[madjak30]

I want to get something along that line…I would like to get the hi-vis, or something brighter to be seen better in the rain…and obviously to stay dry…

Thanks.

[madjak30]

I rode about 95kms (55 miles?) one way and the damn clouds were blocking the mountains…grrrr….oh well, I got to go for a nice ride…just beat the rain home though…lol…need to get a taller bike…my knees didn’t like me much for the last 20 mins or so of the ride.

Could see mountains, but not the peaks…so I don’t even know if they had snow or not…crappy weather!!!

Hope you had better luck owlie…

Later.

[madjak30]

I went online and found some riding rain gear through a Canadian site for $95 plus shipping for a jacket and pants…they are just rain gear, no armour or padding, but that’s all I need…another hint to drop for the wife…birthday coming up…lol

Later.

[madjak30]

The skills that I am working on from my class…

Start with finding a parking lot that is empty in the evenings, preferably without curbs…obvious reasons…

Just start with practicing slow manouvres…left hand circles…see how tight you can get them…then try right hand circles…if you need to have markers for reference points, take some rags with you and place them where you would like to be turning…rags so that if you run them over it won’t upset the bike, if you use rocks…well it could cause you to drop your new bike…once you feel pretty confident (keep your speed as slow as possible, these are balance exercises), move on to a figure 8…and again see how tight you can get them…

Once you have a good grip on that, practice you emergency braking…see what your bike is capable of…make sure you practice emergency braking in a corner as well…

I would also practice starting out turning right…this is harder because when you start out from an intersection the right turn is much tighter, and most people prefer to start with their left foot down which puts you off camber…right turn, right foot down…left turn, left foot down…

You will also want to practice hill starts…

There are a lot of things to practice, and having taken the course you just need to practice the drills that they taught you…just remember your GS500 weighs about 150lbs more than the DR200 or Super Sherpa that you took the course on, and the weight is higher…I found my GS500 heavy for the first while, and in slow manouvring I still find it a little heavy…which tells me I still need a lot more practice myself…

Good luck, and congratulations on the bike!!

Later.

[madjak30]

Not quite supersport, but more so than other suggested beginner ish bikes…I found the Versys very comfortable, but I couldn’t quite flat foot with both feet…I’m only 5’11, but my inseam is 33″, if you like that style of bike and want comfort…you need to check out the V-Strom 650…that is the most comfortable bike I have sat on yet…the SV has a less comfortable seat (less padding for your butt), and will be considerably quicker…both the Versys and the V-Strom engines are based on sporty bikes, but have been “retuned for more low to midrange torque”, which is helpful to a new rider…less likely to stall out, and not as peaky power…the V-Strom has been on the market since 2005, so you may find a deal on the net for a used one.

It kinda depends on your budget as to where you will end up, but find a bike shop that carries used bikes and sit on some of the older bikes…they tend to have more padding in the seat and be more comfortable…the new bikes, for the most part, are focused on one segment of the market, and older bikes had a broader appeal…

Good luck…

[madjak30]

One is talking static CoG…the others are talking effective CoG…

You take an object and find the balance point, and that is inline with the CoG…but take that object out of a vacuum and wind will ruin the balance by introducing an external force…moving the effective CoG…if the CoG can’t move, transfering your weight would have no effect on the bike…

Anyway, it’s been a long time since I took a serious Physics course/lab…sooo….I could be wrong…(probably am…)…wasn’t a physics major, just electronics…but that was 20yrs ago…I think most of it has leaked out my ear in my sleep…lol

Later.

[madjak30]

When I bought my GS500E, it had an aftermarket windscreen mounted to the handle bars…after a couple of rides, I took it off…the bike looked much better without it…I rode it around town for the weekend, but when I hit the hiway and went over 80kph (50mph) for the first time since removing the windscreen, I noticed that the bike was getting buffetted more than it used to…when I got home, I put it back on and went for a ride to see if it was jus the wind that day…turns out that the windscreen stabilized the bike at speed on the hiway, and the bike felt more solid/planted. I don’t know if that is the case for all windscreens, but that is what I have found with mine and I have gotten used to the look now…

Now I think the bike might look wierd to me without it.

Later.

[madjak30]

E…poke at most other sports and a punchline…love it…

I’m not much of a sports fan, unless it is motorsports…anything with an engine is cool to me…they had a trials demo team at the bike show this year…my 12yo daughter thought it was the coolest thing…she asked “is it safe?”, and I responded “not as dangerous as other things you might want to do”…pretty sure she didn’t get the inuendo, but I laughed…

Later.

[madjak30]

Next time you are out practicing, or in a deserted area try this…

Ride along at about 25mph, lift your butt off the seat and lean back as far as you can and pull on your front brake, using your feet to hold your body back…notice the amount of dive your bike has…then try sitting normal on your bike at the same speed and lift your feet and pull on your fron brake, using your hands to hold your body back…

There should be a significant difference in the amount of front dive…putting weight on your foot pegs gives the bike more stability, similar to a cruiser…more weight on the seat makes the bike easier for direction changes…pendulum effect…that is what makes the sport bikes feel so…sporty and flickable…the “effective” CoG is changed, depending on weight centralization. This test will also work under accelleration…accellerate while leaning back, then accellerate with your chin on your bars…the bike will react differently for those situations as well.

