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Seizing The Weekend
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zeppelinfromledParticipant
Helmet: Shoei RF-1000. This is a full face helmet. I have no serious complaints with the helmet, except for the price. The helmets with designs on them clock in around $450, which is a lot of money to pay for a helmet when you can get comparable protection for less. One thing that I’ve noticed on some other helmets that would be nice is a tab to open the visor on both sides, not just the left. It’s easy enough to reach across to the left tab with my right hand, but it’s a small feature that I’m sure would be appreciated. (http://www.shoei-helmets.com/Helmet.aspx?RF-1000&h=3&t=1)
Jacket: Cortech GX Sport Series 2. This is a textile jacket with elbow, shoulder, and back armor. I got the silver color to have some extra visibility, but since my bike is black, I didn’t want the red or blue jacket. It comes with an insulated liner that I haven’t had the chance to use yet, but it seems like it would work well. I have two complaints with this jacket. When I’m riding without a backpack and all the vents open, once I get up to about 50 mph, the jacket puffs up a bit. It’s not a huge problem, but it increases the drag that my body feels and therefore increases the fatigue of riding. This problem goes away with a backpack, but the backpack renders the vents pretty useless and I get sweaty. (http://www.tourmaster.com/xcart/catalog/GX-Sport-Series-2-Jacket-p-238_25.html)
Boots: Tour Master Solution WP Boots. I have almost zero complaints about these boots so far. They’re comfortable both for riding and for walking. They have some armor on the ankle bone to protect it from blunt force trauma. They have a pad on the inside top of the left foot to prevent wear from the shifter, and it also gives a little comfort if you’re upshifting a lot. They offer pretty good slip resistance. They’ll still slide in certain situations, so you still need to pay attention to where you put your foot when you stop. My only potential complaint, which hasn’t been an issue for me, is that you can’t adjust the tightness of the closure very much. There’s a zipper on the inside and velcro on top of that. You can do a little adjustment with the velcro, but not a lot. So if you have a very large or very small lower calf, you might be out of luck. (http://www.tourmaster.com/xcart/product.php?productid=82&cat=7)
Pants: Shift Lowdown Jeans. These are jeans with kevlar/cordura reinforcements in the seat and knees to resist abrasion. I really don’t like these jeans. I’ll wear them anyway when I ride in town, but I have multiple complaints. They don’t offer different lengths for the same waist size. The kevlar reinforcements in the knees start too low. When I’m standing, the reinforcement starts below my knee. When I’m on the bike, it comes up over my knee, but it shouldn’t be too hard to raise that up a bit. There aren’t enough belt loops, so the pants ride down even when you have a belt on. I wouldn’t recommend these jeans, but I suspect that these problems are found in most riding jeans on the market. (http://shop.shiftracing.com/ecomm/ProductForward.do?forward=product.pagedef&proId=21523&cid=258&cname=Pants&proNumber=70137&imgName=70137202F.jpg)
Gloves: Texport Race Glove. I’m pretty satisfied with these gloves. They seem to have some pretty good protection in the palm, and the knuckles have carbon armor. If the gauntlets went up a little higher, I’d be ok with that, but they’re fine as they are. They also weren’t terribly expensive at $60 – MSRP is $70. (http://www.texportusa.com/largeview.asp?MSecID=97&PID=81)
zeppelinfromledParticipantOthers here can probably tell you more than me, but when you talk about withstanding some rough roads, my mind goes to a dual sport motorcycle. It’s not a cruiser, nor is it a sports bike, but it might serve your needs better than the other options.
zeppelinfromledParticipantHow do you feel about the Cortech tank bag? Also, what size is it?
zeppelinfromledParticipantA couple things:
I always park in first gear, but I start the engine in neutral. So my process is: sidestand up, turn the key, pop it into neutral, start the engine (with turning the kill switch on at some point in there).
If you’re doing an emergency stop, don’t worry about shifting, worry about getting stopped safely. You’ve got the right idea there.
A general rule for shifting is that the longer you wait before shifting (letting the rpms get up there), the faster you accelerate. On a relaxed ride, which is basically all I do, I end up keeping the revs pretty low.
For boots, any type of boot will be better than running shoes. Running shoes offer basically no protection at all. If you have work boots or hiking boots or any type of boot, use those. Motorcycle boots are the best, but until then see if you can use something better than running shoes. Also make sure your laces aren’t in the way. Tuck them under themselves, or into you shoe. You definitely don’t want to show up at a stop and not be able to get a foot down.
For motorcycle boots, I have the Tour Master Solution boots, and I’m happy with them. You might want to check them out. (http://www.tourmaster.com/xcart/catalog/Solution-WP-Road-Boot-p-82_7.html)
For pants, I have the jeans with kevlar/cordura lining, and I have some armor that I can wear under them. I also have some real riding pants with armor on order, and they can zip in with my jacket.
