| Author | Message | ||
     Buelliedan |
Aaron, By your example will more women die that year then men? Yes, but does that mean anything? No, but it sure might sound good if I was asking for a research grant wouldn't it? | ||
| Buelliedan |
Nobodys reading into it Aaron. We're just using it to fit what we want. Just like a lawyer does with a so called expert witness on the stand. | ||
| Road_thing |
Aaron, that's a JOKE son! r-t  | ||
| Aesquire |
Aaron & Buellidan are right. Last months political equiv. was "the richest 10% pay 70% of the taxes", utterly meaningless unless you know what % of the total money "the richest 10%" make. (IMHO if they make 50% of the money I'm happy, not being in the top 10%, if it's 90%, I'm getting screwed) I am against helmet laws. "Think of it as Evolution in action" (Niven & Pournelle in "Oath Of Fealty"  (doesn't mean I don't wear one, or mock those who don't)(I have no idea where the smiley came from) edited by aesquire on July 14, 2003 | ||
| Jmartz |
Amen Aaron. One thing, helmet supporters can't help themselves when they consider over and over that if you fall, wearing a helmet is likely going to reduce your chances of injury. I agree with this but the last time I fell was 30 years ago (and I was not wearing one) and I find it personally unacceptable to have worn hot and itchy lid all these years for no good reason. | ||
| Mikej |
http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/jul03/155038.asp?format=print
| ||
| Jmartz |
I finally happened. My beloved 1996 S1 met th pavement on its side after bouncing off a car. Having essentially retired the bike form daily use except for the occasional ride to work, I had intended to keep it for a good long time as a project/hobby bike. After all, I had spent at least as much as I paid for it in custom pars and improvements. Saturday my wife decided she could not wait until I finished changing the oil in the car and insisted on taking the bike to her weekend Yoga class. She started the engine and moved toward the street while still in our driveway. After checking for traffic she took off. 4 or 5 tankslappers later, a mere 50 feet from where she started, during no more than 5 or 6 seconds, she misguided the S1 as in an epileptic seizure of uncontrolled motions, never finding the brakes, with the motor racing near redline until dropping it down on the left side with her leg partially pinned against the pavement. She disavows any recollection of the events just mentioned. | ||
| Al_lighton |
Jose, How did your previously beloved wife fair thru this? I hope she's OK. Al | ||
| Jmartz |
Has a knee the size of a cantaloupe and various an sundry lacerations. | ||
| Road_thing |
Jose--sorry to hear about the bike, but it's good that your wife isn't badly hurt. Maybe further "improvements" are forthcoming along with (or disguised as) "repairs?" r-t | ||
| Rocketman |
Ah Jose sounds like you'll be able to lick them both better. Rocket  | ||
| Jmartz |
Thank you all for your concern. Karen is fine and I am no longer in hate with her. The whole event led to my acquisition of a 2002 R1. I'm picking it up today. | ||
| Tripper |
Isn't that the bike she told you a year ago to go buy? I'd suspect she crashed the old green machine on poipose! waskawee wimen | ||
| Jmartz |
No. I have been wanting to get a 999s but after going through the list of accessories, it became clear to me that $30,000 would not be enough. Needless to say I drive a $10,000 car. I could buy the bike ($22,999) but, you know, the cool part of this hobby is accessorizing. | ||
| Rick_a |
...and my wife wonders why I don't teach her to ride on my bike... | ||
| Phillyblast |
. . . and this is why I still have the Blast  | ||
| X1guy00 |
it's almost three in the morning and im still up cause this broken ankle is buggin the hell out of me. some 67 year old in his BMW 740 decided to change lanes without looking and took me out while i was putting between the lanes. i was on my sporty cruising with the flow of traffic on the 405 freeway,lucky i was only going about 15 mph. he bounced me into the back of the another car. i've had thousands of cars cut me off like that but this guy swerved right as i got up next to his door and there was just no time to react. i bet if my pipes were as loud as my springer's are this might not have happened. havent got the bike to the shop cause they're all booked up with sturgis tune ups and im just hopping around on one foot anyway. this sucks. all this time off and i cant even take the other bikes out for a ride. three pins and four screws into a plate make for an uncomfortable cast. well i just wanted to vent, i read this site all the time and enjoy the vast pool of knowledge the users have. i have plenty of time now to catch up on my reading, anyone know what the going rate for pain and suffering is these days. all my friends tell me i should sue but i just dont like dealing with lawers. did i mention this sucks, guess it couldve been a lot worse. i wont be riding that sportster until i have loud pipes. | ||