You are correct that the CoG doesn’t change, or even gets worse if you stand up (because you will tend to have a more rigid grip on the bars and will weight the bars more), but if you just transfer the weight to the pegs and use your legs more, you will be pushing on the bottom of the bike lowering the CoG.

Engineers use this theory all the time when trying to perfect the handling of sports cars. That’s why a BMW drives so much better than a Mustang…they have a four link rear suspension that can be tuned to move the effictive CoG lower in the vehicle by changing the angles of the links…

[madjak30]

Nice being near the coast…I used to live in Vancouver, BC…probably quite similar…now I’m on the other side of the mountains…all of them…lol

Depends if the wife and kids go camping early (Thursday) or not…if they don’t go until Friday, I won’t be able to get the pics…

You are literally 1000 miles away…lol

[madjak30]

Great location…your about the same distance from the mountains as me…if it is nice on Thursday evening, maybe I will take a blast and head west for some shots…we are heading camping this weekend though (east to the “other” lake)…maybe someone else will beat me too it…I hope more join in…this can get fun…

Later.

[madjak30]

I would go in and talk to a dealer…don’t ask which one they would suggest, you know they will probably suggest the more expensive bike…you may be able to talk them into letting you test ride a V-Star 950 (that is a sweet one, I like it too), going from a 250cc machine to that one you will definately notice an improvement in accelleration…and you may not need the bigger bike…

I thought once I got used to my 500cc bike going bigger wouldn’t be a big deal, but I test rode a 1250cc sport touring bike (Bandit 1250S)…HOLY CRAP!! Going from my GS500 to that was like getting out of a Chevette and driving a Corvette…man, hold on…I decided that I just wasn’t ready for that step…and that was just a power difference, you are looking at a large weight gain as well which will change the riding dynamics on top of the more responsive engine. So, my suggestion is to take the middle step…you may find that you don’t need to upgrade from there, like Munch suggested. Those middle weight cruisers are very versatile bikes. They are fuel efficient, torquey, can tour and ride two up with no problems…unless you are planning on running at 100mph all day, but up to 80-85mph it will be just fine.

Good luck and have fun!!

[madjak30]

I use a back pack right now, but it isn’t that convenient if you want to stop and take a few pics…putting on the back pack with you jacket on can be a pain…so I don’t like to put it on, take it off, put it on, take it off…I told my wife I wanted to get a tank bag and soft saddle bags for my bike…not that receptive to it..”just use your back pack”…and I don’t think it would be that great for a longer ride of a few hours…would probably cause back pain issues…

Aahh, maybe I’m just a whiner…?? She doesn’t want me to spend anymore money on the bike this year…oh, well…I’ll find the stuff I like and keep dropping hints…birthday is coming up…lol

I also want to make sure that what I get is easily transferable to another bike, incase I upgrade next year…although I have decided I don’t get to upgrade until I lose some weight…atleast 50lbs…time to start making use of my “diet tracker” on facebook…lol

Later.

[madjak30]

I took out the Boulevard M50 and the Bandit 1250S…

Both nice bikes…the M50 made me feel pretty cool, and I liked the sound of the bike better than the Bandit. The torque and Hp of the M50 were a little better than my GS500, but not a big difference. The Bandit on the other hand…holy crap!!! Yup, not ready for that…piles of fun, and a goofy grin plastered on my face. But I could see the power getting me into trouble…maybe for a third bike…

I think my knees are getting used to the bend, because the longer rides aren’t causing as much discomfort as they were just a couple of weeks ago. I am going to be keeping the GS500 atleast until next season…then I don’t know what I will do…I was looking at some Katana 750 bikes on the net, but I would prefer fuel injection…GSX650F, as Rab suggested, but it is a smaller bike similar in size to my GS…and if I am going to “upgrade”, I would like to have a little more leg room.

Aaah…I have a year to decide, and Demo Days are in the spring…maybe I’ll just keep the GS…??!!

Later.

[madjak30]

Meetup.com has a group in Red Deer. There are three other members in the area, and one from about an hour away…no activity on the group for two weeks, but I posted to it to see if anyone just cruises the site to see if there is anything going on without signing in. The only down fall is, my wife walked in while I was signing up…all she saw was MEETUP.COM…ooops, that was a bit of a discussion…but she beleived me…like I’m looking for another “Boss”…MY GOD, LIKE I NEED ANOTHER ONE…lol…hopefully it creates some interest on the site…

gitchy, I have been thinking about some soft saddle bags for on my GS…I saw a Katana with some on it, and it didn’t look too bad. And the bags would be nice for when you need to stop in and get something on the way home…if it doesn’t fit inside my jacket (unless I am wearing my back pack), I just can’t take it home…I’ll have to check the local bike shop to see what they have, then check online to see what kind of prices I can get…

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