain now. I do remember him saying temperature would affect your oil and he would have adjusted his forks before riding that day (was about the freezing mark). Don’t remember anything about triple trees.
All I plan on doing at this point is ensuring my preload is set correctly for my weight. Once I get that done I may play with the damping and see what difference that makes.
eonParticipantNope, but I did attend a seminar on how to set up your suspension correctly. Sadly I haven’t actually got around to adjusting mine yet. Need to do that soon as apparently the factory settings are appropriate for sumo wrestlers. But I do think part of the difference will be down to the contrast between the scooter and a bike with long suspension travel. Just part of the learning experience.
eonParticipantI’m still loving it. Got about 2500 miles on it now I think. I just got back from a 3 day trip last night down to the WA/OR border area where there are amazing roads to be ridden. Fast sweepers, tight 180’s, bumpy, smooth, canyons, gravel, primitive…just about every kind of road you can imagine so I got a good workout. I’m still learning to cope with the differences in handling and behavior as some things just take you by surprise. The front forks obviously have a lot of travel so the bike dives under heavy braking which is unsettling (they also hum under braking which the scooter never did, that was off putting as well at first).
I realized I was struggling with down hill corners this weekend. I suspect I was using front brake in the corner which was unsettling the bike. Probably a bad habit I learned on the scooter but with its unusual front end it never complained. A lot of these things I’m doing instinctively now so it takes a while to figure out where I’m going wrong. A conscious effort to use back brake and things went a lot better. It’s also more critical to get my entry speed right as being on the throttle settles the bike down a lot more than the scooter ever did. Plus with the sensitive throttle it’s harder to make small adjustments mid corner without over doing it.
I plan on taking the Total Control class next month as at this stage it will do me a world of good. But the challenge of mastering this new ride has made things very interesting for me again.
Oh, only issue with no center stand is cleaning the chain is a pain in the ass. It’s not a huge deal though.
eonParticipantI have the Icon Field Armor Knee/Shin Guard
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/350/635/ITEM/Icon-Field-Armor-Knee-Shin-Guards.aspxAnd sport this very sexy look on my way to work
Not sure I could make any recommendations. They are simply hard plastic with a soft foam backing velcro’d together at the back. I wouldn’t expect them to offer much protection or necessarily stay on in a high speed get off. I only use them on my commute which is 3 miles on city streets. Max speed of around 40 for brief periods. They work for me as it means I don’t have to put on my motorcycle pants (not overpants). It’s a trade off between convenience and protection but for my brief ride they are more than adequate.
The Bohn armor looks nice but I’ve invested in Rev’IT jacket and pants for my main rides. They offer good levels of protection (at least webbikeworld thinks so) so I’m okay for the time being. I may get into off roading later this year so I’m eyeing some hard armor myself.
eonParticipantYeah, the first (and only time) I’ve been on this was 2 years ago, 6 months after I started riding. It was an introduction into large group rides for me and turned me off them completely. The number of idiotic incidents I witnessed in that one trip was unbelievable. Even this weekend when I mostly avoided the crowds I still witnessed one near suicidal, completely unnecessary pass where someone forced an oncoming SUV to move over the fog line to avoid a head on collision, all so the bike could pass one car and stay with her leader. Un-f***ing-believable. Couple that with stories of sport bikes and sport tourers (including the organizer) hitting 120mph speeds you can start to see why it’s an event I prefer to avoid. It took a lot of persuading for me to go but it worked out well. Got to see a few old friends whose riding preferences are different from mine so I rarely see them these days.
I was actually ok on the mountain, it was only on the interstate ride down I got cold. I have my hippo hands on the scooter still and I could move them over but I’m trying not to. I’m trying to persuade myself it’s going to get warm any day now! I have a long weekend planned for next week that involves another 120 mile interstate ride and this time it is over the Cascade mountains. I might break down and move the muffs over before then.
eonParticipantWow, didn’t realize you had such an experience. Thanks for sharing as it never hurts to be reminded of the dangers of what me do. I read many reports like that before I got started to be sure I went into this with my eyes open. Have to admit I’ve been slacking off lately in my 3 mile commute to work. Still wear jacket, helmet, gloves and boots but have been leaving off the knee/shin protectors. Then last night I nearly got hit three separate times by stupid drivers. Time to get serious again.
eonParticipantNow that’s a hot rod I can relate to!
