[eon]

I agree with you but in case it wasn’t clear this was just an informal get together, not an organized course. This group is 95%+ cruiser riders and without passing judgment we all know what that means when it comes to gear. A situation not helped IMO by Ride Like A Pro where t-shirts and fingerless gloves are the norm. But if you are barely in control of your bike (like that woman was) and you choose to wear a cowboy hat while leaving your helmet on your sissy bar, well I’m not sure what to say. I make my choices and I let others make theirs but don’t expect me to cry at your funeral. If I was responsible in any way for their safety (or if I had been one of the organizers) then I would have insisted on helmet use at all times.

Slightly different topic but I also have a different philosophy when it comes to group riding. This group insists on riding like a pack and is terrified of the group being split. This means they ride in tight parade formation (even at speed) and use blockers at junctions, all stuff that I hate. I consider that riding dangerous and want no part of it. If you notice in the video I am way off the back and don’t mind when a car gets between me and them. I ride as an individual, not as part of a collective, but I don’t think they are unique in the way they ride. I’ve seen those guidelines published in many websites. I consider that at least as dangerous, if not more so, than riding in a parking lot without a helmet.

I’ll get off my soapbox now

[eon]

The guy with the chopper is actually a pretty good rider. Apparently he took the Police Riders course. Not sure what course this is exactly but you take it on supplied Harley. Costs close to a grand for a one day course so not many people take it!
Course this guy has more money than sense. He has a Harley bagger (whatever that is) that he has spent $56k on. Amazing paint jobs on his bikes and all kinds of special clutches and what not. Shudder to think what that chopper cost. He also recently bought a Hayabusa that he is going to chop and drop ~$24k on a paint job and take to shows. I think I took the wrong career choice somewhere along the line.

[eon]

From my one weekend trip to NC I would say yes, they are pretty similar. Yes we have higher mountains here but you can’t ride up them! Riding the foothills of them is a lot like I remember NC to be.

This was only the 2nd time this group has had a PLP session. We watched Ride Like A Pro and then hit the practice range. To be honest there were slightly too many people there or at least, we needed to be better organized. A lot of time was spent waiting your turn. Could’ve/should’ve set up at least two lines for each exercise but on the whole it went smoothly.

One of the guys set up an 18ft circle and I wish someone had videoed me going round that. I could do it with a couple of feet to spare and do it real slow. Would like to have seen what that looked like.

[eon]

Dammit, I wish I had known that was you. When I saw that course set out I almost had a spin around it till I saw the car sitting there. That looked like a lot of fun but it must have taken you forever to set it up. Next time you do that give me a shout and I will be there to help out and share in the fun.

It wasn’t a PNW group. I rarely visit that site as most of the conversation seems to be at the teenage boy level. There were 8 or so sportbike guys there who may have been from PNW. They were practicing their wheelies and stoppies but they were pretty responsible and pretty cool. Certainly had some impressive leathers on.

No, it was a Meetup Group get together to practice basic riding techniques. Think we had over 30 bikes show up which was pretty impressive turn out for some parking lot practice. I was expecting some god awful riding on show but it was not as bad as I had feared. Some people need to make this a more regular part of their riding routine. I was given a hard time as I had an unfair advantage on my scooter. Not having to worry about friction zone makes things easier and I could have done these exercises with my eyes closed, but I only got their with many hours of practice.

Here is a video I put together of the day.

The one disadvantage of making videos is that you don’t get to be in them
So here is a gratuitous shot of me showing how it should be done

edit: Owlie, April 5th works for me.

[eon]

Our resident tall person on a Ninja will be along shortly to give you his opinion

But to summarize you can get after market pegs to make it more comfortable for you. I would stay away from the 600RR as that is pretty much a race bike with lights. I’m not sure about the other bikes but the others on here more familiar with sport bikes will fill you in on the details.

