[gitchy42]

Eternal is right, you need to be smooth on the controls, and get the weight off of the handle bars.

If you are worried about going too fast in a turn, start braking earlier. Make sure that you are on the throttle going through the turn, you don’t have to accelerate, but you can’t leave the throttle closed.

I have made turns on my SV where I had a late entry do to late, heavy braking then coasted through most of the turn because I couldn’t get on the throttle, and it felt like the bike was sliding, even though it wasn’t. A very unnerving feeling, but when I relaxed and remembered the training, everything started working better, and feeling smoother.

Good luck, ride safe

[gitchy42]

Sounds like a nice trip. I assume that you stayed on the Washington side of the river until you hit The Dalles, or at least Hood River? On the Oregon side you end up doing some exit hopping on the freeway. It’s a great place to ride, hopefully I can hit more of the Washington side this year.

[gitchy42]

Northern California has the giant redwoods, or at least, they have most of them. Oregon used to have on of the largest and oldest giant sequoias, but it was topped by a lightning storm, then taken down some more in a wind storm.

[gitchy42]

A clear cut is when they go in and cut out about 95% of the trees in a logging operation. They’re infamous here in Oregon. They are basically the logging version of strip-mining; but at some point someone said that they are the best way to log. Oh well, gotta have wood.

Anyway, MadJack gave good advice on how to find one, the trick is living near a forest.

[gitchy42]

Yesterday wasn’t my first ride of the year, but it was the first ride of the new “season”. It was near perfect weather when I started, but I was a little cold when I got home. Anyways, I was finally able to get some photos for madjack’s tag challenge.

One of Oregon’s top exports is Christmas trees:

And the new challenge, your bike near a clear-cut:

Preferably an old clear-cut, but a new one, or a recently replanted one will do.

[gitchy42]

That’s a pretty sweet looking conversion….I might consider something similar if I get bored with my SV. Thanks for posting it Jeff.

[gitchy42]

Found the video I was looking for, you can hear that he is playing with the throttle all the way through the corner, and gooses it just a little too much.

Actually, if you watch all of the crash vids just from The Snake (Mulholland Dr), you should get a good idea why a big bike can be too much to handle, even for an experienced rider.

[gitchy42]

Think the rider peed himself a little before the slide, then maybe the rest during and after. That was obviously a panic maneuver. There is a video of what happens when you apply a little too much throttle in a turn on a SS bike. I’m trying to find it, but not having much luck yet. Will post when I find it.

[gitchy42]

Looking up there, I agree that not wearing a helmet is just plain stupid when you look at the statistics. However, I do agree with Munch as well, that sometimes you need to let people make decisions for themselves. Also, something Munch may agree with too, a coworker of mine often says that we are trying too hard to keep stupid people alive.

Helmets do not always make people safer. Safety gear itself does not always make people safer, same with mandating it. There are a number of factors at play here. One is that sometimes people are unfamiliar with the safety gear and will use it improperly and perhaps put themselves at a greater risk because of it (not likely with helmets, but the point is valid). Another is that some people with intentionally use the equipment improperly, I know of a person that still refuses to put on their seat belt, they will go so far as to stretch it across their chest and tuck it under their butt. There are always going to be some people that will simply not use the equipment, mandatory or not. The one reason that many people tend to forget is that when we feel safe, we tend to take greater risks. It is not a hard-fast rule, but going atgatt can (not will) make you stupid, thinking going along the lines of “I have my gear on, I’m safe, now watch this wheelie” (a little hyperbole, I know).

Now, the one of the top safety tips I hear/read (other than atgatt and rider training) is make yourself as visible as possible. I don’t know about anywhere else, but here in Oregon the easiest way to make yourself visible on a bike is to have a light-colored helmet; it even seems to be more effective than a light colored jacket.

I like the PA law that WeaponZero was talking about, having new riders wear helmets and letting more experienced riders choose. It lets you have your freedom, but keeps new riders protected while they are most likely to have an incident. A decent balance.

[gitchy42]

Yeah, it was a good first season, looking forward to this riding season, hope it gets even better!

[gitchy42]

So, I finally got a pic of my Bike next to a dock! Had to wait for a cool day, when the boat ramp didn’t have a line 5 trucks/boats deep!!

Next Tag, your bike and a snow-capped peak:

A little extra scenery would be nice

[gitchy42]

I rearranged my photobucket and broke all the links to the photos I have already posted, I’ll fix this soon.

[gitchy42]

Actually, the picture up on my last post isn’t my bike, it is an example that someone else took of what I am looking at. Good info though on the Massachusetts laws, I’m in Oregon, and don’t know what the laws here saw about markers, but I know the cops here are pretty lax on enforcing what laws there are for lights on bikes, and most cars even. However to save on headache later I’m going to take a look.

I rearranged my photobucket and broke all the links to the photos I have already posted, I’ll fix this soon.

[gitchy42]

You have some really nice gear that you got. That fender eliminator looks great, and the double bubble should help cut the wind down a ton. I saw that Scorpion helmet on sale at a local bike shop, too bad it doesn’t fit my head right cause it looks great and the screens are super easy to change.

One word of caution though, go over those Frank Thomas boots with a magnifying glass, finish and quality control is lacking in that brand. I have bought 2 different pairs of Frank Thomas gloves, I had already decided to take one pair back because I didn’t like how they fit, then noticed that the left and the right weren’t mirror images of each other, someone was asleep at the sewing machine. They usually make nice stuff, but there are a lot of flaws that seem to creep through.

I snapped a few tabs are am going to have to replace the rear plastics on my bike, when I do I’m thinking of replacing the rear brake light with a Clear Alternatives integrated brake/turn signal module, and removing the indicators from the rear of the bike to clean it up a little more. I thought they were a little goofy, but I saw them on a bike and they’re pretty neat, at least I think so.

http://stores.motolume.com/StoreFront.bok

[gitchy42]

Hi Newbie,

Jeff is right, you are probably gripping the bars too tightly. Even though that is the throttle side, you barely have to hold on at all to keep it where it should be.

If you relax your grip, and there is still pain make sure that you are not using your arms to keep you up, on sport bikes this compresses the wrists, causing pain, on cruisers this can over-extend the wrists, causing pain. It is best to use your core (abs & back muscles) to keep you upright. I don’t think this is the case since it is just your right wrist that hurts, but something to keep in mind.

If all else fails, look at getting a Cramp-Buster, I’ve heard varying reviews on how well they work, but they all say it works.

Enjoy the ride

[Author]

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