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The “Five to Survive” Rule & Why You Should Use It
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gsmurfetteParticipant
nothing too exciting on the bike yet…..when I lived in AK, a hefty sized Kodiak bear surprised the hell out of me pulling out of my neighborhood. Thank the maker I wasn’t on a bike, I’d have gotten a ticket for speeding (the speed limit on that road is 25). The guy was bigger than my subaru. That’s craziness down here, but no biggie up there. I over heard a nasty conversation on speaker phone waiting for a train to go by in Seattle, uhm, yeah, they have this thing called blue tooth….so people don’t have to listen to you jacking off in the car……
The TP is awesome!!!!!!!
gsmurfetteParticipantWelcome. I’m from NC as well (Boone (Watauga Co.) and West Jefferson (Ashe Co.) to be exact. I wasn’t born there (way upstate NY for that) and I was probably bred in NC (don’t really care to know, lol). I miss the falls!!!
gsmurfetteParticipantthere’s now pics in the pics/videos section! (Thanks Ben and everyone else!)
gsmurfetteParticipantgsmurfetteParticipantWhat a steal!
gsmurfetteParticipantAwesome fireball! I can’t wait to x-fer to E-R. I’m taking as many math classes as I can now, all I should have to take when I get there is aviation applied statics. ick (I hope it doesn’t kill the ole gpa). I’m doing aircraft maintenance, and then decided (and see about this whole post-9-11 GI Bill stuff) and which one is a better deal…..can’t wait to get back in the air!
gsmurfetteParticipantIt’s better than the idiot I saw riding down the road (going into a 55 zone from a 45) today. He’s on what looked like an R1 or R6 (the light was turning green, and I was more focused on what I’m about to tell you than what he was riding). He was wearing Teva’s, shorts, helmet and riding jacket (what’s the point of the jacket if his balls are ripped off when he lays it down?). He’s got a HUGE box in his left hand (yes, he’s shifting without the clutch, idiot). The box is about 3 feet long, 12 inches wide, and 1-1.5 feet tall. He’s just got it resting on his leg and holding it with his arm.
Other than the fact that he’s speeding up to 60, but he has almost no gear (seriously, sandals?? My toes would be hating me!). He’s shifting his bike with no clutch! It’s one thing if your clutch goes out, but just to take some huge ass box home? Why couldn’t he buy some tie downs and uhm maybe tie the box to the pax seat? Or ask the store to hold it while you go get a car or a ride (or the bus even). Or better yet, just wait to buy the damn thing (I have no idea what was in the box by the way).
I was like WTF?
gsmurfetteParticipant7) every brand has a different sizing chart
gsmurfetteParticipantLIke the other’s I would say MSF, I would ask to see if it would be okay if one (or both) of them came to see what you are being taught. As a parent, it helps me a lot to see what’s going on, my son can tell me anything (not saying that you’re dishonest), but I don’t always believe him. Have them do research with you as well. It helps if the parents are well informed. My parents were bikers in the 70’s (and my dad well into the 90’s, now Mom wants to get into it).
As for brands. My husband and I lucked out, and when we bought our gear, we got it half price due to the shop changing the brand that they stocked. We have mostly Fieldsheer. I love it. We have 2 jackets, 1 pair of pants, and a pair of winter gloves by them. The pants were great, but I’ve got retarded long legs, and the only brand that made a long enough inseam for me was Joe Rocket, so I didn’t really have a choice with my pants. We have Tour Master (made by Cortech) gloves, and Scorpion helmets. We got my hubby’s at closeout for 99 bucks (it’s an ex-400). I had to pay full price for mine (ex-700) was a little over 200 if I remember right.
I think there’s even a thread in here for gear.
I use motorcycle superstore, leather-up.com
There’s more, but they aren’t coming to me right now.PS- 2 didn’t pass my class. 1 should have, but her turn was too slow in the test, the other chose to leave after laying the bike down, I think it freaked her out.
gsmurfetteParticipantI use both the brake (rear or front) and clutch. I normally have to sit a while waiting to get out at a stop sign or waiting at a light. I hold the brake (if I feel the need for both feet, I use the front, if not, then the rear). I”ll then get the bike into the friction zone while I slowly let off the brake.