[eon]

Maybe the more experienced eyes can spot what he did wrong, I wouldn’t like to say. I did notice in the slow-mo after the fall I ton of dust getting kicked up. It also looked like another 180′ corner coming up so maybe he realized he needed to lean more to make the current corner. It looks like he leaned a little more immediately before the fall. Hard to say how fast he was going with the camera panning with him but it did look quick. Too quick obviously for the conditions and his skill.

I’ve seen a few of these types of vids recently from California. Apparently there are a few places where crashes are common and folks hang out with their cameras. Could be this is one of them and there is something about the road there that catches folks out. Not sure.

[eon]

Hey now, I think you guys are being a little hard on the new guy. As someone who also has a 2 mile commute he has my sympathy. I still ride to work but sometimes I wonder why as I have to pay for parking and by the time I get my gear on/off I don’t save much in time. Still, without that little blast it would be weekends only for me.

I don’t think the carb thing is an issue either. I’ve driven plenty of cars without babying them. You just let the choke out after a minute or so. No problems.

[eon]

When I was first looking I had no idea what type of bike I wanted. It came down the the Vulcan 500 (cruiser) and Ninja 250 (sportbike) but somehow I ended up with a 3 wheel scooter. And now I want a Dual Sport. Short answer is don’t sweat it. You will find out in time what type is for you. Either bike will be a fine first bike. As Much said, take a training class, go sit on a few and gradually you will know.

[eon]

I’ve considered both bikes as my next machine so I know a little about them (finally, a subject I know something about ). Even though they are frequently lumped together they are really quite different bikes. As SantaCruz says the Versys is setup more like a sportsbike whereas the WeeStrom is more of a long distance tourer. The Wee is also more suited for off road use than the V due to its larger wheels, though it is by no means a dirt bike. Personally I am leaning towards the V as it will be more fun on short blasts while still capable of distance touring. Look on advrider.com, plenty of detailed threads on there comparing the two (the question has been asked many times).

[eon]

The Versys uses the same engine as the Ninja 650 which is on (if just barely) the recommended list here. One thing to consider is the higher seat height will make it harder to catch and stop tip overs at lower speed.

I would say both bikes are okay to learn on but there is no denying smaller bikes (in size and cc’s) would make life simpler. But, you are not being crazy in considering either bike.

If buying new Suzuki are (or at least were) doing good deals as they try to shift last years stock. Kawasaki has a new model of Versys out this year so there may be good deals on the old style.

[eon]

Ontario as in Canada? If so you might be comparing apples and oranges. The Canadian training might be more intensive than the BRC (you might even get some training on public roads). If so it might be worth the extra money but I’m not sure how you transfer licences between countries.

[eon]

That’s a nice looking bike. Have to say I like the blue/white paint scheme.
What was wrong with the large fender? Don’t you risk getting a lot of spray thrown onto you without it?

Oh, if you want your pic to fit nicely into this webpage add width=660 after your img tag.

[eon]

I’m sure you can get enough stuff in there. I’m just spoiled by my 46L top case and large underseat storage. The amount of crap I carry with me seems to expand to fill the space I have. Have been considering more but I have all I really need, considering I can strap down a large bag on the seat behind me.

What kind of range do you get on your bike? I’ve been considering getting a 1 gallon fuel cannistor just to be on the safe side. I don’t really need it (I should manage about 180 on a tank) but when travelling in unfamiliar areas it would be nice.

[eon]

Nice looking bags and excellent write up. They don’t look very big though. I guess you sportbike guys need to pack light

[eon]

First thing to worry about is yourself. Personally I try to minimize the hard objects I have in my pockets. In a fall they are going to be pushed into you which could hurt like hell. I certainly would not carry a laptop on me. Even forgetting about a fall I wouldn’t think that would be very comfortable. I do carry my 15″ laptop in it’s bag in my Givi V46 top case all the time. It fits in nice and snug so it’s not sliding around. I honestly think the laptop would survive a pretty hard hit in there. Hope that helps.

[Author]

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