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I remember this video. 10 radiators?! That’s crazy. It’s cool that it was made, but no one needs a car that goes that fast.

I’d love to drive on that private track to see how fast I can get my Accord going. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable topping out on my bike at this point, but it would be fun to drive it fast without traffic.

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Everyone here will recommend that you take a professional course, such as the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) course. I would strongly encourage you to take that course. They’ll go through a number of exercises that will teach you different skills, and you can practice them more after the course, as well as variations on those exercises.

With downshifting, it depends on the distance that I have to stop. If I have a very long way before I need to stop, but I want to start slowing down, I’ll shift down and then cruise in that gear for a little while (while slowing down because of engine braking), then shift down another a little bit later, etc. When you downshift one gear, and then engage the clutch, make sure that you give it some throttle before you engage the clutch, and don’t just drop the clutch – release it slowly. This will avoid you being jerked forward when the bike revs and engine brakes hard.

If I’m coming up on a light that just turned red or something, I’ll pull in the clutch and shift down at the appropriate times based on my speed (in case I need to start going again), but I won’t engage the clutch at each gear.

But again, take the MSF Basic Rider Course. It will help you a lot, statistics show that it will make you much less likely to get in a wreck, and you can get a break on your insurance cost.

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My comment was meant to mean that you would have to be scanning way ahead to see that coming before the tires start to skid (you see the white car slowing down and the black car isn’t slowing down, so he might do something stupid). Once the car started skidding, you couldn’t miss it unless your eyes were closed.

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Nicely done. I’d go for buying the spring, as long as you can find it somewhere.

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5K a year? That’s insaaane. I live in a city and I pay $800 a year for just me (that’s just for my car, but since you’re just talking about cars, it seems more appropriate. My motorcycle insurance is considerably more expensive than for my car for less coverage).

I agree with a side-by-side comparison for cost analysis. Microsoft Excel could be quite handy for that.

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Most of these aren’t really the perks, but other things that you can potentially talk to your parents about.

Taking the MSF course is a good start to convincing parents. It shows that you want to have a responsible start to your riding career, which means that you’ll be more likely to be a responsible rider in general. (And telling your parents that taking the MSF reduces your chances of getting in a wreck by 50% or so isn’t bad either).

Unless your parents really hate motorcycles, why not see if they want to take the MSF course with you. They can see for themselves that you’re being responsible and that “motorcycle” is not synonymous with “deathtrap.”

The fact that you’re looking at a 250 means that you’re not looking for the fastest bike on the road so that you can pop wheelies at 100 mph. You’re looking at a good beginner bike, which is another responsible move.

As Munch mentioned, the downsides are that you don’t get the same protection that you get in a cage. You’re also less visible than in a larger vehicle. The weather can be a serious problem if it’s your only means of transportation, although probably less so in California than here in Massachusetts.

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Although hopefully you won’t be getting that much extra vitamin D. The only skin that sees UV light when I ride is the back of my neck.

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Yeah, I’ve seen this video. She’s pretty out of it at first, but she gets oriented pretty quickly, so that’s good. I’m guessing that she didn’t have anything more than some bruises though. Could have been worse, but it’s still a reminder to always have an escape route, and that anything can happen, not just the things that you expect. In order to see that coming *at all* you have to be scanning way ahead.

Harder braking could have helped, even if there was still contact. A reminder to keep emergency braking fresh. A combination of braking and then swerving behind the gold car (braking and swerving separately, obviously) could have helped. Swerving left could have avoided it too, but it also could have made the wreck worse if it didn’t work (and we don’t know if there was a car directly to her left or not). It’s hard to tell how hard she was braking (she says in the video “I couldn’t stop” or something like that), so it’s possible that it was just too close for emergency braking to stop her in time. Of course, any braking will make the impact less severe.

I can’t tell why the car’s brakes locked like that though (rather, why the driver braked so hard). I’m assuming he was looking down or just not paying attention, and then saw that the car in front of him wasn’t going as fast as it was before, and he hit the brakes as hard as he could. It doesn’t look like the white car in front of him slammed on their brakes or anything like that. He did have his cell phone in his hand when he got out of the car though. He says that he braked and swerved, but I wonder what caused it. Just inattention, I assume.

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Nice find, and happy birthday.

How did you get to the place where the guy was selling it? I can just picture a guy in full leathers and a helmet on his lap, just sitting on the bus.

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It’s probably too late, but since my opinion is basically just agreeing with eternal, that shouldn’t be a problem.

If it’s possible to do, a good bike shop will be able to make the brake light work with the pedal. Obviously make sure that the rear brake works, and that it can hold the bike. You can fix the wiring issue later. When I got my bike, I had to depress the pedal further than I like for the light to come on, so I adjusted it so that it would come on earlier.

Lets see some pictures once you get it.

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Hey look, we have the same bike. Nice choice, if I do say so myself.

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My basic plan is to use earplugs if I’m going to be on the highway for a decent amount of time. The wind noise just isn’t that extreme at lower speeds.

My firing range hearing protection consists of some pretty big muffs. Nothing I could ever fit under a helmet, but they work great for the range. I never did find any earplugs that worked as well as I wanted for shooting.

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I must have tried the wrong ear plugs. I could barely hear the engine. It was disconcerting. It was *too* silent. If I could get rid of the wind noise, but not the engine noise, it would be great.

What earplugs do y’all use? I’m just using some that I got at Home Depot. Any better suggestions?

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I wasn’t a huge fan of the digital display on my ninja 650r (ER-6F) when I first started looking at it, but I love it now. I guess it’s just personal preference. Seeing my speed digitally took a little getting used it, but not that much.

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You can see the rubber behind the bike. I wonder how far they slid before coming to a stop. If he had the bike in neutral, it might not have even stalled.

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