[eon]

I had never heard of these so I went looking online. They look similar to my BMG Thermosport gloves and are a similar price. Folks are claiming they keep you warmer longer than the BMGs did for me but maybe they have a higher tolerance for cold than I do. Multiple people are claiming they are not waterproof however, a deal breaker I would think. I hate to consider having wet hands in freezing temperatures. Not nice.

[eon]

My winter gloves only delay the cold and adding latex gloves beneath them didn’t help much last year. I’ve now got a set of Hippo Hand like protectors coming (different brand). I figure keeping my gloved hands out of the wind and elements is a much better plan.

[eon]

I am one of the Seattlites on here, and also a fellow Piaggio owner though I do have 10x the cc’s you have and 1.5x #wheels

I would recommend taking the MSF class as soon as you can. If you cannot afford that then you cannot afford a motorcycle IMO. At this time of the year the classes are probably half empty and you can get one for around $120 I think (been a while since I looked). 99% of what you learn in the class is applicable to scooters. Only difference is obviously changing gears (N/A) and feathering the clutch (you ride the back brake instead on a scooter).

There are no shortage of great rides in this area. Out to Duvall, Carnation area and up to Granite Falls is my favorite haunting ground for small day rides. Longer rides take me over the Cascades, down to Rainier, up to Baker, over to the Olympic Peninsula. Too many to choose from that I have not done all the rides on my list yet.

Closer to home and more appropriate for 50cc’s is around the Arboretum area. Great twisty roads with a country feel in downtown Seattle. You can have a lot of fun around there (though the roads are in bad shape).

Have fun learning and hope you get your upgrade soon

[eon]

eek! Surely not! When I went sliding down the road at 20mph a few weeks back 3 parts of me touched the ground.
1. My hands
2. My feet
3. My legs and butt.

There were scuff marks on the palms of my gloves and the outside pinky.
Scuff marks on both boots around the toes, outside of foot and ankle.
There was a hole at one knee leading through to the armor and there were slight friction burn marks on the legs and the butt. I basically went sliding down the road feet first. I got up from that slide feeling no worse than if I fell off my kitchen chair. It wasn’t till I studied my gear I realized how much it protected me.

ps. my pants were around $100 and protected me fine at that type of speed. They are the Tourmaster Flex pants.

[eon]

The link that Eternal gave is for a EXO-700 helmet at $110 (one style only at that price). You can get certain EXO-400 lids from that site for $90 and I could argue that a 400 is safer than the 700 (that motorcyclist article from 2005 criticizing SNELL gave G-Force ratings on its tests and the 400 performed better than the 700).

[eon]

Buying a slightly more expensive bike might be easier to sell on in 8 months time and your overall loss might be the same, assuming you have the money to spend now.

Your budget for gear looks pretty tight. If it really is that tight I would go with the EXO-400 helmet. You might only be saving $20~$30 over the 700 but you are not compromising safety, only features (Disclaimer: I have the 400. One day I will have a Shoei to see what I’ve been missing). That SBTG website offers screaming deals on Scorpion gear. I paid $150 for my 400

Definitely buy the best boots you can. I started out on a pair of $100 “motorcycle” boots that were really just sturdy boots with some nominal ankle protection. I now have a $250 pair of Sidi’s and the difference is night and day.

Most pants have knee protection built in so that should be another $25 towards the boot fund

Rain gear is a luxury, unless you happen to be riding in rain! If you plan on commuting on this bike then you need to be prepared for whatever weather comes your way. If its just for fun then you can mostly avoid the rain. Also know that you get cold on a bike very quickly, especially if you are wet. Riding at even just 40mph gives you a significant windchill.

You should know that it is not recommended to take lessons from friends. There are all kinds of statistics to back up how much safer you will be after professional training. Thing is you don’t really know how safe your friend is or if he has the ability to explain things to a complete noob. After 35 years riding certain things may be 2nd nature to him makes it hard for him to teach. I’m not going to tell you to not do it but there is nothing stopping you from educating yourself. The MSF booklet is available for free online and David’s Hough Proficient Motorcycling is the best $20 you can spend.

[eon]

I’ll be there too. See if I can make up my mind what direction I want to go next but I seem to want every bike I see these days. Too many choices, not enough money.

[eon]

Well, here is my opinion based on few facts and lots of assumptions

The Buell/HD partnership was always a strange marriage. If there is one thing HD does stunningly well it is selling a lifestyle. Unfortunately that lifestyle is at complete odds with sport bikes and that seemed to come through in peoples experiences at the dealerships. Folks who buy Harleys rave about their dealership experiences, folks who want Buell complain about it. Personally, I would rather have fewer outlets who are enthusiastic about their product than many who treat it with disdain.

