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Jeff in KentuckyParticipant
I only did one high side on the street- my back tire slid on raised wet railroad tracks. I did several slower high sides in the dirt, and a hundred times more low sides.
Here is John Hopkins showing how he lands butt first- he has done a lot more of these than me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqcUtx1ioCI&feature=related
This high side is in the Faster DVD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkloPA28ugM&NR=1
Fogging- learn to breathe very slowly just through your nose. Opening the visor a little or just turning your head a little will often clear up fogging.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantIf you are young and have good wrists and a good back, with no trouble getting out of bed in the morning, you will likely quickly get used to a sportbike with lower handlebars. They are designed so your chest is less like a sail in the wind, for racing or a racing look on the street.
I take a longer trip once a year, and one year a bunch of sportbike riders went with us- they broke off from the group on the twistier roads, and 3 out of 4 got speeding tickets. They often sit upright on the long straight sections, with just one hand on the throttle, to rest their wrists and backs. They are definitely not as comfortable as a Honda Gold Wing, especially for a passenger, but a lot of motorcycle riding is emotions, and getting what makes your heart beat a little faster. If a car pulls out in front of you, a sportbike or a light scooter will turn faster than a cruiser or tourer.
One of the options for a Gold Wing is an airbag:
Jeff in KentuckyParticipant1. Try not to crash first- look where you want to go, practice slow turns in a parking lot, and stay away from hilly roads and crowded roads for a few months.
2. If the bike is going down, get away from it. It will hurt if its weight or the hot exhaust pipe falls onto your body parts.
3. It is best to land butt first rather than jaw, chest or hands first, but it is not easy to learn. I used to swing on a rope and jump into a pond, twisting my body to land either feet or hands first, and I think this previous learning helped during the one faster high side crash I had, to twist in the air to land butt first, then my back and the back of my helmet hit the pavement, then I slid on my back, with my head up to look for any cars to roll away from. I just had bruises from the crash, and a piece of coat hanger and pliers to fix the broken clutch lever enough to get home.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantHere is a different link for the Evans NPG+ coolant- amazingly, the above link expired on the same day I posted it:
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantFrom a longer Wikipedia article:
The Kawasaki Eliminator was introduced in 1985 and only produced for 2 years (1985 and 1986). The ZL900 evolved from the legendary Kawasaki Z1. The ZL900 was designed to evoke images of the wildly successful Z1 drag bikes, with a bobbed rear fender, short travel fork, large rear tire, fat chromed mufflers, a small fuel tank and low straight handlebars, and at the time of its original release was the fastest accelerating (from zero to 50 m.p.h.) production motorcycle, and also sported the widest rear tire of any production motorcycle.
The ZL900 engine was a transplanted and slightly modified version of the liquid-cooled Inline 4 introduced in the 1984 Kawasaki ZX900 Ninja. Kawasaki used smaller 32 mm carburetors (the ZX900 used 34 mm), different timing and camshafts with less duration. This gave the engine a dramatically different personality, trading the Ninja’s high-end surge for low-end grunt and a meaty mid-range that was more suitable for a cruiser.
The pursuit of drag-bike style resulted in some functional compromises. First, riders of the Eliminator complained about a lack of cornering clearance, although it took corners better than its competitors the Honda Magna V65, the Suzuki Madura and the Yamaha V-Max. At 25-35 mpg on a 2.9 gallon tank, even conservative riders were forced to find a filling station after 100 miles or less.
The ZL1000 was an evolution of the ZL900, sporting a larger engine shared with the ZG1000 Concours and 34 mm carburetors. The styling of the ZL1000 was much more conservative than that of the 900, with a longer rear fender and a much larger fuel tank. This motorcycle was only available for 1 year, 1987, and shares the same strong following as the ZL900.
The ZL750 was sold from 1986-1989 as a mild-mannered version of its big brothers.
The ZL600 had the same type of transplant as its bigger siblings: a slightly modified engine from the Kawasaki Ninja 600. The ZL600 was sold as late as 1996.
The ZL400 ceased production in 1994. Unlike larger models, some versions of the ZL400 had a chain instead of shaft drive.
The EL250 had a production run from 1988 to 1997.
The VN250 started production in 1998.
The EL175 is sold in India by Bajaj Auto.
The Kawasaki Eliminator 125 has the distinction of being the smallest production motorcycle (not including scooters) currently being sold in the United States.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantAn ugly person on either a 50cc scooter or a 1,400cc sportbike or 2,300cc cruiser is still an ugly person.
When I lived in Arizona, many of the college students rode little scooters- they are cheap, the weather was good enough to use them year round, they were much easier to find parking spaces for, and scooters there do not have the social nerdiness for riding them that most of the US has.
