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Arai Corsair-X Helmet Review: Rea-5 Graphic Edition
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gitchy42Participant
Remember when using loctite that the RED Loctite is designed to not come loose, ever. Usually you can break it free, but not always before you break somethings else. I always suggest using the BLUE Loctite.
gitchy42ParticipantJust about every torque spec I’ve seen assumes that you are working with DRY threads, unless marked otherwise. Although, if you see two or three different torque specs for the same bolt usually it is the ft/lbs and NM specs or dry, wet, metric specs.
Unfortunately I believe that any anti-seize is considered a lubricant, so you would have to use the ‘wet’ torque specs. But like madjak said, dissimilar metals tend to bind up and gall, especially stainless going into aluminum.
gitchy42ParticipantI have driven a manual car (prefer to actually, my Ranger is an Auto) ;-( so the concept of shifting was not foreign to me. Also, I have ridden quads before, so I was familiar with the shifter position and shift pattern. The difference here was that I was on a motorcycle, a little more to think about when shifting. In my class it seemed that most people understood what was going on.
There was one person that was having a lot of trouble with shifting. I talked to her a little during breaks, it seems that she can’t shift at all in cars either. I suggested that she look at scooters, twist and GO, lol.
gitchy42ParticipantThe instructors in the course I took said basically the same thing; it is easier to teach someone from scratch. There were a couple guys in the course that have ridden before, and there were a few things that they had to unlearn/relearn.
gitchy42ParticipantWow, through the last day. We started in the classroom this morning, learning how to deal with ‘special situations’, ie poor weather, obstacles in the roadway, debris, gravel roads, small animals, etc. Also learned why NOT to ride while impaired. Then the written test.
On the range, more riding in ovals, hard braking, swerving, braking in a turn, some more weaving. Then the practical test.
I am happy to say that I passed the written test at 96% and the practical test with 100% (YaY)!!
Now on to getting my endorsement, just have to fill out the paperwork and take in my completion card. Then, GET A BIKE. Unfortunately, on craigslist the only bikes under about $2000 in my area are either old (late 70’s/early 80’s), or abused/in poor condition. Because of this I’m probably going to go for a new bike, or used from the dealership. If I’m going to have to pay between 2-4000, I want a bike that I know I’m not going to have problems with. But, I’m going to keep looking. Probably won’t be buying a bike till after next pay day, so I have a couple weeks
gitchy42ParticipantFirst, thanks for the encouragement!
Part One today was 5 hours of practical, on the bike training, with out two instructors; Ted and Carol. Carol seems like a nice, laid back person that is a thorough and conscientious instructor. Ted seemed a little ADD, and seems a bit high-strung. It surprised me a little to find out that the V-Strom in the lot was Ted’s, and the FZ6 in the lot was Carol’s
I was put onto a Yamaha TW125. The training started with finding the controls, starting and shutting down the engine, then feeling out the friction zone……and more friction zone. Friction zone ride/walk it over and back a few times. Then, we all lined up, two lines opposite sides of the range and did the ride/walk between cones, stopping at each one, spaced about 20 feet apart. After that between the large cones, about 40 feet apart. Then it was time to ride, lol. They had us go about 80-100 feet (I think, not the best judge of distance), stop, then get in the other line. Then slow ovals, then learning to shift. One person in the class had trouble with the shifting, but managed to get the hang of it by the end of the day. Pretty much the rest of the day was doing ovals one way, or the other, sometimes shifting, sometimes just staying in one gear. We were coached to slow, look, roll, push to go through the corners. That’s slow down for the turn, look through the turn, roll on the throttle (a little) and push the bar to set the lean through the turn. It was interesting that when Ted and Carol stood at the ends of the range, everyone seemed to do better at Carol’s end. Well, time well spent, my skills definitely improved through the exercises, though that’s not hard to do considering I was almost at 0 at the beginning.
After the bike session was two more hours in the classroom, learning to scan the road and identify potential problems and how to deal with them. For this they put a slide on the overhead, turned the overhead on for a few seconds, then the class had to describe the scenario, identify potential threats and work out how to deal with those threats. We talked about lane selection, lane position, how to negotiate different kinds of turns…umm and the theory of swerving and emergency breaking in a turn.
Tomorrow back at it in the morning with another classroom section, knowledge test, then more time one the bikes and I would assume the practical test.
Oh, one more thing i learned today, Arai helmets are not for me, at least not the style I was wearing today.
gitchy42ParticipantThe idea behind breaking it up like that is so they can gradually phase it in, without overloading the system. Ten year breaks are convenient. A few years ago Oregon phased in requiring boaters to get a license the same way, starting at 18 or 21 then 30, etc until everyone was covered after the 4th or 5th year of the phase in and it worked fairly well.
gitchy42ParticipantThat sounds like some things that I have heard about Euro courses. That is a MUCH more in depth program than I’ve heard of anywhere down here. Sounds like a great training.
gitchy42ParticipantThanks for the advice, I appreciate it.
gitchy42ParticipantHi Everyone,
Part one of the training is done, a two-hour classroom section. We did introductions, gear introduction, some theory and went over the rules for the range day tomorrow. The instructor, Dan, seems to be knowledgeable. We mostly went through a workbook, but didn’t read verbatim from the workbook.
All in all I thought that this section went well, back at it again tomorrow.
gitchy42ParticipantWhether or not it’s a good beginner bike, it sure is purdy!
gitchy42ParticipantThis reminds me of a few incidents that happened here in Portland. Twice in the last few months OFF DUTY Portland Police Officers have been involved in ‘road rage’ incidents, I know that in one of them the officer upholstered his side arm, not sure about the other one.
As for this guy, I’m not so sure he’s a ‘plain-clothes’ officer like is being reported, I think that he is an off duty officer personally. Notice what happens when the cruiser pulls up? He turns, possibly to hide himself holstering his side arm?
I agree that this guy deserves a ticket, probably for speeding, also probably one for reckless driving (he wheelie’s behind a bus). But when super-cop hops out, things get scary. Last I saw the DA hadn’t decided to pursue the charges. If they do, he probably does have a great 1st Amendment case for defense. Oddly enough, the charges are likely to be for the audio in the recording, not the video, which is the part causing all of the furor. It goes back to an old political trick, if you can’t dispute the message, crucify the messenger…
Whether or not they do pursue the charges, he may even have a 4th amendment (illegal search and seizure) case. At least, that’s what I think.
gitchy42ParticipantThat guy has to be the coolest scooter-dude ever! lol
gitchy42ParticipantI’ll be honest, I didn’t read through all of the original post, got a little long for me.
For my part, I think that riding a scooter is a blast. Also, they definitely have their place among the two-wheel community. Most of them are simple to ride, get great gas mileage and have tons of storage. They are fairly popular here in the Portland area, especially among those that live ‘close in’ to downtown.
Fun side note: The other day, I was following my buddy back from lunch (me driving, him scooting), and there was a guy riding a BMW going the other way. He looked surprised, then hesitantly waved at my friend, like he wasn’t sure if he should acknowledge someone on a scooter.
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