| Jmartz |
X1... sorry you got injured. I used to be a master lane splitter until I moved to GA where it is a crime. I still do it occasionally but frequently drivers will deliberately shove me as punishment for violation the rules. I have been spit at, burned with cigarettes, thrown discarded beverages, yell at, shoved, cut off and bounced, Luckily, all of these events happened on surface roads while traffic is stopped or moving slowly and I was trying to advance. | ||
| Jmartz |
ps opened doors (for spitters who just want drop w/o expectorating) | ||
| Nevco1 |
X1guy00...get well soon and get back on the bike(s) asap. Is the best therapy, at least for the soul. Dang I miss lane splitting. Especially at long lights and during slush hour. Took forever for me to reprogram myself after moving to Wisconsin. Is a special freedom that the Peoples Republic of California has not yet taken away from you, so count your blessings. Fortunately, it is neither that hot nor traffic that dense here to kill an air cooled engine that quickly. | ||
| Swampy |
Wifie bravely took the Motorcycle Safety Class in June, which she went from not riding to actually being able to ride! The instructors wisely failed her as she just didn't have the necessary skills to actually operate a motorcycle safely on the roadways. So I impatiently send her down to the local Secretary Of State to get her TIP. So the first day she goes out for a ride we take it easy and just do a few staight roads and stop corners. The real fun starts when I take her on the second ride up the curvy road. Everything was going OK until she had to negotiate the curve to the left following the easy right and looks out into the cornfield and panicks slamming on the rear brake inducing a skid to the left at which time she releases the brake and highsides to the left. Bike cost about 75 or so, wife got three stiches in her left knee and road rash on all the other corners. Oh yeah, if she hadn't been wearing a full face helmet she would have been eating through a straw still. Has anybody had any experience getting a downed wifie back on after a spill? Thanks! | ||
| X1guy00 |
thanks Jmartz and Nevco1, i'll be back riding as soon as this leg can support me, they told me to keep off it until the pins are out or they'll bend. i know there's a burger,cup of coffee and a piece of berry pie waiting at the end of little tujunga road. | ||
| Nevco1 |
X1guy00...Now you are making me Homesick!!! | ||
| Country |
Swampy, good luck getting the wife back on after the spill. More than likely she will say she is ready and then just end up not wanting to ride again. X1, hope you are feeling better soon, ride as soon as you can its the best medicine. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Note to self #1... When going down one of those impossibly steep rural Kentucky roads (like 30 degree grade), stopping distances should be increased. Note to self #2... Banke shifters and Napolean bar end mirrors are considerably stronger then Buell turn signals. No big deal, came down one of those "paved goat path" roads in rural Kentucky near Maysville, and came around a blind corner on more or less a paved vertical drop. "Wow, thats a suckers corner, good thing I was not pushing it... better slow down even more, lots of road debris and turns on the way down this one". Then "well, negiotated that set of turns fine, but how come I did not bleed off as much speed as I expected? better just point down this short straight part, stand the bike up, and drop anchors and get this back under control... there is enough room to stop from this speed". Then "Um. you are about one foot short of pavement for a complete stop here, better crank it over and turn just short of that ditch". Then "Rats. That was stupid". Basically, I had waited too long to crank it