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Yamaha Jog (CE50, CG50, CY50)
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March 20, 2010 at 12:21 am in reply to: Hello, no experience at all, looking to learn a lot from you guys/girls #25011SantaCruzRiderParticipant
The lawn mower comment was funny. No offense intended on the driving suggestion — it wouldn’t have been the first time someone came to the site looking for MC advice but had never driven any type of vehicle.
As for cheap gear, I’ve gotten great deals online from NewEnough and MotorcycleSuperstore. You might try doing a web search with “bestbeginnermotorcycles.com” and “gear” and “deals” in the search box. You’ll likely come up with a number of previous suggestions that will prove helpful.
Best of luck.
March 18, 2010 at 8:47 pm in reply to: Shopping for gear — would you use as shopping service? #25000SantaCruzRiderParticipantAmazon and Yahoo! Shopping are two of the largest online retail aggregators, and I’m sure there are others. Of course any comparison shopping site is limited to the number of retailers they partner with — as the retailer pays for the traffic and/or leads. Trying to pass along any incremental costs to the user will be a very tough sell.
Also, you’ll find that online buyers are pretty cautious about using new sites. That’s one of the reasons that many smaller online stores work almost exclusively through a larger site like Yahoo! or Amazon. It gives them the respectability they need and the aggregator sites are usually really great about shutting down any partners that start generating any consumer complaints.SantaCruzRiderParticipantCut the straps. The intelligence of some thieves is just unbelievable.
Reminds me of the time someone broke into my car at a mall and the stole a few old cassette tape (dating myself) and a pair of prescription glasses. The glasses were worth several hundred to me, but $0 to the thief. Total loser.SantaCruzRiderParticipantI put mine in the left side hard case. The right side is typically occupied by my wife’s helmet and gear.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantCould be that your fuel mixture is a bit rich, maybe a little too much choke, perhaps its water vapor (though that doesn’t usually smell like exhaust, could be the beginnings of wear problems with the the rings.
Overall though, I completely agree with the sentiment to not worry about it. Where these things become big issues is when they are persistent. Ride it and don’t worry.March 10, 2010 at 5:35 pm in reply to: Hello, no experience at all, looking to learn a lot from you guys/girls #24882SantaCruzRiderParticipantNot sure if you’re mention of the lawn mower was ironic (which is funny) or you are hinting at the fact that you have no experience driving a motor vehicle.
If it’s the latter, my personal belief is that it is much safer to learn about traffic safety while behind the wheel of a car before moving on to a motorcycle.
I’m not saying it can’t be done. But when it comes time for my son to want to get a street bike (and he will), it will come only after he has some solid car driving experience under his belt and I feel confident that he won’t be having to simultaneously learn about traffic patterns and behavior, and about handling a bike in traffic. This is despite the fact that he will have a couple years of offroad experience by that time.SantaCruzRiderParticipantFear is a tough and typically unwelcome riding companion. It’s healthy (literally) to have a good grasp of how quickly riding can become dangerous, I think a pre-occupation with crashing can stifle your ability to learn proper technique and to avoid freezing when faced with emergency maneuvers. Take it slow and you’ll develop the skills necessary to become a safe rider.
It’s always tough to experience friends who die doing things that you later enjoy or want to enjoy. I’ve had friends die doing everything from driving, scuba diving and sailing, and it always gives me pause to think about the safety of these activities. Of course in the end, obesity and unhealthy diets will probably lead to an early demise for more of my friends than all other activities combined. So I try to keep in perspective — if MC riding, scuba diving, sailing and other such activities are the stuff that makes life living, why deprive yourself just so you can be deprived for a longer period?
Good luck with the new endeavor.SantaCruzRiderParticipantI’ve wondered about that in the past as well, as I ride with my high beams on during the day.
I think I’ve always hoped that lane positioning (I’m rarely in the center behind a car) might help minimize the glare, but I’m only guessing.
So far, the only aggression I’ve seen is motorists who are stopped and see me lane splitting toward them and will pull into my path to keep me from getting past. It’s really pretty rare, and I always figure it’s fellow commuter who’s jealous of my progress and is too much of a pussae to ride.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantAny rider splitting lanes in a lane beside another lanesharer is asking to get creamed. The smart rider will follow your split.
I’ve had plenty of riders come up on my tail while I’m splitting and either draft me, or if they seem intent on going faster than I, I’ll slide into traffic, wave them one and then enjoy the parting of the seas they are likely to create.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantThe different modulators vary a bit, but I believe that the most popular modules all have the availabiltiy of switching it off, typically by switching to high or low beam.
I don’t have one, but I think they are amazingly eye catching. I’ve put off getting one primarily because I drive alot on mountain roads where I can sit behind folks for a good amount of time and worry that I will forget to turn it off and become overly aggravating to the guy ahead of me.
But, I have added aux lights to the sides of my fairing to give the bike lighted width and I also notice that they “jiggle” at a bit different rate from the headlight, so hopefully increase my visibilty to cars. They are also awesome at lighting the forested sides of the road, which is great for lighting up deer suffering from depression and intent on commiting suicide on the front of my bike.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantLooks like the circus has come to town.
March 6, 2010 at 4:14 pm in reply to: Trying to convince the “BOSS” that bikes aren’t as scary and dangerous as she thinks!! #24808SantaCruzRiderParticipantA likely response will be that then in an accident, your daughter will have no parents rather than just one.
My wife and I used to ride, but she doesn’t ride with me anymore for pretty much the same reason (has since our 12 yr old was born).
Personally, I’d just buy it — but I’ve been married before and am no marriage counselor
SantaCruzRiderParticipantI think you’re banking alot on your ability to predict points of impact and whether or not your body will be relaxed enough to lessen any impact.
As for what high end manufacturers choose to make, it’s likely as predicated on their customers wanting to be able to tuck their gloves into a jacket pocket (so, no hard armor) as it is on crash testing.
I’ve yet to see any solid research showing how different types of gear save life/limb in real crashes, so your guess is as good as anyone’s. My guess is different, so that’s what I’ll use to inform my choice of gear.SantaCruzRiderParticipantOne of the most common collisions is the bike that gets cut off by the car turning left in front of him/her. If you are unfortunate enough to not be able to stop or swerve, you’re very likely going to still have your hands on the grips as you hit the side of that car. In that case, there’s a decent chance your clenched hands will fly from the grips and your knuckes may be making contact with your mirrors and fairing/shield, possibly even with the offending car.
I’m not suggesting your Held gloves are lacking. And let’s face it, you can’t armor everything.SantaCruzRiderParticipantI’d wager that you’ll find proponents of nearly every brand carried by the big MC web sites. A lot will have as much to do with fit and style, as anything else. There are some brands that are higher end (Aerostitch, Shoei, Olympia, maybe Alpinestars). Then there are value leaders. like First and some of no-names on LeatherUp.
I’d recommend ignoring the brand until you find one that fits, and instead focus on how it feels when you try it on, how it fits you, and whether it’s something comfortable enough so that you will wear it ALL the time.
Ultimately, an $80 jacket you wear for every ride is much better than a $500 one that sits at home. Of course if the luxury label inspires you to wear it and show it off, then the example will be reversed. -
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