[Jiriki]

I am still breaking the bike in (should be done by Sunday – have like a hundred miles left)… so I haven’t taken it on the highway yet…

I was going to check out the BARF meetup before heading to SJ for BBM meetup, so I will actually be leaving from Redwood City around 3. Where you are coming from megaspaz?

[Jiriki]

blue 08 250R

[Jiriki]

cool, I will be there too…

[Jiriki]

thanks for the update – glad to hear they are getting their kawisaki dealership credentials back…

i understand that 0.5 miles is not great for the engine oil, but it was really hard to find someone to drive me out to redwood city (most live in san jose)… and drive me out there twice

btw, I haven’t heard anything more about a bbm meetup this weekend, but I was thinking of hitting up the BARF meetup sunday at MDK in redwood city (noon to 5)…

edit: is there an actual distance below which a ride is ‘too short’ and likely to hurt the oil? like 1 mile, 5 miles, 10 miles?

[Jiriki]

I went to these guys about 3 months ago asking about the 250R, and they told me they were no longer a Kawasaki dealership (even though they had a huge kawasaki sign outside…) and that they wouldn’t be selling 250Rs. At that time, they had no kawasaki bikes on the premises…

I am not sure what exactly happened, and I have heard plenty of other good things about this dealership, but them telling me that and then selling 250Rs a few months later makes me wonder…

i took my bike to redwood city for service instead of bike world because I assumed they weren’t touching kawis anymore… 10 miles away instead of 0.5miles… that is annoying!

[Jiriki]

yup, i’m around the 21st

[Jiriki]

i come back from canada the day after…. how ’bout weekend of the 21st?

[Jiriki]

newenough and motorcycle super store are both good sites, but the site doesn’t really matter… they are both big and will deliver your stuff, it is the gear and fit that matters…

[Jiriki]

there are two hooks near the front part of your ‘trunk.’… the user manual shows how to hang your helmet there…

i have seen helmets hung on bikes… but I keep mine with me cause it seems really easy to steal

[Jiriki]

in interest of full disclosure, I own a shoei rf-1000

i tried on every brand (scorpion, icon, shoei, arai, etc) and found it to be the most comfortable. As I tried them on, I asked the salesman to not tell me which brand it was…

you’re going to be using it for a while, get something comfortable (should be tight at first… best description I heard: “you don’t want to be happy chewing gum, but you don’t want a headache either”).

[Jiriki]

I am building one, I could review that

[Jiriki]

RF-1000 with tinted shield for day and clear for night

i don’t understand how you can wear sunglasses under a full face helmet, but I hear you need to make sure that the ear pieces aren’t too long

[Jiriki]

I have the RF-1000 (also matte black, but with a halo on it) and it is an amazing helmet. I tried every helmet they had and it was the one that fit best. From that experience, helmets fit wildly differently based on brand.. so make sure you can try a bunch on.

if you are on a budget, you don’t need to get a leather jacket… textiles are fine… I bought a shift sr1 (leather, but with lots of ventilation). The shift avenger textile jacket seems to be the same style but about 150-200 less…
sr1:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/39/264/ITEM/Shift-Racing-SR1-Leather-Jacket.aspx
avenger:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/39/13159/ITEM/Shift-Racing-Avenger-Jacket.aspx

i splurged and got some nice alpinestar gloves… I am an engineer so I need my fingers!
these gloves cover my wrists and have a nice palm for gripping the bars… personally, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with gardening gloves

I also got alpinestar boots… can’t remember name. They are alright – but my biggest complaint is how long it takes to lace up the boots. Boots with the quick clasps may be more convenient. I can’t find anything in their construction that would make them better than construction boots (as long as the construction boots protect your heel).

jeans = bad… you can take the following with a grain of salt, but my MSF instructor described a test where a bunch of pants were stuffed with sand and sewn shut and then thrown off the back of a truck going 50 mph. It took the jeans 3 feet from impact to start spilling sand whereas cordura was around 170 and leather around 190 feet… and yeah, sand = skin

for pants, I use the icon arc pants… super cheap (like 100 bucks) but protect form road rash and have a bit of armor for the knee…

most importantly, wear the gear!

[Jiriki]

I haven’t had an issue with remembering to turn them off… but, the first time I rode for 30+ miles, I would occasionally accidentally hit the horn on the way to depress the turn signal off button…

the first time I did this, I was on a deserted back road, the horn scared the hell out of me!

as for the buzzers, you could also put these under the dash and wire it into the blinking green light that says your turn signals are on… since it would be higher (and closer to your head @ highway speeds), you might still be able to hear it…

[Jiriki]

i’d be up for a meetup… I am gone the second week of June tho…

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