The Buell brand on the racetrack was a bit of a joke. I don’t follow motorcycling racing much but I have ready many posts by people who do who laugh at them. Not sure if this was justified or not but these are potential owners and their perception of the brand was anything but good. I cannot recall anyone ever defending the brand. If any of you watched the Twist the Throttle series on tv you will remember that EVERY company went racing to sell their bikes. If you go racing and are a laughing stock then you are not going to sell many bikes. Better to not race at all (maybe Spaz and Eternal can chip in here).

Some of the people on here who expressed an interest in Buell did so because they wanted to buy American. While this is an admirable trait it is a shaky foundation to base a company on. To my mind Harley is the only company who have made that a successful strategy. Growing up in Britain in the 70’s I remember many “Buy British” campaigns. Today the entire British car and motorcycle industry is gone. All British car companies today are fronts for German or American corporations. The one exception to this rule is of course Triumph Motorcycles. It is worth noting that they too folded but were bought over by a local businessman who turned them around. He did this by copying Japanese manufacturing techniques and building quality, desirable bikes.

Perhaps he could be a model for Buell. Give up the dream about winning races and concentrate on building a successful company.

Oh and it’s worth noting that HD is selling MV Augusta. I’m thinking there has been an internal shakeup at HD and they are focusing on their core product. It’s also worth noting that HD’s shares have risen 47% this year so if the company is really in trouble then they must have been telling some large porkies.

[eon]

When Ben first turned this module on I started getting a flood of emails so I went into my settings and turned the notifications off and that fixed it. It’s been so long I cannot remember what I did exactly but I’m sure you would have tried the same settings. Not sure why it worked for me (and presumably everyone else) but not you. Guess you are just lucky!

[eon]

I have the feeling your insecurities would allow you to corner at twice the speed i would feeling totally confident! Maybe one day I will head to the track but my current leanings are more towards offroad than track days. Will probably get myself a new bike late next year so I have some time to make my mind up.

I think most of the pictures I have posted here have been from further afield trips, over the Cascades, down to Rainier etc. I did post some pics from the southern end of Snoqualmie Valley but that was some time ago. I highly recommend getting out there and enjoying the wonderful roads & scenery WA has to offer. I took all this for granted till I moved to the concrete metropolis called Atlanta. You don’t appreciate what you have till its gone!

[eon]

Short shifting is a driving technique in which the gear is changed up before absolutely necessary. By short shifting, not all of the engine’s power from the previous gear is being used, therefore power and torque are lost.

The most common reason to change gear early during fast driving is to not lose valuable time changing gear later. Although this means not being able to accelerate using all of the engine’s power, there is a time saving from changing gear later on. This can aid overtaking by ensuring that the car is in the right gear in anticipation of the maneuver. Another reason is to improve fuel economy by driving at lower rpm if acceleration is not what is being sought. Another reason is to intentionally reduce power and torque, to get more grip. For example, if there is a wet road, there is an increased chance of sliding or wheel spin. If the gear is changed up, these difficulties are reduced. Short shifting is a technique that can help to maintain vehicle stability through bends by avoiding an unsettling shift in balance mid-corner.

This driving technique should not be confused with the after market optimisation of the automobile manual gearbox either by the installation of a short shifter designed to reduce throw and increase physical shift speed.

[eon]

Quite a ride, hitting Berlin and Warsaw in one day
Nice pictures and a great description, thanks for taking us along for the ride

[eon]

Given that my bike is my only means of transport, I live in Seattle and winter is fast approaching I’m going to get lots of practice riding in the rain. In fact was out in it last night. Took it easy as I could hear car wheels spinning as they took off from every intersection so I knew it was slippy. Did fine apart from one sharp corner where there are lots of potholes and manhole covers. Finding a good line through there is tricky in the dry so last night I chickened out and took it very easy, staying almost vertical the whole way through. Still, I’m in no hurry to get back to normal as another spill at this point would be very bad.

[eon]

My “local twisties” are out towards the Duvall area (though I live downtown Seattle). Any road around that area is generally good. I typically ride up the west side of Snoqualmie Valley, up the High Bridge Road towards Cathcart then Snoqualmie. Heading further north towards Granite Falls, Menzel Lake Rd is great and most other roads in between.

I also head through UW area a lot going towards Magnusson Park where I play soccer and also practice on the MSF lot there. I remember saying you are in grad school so I’m thinking you are in that area. Not a lot of MP3s on the road and I’ve never seen another 500cc on the road (500cc has the Mad Max bodywork, 400/250ccs have the X-Files alien look), so you may have seen me around. I’m thinking you are not in your black/white outfit as I think I would have noticed that

[eon]

I too have fallen off my bicycle many times but strangely that never affected me. It’s just weird how this one did. I know I will get over it as I have already started to but again, it’s a weird feeling being a somewhat experienced rider now but feeling fear for the first time. Maybe I was just too dumb to know what I was getting into in the beginning
It makes me feel better to hear other people have the same issues. Was feeling a bit of a wuss after all the stories you hear about folks having bad crashes but getting back on as soon as they can.

[Author]

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