[TrialsRider]

[TrialsRider]

Best ever: 1957 Manx Norton Featherbed 40M
Best new: MV Agusta F4 CC
Best off-road: Honda RTL260F
Best Concept: BMW concept 6
…I have expensive taste

[TrialsRider]

Here’s a list of the spammers on BBM
…do companies actually pay money to promote their product in this manner?

john11
mintu khanna
meryleu089
annie12
jonabdel
jonloton0098
joan123
max123
james001101

[TrialsRider]

Was the day of my sixteenth birthday, 100cc dirt bike with full knobby tires. In those days there was no course, no learner permit, you had only a piece of paper that allowed you to travel from home directly to the test site some 15 miles away.

The first part of the test required you to navigate around some plastic cones, fast stop on a line, then they sent you out on the public road. You had to go down the street a couple of blocks, turn left, go down a street, do a u-turn in front of a house where some lady doing dishes would look out her front window to see that you did it right, then you ride back past the test sight, do another left down another street, where another lady watched you from her porch, then back to the test sight to collect your license. Theory was; if you failed the test, call a tow truck, you would not be allowed to ride home. I kid you not, that was the M test !

Three riders went before me, two on fresh from the dealer Honda 350’s and one guy on a chopper with tremendously extended front forks. First honda rider never made it past the plastic cone test, the second honda guy past that part, then pulled out into traffic stalled and fell over in front of approaching traffic. I was becoming a little nervous by this time and chatted with the chopper guy, who seemed like a really nice guy and set me at ease. The chopper guy aced the plastic cone test ( very impressive on a bike almost as long as the cones were distanced ) and in turn I did the same, having ridden the dirt for six years by that point Chopper guy and I both passed the road test with flying colors too.

When I was in the office collecting my M license, I heard them issuing an APB on the chopper rider, because apparently his original license was suspended and he was doing the test under an assumed name.

BTW, In those days helmets were optional and rarely seen, but I always wore one anyway.

[TrialsRider]

On my competition bike I dismantle, clean and service my brakes (and for that matter, everything else) about 4 times a year. None of my disk brake systems have ever needed significant caliper repairs, the caliper is simply a hydraulic ram and should be serviceable as long as it doesn’t loose fluid and you don’t physically damage the ram piston skirt ( the ram or piston or puck is the round, moving part that pushes against the brake pad).

If the pads are wearing unevenly that’s a sign of poor alignment somehow. Disk groves are generally caused by stones wedged between the caliper and disk, a incorrectly mounted caliper or a completely worn brake pad. Quality brakes have two, four or six opposing pucks and pads normally wear evenly, if one ram sticks more than the other, the pads will wear unevenly. If the caliper bracket is misaligned the pads will wear wedge shape and the caliper assembly will grind away where it contacts the disk.

The pads can develop a glaze from extreme use, heat, dirt and water, but they can be hand sanded to remove the glaze and work great again, provided they have enough material left. Similarly the disk can be cleaned up with emery cloth, it should be rust free and have a dull finish, not a shiny mirror finish. If the friction pads are good; mushy brakes, or brakes that self apply when they are hot, is generally the result of air in the line. It is a basic principal of hydraulics that fluid does not compress or expand in a closed system, but air anywhere in the system will compress giving a mushy feel to the brakes and expand when it gets hot. Water and dirt in the brake system is also a problem, it will result in you needing to replace the brake fluid completely.

Only use the specified fluid, some brake fluid is specifically for teflon applications and can damage the natural rubber seals on some systems, others may not handle the high temperatures created by extreme pressure and heat transfer from the brake pads friction.

The caliper ram is made of fragile metal just like your engines piston. As with almost all disk brakes; the pads have no return springs, they are either applied, or lax. Never pump the brakes with the caliper dismantled and nothing placed between the pucks, or they will travel all the way out and dump the brake fluid, keep a piece of wood or something like a wooden ruler, positioned between the caliper pucks when you are working on them ( should be approximately the same thickness as the brake disk plus one pad in thickness), that way you have something for the rams to work against, and you can use the wood to pry the piston pucks back open without damage. ( wish I had a video of the caliper service procedure, maybe best if you have someone with experience show you the first time )

[TrialsRider]

In downtown areas I’ve always sought out and parked next to bicycle racks, well out of pedestrian traffic. That has served me well and never had a parking ticket from it.
On one occasion I was parked next to a friends motorcycle; his helmet strap was cut and helmet stolen, mine was left, his had one of those $300 paint schemes and mine is pearl white with BMW stickers on it. The moral of the story; buy a plain helmet and personalize it, or park next to a nicer one, otherwise take it with you.