I will likely eventually buy a scooter as an only or a second bike.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantI recently saw a new Honda 150cc scooter at a dealership, and there is a good chance it will not sell well. Too many Americans start out with motorcycles way too big and too fast. Most of the racers in Europe start out on little minibikes for the pavement, then 125s and 250s before moving to the faster bikes. Rossi also raced gocarts as a kid. Here, no 125cc street bikes that shift are sold, very few people race 250s on pavement, and the 250s are often considered a girl’s bike or a poor man’s bike- even the 883cc Harley Sportster is often considered a woman’s bike- you see a husband riding a 1200cc plus Harley and his wife riding a Harley Sportster, often as her first bike, which is probably a good way to make her decide to sell it and get back on the back of her husband’s bike, because it is too heavy to be best for a beginner.
Pavement racing in the US usually starts at the SV650 level, but most racers start out on 125cc then 250cc then 450cc dirt bikes, often before they are 16 years old, before they can get a license for the street.
This site is trying to prevent the injuries and deaths from a new rider starting on a 600cc or bigger sportbike, designed for an expert rider but legal here for a completely new rider who barely knows how to ride a bicycle to buy, if they can pay the insurance premiums.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantThis video compares the Aprilia 2-stroke 125 with the Honda and Yamaha 4-stroke 125s:
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantEngland makes a new rider start out with 30 horsepower or less, which is one reason why the 1999 to 2007 Honda Shadow VLX came with 29.6 horsepower. They rusted badly in the rainy weather in England, so were not sold there for very long, but this engine lives on as a 700cc sport tourer with a smoother crankshaft. Feel free to ask questions or add comments.
April 3, 2010 at 4:29 pm in reply to: wear a helmet, no matter how stupid your state laws are #25386Jeff in KentuckyParticipantSeveral states have replaced an earlier mandatory helmet law with a more “free” helmet law.
I suppose we should also make seat belts, air bags, and electronic stability control optional for all cars, and let football players go back to wearing 1910 style leather helmets- if they are total dumbasses that want to risk more concussions while increasing the health insurance costs for everyone.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantIn Lexington, Kentucky they have an Australian style roundabout instead of a regular 4-way intersection- cars usually keep moving and there are fewer accidents, but it takes more space and takes some getting used to.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantYou most likely need to clean one of the float valves.
To prevent this from happening, before you store the bike for the winter put Sea Foam in the gas tank, and run the engine enough to get the Sea Foam into the carbs. Leave the gas valve turned on all winter, so that as the gasoline slowly evaporates from the float bowls, more gasoline comes from the gas tank to refill the float bowls. When gasoline evaporates it leaves behind a gummy mess, and if the carb gaskets get dried out from no gasoline in the carbs, they can shrink and crack.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantTry a different brand of tires. The Dunlop front tire that came with my motorcycle was very bad at following grooves in the road, but the Bridgestone and Kenda tires I added later were much better on grooves, and also lasted a lot longer. I also tried a Shinko tire on the back- great road grip, but it wore out quicker since it was a sportier tire.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantMost dirt bikes use a clip type master link with no problems, and they have a lot more rocks hitting the chain. Most do not use a clip type master link for a bike with more than about 60 horsepower, because if the link does break you could be dead.
I like the Maxima Chain Wax, but it is in a spray can so it is not really a wax.
A guy on another forum took his chains off and cleaned them with a concrete floor cleaner diluted in water, then dried them and soaked them overnight in Amsoil synthetic gear oil. He also used Belray Superclean chain oil every few hundred miles.
I think the dust and dirt and sand is a lot different in different areas, so the best oil varies.
Jeff in KentuckyParticipantSportbike riders often add a larger back sprocket- the companies use a smaller one to more easily meet the noise and emissions standards, and these bikes go way too fast (higher mph) in first gear for the stock sprockets.
It is usually best to not add a smaller front sprocket- it wears the chain and front sprocket out faster, and may damage the transmission more easily.
If you do a lot of long, straight trips on a slower bike, a smaller back sprocket will drop the rpm in top gear and maybe make it run smoother, but it may either lower or raise gas mileage. A low powered engine may not have the power to lower the rpm too much.
If you do a lot of curvy country roads or drag racing, a bigger back sprocket will allow higher rpm in each gear, making the bike seem more powerful, but the top speed will be lower, and the comfort at 75 mph will be lower.
Adding a bigger front sprocket is like adding a smaller back sprocket, and most bikes do not have a lot of extra room in the front for a bigger front sprocket.
Aluminum back sprockets are for racers, to make their bike lighter, but they wear out faster.
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