I don’t think that feeling scared is a necessity for learning to ride. A healthy respect for the activity, and for the machine that you’re on are definitely good things, but it’s possible for fear to get in the way. Just make sure to stay within your skill level.
zeppelinfromledParticipantI think it’s best to just leave it up to the seller. Ask ahead of time what kind of payment he wants, and go with that.
Personally I prefer cash, both as a buyer and seller. It’s a little paranoid, but I don’t really like giving some stranger a check with my address and bank account number on it. I also wouldn’t accept a check as payment. Everyone can write a check, not everyone’s bank account can cash it. A cashier’s check is pretty secure, but they can be forged by someone whose a little dedicated.
June 5, 2009 at 6:13 pm in reply to: How to convince dad to let me get a ninja 250 instead of cruiser? #19358zeppelinfromledParticipantI would just use the argument that the best bike is what you feel the most comfortable on. The more comfortable you feel using the bike, the safer it is. In terms of power, see if you can get him to ride a Ninja 250, just briefly. He’ll realize that it’s not full of power like a lot of the 600cc+, 4 cylinder sport bikes he sees around.
zeppelinfromledParticipantI usually tap it one extra time to make sure I’m in first. On my bike, if you’re in first the shifter doesn’t go down at all when you tap it down, so it’s very easy to tell.
zeppelinfromledParticipantIf you park in a real parking space in a parking lot, park towards to back (exit) of the space, so that people can see the bike before they’re half way turned into the space. I also park at an angle (the bike isn’t parallel to the lines on the side of the space) so that it’s clear that I’m taking up the whole space.
At a stop light, if I’m the only biker, I stop in the center of the lane. I’m not sure if this is the best, but I do it to prevent a car from trying to get alongside me in my own lane. If there’s another biker behind me, I go to one side or the other so that (s)he can pull up along side of me. I do this even if I’m not riding with that person.
With waving to other bikers, recognize that sometimes their left hand is busy with the clutch and they can’t return the wave. If I’m on the receiving end of a wave when I’m on the clutch, I try to nod in return. But safety comes way before waving, so make sure you’re safe when you do it.
I squeeze between cars (at a light or something) if it’s to get in front of a bus whose fumes are choking me or something like that. But not just to get a few cars ahead because I’m impatient.
With tailgaters, try flashing your brake lights at them to see if they back off. I get tailgated a lot less on my bike because I think most people are terrified of hitting a bike, but rear ending a car wouldn’t have such big consequences. If someone’s tailgating me on my bike, I’ll flash my brake lights and increase the distance in front of me. I have to force myself not to get angry (or not to let that anger come through in the way that I ride). It’s not worth it. No matter how much you show them your disapproval, it won’t change the way they drive. Just let them pass and move on.
Edit: Sharing a space with another bike is perfectly acceptable in my book. A couple things to keep in mind. The biggest thing is to make sure that there’s room to both sides of their bike so that they can mount it easily. I like it when another bike shares a space with my bike, because it makes us more visible and less likely to get hit by some inattentive person trying to park.
A small note: A lot of cities have rules for only one vehicle per metered space (they may not be enforced, but they’re there). So if it’s a metered space, be aware of that. If you add your bike to a metered space with a bike in it, it’s nice to fill up the meter.
zeppelinfromledParticipantI definitely had the same experience with feeling comfortable much quicker than I expected. I can’t say I agree about the radio thing. If it weren’t for some hesitations that I have (being a new rider is definitely one of them), I would regularly ride with headphones in. The smells can be great, but getting stuck behind a bus or passing near a skunk are never pleasant.
You’ll get used to turning your signal off, just keep reminding yourself.
With shifting, I think that once you can take your focus off of the little details of riding, keeping track of what gear you’re in will become very easy. I obviously shift up as needed while I accelerate, and I shift down 1 if I’m slowing down a bit. When I’m in a high gear, and I need to stop for a stop light or something, I shift down at approximately the right times. So if I’m in 5th going 50, I’ll clutch and brake. When I get to 40, I’ll shift to 4th, 30 I’ll shift to 3rd, etc (clutch in the whole time). I do this so that if I need to go again before I stop (for instance, the light changes to green while I’m still going 25), I don’t need to shift back up from 1st. I can just ease out the clutch and roll on the throttle and I’m good to go.
I’m not sure if that’s what you were asking about shifting or not, but I hope it helps.
zeppelinfromledParticipantI do notice HIDs when I come across them, but I’m not sure if it’s because they’re more visible or because they’re more unusual. I’m drawing a distinction here between “notice” and “see.” I see everyone’s headlights. I think that my attention is drawn to HIDs because I think “oh hey, that’s a neat headlight,” not because it’s more visible. But maybe it is more visible – I don’t know.
