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5 Common Wear and Tear Items on Motorcycles
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SafetyFirstParticipant
Don’t forget about the obvious ones.
1) grease trap at stop lights / signs
2) man-hole covers (little braking traction followed by pavement with a massive amount of traction compared)
3) Asphalt tar that’s carried past the new section of roads/highways. Last summer here there was a highway off-ramp, downhill, steep 90 at the end, and I felt a definite slide in the middle of the curve on a hot day from tar passed along from the new highway pavement from car tires. The turn at the bottom was full of it.SafetyFirstParticipantI have DOT-C2 retroreflective tape on my helmet, and a Halo.
Under any condition the Halo is more reflective than the DOT-C2 tape.
SafetyFirstParticipantI don’t understand how insurance could be that high.
My bike insurance for a year is what my car insurance costs every 6 months.
And the bike itself is better insured sitting still and moving than the car.
SafetyFirstParticipantI think ABS is a good thing for those of us who aren’t at the level of riding around a track with or without stands full of fans just as much as those who are at that level when it comes to street riding. When there are vehicles around me on the road that can crunch me like a pop can, I’d want the best braking power I can get when trouble hits the fan.
I agree that ABS isn’t going to do miracles. The laws of physics still apply here. Defensive riding is still a must, swerving and making an “alternate route” around trouble when it happens is still the first and foremost. Braking distances are still going to be about the same.
There’s some SkyJet 125 bikes from Asia that are popular for learners in UK. They’re basically a Honda CBR125 rip-off with ABS. Are learners at a disadvantage from having ABS from the get-go? There’s a lot one learns about braking when there’s a cloud of smoke emerging from under the bike of a n00b getting too randy with the brakes during parking lot practice.
The lil’ squid devil on my shoulder is wondering if it’s possible to do stoppies with ABS. Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me one way or the other, by the way, I’m just curious.
SafetyFirstParticipantThat’s the thing about motorcycle braking I’ve found. Unless you’re on a clean track and have mad skill, there’s too many variables at work for using braking to the max w/o locking. There could be some loose lil pebbles you can’t see, a build up of antifreeze and grease, etc etc.
I hear what’s been said about braking in the rain. I skidded like a mofo in the rain wanting to turn onto a street that I’m familiar with one time, and as far as I could tell, I was doing everything right, but the street was mad slicker than I thought. Luckily I made the decision to just abort, keep going straight and try to keep it upright.
I know in the cage, ABS has saved my ass many a time, especially in the rain or on icy roads.
SafetyFirstParticipantWould the position of the SF compare to what I’m used to in my 250? I have listened to what you’ve said about the GSX-Rs riding position, leaning over the tank just joyriding around town, although looking uber cool, looks like it’d be tiring after a while.
As much fun as it is to hear that lil’ 250 makin’ noise at the peak of it’s powerband just to make it move, there are times when I just want to have a mellow ride without that little voice in the back of my head telling me that if I needed to get the hell out of dodge in a hurry and I’m below 8K, I’m outta luck cause it’s a slug.
Basically, if I’m getting this right, I can spend more brainpower worrying about handling the thing and less worrying about where the engine speed is at.
All that having been said, I still think I’d keep around the 250 if i got n SV, just because it’s a fun little bike.
SafetyFirstParticipantI’ve been dinkering around with these calculators.
If I understand it right… less top speed = more torque. More torque = less top speed. Right?
You rob Peter to pay Paul, in other words.
SafetyFirstParticipantWho knew 7 pounds would cause all this noise? briderdt makes a good point. Putting down the bag of potato chips, laying off the adult beverages and putting the foot rubber to the people track while the bike is garaged for the winter is enough to lose 7 pounds off the average rider without going to Biggest Loser extremes.
eternal05 is right, I do ride with a backpack to and from work. A pair of jeans, a collared shirt,a pair of sneakers, a half-cover for the bike, and my lunch is probably about the same weight that’s being complained about. I don’t notice the difference, even on my wee power 250.
And what’s this ‘low fuel light’ that Gary856 speaks of? I like gadgets. And my 250 has none. Heck, I don’t even know exactly which direction my turn signals are blinking without actually looking down at them.
SafetyFirstParticipantSo basically the only time ABS would help any is a situation where there’s no escape route, such as, “oh shit, a heard of deer just ran in front of me, and they’re taking up the whole road” or “oh shit, why’s there a semi blowing his red in front of me in the intersection.” Am I right?