As a non-American I have to admit I’m a little non-plussed by the dreams of American domination of the motorcycle industry. Dreams of bygone days seem heavily tinted by patriotic fervor and emotion. If America was ever a power to be reckoned with in the motorcycle world it certainly was not in my lifetime, at least outside of the Harley lifestyle market. And why in a country obsessed with free market are we limited to patriotic young Americans building American bikes? That article seemed very odd and self defeating, in that only a Google billionaire type could save the day. If you are looking for a good example of how to do it then look no further than Triumph. That essentially is a brand new company that copied the good business practices from Japan and slapped a historic badge on brand new bikes. Building attractive modern bikes and modern classics they have carved out quite a niche for themselves, as well as a great reputation. Didn’t take a billion dollars, mostly know how, hard work and dedication (okay, and probably a few million). That would be an attainable goal for anyone trying to start an American bike company.
Seems to be lots of people crying out for it.
eonParticipanteonParticipantNot a perfect example but here is what grabbing too much front brake looks like.
Ok, it’s a slightly exaggerated example but many times when going round a corner you get startled and have to make corrections. That could mean applying the brakes or adjusting the throttle. It’s pretty simple math to figure out that a super sport reacts faster to smaller inputs than a Ninja 250 will. Similarly, the really fast bikes have really good brakes to slow them down. Brakes that are designed to stop you from 170mph have a lot of grabbing power. With a panicked or heavy hand they are going to lock up in a blink of an eye.
And if you really need to see how fast a sport bike can be, here is a drag race between BMW’s S1000RR and a 700hp Corvette (that’s 700 hp!!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATV4Ltbk5Qc&feature=related#t=03m59seonParticipantIt’s the theme music to Battlestar Galactica (new series) by Bear McCreary.
eonParticipantWell, as promised here is my latest round of shopping.
1) Rapid Transit Recon 19 Magnetic Tank Bag
Not bad value at $80. Got lots of pockets and features. Has a pouch to store a water bag which might be more convenient than my camel back as I hate wearing backpacks while riding. Also has a built in raincover which is not detachable so I can’t lose it. The phone pocket is a bit tight for my iPhone so I’m not sure if I’ll use it. Also the map pocket is very small so I’ll probably make up handwritten notes as backup to my GPS for longer trips. I thought the backpack feature was a gimmick but I might actually use that. We’ll see.2) Sidi B2 Gore-Tex Boot
Same boots as I currently have but with a Gore-Tex liner. Quickly discovered on my first ride on the new bike that my feet are no longer protected from the elements. I love these boots so a GoreTex version at a close out price was a no brainer.3) KTM Hard Equipment Enduro Handguards
These hand guards seem to offer the best combination of fit/finish and price and a lot of folks have installed them on their Versys. Hope between these and new gloves I can avoid putting on my hippo hands.4) SW-MOTECH Alu-Rack Toprack
Thought long and hard about what type of luggage I want to fit to the Versys. The stock sidecases look gorgeous but would probably run me north of $800. Decided to just buy a rack so I can reuse the top case I already have. Will probably add a waterproof soft bag across the passenger seat for extra luggage for long trips. With that and the tank bag I think that will be enough for my planned 2 week summer trip.
5) REV’IT! Bastion GTX Gloves
My current winter gloves have started leaking and now have a permanent sour smell so it’s time for something new. I’m a big fan of Gore-Tex and don’t mind paying a premium for something I know is going to work. I hope to pick these gloves up tomorrow morning at a local dealer, assuming my credit card doesn’t snap in half with all of this spending!eonParticipantI heard he only agreed to do that movie if they included that bike scene. There was no escape on a motorcycle, that part was pure fiction. Made great viewing though.
February 23, 2011 at 10:54 pm in reply to: New goodies (beware Dial-Up – Long Post with Pics) #29285eonParticipantHave to laugh at you removing your fender and I want to add one!
Some nice looking gear you have there. $50 for an EXO400? Wow, that’s a good deal. That was my first helmet and I was very happy with it till I stupildy tried on an Arai Profile. Suddenly I realized what I had been missing when it comes to finding a helmet that REALLY fits well.
I will post up some pics and prices of my latest shopping spree later on.Note: I edited your original post to resize the pictures as they were overlapping the edge of the screen. I replaced the HEIGHT=”50%” with WIDTH=660 as that is the perfect size for these forum pages.
eonParticipantContrary to what seems obvious, the contact patch of your tires has no impact on the amount of grip you have. All that matters is the coefficient of friction between the two surfaces and the amount of weight (or pressure) pressing them together. If you halve the surface area you double the pressure and the amount of grip remains the same. However halving the surface area increases the amount of load the rubber has to endure and heat to dissipate, so I suspect that’s why powerful bikes have fat rear tires (leaving aside aesthetics in some cases).
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Physics-1358/2009/1/surface-area-effect-friction.htm
eonParticipantHmm, I agree it looks suspicious so I have removed the link for the time being but have left the post. If Terry is a real person then I guess we will find out soon enough.
That CRF223 is a nice looking bike.
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