[eon]

I’m not sure how financing works in America (ok, make that I’m not sure how it works anywhere) but would it be possible for her father to co-sign on the loan so Tara gets a good rate? He essentially takes the risk so the bank provides the loan at a decent rate and Tara gets to build up a credit history?

Don’t forget you will need money for gear. That will easily eat up your $800 savings. But it is money well spent.

[eon]

Ooohh I am extremely jealous. That’s a bike that is on my shortlist. Don’t know if I would do it justice or not. Would love to hear how you progress with it and the adventures you have.

[eon]

Danggit. I just typed a long rant on how the price of the DL650 had jumped from $8000 to $9500. I was full of righteous indignation when something told me it just did not make sense. Double checked that link and it is to the Canadian website. Doh!

Here is the USA site. Prices are still the same (in fact everything looks the same) on the WeeStrom. Dunno about the other bikes.
http://www.suzukicycles.com/Product%20Lines/Cycles.aspx?year=2010

EDIT: Scrub that link. It is not showing 2010 models. I followed someone else’s link yet again without double checking it. Time to go lie down now.

[eon]

Now you mention it, it does look like Wall-E!

[eon]

The song is Golden Brown by The Stranglers. Don’t know about any recent movie, I just remember it from first time around.

I wasn’t sure if that angle would work or not but that turned out to be the best shot of the day.

[eon]

Interesting. My bike has had a large windscreen on it from day one. The one day I took it off I felt I could barely control it in fast corners due to the fact I was hanging onto the handlebars to support myself. Being forced to sit straight up certainly does not help when you are getting wind blast though. I put the windshield back on when I got home as I preferred to be smooth in the corners and I would just live with the heat.

[eon]

Well, after playing around with various conversion programs (which all resulted in crap) I went back to my original utube upload and it now looks good! Not sure if that’s because I’ve spent so long looking at grainy conversions or if uTube did some overnight clean up of it. I suspect the latter. I’ve noticed they do conversions behind the scenes at times. So anyway, I’ll post it up.

[eon]

Can anyone offer advice on how to get a Windows Movie up to YouTube without it looking like crap? I’ve finally got myself a GoPro and I made a little movie using the free MovieMaker software on Windows. That’s ok for editing and makes a decent movie but when I transfer it to YouTube it compresses the hell out of it and it looks like crap. Unfortunately the MovieMaker software does not give many options when publishing

I also have an older MacMini that I successfully made a YouTube movie on at the beginning of the year. Can’t remember what all my export settings were though. I might try and convert my movie using that. Really don’t want to have to do all the editing again (plus my MacMini is a slug compared to my laptop).

I will even consider buying some software for my PC if that is the easiest route. Nothing too expensive though. Or do any of the other video hosting sites handle WMV files ok?

[eon]

I don’t find it puzzling she cannot decide between cruiser and sportbike as I was the same. My actual leanings are more dual sport but I did not realize this at the time. Actually, I would like one of each type of bike! But those are some pretty big cruisers she is eyeing up. If she decides to go that road she might be better off on something a little smaller.

One thing that may or not be important to her is the ‘scene’ that goes along with each type of bike. While I could be happy on a cruiser I do not fit the typical cruiser rider mold. Chaps and a skid lid are not for me. At the same time, hi-viz jackets and full face lids are not for everyone either. I’m not making any judgments here, I just know what I am comfortable with. And the same things apply to sportbike community and even, shock horror, the dual sport community.

My advice would be to go for the 250R. It’s really a standard dressed up as a sportbike. Once she’s been riding for a while she will have a better feel for what direction she wants to go in.

[eon]

First time I’ve seen that and it was painful to watch. Very painful.

[eon]

I think you are wise just to park up for the winter. No point taking unnecessary risks. I was stuck indoors for the 2 weeks we had snow last year. On new years day I think it was the snow was gone and it was a cold dry day. I was itching to get out so I went on a little run. I was having a great time but about 30 miles from home I noticed the rivers I was passing were frozen over. At that point I decided to head home but almost immediately it started snowing. I made it home safely but I thought I had pushed my luck a little too much that day. Stayed closer to home after that till things had warmed up considerably.

[eon]

Not the entire class, there are also shemales (but maybe that’s just a subclass)

It does really suck that you have to pay so much but I guess that’s the price of being lumped in with all the squids. Especially since your track riding experience makes you one of the safer riders out there (I would think). I’m sure you know insurance is optional in WA but that would be a hell of a gamble. Would not take much of an incident to wipe you out financially.

[eon]

Progressive gave me the highest quote out of the companies I searched. State Farm was cheapest by far in my first year but were slightly more expensive than Geico the second (I heard they raised their rates across the board). I stuck with them as I was too lazy to change and I’m glad I did as they were very prompt at paying out after my accident. Always worth paying a little more if you know you will be treated fairly in the event of a claim.

Still, look on the bright side, it’s only money. When you are older and all your joints pop and squeak you would gladly go back to being young and paying insurance companies through the nose

[eon]

Probably a stupid question but do you get much snow in Alaska? I’m thinking you are near the ocean so that’s probably a resounding yes. If it was cold but dry then I’m sure you could continue riding with the appropriate heated gear. Been seeing a few announcements on improvements from Gerbing and GoreTex recently. Freezing temperatures and wet roads are enough to keep me off the road though. Thankfully it is mostly just wet over the winter here, does not get below freezing too often (I think, I’ve only been here 3 winters).

Or we could all just be snowbirds and descend on Elwood for a few months. 90′ and blue skies sounds nice right now.

[eon]

I am assuming you live in Capitol Hill then (for the non Seattle folks that’s still pretty close to downtown). I would urge you to be extra cautious on damp days as they are worse than full on wet IMO. I live downtown and the amount of oil on the roads has been driving me crazy. Standard advice is to be aware of light rain after a long dry spell as it brings all the oil that’s been dumped in the road to the surface. I’m thinking in city streets there is a never ending supply of freshly deposited oil so EVERY time it gets damp it looks like Rainbow City down here. Very slippy conditions

Having said that, today is gorgeous sunny day so I’m outta here and getting out there

[Author]

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