over, likely the result of target fixation. I had bled off everything but about 3 mph when the front dropped off the road, and the bike more or less fell over (low side) into the ditch. It slid a total of maybe a foot or two. More annoying and embarassing then anything. The root cause was failing to account for the really steep grade, and the effect it has on braking distances... that got me too hot through the first turn, and suckered me into thinking I could just stand the bike up and stop through the second narrow straight section. Naturally, in hindsight I could have made the second turn easily, but I had commited to the stop already and thought I had plenty of margin. Missed it by a foot  Anyway, only annoying damages to the bike, nothing serious. Banke shifter bent in, front turn signal sheared off, new bevel in the Napoleans, nick on flyscreen, little road rash on tank (scratched paint but no structure damage). Finished the ride and had it all fixed that evening with a little pounding and leftover parts from other projects. Lessons learned? Well, I had a pretty good margin going in, and I used all of it up and still came up a foot short. Keep that margin, no matter how excessive it feels, and even add a little more. Also, practice emergency maneuvers like braking and turning in more non-friendly situations... steep downhills, transitional road surfaces, etc. Also, even if you know you are going to just brake to a stop, look through your escape path just in case the stop does not play out like you hoped. Otherwise you will loose precious milliseconds when you realize "plan a" is not gonna work out and you have to implement "plan b". | ||
| Spike |
Grrr . . . Note to self- New OSI sports motorcycle cover that is waterproof and wonderfully soft is not heat resistant and will melt onto header pipes if not given sufficient time to cool. Additional note to self- Whilst thinking about how to clean melted motorcycle cover off of exhaust header one should not forget that the passenger seat cowl is not likely to remain balanced on the riders seat while the engine is running. Oh well, I needed an excuse to polish the header anyway and my cost on a new seat cowl is only ~$30. Mike Luddy, Jr. '04 XB12R Firebolt (yes, that's a scratch, thanks for noticing) '99 M2 Cyclone (sold) '94 FMII Turbo Miata | ||
| Leeaw |
Mike, Try Colonel Brassy, which is really for chrome but it took burnt glove off my header. I got it from my local HD dealer. Don't forget that hanging a helmet off the footpeg and watching it drop, and never learning a lesson. | ||
| Spike |
Thanks Leeaw. I already experimented with simichrome, S100 total finish restorer, and Harley bright chrome cleaner. They all work about the same to me for this level of cleaning/polishing. I have tomorrow off of work so I plan on taking some time to polish the header a bit. Mike Luddy, Jr. '04 XB12Rt Firebolt (611 miles and counting) '99 M2 Cyclone (sold) '94 FMII Turbo Miata | ||
| Andrewb |
I use copper wool. Always takes the melted gunk off and leaves the metal pretty much alone. | ||
| Rick_a |
Note to self...worn out tires coupled with glazed pads and rotors can make for unpredictable braking. Gravity strikes again. All week I've found myself under the yellow to have it turn red just before I cross the intersection. Psychologically I felt like I should be making these lights. So yesterday, instead of going through this yellow I decided to dive it on and was planning on doing a stoppie. Instead, without warning, the wheel locked up and threw me on the ground. I've been having problems with my rotor being glazed...I get no bite initially but when it heats up to a point it wants to lock up. That and my front tire is pretty scorched. I tried an experiment and mounted a sport tire up front and a touring tire rear. The rear has outlasted the front. The front tire is down to the wear markers as well as having a raised ridge down the center...the sides are pretty severely cupped. Anyway, the worst of it was my knee hitting the bike. My left knee is a bit swollen. Only my legs and hands contacted the pavement and I was geared up so the damage is only bruises. The bike has a badly dented header, the once beautiful aircleaner got hit by the handlebar, the master cylinder and lever are scraped up, clip on bar is bent, the foot peg mounting bolt is tweaked, and my heat shields are pretty badly scraped up. Not too bad but that header hurt$. |