I think we’ll have some trouble getting a good sample here at BBM, because I suspect that we are all pretty attentive drivers. So we’re unlikely to miss a car with their headlights on, no matter what kind of headlight it is. What we need are some inattentive drivers to find out if they’re more likely to notice the HIDs.
I say, as long as it’s not painful or annoying to other drivers, the brighter the better. I haven’t ridden my 650r at night yet, but I’ll let you know what its headlights are like once I do (I seem to remember you saying that you’re getting one).
zeppelinfromledParticipantThere’s no reason not to look at all of the information you can get your hands on, as long as you’re reasonable and you recognize the flaws in certain arguments. I don’t really think there is such a thing as over-analyzing, as long as you’re analyzing correctly.
zeppelinfromledParticipantAll of your issues, I also had. I got my first bike this past Monday. I live near Boston, so there weren’t a lot of options for places to get used to the bike except with traffic. I got a feel for the clutch in a parking space, just rolling a bit. I stuck to the residential streets at the beginning.
I also stalled out a couple times when a light changed with a car behind me. It was a slight hill, so I just rolled out of the way, let them pass, and tried again (and did fine). After some stalls (including one in the middle of an area with lots of pedestrians, which was embarrassing), I got it down.
My biggest problem was canceling turn signals. There’s just so much else going on in the eyes of a new rider. I’ve definitely also hit the horn looking for the signal. And my hands are usually busy, so I can’t wave “I’m sorry” and I have a full face helmet, so mouthing it wouldn’t do any good. Felt kind of bad for the car that I honked at. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, and I want to reserve my honks for driving that a actually disapprove of (or to get people to see me).
I’m also sticking to roads that I know well (from my car) for now. So I’ll know about the stop sign at the end of the curve, or the stoplight that the taxis blow through a second and a half after it turns red, etc.
Best of luck. It doesn’t sound like you’re experiencing anything unusual though. Keep at it, and be safe.
zeppelinfromledParticipantI think their argument is that, for the double impact, neither impact can transfer more than 300 Gs. Now, I don’t really know how much force that is, in terms of head injury. But if 300 Gs is below this threshold of injury, then I support it being able to reduce the force two times in a row. To use your analogy, if the vest can stop a more powerful bullet, why not try to make it stop two of them. As long as we’re sure that it can stop the more powerful bullet, which I think is the bigger issue here.
I don’t know. I’m not a physicist, nor am I an expert in blunt force trauma to the head. I think that most helmets on the market will protect your head just fine, whether or not Snell has anything to do with it.
It’s an interesting question though. People say that Snell has “stricter” standards, but there’s always a trade off.
zeppelinfromledParticipantI just spent some time reading the article on Snell (and other types of) testing. The webbikeworld article is pretty poor. They conclude that one helmet, which is DOT certified only, is better than another, which is DOT and Snell certified. This is only a comparison of the two helmets and it would be poor science to assume that the results can be extrapolated to all helmets with the same certifications.
The motorcyclistonline article is pretty in depth. Basically what they’re criticizing is that Snell requires this one test where you hit the helmet really hard twice in the same place. This kind of severe double impact very rarely happens in wrecks. They say that in order to pass this test, the helmet must sacrifice in another area. If they didn’t have to pass this double impact test, than they could decrease the Gs that are transferred to the head in a single impact (single impact in the same place, that is).
There is this idea that there is a “threshold of injury” where if you head sustains this amount of impact (measured in Gs), then you get injured. Since this number isn’t know, nor would it be the same for everyone, it is ideal to transfer the smallest number of Gs possible. What Snell says is that they believe that their standard is below the threshold of injury (meaning that you won’t get injured with the Gs that are being transferred), and it’s able to withstand the double impact.
It’s essentially a compromise between reducing Gs in an impact and being able to withstand multiple impacts. If a helmet uses all of its cushion ability on the first impact, then you have nothing left for a second impact (it doesn’t re-inflate or anything). Snell has chosen to enforce a standard where the helmet doesn’t reduce the Gs as much as possible, but you have some cushion left for a second impact.
I tried to reduce the length of the article, but now that I look up on the page, this is more writing than I intended. Oh well.
zeppelinfromledParticipant“There were 157 pedestrian fatalities in 2007, and 135 motorcyclist fatalities”
There is more to this than the given statement. The total number isn’t enough to make an informed decision. I don’t have the numbers, but there are a lot more pedestrians than motorcycle riders. Also, most motorcycle riders are also pedestrians, so riding is actually still increasing our level of risk by my “calculations.”
I’m obviously not arguing that one shouldn’t ride a motorcycle, but raw information can be misleading. Also, statistics aren’t necessarily useful to the individual. These statistics include everyone who rides irresponsibly and without safety gear. What I find to be more important than the statistics to me is how I ride. And that’s what I argue when people tell me that “riding is dangerous” and that I shouldn’t do it.
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