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Quote “it is a planned event they are invited to and folks know whats coming.”
That makes all the difference there. That bit was not clear to me.

The Southpark episode in question poked fun at Harley riders with loud pipes. They equated loud pipes with a “look at me” mentality.

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Hmmm….have to watch what I’m saying here but that brings to mind a certain episode of Southpark. I’m sure there were good intentions but it could easily upset some people (not including you in this as your SV650 is not exactly known for ear splitting pipes).

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Never got a chance to get out today. Won’t have another chance till next weekend what with our short days here and having to work and all. Have a feeling this is going to be a slow moving tag-o-rama….

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That sounds like a good thing to do. I have to ask though what a biker’s salute is. Never heard that term before (and it does not bring to mind anything respectful).

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found a website that lists covered bridges in WA and lo and behold there is one not far from one of my favorite stamping grounds. The map is a little unclear how to get to it so I may have to ride around some folks back yards to get there Now if only I can be sure there will be no ice around tomorrow…

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I’m in. Will probably need to keep these things easy as there are not a huge amount of us on this board. Now I just need to find a covered bridge in WA….

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Did you order one of those pin-lock visors? Everyone seems to rave about them. I had a bad time last Sunday riding along I-5 in the rain. Went into a particularly heavy patch and my visor fogged up. Had to alternate between lifting my visor and having it closed as neither option was good (60mph in the rain with a visor open is no fun either but slightly preferrable to being blind).

No snow in Seattle but this morning is a cold crisp dry morning. Decided to head up to Kerry Park about 1/2 mile from my house before heading out on a ride. Kerry Park is several hundred feet higher than where I am and is where the picture postcard view of Seattle is taken. Gorgeous view this morning, see for miles and the snow on the mountains was breathtaking. Head round a corner out of the direct sunlight and I see frost at the side of the road and the road is wet. Turns out that wet was ice. Good job I was only doing 5mph and this patch was only about 30ft long. After getting through that in one piece I decide just to head back home. Finding surprises like that at anything above walking speed would not be nice. Live to ride another day is my new motto!

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I added these a little while back and they help a lot.

It’s not been that cold here yet where I’ve really needed them but it’s been nice to have (especially in the wet weather, nice to have dry hands). Not quite the snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug feeling I was hoping for but so far good enough.

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I got to ride today. Course it much warmer than you had. Somewhere in the 40’s but probably dropping into the 30’s tonight. The only part of me that ever gets cold is my hands. Even with my muffs and winter gloves I can still feel the chill but so far its been okay. Heated grips would be the bomb but I’m too lazy/cheap to go that road. What do you have for your hands?

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You touched upon it in your video but I would emphasize that your peripheral vision is designed to pick up motion. You see something in the corner of your eye then you focus on it, it’s hard not to. Old hunters trick is not stare directly at a camoflaged animal. Your peripheral vision will pick out any movement before your central part. Not that I’m a hunter. Everything I know I learned from tv!

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Congratulations. Here’s hoping you get to enjoy it before winter sets in where you are.

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I hesitate to offer more advice as one of my problems in the beginning was information overload. Trying to do too much resulted in me not doing anything well. One piece of advice that helped me was too look 12 seconds down the road. If you can do that then you should have time to react to most situations. It’s easy to get suckered into staring at the road in front of you, looking for manhole covers etc. Eyes up and SEE and things get easier.

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I watch a lot of Formula 1 and I know the tires they run on those cars bond chemically with the track. Not sure what sort of temperatures they run at but the cars are very sensitive to track temp (so much so that the tires are developed with each track in mind). Any sort of slow down (behind a safety car for example) and the grip falls off dramatically. Now those tires are designed to last something like 25 miles and you can see the rubber they leave behind. I would imagine high performace race tires for bikes would have similar benefits/problems.

Obviously a world of difference between them and everyday road tires designed to last 10,000 miles in all sorts of conditions and temperatures.

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Well, I don’t know if you can tell much from a picture but here is one I snapped of her bike. I have to say I really like the look of this bike.
(click for full size pic)

Hmmmph…I’m sitting here in a downtown high rise office block looking out at blue skies and snow capped mountains in the distance. Sadly I get paid by the hour so I need to sit here in my cubicle pretending to work for the rest of the day

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So did you trade in the Ninja? Looks like there are still 3 bikes in your garage. If they are giving away new bikes I’m thinking they are not keen on trade ins.

I met a chick on a DRZ back in March this year and it looked a great bike. She had modded the hell out of it and she said it was closer to a 600cc in terms of power. She kept up with the sportbikes on our ride to Mt St Helens. Hope you get the chance to go riding today. Looks awesome out there.

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