I use the same thing with my car. It’s a Subaru, so it has hill lock. Or I use the E-brake on a big hill (Seattle……)
gsmurfetteParticipanthave you checked out craigslist? On the Portland and Seattle boards, there have quite a few for sale. I got mine with 1700 miles on it. I got it because the guy that bought it paid for it out right, and then he lost his job and couldn’t afford the insurance on it. He broke her in for me. The YZF600r, I got from a dealer, but they listed it on Craigslist, and listed the OTD price, which was dirt cheap because it had been laid down (it was stolen too). Got her running with a little elbow grease, waiting for the ignition to come in, and some other parts. She’ll be street worthy for about 400 bucks (minus an ugly cowling). My husband says, if we leave the ugly cowling, then we don’t have to invest in an alarm…..lol. I have only bought one new vehicle in my life. I prefer used. That being said, I also drive them into the ground. We have only sold one car, and that was because we had 3 and couldn’t move them all. I’d like up get a larger car (like the Mazada5 that seats 7, since we have 5 people and 3 car seats, a bit cramped), but my subi will be my son’s when he’s 16, so we’d have 3 cars for 5 years…..that off topic.
Check out the bike, make sure to look under the cowlings as well, there could be hidden damage. Ask about the frame, forks, how fast it had been laid down, etc. Run away if the frame was damaged! Forks are expensive also. If you’re mechanically inclined, things can be done for pretty cheap, but you have to know what you’re doing. Make sure that the casings aren’t cracked as well. I haven’t taken my bike apart yet, but it looks like it’s all one case instead of separate cases (i.e. crank case, oil, etc.)
gsmurfetteParticipantIn WA state, it’s 250 for the full rate, but pretty much everyone pays 125 (it’s called subsidized). The state pays half and you pay the other half. That’s for the basic rider (kids under 18 only have to pay 50 bucks!). The Experienced is 125 here.
gsmurfetteParticipantIn my MSF class, we had to use the horn. We did in the beginning, but we did an evasive maneuver that we have to swerve, and we had to honk before we swerved or something. I remember having to honk while riding. A lot more people honked when they were trying to turn off their turn signals. I still do sometimes…..oh well.
As for bicyclists. If you ever go to Seattle around 6:30-7 am, you will want to kill someone. There is a bike path, yet bicyclists decide to ride on the road. okay, I can deal with that. The roads suck, yes, but that doesn’t mean that one bike has to take up two lanes, yes, TWO lanes! I ride to Seattle sometimes to save some cash on the ferry, and it’s as scary as hell riding down the road, and I have had to take up one lane, or hit a pothole that would have sent me over the bars. That being said, the cars honk at you when you’re as far right as you can go. There’s cars parked parallel on the road, and I was petrified that someone would open their door right in front of me. I stop at lights and use my hand signals. The majority of the cyclists in Seattle think that they are a god, and all shall yield (probably even the trains, what dummies)! I almost feel that there should be a written test for cyclists (at least in Seattle) before they can ride on the road. But anyways……..One day someone will smarten up and reform the whole DOL system in the US. It needs it badly. They make it too easy to get on the road here. AK has the hardest driving test that I’ve taken, and you have to taken wether you have a valid license or not (when you transfer there). That’s a whole different issue, and most of you know where I stand on that.
gsmurfetteParticipantI’m with Elwood, I pretty much wave to anything on two wheels, other than bicycles, and that’s because around here they think they don’t have to obey the rules of the road, they run red-lights and crap, and I don’t do that on my bicycle, so it makes me mad, lol. I just drop a hand. Some cruiser’s either don’t see me, or are stuck up, ’cause sometimes I don’t get a wave from them. Most everyone waves, trikes always wave (my neighbor has one, so maybe I’m in the circle or something). Here, even if there is a barrier on a divided highway, people make sure to lift an arm instead of dropping it. I’m 2 hours west of Seattle, small bike community. I don’t ride with the local club, because they’re mostly harley, and most of them have the attitude if you don’t ride a harley then you’re not anything. The first time I waved, I was scared to take my hand off the handlebar, so it was like this two finger thing like an inch from the bar……they probably laughed at me. Then the same day, another guy did this two arm wave, it looked like ocean swells, that’s the only way I can describe it. I about died laughing at him.
gsmurfetteParticipantI live in the middle of nowhere. Most of the bikes are cruisers. No one really hangs out anywhere. Maybe I’m not out the right time. I tend to hang out at some left turn red-lights…..damn bastards. I had to sit through one for 3 cycles before I could get in the other lane to make a right and turn around…..
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