[TrialsRider]

As much as I agree the Blast WAS a good choice, better google ‘2010 buell blast’ first !  They totally lost my respect for their product with that advertising campaign.  Better buy your replacement parts up front, along with that used bike purchase.  How long do you suppose the manufacturer will inventoy parts when they have no interest in complete units ? 
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photogallerys/Buell-Blast.jpg

[TrialsRider]

You guys must be grabbing a hand full of clutch and front brake there, On any controls that can accomodate it, I move my levers in on the bars to increase leverage, and operate them with one or at most two fingers.  This leaves the rest of your phalanges free to maintain a solid grip on the handlebars.   

[TrialsRider]

…guessing I’m as old in years as you too, fortunately I bought my first bike for $60 cash at age 10 and still feel it was the best investment ever.

Motorcycles have afforded me a lifetime of best experiences, friendships and skills, kept me in good physical condition and out of trouble more than anything else, Survived my share of spills, crashes and lost many close friends over the years, but the hardest ones to handle bought it in a hospital bed, or at their own hand, never to riding.

Hope you take up the challenge, seeing as you’re an old guy, take a look at Royal Enfield; if you’re lucky enough to find a dealer close by, makes a great full size beginner bike with classic looks, but with modern brakes.

You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle !

[TrialsRider]

I would have asked her to borrow her cell and then fired it hard as I could.

[TrialsRider]

That’s the line I would try, my riding partner competes at the expert level, he could ride that rock in any direction

[TrialsRider]

…forget the old dirt bike, get a Trials bike and ride over that rock you’re parked next to !

[TrialsRider]

Remember, it’s not made in Japan so make sure you break it in right and change that oil lots early on. What model did you buy ? …check out that clubman version that sells in europe.

[TrialsRider]

I’m currently shopping for a set of clubman bars, Manx replica fuel tank, rear-sets, racing seat and some other bits, with the intent of converting my old FT500 Ascot into a cafe racer. The flat bars you refer to are occasionally referred to as drag bars, or clubmans for seniors as they will shift your weight forward and down, but not as radically as clip-on’ or clubmans.

I personally prefer the forward and down riding position, particularly at speed. The crouched race riding position also generally warrants rear-set footpegs and controls to be comfortable and remain in control, but then I’m extremely flexible, more athletic then most, and have been riding for several decades.

Yes, it will radically affect the low speed handling. It pains me to say it; you really need to learn with the standard bars first, they offer far more leverage if you get the thing off balance and need to muscle it upright. Also you don’t want to go modifying your new bike right off, at least not until you have something to compare your modifications to.

Do the rider training course first if you haven’t already, if you can clean everyone else in the slow race including the instructor, then maybe you can handle low bars. …good luck if there is a Trials rider in your class

[TrialsRider]

I’ve been rear ended in the middle of a traffic intersection, just for not driving as aggressive as the commuter behind expected. On a recent occasion, I narrowly avoided being taken out by an older lady driving out of a shopping mall parking lot, impressionable because without a doubt she made eye to eye contact with me the whole time she was doing it ! …I don’t think she was intentionally attempting vehicular manslaughter, It was more like, she was mesmerized by my bright red bike or somethin. I call it, fly at the light bulb syndrome.
Had many more close calls and bad experiences, but enough of that stuff, if you ride as long as I have, it’s going to be that way. Motorcycles have provided the best times in my entire life, don’t let anything turn you off riding.
Great news is; motorcycles are fantastic for accident avoidance, they will brake faster, turn tighter, accelerate faster and occupy a smaller space than anything else on the road, so stay on track with everything your OP says, develop those cat like reflexes and don’t let em’ run you down.

[Author]

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