[IBA270]

Make sure your throttle plates will open. It may not be the cables at all, but the butterflies sticking.

[IBA270]

You STILL owe it to yourself to go see a reputable dealer of helmets. That’s really the best/only way. If you ever get to Texas, I’ll show you my collection of “mail order” helmets from 20 years ago that I bought for a good deal and never fit or felt good.

Another point; don’t get hung up on what the size is. Only women care if they are a size 2 or a 6. Who cares? If you think you’re a large, start from there. I wear a Large in a Shoei and an XL in an Arai. I’ve worn a XXL in a Bieffe…doesn’t matter.

As another poster pointed out, many helmets have customizable interiors from a sizing stand point. Can’t give you an all inclusive list, but you better helmets usually do.

I would not recommend modifying a helmet to you in any way. There is a helmet that fits and fits well for you. A helmet mod for comfort is folly…and ill advised. Can you get away with a bandana or skull cap? Sure, that should pose an issue. But, for instance, I had a guy in one of my classes who wore a baseball cap under his lid. I asked how that metal button was going to feel driving through the top of his skull in a crash…he hadn’t that of that…

As always, hope that helps.

[IBA270]

Tourmaster Elites if they still make them….

The triple digit insulated work well, but they’re a little weird with the “lobster claw” finger araingement.

[IBA270]

I have owned a BUNCH of gear in my riding career, and I’ve learned quite a bit about what works in rain and what won’t. Here is my everyday/touring gear set up;

AeroStich Darien Jacket
AeroStich Darien AD1 Pants
AeroStich Combat Touring Boots

My previous gear has included;

First Gear Killimanjaro
Olympia AST
AeroStich Roadcrafter I
AeroStich Roadcrafter II
Bates Tactical Boots
Alpinestar GoreTex Touring Boots
Joe Rockett…can’t remember name waterproof gear…

What works best FOR ME is the Darien, and here’s why;

1) It’s WATER PROOF. Absolutely. Only one other garmet comes close, and that’s the Olympia AST.
2) It moves more air than any other jacket out there. Nothing comes close.
3) Fits me better (and can be custom made if need be) better than anything else. Actually comes in men’s coat sizes, i.e. 48L, 36S, etc.

Combat Touring Boots where the bomb until about 100K miles on them. They ARE very heavy, and take a long time to break in. They are NOT advertised waterproof, but a good soaking of waterproof wax and a little heat from a hairdrying and you’re good to go.

If I were buying off the shelf stuff, I’d look first at Olympia. IMO, it’s the best quality/best thought out stuff on the market.

HTH….

Allen

[IBA270]

Those early ZX-7R’s were monsters that were much less user friendly and more track oriented than street. Now that you have a little experience, a ’02 ZX-6 will be a nice bike for you I think. As always, be careful when “the peanut gallery” advices you about things like “the front end gets light” when you roll on. I’ll post some pictures of a guy doing a wheelie on a Gold Wing. My point is that a rider that knows what he’s doing can make the front end light. Also, the untrained rider can as well, but the results won’t be too good!

They’re nice bikes.

[IBA270]

Brakes on modern bikes of any style are simply incredible. When properly applied, the brakes are far more capable than you could ever imagine. One of the challenges with the rapidly expolding technology in motorcyles and especially in sportbikes, is that 90%+ of the riders couldn’t squeeze 70%+ of the potential out of a sportbike when they first hit the market in the 80’s. Skills have improved generally, but no where near the pace of technology. I see 20 year old sportbikes SPANKING modern sportbikes every weekend at the track in the hands of capable riders. It’s a hoot!

[IBA270]

I’ve heard it said, and it makes sense…you can have 20,000 miles of riding experience, or you can have one mile of riding experience 20,000 times. I think it’s great that you’re reaching out and saying, “hey, I need more tools in my tool box to feel comfortable!” I think that’s a great attitude.

Here are couple of suggestions;

> Don’t worry about going fast, worry about technique…be fanatical about technique, and understand how to take a proper line. First comes technique, and then comes speed.

> Be very careful with group riding. I can’t emphasize this enough. In my opinion, group riding is one of the most dangerous things a person can do on a motorcycle. There are a BUNCH of reasons for this, not the least of which is you are bound to have people that will ride over their experience level and crash, possibly taking you with them! The other challenge is trying to “wick it up” just a bit to try to stay with another faster rider. This causes crashes every weekend. The person you’re following may be faster, but may or may not have ANY technique at all. Try to avoid too much group riding. I do!

> I encourage new riders to keep a journal about what they learn with every ride. You should learn something each and every time you go out and writing it down is a good way to steepen your learning curve.

> On riding in the rain; smooth inputs are key. Even smoother than in dry conditions. SSSSSqqqqqquuuuuueeeeezzzzz your front brakes and very smmmmooooooottttthhhhly apply your rear brakes. You still have to press to initiate a turn. I see a lot of riders try to keep the bike upright when turning in the rain. Won’t work. Don’t find yourself in a situation where you were concerned there wasn’t enough grip to turn and wind up having to quickly apply the brakes which causes you to crash, especially when there was plenty of traction available to turn!

> On braking….a lot of interesting discussion on brakes in the last several posts. There are many, many variables that go into total stopping distance, not the least of which are contact patch size, vehicle weight, chassis geometry and the ability of the brakes to shed heat.

SOME big touring bikes CAN stop faster, primarily due to contact patch and stearing geometry. But again, we’re talking about stopping in a straight line, and not using a proper trail braking technique where big bikes are down right squireley!

[IBA270]

Stand by until you take the course…

BTW, there are plenty of bikes out there that will work. I really enjoy riding my wife’s Ducati Monster 620, and enjoy my Ducati 900SS, both of which are really small bikes. I also have a track only R6 with rear sets. I’m also 43 and I’m 6’4 and 240…and arthritic!

[IBA270]

buy your helmets from a local dealer. It sounds like they don’t fit because you haven’t been fitted properly…that’s really the best way to go.

[IBA270]

There a lot of good bikes out for starters. One of my favorites is the Nighthawk 750 by Honda. Some others have pointed out some great bikes as well, such as the GS500. I’d shy away from 250’s for several reasons, but the main reason is that for a person your size, you’ll need a bike that can move your mass a little more effectly. That’s why I like the Nighthawk; nice torque without being overly horsepower packed and peaky.

A word of caution on shopping cc’s; displacement doesn’t neccesarily tell the whole story on how powerful a motorcycle is. For instance, I’d NEVER reccomend to you to get on a 450 Motard, despite the fact that it’s “only” a 450. A 650 Ninja, SV650 Suzuki or M620 Ducati are all reasonable motorcycles for beginners with air/oil cooled motors with ~60 hp. On the other hand, the FZ6 or any faired water cooled multi-valved 600 would not be what I might reccomend as these have ~100hp and more and CAN BE a little more challenging to learn on.

$3K is a nice price point!

Ride safe!

Ironbutt 270

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