I’ll be honest with you guys, my baby Ninja is still enough torque for me at the moment. It’s gotten less so the more time goes on. I’ll have to be honest, I haven’t been riding much as of late since my valves need adjustment and I’m too strapped for cash at the moment to get it done, and too big of a wuss to try to do it myself without someone who knows what’s going on standing by. You’d think with all that time away from the bike I’d ride like crap, but I took it for a spin the other day after a two week vacation, and I actually think I’m riding better. I think I was pushing myself too hard to get better. Sometimes maybe it’s OK to step back for a bit and go at it again, sort of like writing a paper in school? The 10 page paper written in the heat of the night before it was due was never as good as the one that was worked on piece by piece over a week.
SafetyFirstParticipantNever had this problem.
What’s the make/model?
SafetyFirstParticipantThe ignition was working fine, battery level looked OK. The engine was wasn’t rolling over. I jumpered it up to the cage because I was afraid of draining the battery trying to start it so much and to throw out the low battery problem if that’s what it was. After a lot of trying and waiting and trying over and over, I finally got it to fire up, but man I never had such a bitch of a time getting it started ever.
I bought it used, 3000 miles or so, two previous owners. Last one didn’t put too many miles on it, it was the wife’s bike and she didn’t ride much. Assuming the first owner didn’t get the 500 mile valve adjustment, the Ninja site says that it can really get bad after a while. I’m also rough on my valves because I ride in the peak of the powerband all the time. Put about 3000 miles on it since I bought it, coming up on 6000 miles, and it should have a valve adjustment at 6000 anyway.
SafetyFirstParticipantI feel had.
I’m not sure if I feel more like puking or taking a shower.
SafetyFirstParticipantI bet my lighting is the problem.
3 x Sylvania 2357LL dual-filament bulbs. 28.5W brake, 8W run.
Let’s add up the current draw from them all:
6.84 amps for the brake filaments alone plus 1.92 amps for the running light filaments (always on) for a grand total of *drumroll please* 8.76 amps.
Headlight is 60 watts on high-beam, so there’s 4.8 amps. Did I say that right? Yes, I have more current devoted to not getting rear-ended than I do seeing where the hell I’m going at night.
Add in whatever power the spark plugs and all that jazz is using.
Yeah, it makes sense. The main fuse is 30 amps. Usually, it’s typical to fuse things at a slightly higher current than the supply can handle, just so you don’t blow them during equipment startups which have a higher rush current. It’s easy to tell I’m overloading what that regulator/rectifier can output. During breaking, the stator produces less power than when the engine is running (you can try this yourself by watching your lights at night when you rev the engine.) Which is the exact same time almost 9 more amps of current is being used. The battery is probably not as strong as it could be, and because it’s rated at 6 AH, it’s being drained at a quick rate and it can’t keep up with the current, so undervoltage occurs on top of the undervoltage from the regulator/rectifier not producing as much voltage.
There’s still juice for starting the ignition, because when the engine dies, it takes the headlights with it and the cluster backlight and the taillights. I think all the times I got it to start, I was off the brakes, holding in the clutch.The battery has enough juice to start the ignition without the additional load.
That would also explain why the headlight dims when I switch on the brakelights standing still. I’m maxing out what the electrical system can provide.
And why it doesn’t stall when I can slowly get to a stop sign while keeping the hand on the throttle a little to keep the engine speed up and not stall. Add in that last night was in the 40’s, and batteries work less efficiently in the cold.
Holy, shit. Who knew electronics would pay off on a bike.
SafetyFirstParticipantMy suggestion is…
If you can wiggle your way into BRC, do it now. It’s not going to be any easier in the spring. (Motorcycles Ohio has an online registration system, and it was literally damn near full state-wide within a few days of the new season going live.)
Personally, I think getting it out of the way is key.
During the winter, you could strike an easy trade with someone for your snowmobile for a bike. Or find a bike cheap, because who buys bikes in the winter when it’s cold anyway?
I know I missed out on a deal of the century on a Ninja 650 someone had up for sale on Craigslist. The kid needed money and kept dropping the price every day. I hadn’t taken BRC, never rode before, and sure as heck didn’t have any clue how to get it home.
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